by Wade Townsend

The 2017 World Cadet Challenge is just around the corner and Team Oceania have finished the first stage their of preparations for the event.

Patrick Wuertz, Boys’ Team Coach and Jessica Macaskill, Girls’ Team Coach, were responsible for running a training camp in Vodafone Arena, Suva; the same venue that will host the WCC next week.

The unique format of the event, which brings players from different countries within the region to compete as one team, has its challenges, but it is also full of rich rewards.

“It’s always great to have these pre-training camps,” says Macaskill. “By the end of the week we get to see the players start to interact and work together.”

Wuertz is pleased that despite the player’s disparate backgrounds, they have come together during their time in Suva.

“We see how they play in greater depth, get to know them, and they also get to know us. At the end of the camp you can see that it is now one team from Oceania.” Patrick Wuertz, Oceania Boys’ Team Coach

The official World Cadet Challenge training camp will kickoff tomorrow, Saturday 21st October. This will be a chance for the players to keep the momentum going. The team will be underdogs heading in to the event, but that doesn’t mean the coaches have lowered their expectations for their players.

“In the last couple of days they have produced higher intensity in their training, more volume and more discipline,” says Weurtz.

“I hope that they will bring this to the next training camp as well.  The aim is that they are not the odd ones out, but training and acting as all the other professional athletes here as well.”