Hartlepool United once again turned pre-season training into a military operation when the Youth Team squad spent an exhausting four days with the Royal Marines.
The Pools youngsters made the journey down to the Marine base at Lympstone in Devon last year and the team benefitted from the experience so much that Director of Youth, Terry Mitchell was keen to take the squad again this year.
The Apprentices were once more put through early morning kit and room inspections before completing tough team-building activities, endurance runs, and a gruelling assault course over the four days.
Colour Sgt Jan Hicklin, Marine Jonny Stephen and Marine Ben Tait worked alongside the team and pushed them to their limits throughout their stay.
The wet and muddy conditions proved challenging for the Apprentices but Terry Mitchell was pleased with their commitment,
“It was a great experience for all the lads again this year. It was a lot of hard work and all of the tasks were very difficult both physically and mentally but it was well worth it.”
“By the end of the week the lads had really come together as a group and they really started to take on board what they had been learning.”
He was delighted with the overall success of the visit and added:
“From a team-building point of view, to get all the lads to gel together, it was a great success with some valuable lessons learned.”
To see more pictures of the Youth Team at the Royal Marines base visit the Club website by clicking the link below.
