Skipper excited ahead of new season

“James joined the club five years ago from Dromore and has been a first choice selection in our back line ever since joining.

“He is a real leader on the pitch but more importantly his attitude to training and the club is excellent. He has great respect from both the young and senior players in the squad. His style and attitude to play fits in with that of the coaching team,” explains Jason Taggart, Head Coach.

James said: “This year I am really excited about how training is going.

“The number of real quality players at training and the skill levels is one the best I have witnessed.

“I worked with many of the young players through my time over the past number of years helping to Coach Dalriada 1st XV and I know what they are capable of.

“Pre season is going really well and we are building up well to the start of the season and our first league game, which is at home to Academy RFC on Saturday 3rd September.”

Before that, this weekend Ballymoney have a home friendly against Ballyclare 1st XV which will be a very competitive game as both teams play a similar style of rugby.

The coaches will be picking a squad this week for the Ballyclare game on the 20th August and then they have a training weekend in Letterkenny the following week on the 27th August which includes a match against Letterkenny 1st XV.

All support is welcomed to come out on Saturday to watch the new squad for 2011 – 2012 in action. Kick off is at 2.30pm and a small BBQ is planned for after the game.