This is your one stop shop for our pre-season training camp in Arizona!
DAY ONE
It’s bitterly cold in Flagstaff Arizona at the moment with an expected high of just 4 degrees Celsius today while the average nightly temperature is a spine tingling minus 9.
Add to this that the annual snow fall has arrived months earlier than expected and the oxygen levels are about 50% of what you are presently enjoying back in Australia and you quickly come to the realisation that the Gold Coast SUNS while having fun, certainly aren’t on holiday.
After several days of training and adjusting to the freezing conditions in Flagstaff, the Gold Coast SUNS were sent back down the mountain to Sedona, Arizona’s “Red rock country”.
For decades Sedona has provided the picturesque backdrop for Americas famed Western movies, however in recent years it’s become a spiritual home for adrenaline seeking life lovers who flock to the Colorado Plateau to hike, climb and Mountain bike.
Much of the Gold Coast SUNS skills work and team drills have been taking place in Arizona’s J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome, a multi-purpose sporting stadium located just a stones throw away from where the team are based at the Northern Arizona University.
Home to the NAU Lumberjacks football and basketball teams, the centres artificial surface provides a welcome respite from the icy conditions experienced once the team venture outdoors.
Heavy snow falls and the Gold Coast SUNS players were forced to don snow shoes for their morning hike to Hochderfer hills, the hike taking the playing group 2,743 metres above sea level.
Campbell Brown saying the addition of the snow shoes made it one of the tougher outings the squad have experienced.
As the Gold Coast SUNS Arizona training camp enters it’s second week, Coach Guy McKenna is pleased with the progress his young squad has made during their time at altitude.
As the playing group build towards some of the most challenging treks of the Flagstaff experience, McKenna rewarded his players with a day off , but not before putting them through a gruelling session under the Skydome roof at Northern Arizona University.
Apart from the daily snapping of images and video production by the SUNS TV team, the list have also captured the attention of NAZ today, a local news Broadcast produced by the Northern Arizona University and sent to over 600,000 people across the Flagstaff region but also to the wider state of Arizona.
Day ten of the Gold Coast SUNS Arizona altitude camp and it was back to the Skydome for Gary Ablett and his team mates after spending several days pounding the snow-covered pavement and forests of Flagstaff.
With the Sherrins packed away, the players were put to work with weighted sleds and sledge hammers in a muscle building, lung-busting session coordinated by strength scientist Chris Gaviglio.
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