A SELECT group of Swindon Storm players have been put through their paces by one of the top quarterback coaches Britain has to offer.

The Storm players travelled to Bristol to work with University of the West of England head coach Matthew Dyke last week, with focus on their passing and QB skills at the university’s state-of-the-art indoor training base.

The Swindon side’s coaching development manager, Steve Bennett, believes the session will do the likes of Storm quarterback Dan Thorne the world of good and he was impressed by the content of the sessions.

“Developing the techniques for a position like a team’s quarterback is a process that takes many months, even years,” he said. “In the United States kids are attending camps like these from the ages of six or seven and it’s second nature to them by the time they start to compete at high school.

“The Storm’s QB is only 22 years old and originally started on the offensive line, the equivalent of a forward in rugby suddenly changing to scrum half.

“This is the second QB camp in Bristol that the Storm have attended in the past few months, and the guys will be heading back down to Bristol in the new year to cement the fundamental skills they worked on.

“This isn’t the sort of thing you get good at overnight and the players will need to go away and practice the footwork and throwing techniques every day over the next few months.”

The club’s pre-season begins in January and coach Bennett has several more coaching specials planned for his returning players.

“There’s a few really good American football coaches living in and around Wiltshire who currently have commitments with big programmes in London,” he said “The best thing about this sport is everyone is desperate to see it succeed in the UK and that means coaches are willing to help out younger teams by offering their skills and experience.”

The club are running free player trials on February 10 at Isambard School, Redhouse Way from 7pm.