- Academy product the first to benefit from new education initiative at St Peter.
- Three-year deal allows him to train full time with Harvey Biljon’s squad while undertaking sport management degree at Highlands College.
JERSEY RFC have handed Academy product Harrison Berresford a three-year training contract as the club looks to boost the number of home-grown professionals.
After playing for England Counties under-18s last season, the teenager has opted against a move to university in the UK in favour of a dual programme with Highlands College, which offers him the opportunity to undertake a foundation degree while training full time with Harvey Biljon’s squad.
And, as they forge a pathway for youngsters to follow in the footsteps of current Jerseyborn professionals Jack Burroughs and Ed Dawson, JRFC’s chairman, Bill Dempsey, believes the current initiative could be the first of many.
‘We have to have local guys involved in the team, but we can’t just go out and find them, we have to develop them,’ said Dempsey.
‘We have a number of 17 or 18 year olds very capable of going on to being professional rugby players, but some want to go to university and for others it’s just not for them. We had a couple of guys who went off to Hartpury last year, but the reality is there are degree courses available through Highlands and with the Law Society, so if anyone wants to come along with us and fits into that category – we want to support them, and the first step is with Harrison.’
On the contract, which will see former prop Berresford adjusting to hooker, Dempsey added: ‘The next three years are all about development for him. It may take him three years to develop as we’re changing him from a prop who’s done very little front row work at under-18s to a hooker in senior rugby, but that timescale may also be too far – it may be much less.
‘We’re very much sticking to the task that it’s about education first, though. Training with the first team comes second and then playing with Jersey Athletic is a third option.’
‘It will take a huge amount of luck, but there is now the potential for that to happen.’
An interview with Berresford will be published in the JEP’s 16-page Rugby Preview supplement next Tuesday.
