600+ youth athletes coached across elite rugby systems in South Africa, Ireland & Canada
Athletic Development Academy

Get physically dominant
on the pitch

"Building your athletic base can unlock everything. It gives you the platform to fully express your skillset."

Built around your position, your schedule, and how you actually play. For rugby players aged 12–18.

Apply for the programme
South Africa U20s — Shane Rodgers

South Africa U20s · Uganda 7s · Paul Roos · St. Mary's · Collingwood College · Malahide RFC

Junior Springboks Stellenbosch Academy Uganda Rugby Paul Roos Gym St. Mary's RFC Collingwood College Malahide RFC
Does this sound familiar?

You're putting in the work.
So why doesn't it show on the pitch?

—

Getting outmuscled and outpaced and it's costing your team

—

Turning up to the gym and copying what others are doing, with no idea if any of it is actually helping

—

Gassed by the second half while other players are still going strong

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Someone else getting picked over you and you're not sure what you're missing physically

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Told to "just train harder" — but harder isn't the issue, it's direction

Why other things haven't worked

The problem isn't your work rate. It's what you're training for.

Most young players end up doing one of three things.

  1. Bodybuilding-style gym work that builds muscle but has no transfer to the pitch.
  2. Copying exercises from social media with no idea what they actually target.
  3. Taking advice from people — teammates, family, older lads at the gym — who mean well but have no background in athletic development.

None of it is built for rugby. None of it is built for your position. And none of it progresses week to week in a way that leads anywhere.

The solution

What changes when you train with a plan

Three things that make this different to everything else you've tried.

01

Your training is built for your position and your game

A winger with pace needs different development than a second row who wins collisions. Your programme is built around your position, your strengths, and what you want to feel on the pitch.

02

Every session has a purpose — and it fits your life

Your programme is mapped to your existing training schedule and school week. No guesswork — sessions that make sense, week after week.

03

Real results that transfer to the pitch

The whole reason you do the work in the gym. Powerful carries, pace to burn, dominant tackles — and still going strong in the final minutes.

What you get

The Athletic Development Academy

12 weeks. Built for you.

A fully personalised training programme

Built around your position, training experience, schedule, and goals. Not a template. Yours.

Initial movement assessment

Before anything is written, we assess how you move. This shapes the exercises selected and makes sure the programme starts at the right level.

Ongoing programme updates

As you progress, your programme progresses with you. No plateaus, no repeating the same thing indefinitely.

Direct access throughout the 12 weeks

Questions, check-ins, exercise analysis — you're not left figuring things out on your own.

What happens next

1

You fill in a short application

Your position, training experience, schedule, any injuries, and what you want to get out of this. Takes about two minutes.

2

We do a movement assessment and build your plan

We look at how you move, map your weekly schedule, and build a programme designed specifically for you.

3

You start training with direction

Your programme lands in your hands and every session has a clear purpose. You train. You improve. It shows in games.

About

Why I do this

Shane Rodgers — Rodge Academy

I was always disciplined. But for a long time, I was guessing.

Training hard, copying what I saw others doing, taking advice from people who meant well but didn't really know. No structure, no long-term plan.

It wasn't until I worked in proper high-performance environments in South Africa that I understood what I'd been missing. It wasn't the effort. It was the direction.

Coached Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Canan Moodie, Quan Horn, Jordan Hendrikse, André-Hugo Venter and Jan-Hendrik Wessels at South Africa U20s — all six now capped Springboks
Coached Uganda 7s and Stellenbosch Academy of Sport 7s
Designed long-term development pathways across multiple rugby schools and clubs — Paul Roos, St. Mary's, Collingwood, Malahide RFC — for players aged 12–18
Still playing competitively for Malahide RFC
600+ youth athletes coached across elite rugby systems in South Africa, Ireland, and Canada

Too many players are still where I was — working hard and going nowhere because no one has given them a real plan. That's what this is for.

Uganda 7s

Uganda 7s

Coaching session

Paul Roos u14

Results

What players have seen

Altus Rabe playing for Paul Roos Gymnasium

Paul Roos Gymnasium

Altus Rabe playing for South Africa u18

South Africa u18

SA Schools · Signed for DHL Stormers · Junior Bok squad 2026

A
Altus Rabe
Coached aged 14 · Paul Roos Gymnasium
Plays hooker for Western Province.
Coach Shane is an excellent rugby coach and a master, especially at strength and conditioning. His workouts were always a killer — you knew when you were done that you had a proper session. The exercises he gives are some of the best you could do, and I still do a lot of them in a professional setup. He coached me when I was 14, and the mental development and grit I built training with him shaped me as a rugby player to get me to where I wanted to be. I'd definitely recommend him as a coach — he's very professional and easy to get along with.
Pricing

€180 · 12 weeks · No fluff

One programme. Everything included.

Athletic Development Academy
€180
Full 12-week programme
✓ Personalised programme built for your position and schedule
✓ Movement assessment before your programme is written
✓ Ongoing programme updates as you progress
✓ Direct access throughout the 12 weeks
✓
Performance guarantee If you've done the reps, been coached, and still aren't seeing a difference, you can request a full refund within the first 30 days.
Apply now
Before you apply

Read this first.

This programme is for players who are willing to be coached, willing to do the reps, and willing to do everything asked of them — every session, every week, for 12 weeks.

If that's you, you'll see the difference. If it isn't, this isn't the right programme.

Apply for the programme

Applications take two minutes · €180 for 12 weeks · No hidden costs

Common questions

FAQs

How does online coaching work?

You film your lifts. I review the footage and correct your technique. Regular check-ins adjust the plan as you progress. It's a live programme, not a static PDF.

I already train with my club and school — how does this fit in?

The programme is designed around your existing schedule from the start. We look at your training week — club sessions, matches, school commitments — and build into the gaps. It's not added on top. It fits around it.

I've never really trained in the gym before — is this for me?

Same standard from day one — whether you've never lifted or you're an advanced athlete. We build movement quality before adding load. That's what separates the players who keep progressing from the ones who stall at 17.

How does programming differ for forwards vs backs?

The base is the same — whole-body strength and athleticism, since both forwards and backs are still developing. The difference is in the details. Forwards do more bear crawl variations and contact preparation. Backs do more single-leg plyometrics that translate to catching high balls and accelerating off one leg.

The pitch doesn't wait.
The players who get there start now.

If you want to be the player that others can't handle physically — this is where you start.

Apply for the programme

€180 · 12 weeks · Places are limited