Stratford Times September 20, 2024 Stratford native drafted second overall in professional rugby league LEE GRIFFI Times Correspondent You may not have heard of Ma- jor League Rugby (MLR), but Stratford’s Neil Trainor has and is about to embark on a professional career south of the border. Neil graduated from Queen’s University in Kingston i in Decem- ber with a degree in civil engi ing. He is currently in L B.C., working out with the Cana- dian Rugby Development Acad- emy where he came off the field recently and noticed two missed calls on his cell phone. The Caro- lina Anthem had drafted him sec- ond overall. “Tt definitely caught me by sur- prise. It was not what I was expect- ing going into this whole process. I wanted to go in the first round so I exceeded that and am very happy with the result.” The league did have a team in Toronto, but it folded for financial reasons. Trainor explained that door aod have closed, but another one oj “That fesin had an academy, so I played for them last summer. This summer, I was invited to Virginia to train at'a combine-style camp LEASE OR FINANCE Stratférd nissan 2024 SENTRA (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Stratford’s Neil Trainor was recently drafted second overall by the Caro- for the MLR. I wasn’t familiar with players from the US so it was an entirely new experience for me.” Trainor credits much of his success to playing in high school at Stratford District Secondary School and then with the Black QUALIFYING NISSAN OWNERS MAY RECEIVE UP TO 9%" $500 IN LOYALTY BONUS. lina Anthem Major League Rugby team in North Carolina. Swans club team. “That community, that group is so welcoming to new players and young players. It made it really easy for me as a young high school student to transition and train with these grown men who had been SACK ° ‘© SCHOOL SALE NISSAN MODELS 00h 2001 Ontario Street, Stratford ON playing rugby for a lot longer.” He added he had never heard of rugby until he sat down in David Redfern’s high school math class. “He is a rugby nut and got me pretty amped on it. I went out for some training sessions and fell in love with it. The Swans came to the high school and did a little pitch. They are so welcoming to new and young players; it made it easy for me to transition in and train with these grown men.” Trainor, who is 5 foot 10 inches and 235 pounds, plays a position called hooker, which is part of the front row consisting of two props and himself. “We are typically some of the bigger guys on the field. Ina scrum when we all come together, I am dead in the middle between the props and my job is to get the ball from being fed into the scrum out the back of it. Another role of the hooker is during a line out when I throw the ball into the players.” Along with playing professional rugby, a humble Trainor said he aspires io make the Canadian na- tional te “some guys T have trained with here at the academy have recent- ly gone on to play for ifaitional 519.273.3119 www-stratfordnissan.com STORE HOURS SALES: Mon-Thurs. 9:00-8:00; Fri-Sat. 9:00-6:00 PARTS AND SERVICE: Mon.-Sat. 8:00-5: 00, FoR YOUR CONVENIENCE, OUR SERVICE DEPT IS NOW OPEN ON SATURDAYS team. I would say I am within that range of players but it’s not for me to say. In January, Trainor will be moving to North Carolina to start pre-season camp with the Anthem. He hopes rugby will play a big role in his life going forward. “My goal has always been to test myself and see what my limits are. I’m going to keep working hard and trying to improve my game un- til I find whatever that ceiling is.” When asked what it is about the sport that has drawn him to it, Trainor explained rugby is the per- fect combination of physical, men- tal and tactical skill. “Tt doesn’t lean too heavily into ‘one of them and that allows for so many different playing styles and so many different people to play the sport. The other thing about ruby you can’t deny is the aspect of commu mn inor grew up playing eae aie soccer in Stratford but he said rugby is not like any other sport. “You play a hard game where Be are bern the hell out of each 5 end of it, both teams ch Son ee a meal and a few ‘inks and Just talk =a ‘up with other team.” SNe eee = ee