Multi sport athletes are fairly common in American high schools and colleges but it’s something we see less of here in Australia.

Trinity and NSW Gen Blue winger Theo Kidd might change that though, if his efforts in recent years are anything to go by.

Kidd began playing rugby as a 9-year old in the Blue Mountains and continued after enrolling at Trinity in year six.

He split his time in his younger years between rugby, rugby league, athletics and basketball but stopped playing the oval ball codes in his early teens to focus elsewhere.

“I started off as a high jumper and my last competitive jump was 2 metres when I was 15,” Kidd told Rugby News.

“I started to have trouble with my knees though and high jumping was causing me a lot of pain so I moved across to hurdles.

“I was also really interested in basketball and was probably planning to pursue that after school, but my knees weren’t suited to that either.”

Kidd humbly left out the fact that his transition to hurdles saw him claim a silver medal at the World School Athletics Championships in 2019.

But a year later, he was back playing rugby and after starting the 2020 season in the second XV, Kidd scored a hattrick against Cranbrook in his CAS first XV debut.

Since then, he’s had a similar impact in almost every game he’s played.

“I love the team environment in rugby. Athletics is an individual sport. You train on your own and you compete on your own and if you succeed or fail, it’s all on you,” Kidd explained.

“Basketball is a team game, but one player can still score most the points and win the game for you, whereas rugby you really need every player to do their job.”

“My athletics background really helps in rugby, particularly with my speed and I sort of base my game around that.

“I’ve also got really long arms and legs so that helps me fend off defenders and I think my long legs make it harder to tackle me. I’m skinnier than most of the other players though so sometimes I get hit pretty hard still.”

Size is something Kidd is working hard on and after gaining 10kgs in three months earlier this year, the winger earned selection in the NSW Gen Blue squad.

He’s expected to play against QLD U18s later this year but before that, he’s focused on helping Trinity capitalise on their strong start to the 2021 CAS season.

“We play Cranbrook in our first game back and that’s going to be a tough one, then we play Waverley and Barker in the final two rounds.

“They’re probably two of the best rugby schools in Australia, but I think we can match it with them if we play our best and keep plenty of belief.”