It was another busy week of rugby in Easter Ross, and this working week started for me on a Sunday of all days.

Being the good sport that I am, I agreed to referee the under 16s match between Ross-Sutherland and the combined Moray/Huntly team. I am not going to lie, I did go into the game with a couple of doubts, as this was my first time refereeing in about 3 years and my last experience was memorable for all the wrong reasons....

Thankfully though, the sun was shining, the rugby was excellent and Ross came away with a well-deserved 53-15 win. The future is looking bright!

This week has been a successful and exciting week in the world of secondary school rugby. Another block of curriculum rugby has begun, and this time it’s in my old stomping ground, Invergordon Academy.

There are always mixed emotions going back to your own school after all these years, all the funny memories that pop into your head as you stroll down the corridors, although this time you’re on first name basis with the teachers, something which is hard to get used to!

With the help of Gareth Braddick, famous outside back for the Ross-Sutherland 1st XV and renowned English teacher in the school, the after school club commenced with an excellent attendance of 10 new players on the first night.

In other schools, Alness Academy have started their senior girls rugby, again with 10 girls coming along to the first session and plenty more looking to join up. In Dingwall Academy both junior and senior boys have rugby on the go again with sessions in the double figures.

Now for this weeks highlight. I was invited along to the Dingwall Academy sports fair on Thursday along with 15 other sports clubs (from golf to gymnastics) all crammed into a small sports hall trying to win the attention and attendance of the pupils, with the aim of giving all pupils of Dingwall Academy a taster of what our sport had to offer them.

I was delighted with the response for rugby with over 15 senior girls asking for an after school club to be set up! My target is now to get this up and running in the next couple weeks, which means three schools in the area would now have Girls Rugby. This is beyond impressive!

It was great to spend the day with other local sports clubs, to discuss the ins and outs of their clubs and how the clubs could work together in the future.

Looking forward, we are in the final stages of planning our first primary open day for the Ross-Sutherland RFC and releasing the forms for our annual October Holidays Rugby Camp, so keep your eyes and ears open for this.

Don’t forget that this weekend the 1st XV are playing Highland RFC, this is our derby match and a rivalry older than sliced bread and I can guarantee it is going to be a nail biter of a game, kick off is 3 o’clock in Inverness so get along and support the boys if you can.

Chur
John Mann, Community and Rugby Development Officer
Ross-Sutherland RFC