Peeblesshire News | Sport | Peebles challenge: let's start building

Thursday, 21st August, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 20th July, 2005 12:01

Peebles challenge: let's start building

PEEBLES Director of Rugby, Colin Thomson told the club's annual meeting that despite relegation to Division 3, it now had a strong base to build for the future.

`Yes there are still things that we could do better, but we now have more volunteers to action and help out with these things and yes as we grow we have to get better at communicating between the various playing sides of the club,` he said.

`But what we have now is the base line from which we can grow, we have a player pathway that can see a player progress through the mini/midi/school ranks and into the senior end of the club and we now have a good coaching structure in place.

`It is from this base that we can start to develop,` he added.

`As always the rugby side of the club needs countless numbers of volunteers and want to get involved in any small or large way your help will always be welcome.`

Looking back on the season, he said: `It has been very disappointing for the 1st XV with the withdrawal of coaching staff at the last minute and then injury to and unavailability of key players throughout the course of the season being a real problem.

`Despite this many players came in and demonstrated that they have what it takes to develop into key players for Peebles over the next four to five seasons.

`The Second XV once again had a very good season with a good blend of youth and experience and they were successful in winning the Border Junior League for the second time in three years.

`However, it was disappointing that a number of fixtures were called off and the standard of others was less than ideal, to this end the 2nd XV will be playing in the intercity 2nd XV leagues next season.

'The Third XV had the occasional run out on a Saturday/Friday night and offered an enjoyable level of rugby for those who simply wanted a run around.

`The Colts enjoyed a better season this year and with some of their key players being drafted into the 1st XV they did very well in finishing higher in the semi junior league than they have in recent years.

`This year's side is mainly an under-17 team so that boded well for next season.

`Our link with the school has gone from strength to strength and the club are now providing many volunteers who help to run the school teams,` he said.

`This has allowed us to ensure that there is an easier transition between the club and the school. This seasons S2 team did particularly well in qualifying for the National play offs and having a successful trip to Ireland.

`The Minis continue to provide a positive introduction to rugby for Primary schoolchildren and this is supplemented by the work of Ed Paton and James White in the local primary schools.

`In March 2003, I made the observation that if the club was to survive we had to start building on a more sustainable playing/volunteering and financial model.

`This was based on the on the fact that at the time we were basing all our resources in short term recruitment of players who in the short term made a huge difference to the performance on the park but in the long term would contribute very little off the park and in future years.

`In short these recruits became very high maintenance both financially and in terms of volunteer time.

`With these observations in mind and the fact that the SRU funding was going to be reduced by something in the region of 25K during the next two seasons, I went about the process of creating a more sustainable rugby model based on the financial parameters that we found ourselves in.

`As a result the performance end of our game, the 1st XV has suffered by relegation in both of the last two seasons but all other areas of the club are going from strength to strength.

`I believe that we are now in a far stronger position as a club, yes the 1st XV have been relegated but we should not simply measure the success of the club on its 1st XV performance.

`There are many other ways that we should be looking at the success of the club in player development etc,` he added.

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