Gala
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Gala
RUGBY
Gala Rugby took the decision recently to return to their roots with a focus
on playing with passion for enjoyment and have enjoyed a fine start to
the new campaign with plenty of attacking rugby on display. Rugby Club
Magazine recently caught up with their Vice President Ian Dalgleish to
find out more about the good work they’ve been doing lately.
He told us, “I am currently Vice
President of the Club, elected to the
position in June this year. Having been
born and brought up in the town and
been away for over 40 years working
in the construction industry I was keen
to offer my business knowledge and
experience to help the Club now that I
have retired back to the Borders.”
“As the club is managed by
volunteers, all roles take up a
significant amount of time
which can be challenging
for all of us. At the end
of last season we were
relegated from the
BT Premiership and
are now in National
League 1.
“During the close
season our membership
took the view that we
should stop paying players
as it was becoming financially
unsustainable and putting the club’s
future at risk. This decision resulted in
an exodus of players and a concern for
our ability to compete in the new season,
albeit in a lower league.
56 Issue 75
“Fortunately, a small number of
key players did stay with the club
including our Captain Graham Spiers.
These experienced players, including
our longest serving forward Chris Weir
along with our coaching team of Chris
Dalgleish and Opeta Palepoi, who
also agreed to stay with the club have
managed to instil a brand of attacking
and enjoyable rugby in the
largely junior team we are
now running.
“It has been very
encouraging
and
enjoyable to witness
a
team
playing
with passion and
enjoyment.
Our
results so far have
been excellent with six
wins from our first seven
league games and are sitting
in third place with everything
to play for over the rest of the season.
“A combination of the team returning
a bit to its roots and playing attractive
attacking rugby has generated a much
improved atmosphere in and around the
club and increased attendances home
and away. Some of that improvement
probably also stems from the fact that
most of the NL1 teams have a similar
culture and with three other Border
teams in NL1 there are some tasty local
derbies as well!
“We have a very good youth section
which starts with minis (primary
school) and progresses trough juniors
to our senior teams. Our input to youth
development and coaching is directly
influenced by our Youth Development
Officer, Gregor Hunter who is heavily
involved with the local secondary school
promoting and coaching rugby.
“We have two junior teams affiliated
to the club in Gala Red Triangle (under
16’s) and Gala Wanderers (under
18). We have already seen the benefit
of some Wanderers players coming
directly through to the senior teams
this year and undoubtedly our whole
youth development programme is
vital to the future sustainability of
the club. We not only promote and
develop our youth section but also have
started a ladies section, the Vixens,
which we are keen to develop further.