Boroughmuir
Gavin Parker
Football, Cala Hockey, Boroughmuir Hockey, and St Andrews
Boat Club. Our community involvement is at the core of
everything we do.
We run a Community ‘Canalside’ café, which is open 7
days, and provides a great cup of coffee and a bite to eat for
the general community. We have also opened up our gym,
EnergyGym, to the community, with many clubs and over
600 individual members regularly using the facility. We have
hundreds of users of the clubhouse who have no connection
otherwise with club.”
Challenges
“We’ll have to balance ambition with the need to maintain
sustainable operations. We’ll also need to persuade those who
may be sceptical of SUPER6, within and out-with the club, that
this is an opportunity rather than a threat.
Rugby, like many sports, faces increasing challenges to
participation, membership and attendances, from external
factors. People have many alternative ways to spend their time,
and we’ll need to work hard to keep those already involved in
rugby, and to attract new faces.”
Ambitions
“We have a lot of ambition at the club, and we’ll look to
cement our SUPER6 position. Over the next couple of years,
we want to see players coming through our Academy, and
representing Boroughmuir Bears in the SUPER6. We want
to push players up the chain to professional rugby. We’ll
improve the professionalisation of the club’s running, and
develop our partnerships with other clubs to maximise our
joint opportunities in facilities development and sporting
participation.
John Saunderson of Saunderson’s Butchers
has had a long family association with
Boroughmuir Rugby Club. He told us,
“My dad Ian, who sadly passed away in
1993, was a great fan and supporter of the
club and sponsored them from the eighties
till today.
I was a pupil at Boroughmuir High and
played a few seasons of social rugby for
Boroughmuir in my mid-twenties usually
as standoff. I get down to the club as
often as I can and believe the new Super 6
will be very good for Scottish Rugby as a
whole, allowing more players the chance
to progress onto the international stage.
Myself and all the staff at Saunderson’s
would like to congratulate the club for all
their great community efforts and wish
them all the very best for next season!”
We want to work with the whole community to make
our joint vision for the community hub a reality, namely, ‘To
provide the best facilities, friendliest and most inclusive sports
hub in Edinburgh, which motivates and inspires everyone to
become more active, thus creating a confident, healthy and
vibrant community.”
www.rugbyclubmag.com
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