Stirling County Rugby Football Club

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1 Page 1 of 5 Annual General Meeting - 30 May 2013 President s Report As President of Stirling County RFC, it gives me immense pleasure to report on another successful season across all levels of this great rugby club. Firstly, I will highlight the many achievements of our teams and players during a season which saw County sides compete throughout Scotland, play in England and Wales and travel as far afield as France and Madrid. County again proved that we are undoubtedly the best rugby development club in the country, under-lined by six County players playing for Scotland Under-20s in this season s Six Nations Championship and all selected for the forthcoming IRB Junior World Championship in France Adam Ashe, Jamie Bhatti, Reyner Kennedy, Rory Hughes, Ruairidh Leishman and Mark Bennett. County s elite development players Sean Kennedy and Rob McAlpine graduated to the professional ranks appearing for Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby in the Pro-12 and Heineken Cup, with Garry Mountford also making a cameo appearance for the Warriors. Former County star Grant Gilchrist earned his first international cap in the Six Nations. Well done to all our young players who have risen to higher levels in the sport, a credit to themselves and Stirling County. County s Under-18s are the most successful youth team in Scotland, again winning the Caledonia League and under Millan Brown s guidance retaining the National Youth League Cup for the third successive season and for the fifth time in six years, with a convincing 29 5 win in the final against Gala Wanderers at Murrayfield. County have now won this trophy eleven times a proud record indeed. Three of our Under-18 players were recognised in the Scotland age-grade squads, with Archie Russell playing his part in the European Under-18 championships in France under the guidance of County stalwart Eddie Pollock. Mathew Smith and Lewis Wynne were called up to the Scotland Under-17 and Under-16 squads respectively. County s Under-16s won the Caledonia League and reached the National Youth League Cup quarter-finals, while the Under-15s reached the semi-final of the Caledonia Cup and finished a very credible 12 th in the Orthez International Festival. The S1s/S2s enjoyed a successful tour to north-east of England. To finish off a successful season County s midis won an unprecedented clean sweep at the prestigious Gala Red Triangle Sevens tournament, winning all age-groups from S1 to U16s. County s Mini Rugby P5 to P7 teams gave a very good account of themselves on their Taming the Dragon Tour of South Wales, and all mini age-groups from P3 to P7 have had much success at mini tournaments throughout the season. The County mini tournament and P3 festival were a tremendous success with clubs from all over

2 Page 2 of 5 the country participating. Unfortunately the inaugural Meet in the Middle mini event succumbed at the 11 th hour to the relentless wet weather. I would like to thank all our Mini, Midi and Youth coaches, team managers, convenors, volunteers and parents for ensuring that Stirling County continues to be at the forefront of rugby development at all ages, with an inclusive approach to all our communities. This was never more evidenced than by the mini-rugby match between pupils from Cornton and Raploch Primary Schools who played before the Premiership match between County and Dundee, and in so doing introduced a whole new group of children and parents to our sport. Particular thanks go the club s Rugby Development Officer Millan Browne for his successful outreach work with local schools and forging links with Stirling University, and also to our Director of Rugby Eric Urquhart who has taken forward the rugby element of the School of Sport at Wallace High. We recognise the need to keep moving forward in terms of player development, and we are at an advanced planning stage of introducing an academy structure initially within our S2 to Under-16s age groups, with the aim of enhancing the skills development, strength and conditioning of our young players as they enter this key phase of their development, and further improve the coaching. This will ensure that there is a future supply of home-grown talent for our senior teams. County s Women s team won Premier Two with a 100% winning record, continuing their rise through the leagues and will be playing in the top flight next season. Our Women also finished runners-up in the National Plate final at Murrayfield, and hosted their first successful Sevens Tournament, where they finished runners-up; I have no doubt that this event will quickly establish itself as the principle Women s sevens tournament in the country. Vicki Gray and Megan Thomson were selected for the Scotland Under-20 training squad and Megan Kennedy for the Scotland Under-18s. Thanks go to David McMillan and Duncan Fisher for passing on their skills and knowledge to our Women s team. In senior men s rugby, County s 3 rd XV / Bridgehaugh team under the management of Stuart Cameron, competed in the Caledonia Midland Leagues, while County's 2 nd XV coached by Alan Blair assisted by Ian Mackay, finished in the top half of National Reserve League One, with postponements denying them a higher finish. The 1 st XV had another successful season finishing third in the RBS Premiership under the guidance of head coach Graeme Young, assisted by Henry Edwards, in another dramatic and unforgettable finale at Dundee. County beat every team in the league with the exception of champions Ayr. This was County s highest league finish for 17 years, continuing the year-on year improvement over the past four seasons. In our debut season in the British & Irish Cup, County finished a very respectable second in Pool 2, behind English Championship play-off finalists Bedford Blues, whom we ran close in the home match, and we finished ahead of Neath and Bedwas, with memorable victories over the Principality Premiership leaders in the valleys and the Welsh All-Blacks at home. Thanks to Lorne for managing our travel arrangements and to he and Al for their long-distance driving of the playing kit and luggage.

3 Page 3 of 5 Our Club Captain, having just completed his seventh season at the helm, will reflect on these campaigns in his following report. County also won our own Ondeo Stirling County Sevens Tournament for the first time in many years, and were awarded the most hospitable rugby club by the Caledonia Referees Society. I would like to thank all our senior coaches, team managers, physios, doctors, video operators, fixture secretary and all involved behind the scenes, too numerous to mention, who ensure we regularly field three teams on Saturdays, with match officials, and for ensuring match days at Bridgehaugh are both a welcoming and enjoyable experience for all who attend. At Stirling County we have over 450 players, who train and play rugby at Bridgehaugh Park every week. Over recent years, the lack of surface water drainage to the playing pitches and training areas, coupled with the high level of usage, has resulted in many rugby matches and training sessions being adversely affected or cancelled due to the wet conditions and poor state of the pitches. To address this, the Club applied for and were successfully awarded a grant from SportScotland to complete the second phase of drainage work on our two main playing pitches along with improvements to the 3rdXV / Under-18s pitch. This work is well underway, and should provide higher quality playing surfaces. It is further intended to complete the drainage of the training pitch and other areas, as a final phase of improvements next year. This year s investment on the playing pitches amounts to 60,000, which is 50% funded through the grant from SportScotland, with the remainder to be financed by the Club. As a contribution towards the costs of these essential pitch drainage works, we are asking each member for a donation of 25 (or more if you wish) to be paid in addition to your annual membership subscription. I do hope you will support this important investment by your Club, which will see improved playing and training facilities for all our players. We are grateful for all the work undertaken by John Wright, John Souter, the Grounds Committee and volunteers who continued to maintain and improve our pitches at Bridgehaugh we undoubtably have one of the finest rugby facilities in the country. Similarly, off the field, thanks are due to Nick Davies, Jack McAndrew (who is standing down as house convenor) and the regular volunteers who tirelessly work within the facilities, undertaking a range of maintenance and decoration work and also assisting with setting up the marquee for functions. Thanks also to Ishbel and Alastair for their running of the Club Shop and setting up hospitality lunches. We need more volunteers to help with all these important tasks so please come forward and offer what skills and assistance you can it will be gratefully received.

4 Page 4 of 5 We should also acknowledge the assistance provided by RBS Rugby Force and Waitrose, with the latter providing manual labour and materials as part of their community partnership programme. We have further plans to improve our facilities over the coming year, particularly in respect of enhancements to the functions marquee. Unfortunately at the end of February we suffered a break-in and theft at the Club, as a result we have further upgraded our security systems. A week later we were afflicted by a food-related virus which regrettably affected many attendees at our annual Sportsman s Dinner not of the Club s making, but nevertheless a very serious incident. On a positive note, we launched a new state-of-the-art website designed by Vizibility and maintained by 2e-volve, which allows us to market the Stirling County brand more effectively, while improving the communications and promotion of the Club. Our social calendar was much enhanced, with the perennial key events, including Ally s Race Night, supplemented by the Second Red, White & Black Ball, Ladies Day Lunch and a variety of other fundraising events and Members Evenings. Thanks to Kelly for organising these events. Our Club is also a place to socialise and I would ask you all to frequent the Club as much as you can and support our fundraising event you ll have a great time in the process. The Club is also a business of sizeable turnover approaching 0.5M and with that comes all the responsibilities and duties of running our two companies. I would like to thank Ray for his prudence and diligence in administering the Club s finances in the face of ever-rising cost pressures Ray will advise of the financial performance in his following report. Sponsorship is also a very important income stream to our club, and we are extremely grateful to the many companies who have and continue to provide valuable support to our Club. We are working hard to attract other businesses and individuals to join us and become part of the successful County brand. More news on sponsorship as we approach the start of next season. In terms of our Club Development Plan our strategy document that we updated last year we are on track with progress against our key objectives both on and off the field. I would also like to thank our Club staff, Elizabeth and Al, our young bar staff and weekend cleaners who keep all aspects of the club ticking over. I particularly want to thank Beverley, who has worked in the Club Office for the past ten years, and for most of that time as Club Manager. Beverley has decided to hang up her boots so to speak and retires tomorrow. On behalf of all at our Club, I would like to present Beverley with a token of our appreciation for all the effort and commitment, not to mention the time Beverley has devoted to keeping all aspects of the Club running smoothly.

5 Page 5 of 5 We have engaged a new Bar & Functions Manager, Rebecca McBride, who will take over that aspect of the Club Manager s role, with a focus on further increasing facility hires and bar income, which is such an important and continuous revenue source to the club. I would also like to thank Neil Waller and Stuart Keys for carrying out their Directors duties over the past years, both are stepping down from the Board but will continue to be actively involved in various capacities within the Club. I also thank Ian for continuing to keep us in order as Company Secretary. At this juncture we should also remember the friends of the Club that we have sadly lost over the past year, including our International Ticket Secretary Byron Milton, who recently passed away. All will certainly be sadly missed. Finally, our Club doesn t standstill, and we are already looking forward to and planning for the challenges of next season. County will again be competing at the very highest level of club rugby, with another full programme of RBS Premiership, British & Irish Cup and Scottish Cup matches. Our Women s Team will be playing in Premier One for the first time, our 2 nd XV in National Reserve League One, the 3 rd XV in the Midland Leagues, and with the possibility of long awaited national competition at Under-18s and Under-16s, along with our thriving midi and mini rugby sections We can all look forward with optimism to further success for this great Club next season, and which you will all be part of. I thank you for your support over the last 12 months. Kevin Robertson President Stirling County RFC 30 May 2013