EK RUGBY APPOINT CATHERINE TO TOP ROLE
Youngster is first female development officer
East Kilbride Rugby Club have broken new ground with the appointment of their first female Development Officer, 17-year-old Catherine Crichton.
Former Duncanrig pupil Catherine takes over from Ross Hynde who has moved on to pastures new.
The post of Rugby Development Officer has a long and storied history at EKRFC, dating back to the early 1990’s when Gerry Baines first launched a programme that was revolutionary in this country, Baines having brought the idea over from New Zealand with him.
Iconic figures within the club such as Glen Tippett, who used the post as a base on which to forge a successful career within the SRU, and Fraser Stott followed in Baines footsteps.
EKRFC academy director, David Eadie, said: “There was no preconceived notion that we should appoint a female to the post.
“Rather, it was just that Catherine was the best candidate by a mile, impressing not only the selection panel at the club in her first interview but also coming across brilliantly in the final SRU interview at Murrayfield.
“There is, however, a pleasing symmetry to the process in that our girls section is by a distance the fastest growing within the club, with nearly 30 turning up for the first full training session of the season last Friday.
“Additionally, Elaine Martin, the driving force behind the girls team, was awarded the Scottish Rugby Union’s Volunteer of the Year in May”.
Eadie explained that Catherine’s role will see her take the game into Primary Schools across South Lanarkshire and thinks that her own fairly recent introduction to the game, along with her ambition to become a PE teacher, sees her as the ideal person to introduce youngsters to rugby.
“Sometimes when a player has been involved in rugby all of their days they can find it tricky to explain the basics as those aspects come naturally to them,” he said.
“Catherine, however, only started playing three years ago.
“Combine this with the work she already does within the girls section with their new recruits and she was able to impress everyone on the SRU Selection Panel with a clear understanding of the game and her explanation of how she breaks the game down to its fundamentals: an essential skill when introducing primary school boys and girls to the game.”
• Meanwhile, on Saturday EK’s first team were forced to concede their Regional Shield first round match against Allan Glens as they could not field a front row.
The club are also continuing their search for a new manager following Fraser Watt’s resignation last week.