New coaches look to the future for club Graham and Andy take on mini and midi sections
Perthshire Rugby has added two new roles as the ambitious North Inch-based club looks to prosper further in the years ahead.
Graham Smith has been named as coach educator for the mini section, while Andy Cummins takes on the same title for the midi section.
Both positions will ensure that coaches are fully supported throughout their time at the club and players have an enhanced experience when joining and playing at Perthshire.
Graham has been involved with rugby in the Midlands area since 2010 and is currently director of sport and head of rugby at Glenalmond.
Despite a lack of on-field activity currently due to the coronavirus pandemic, an excitement remains about what lies ahead.
“For a long time I have believed and shared the vision in what the development team and leadership at
Perthshire Rugby have been doing,” Graham said.
“I have been on the periphery for a while, coming in occasionally to help with senior coaching or at the mini festival and really believe in the vision and direction the club is going.
“I am a firm believer in supporting your local rugby club and also that if we get the coaching right, the numbers in the club right, then the club can achieve great things on and off the pitch.
“The fact that the club manages to host the beer festival and one of the biggest mini tournaments each year, as well as host Glasgow Warriors and Harlequins for a pre-season fixture, tells you how much of a sleeping giant the club actually is.”
Andy is a familiar face down at the North Inch having been involved as a player, coach and volunteer for the best part of 20 years and is keen to support the club in its latest venture.
He is currently employed by the rugby development department of Scottish Rugby as a regional manager covering the Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross regions.
“Perthshire Rugby has been at the forefront of community rugby development in Scotland for over 15 years,” Andy explained. “And many of those programmes and strategies have been adopted by other clubs, sports and national governing bodies.
“However, you should never take these successes for granted and if progression and excellence is to be achieved and maintained then we need to strive to maintain that consistency of performance and delivery and create growth in our knowledge and expertise of the game.”
The return of competitive rugby at a local level remains “under review”, according to the sport’s governing body.
The resumption of action was initially to be looked at in January, but the situation changed as a result of the bulk of Scotland being moved to a full national lockdown from December 26 in response to a rising virus infection rate and a more transmissible COVID-19 variant.
A spokesperson said: “Scottish Rugby will continue to review the ‘Return to Rugby’ guidance, in line with updates from the Scottish Government, and keep member clubs updated as much as possible.”