Success again for County youth academy
Stirling County’s successful youth rugby academy has picked up yet another honour.
For the second year in a row, the Bridgehaugh club has won the Mitsubishi Shogun Conference which sees teams at S1, S2, U15, U16 and U18s take part.
After a tough season, County came through to defend the title by a solitary point over Boroughmuir.
Club president John Wright said: “This is fantastic recognition for all involved in the club including all of the players, coaches and parents.
“I also think this is great testament to the investment we have made in our academy and I really believe this is key to building our strength for the future of senior rugby at the club.
“It is also really important for the part we hope to play in helping kids from our community develop their potential whilst having a lot of fun and sharing memories that will last a lifetime.”
The U18s went through their conference league unbeaten - and with a squad big enough to field two teams, the B squad had a similar season in the Mitsubishi Motors Caledonia League.
They clinched the championship in style with a 60-20 win over Falkirk to give them the title -12 months after they shared with Kirkcaldy.
Matt McGrandles, Stirling County 18s head coach, said:“The Under 18s set up over these last few seasons at the club has been a privilege to be part of. I have some amazing and dedicated people around me that are as focused as I am on delivering the best possible performance driven experience for players as we can.
“It’s important all our players are challenged and developed and you will hear a lot of chat surrounding physical conditioning but we also look at mental conditioning in partnership with this.
“We call this‘County Culture’and one of my main aims is the retention of players as they transition to our senior club.”
The squads focus now turns to defending the National Youth Cup Title in January where the finalists play at Murrayfield in March. They will also enter the‘B’team into the regional Caledonia Cup at the same time, which the U18s last won in 2016.