Wanderers voted club of the month

Published 8 Jan 2010 14:00 0 Comments

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PROUD DUO: Inverclyde development officer, Ian Forster, left, and Greenock Wanderers President, Dougie Sloan.

Greenock Wanderers celebrated 2009 and welcomed in 2010 with the presentation of the Scottish Hydro Club of the Month Award.

And with it came the £1000 prize which commends the club's on and off-field performance in November and the season so far.

The Inverclyde club have enjoyed an extraordinary start to their Scottish Hydro National Two campaign, winning 14 from 15 games by an average margin of 27 points.

In addition to their table-topping league performances, Greenock have been applauded for their flawless discipline in the month, and extensive rugby development, both from dedicated club volunteers and as a product of the partnership between the club, Scottish Rugby and Inverclyde Council to appoint a jointly-funded development officer, Ian Forster.

Forster, who played scrum-half for the club, said: "This award represents recognition of our investment in the recruitment of new young players, youth development and coach education - not just in November but over past year.

"It's great for the club as a whole and all the individuals who put in so much effort to help the club. It all helps to push the club forward and attract more players.

"The parental support is absolutely fantastic, the players are willing to muck in, there's a really good sense of family and that's what we're trying to promote.

"We have fantastic facilities here at Greenock.

"They're a great advert for the club as we try to attract new players to the game and bring a more professional ethos to our approach to developing rugby here in Inverclyde."

Since his appointment in the summer, Forster has dedicated his time to recruiting and retaining rugby players in the region.

He has also worked continuously to create links with schools to maximise the opportunities to play rugby and increase participation - a key aim of both Scottish Rugby and community rugby sponsor Scottish Hydro.

Wanderers now host a local combined school side from local secondary schools, Greenock Academy and Gourock High School - soon to be combined themselves into Clydeview Academy - while the club's senior players operate a volunteer scheme with local primary schools to deliver curriculum rugby alongside Inverclyde's Active Schools Co-ordinators, as well as secondary school under-15 and 16 teams.

Forster added: "Working with the Active Schools Co-ordinators, we run taster sessions in a host of primary schools as well as after school contact rugby in each cluster so, instead of asking each group of kids to come to us, we go to them.

"Our youth development team is bolstered by senior players who help coach the age-grade sides and deliver these training sessions. Importantly, we give the players feedback on their sessions while putting them through foundation coaching courses in a bid to simultaneously develop coaches as well as players at the club."

Greenock Wanderers President, Dougie Sloan, added: "What really pleases me is that, in addition to the support we already get from Scottish Rugby and Scottish Hydro, a somewhat geographically isolated club like Greenock are still very much on the radar and are recognised with such a prestigious national award.

"The club of the month award caps a great year for us.

"The new clubhouse is up and running, we have a new development officer and all, bar one, of our senior players are products of our mini and youth rugby.

"We are now beginning to see the success of investing in home grown talent, something we have been striving for over the last few years."

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 08 Jan 10

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