On Wednesday 03rd June 2015, Glasgow Life Rugby Development ran an S1/S2 combined area school’s tournament for schools from Glasgow City. The event took place at Cartha Queen’s Park RFC in the Southside of Glasgow. The event included players from every school in the City who offer Rugby in a competitive environment including 9 players from Clydebank schools.
The following schools were represented in the teams:
• From the North East of the city – St. Andrew’s RC Secondary School, All Saints Secondary, and Bannerman High School.
• From the South of the city – Shawlands Academy, Holyrood Secondary School, and King’s Park Secondary School.
• From the North West of the city – Hillhead High, Knightswood Secondary, St Thomas Aquinas + 9 boys from Clydebank Schools

The event was organised as part of the Glasgow City Rugby Development Plan. This was therefore an exciting and unique opportunity for these school players to experience a full 15 a-side game of Rugby on a full field. It also allowed for schools to interact with each other bringing players together from different areas of the City and breaking down any barriers which could potentially be cause for concern.

On the day of the event,schools arrived at Cartha QP RFC between 16:00 & 16:30. They were greeted by our Rugby Development staff, whoshowed them to the changing facilities. Once all schools had arrived and changed into their match kit, they made their way to the side pitch in preparation for a 17:00kick off. Teams were put through their paces and final preparations by their specific coaches: Colin Sturgeon (Glasgow East DO), Steven Meenagh (Glasgow North West DO), Andrew Lamont (Glasgow South DO), Gary Strain (Glasgow Hawks DO), Stephen Leckey (Clydebank RFC DO), Rory Harte (MA), Declyn Carroll (MA), Dylan Fisher (MA) and Aimee Watson (MA).

Fixtures were played in a round robin format, which guaranteed each team 2 matches. Games took place on a full Rugby field, with contested 8 man scrums & contested lineouts. It was the first time many of these players had played on a full pitch and 15 a-side, so the experience was great for them. Games lasted 40 minutes, with two 20 minute halves. Every game was tightly contested with North West being eventually beaten by North East despite a late come back. The South were next up to play the North West Schools side and won by 2 tries, again after a late rush of tries from the North West team. This left the final game the decider between North East v South, North East scored a last minute try to leave on the day as unbeaten.

The feedback on the day was extremely positive and there were some strong school links built as a result of this tournament.
As the schools weren’t directly involved with this tournament, this meant that all the players on the day had to make their own way to Cartha QP for the games, which again provided them with more responsibility. In Rugby Development we continually aim to not only produce better Rugby players but also all round better individuals, and by providing them with opportunities like the above (mixing with people from other schools, creating team spirits, responsibility for travel arrangements etc), we are continuing to do this for children in Glasgow City.