Local rugby club, The Boroughmuir Banshees, had a once in a lifetime opportunity to train with Scottish internationalist Pierre Schoeman.
The programme was launched by Scottish Building Society when it became the main club partner of Edinburgh Rugby and sees youth rugby teams apply for a training session with various rugby stars.
Held on Monday 6 May, the team were put through their paces by the loosehead prop alongside Glen Young, lock, Harri Morris, hooker and Sarah Denholm, fly half from Scotland and Edinburgh Rugby women’s team.
Training at Hive Stadium, they were joined by Howe of Fife under 18’s girls team, Muntly under 15’s boys club and Falkirk Rugby Club under 15’s for an incredible opportunity to train with their heroes.
Edinburgh Rugby and Scotland, prop, Pierre Schoeman said: “It was an incredible day out and it was great to see all the teams come along to Hive and give their all in the training sessions.
“There are a few players who I will need to keep my eye on in the coming years. This might be the first of many games they play here at Edinburgh!”
“I would like to thank Boroughmuir Banshees for all their effort and wish the girls all the best in their upcoming games”.
Paul Denton, chief executive, Scottish Building Society said:“When we first launched this programme back in 2022 we wanted to give youth teams a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience to train with rugby players who are at the top of their game.
“We have now held three sessions with 10 teams joining Edinburgh Rugby stars for an inspiration level of access to elite athletes that would otherwise not be possible.
“We at Scottish Building Society hope all four teams had a fantastic day and thank them and of course Pierre Schoeman and the rest of the Edinburgh Rugby players for hosting this session for us.”
Scottish football joins Scottish Rugby in backing Police Scotland’s That Guy sexual crime prevention campaign
The That Guy Scotland campaign is highlighting the positive role sport can play in encouraging men to speak out against behaviours that can lead to sexual offending.
SPFL and Scottish Rugby are helping men join the conversation and be part of the solution:
Football fans will see the campaign featuring at the Viaplay Cup semi-finals at Hampden this weekend, when Hibs take on Aberdeen, and Hearts face Rangers.
The Scottish Professional Football League is backing the campaign for the first time, joining long-time supporters like Scottish Rugby.
This latest phase of the award-winning That Guy campaign focuses on the positive role sport can play in influencing men’s attitudes and encouraging them to speak out against behaviours that can lead to sexual offending.
Social media influencers will share advice on how men can get off the sidelines and safely challenge inappropriate banter and behaviour that makes women feel unsafe.
Assistant Chief Constable Bex Smith, Police Scotland said: “Not all men are a threat to women, but all men have the opportunity to help tackle the attitudes and actions that make women feel unsafe in everyday life.
“Banter and other behaviours that are abusive or derogatory towards women can seem harmless in the changing room or on a night out with friends, but these behaviours are rooted in male entitlement, and if left untackled, could lead to offending.
“It’s up to men to take action, step in, have a word with a friend and stop sexual offending before it starts.”
Calum Beattie, chief operating officer for the SPFL, said: “Football’s position as Scotland’s national sport enables it to play a uniquely positive and influential role in society.
“A number of SPFL clubs have previously participated in ‘That Guy’ and we’re proud to lend our further support to this award-winning and important campaign.
“We look forward to helping tens of thousands of supporters to learn more about its important message during the Viaplay Cup semifinals.”
A spokesperson for Scottish Rugby said: “We’ve been proud to work with Police Scotland and host workshops for our men’s and women’s players at international, pro-team and Academy levels, where we have explored the importance of their sexual crime prevention campaign.
“We’re determined to share the drive for male allyship, whether through big screen and match programme messaging at Scotland international matches, or, our next step, through taking the campaign directly out to clubs, so that it can be shared across communities.”
This stage of Police Scotland’s That Guy campaign launched on Monday, 30 October 2023 and will run throughout November.
New content will be published on www.that-guy.co.uk and social media channels:
● The All Blacks stopped off in Edinburgh today on their Northern Hemisphere tour to inspire children across Scotland to get moving.
● This is the All Blacks’ first visit to Scotland since 2017, and tomorrow they will face Scotland in the highly-anticipated Autumn Internationals match.
● The All Blacks are supporting The Daily Mile to help millions of children improve health & wellbeing by exercising for 15 minutes a day.
● All Blacks Captain Sam Whitelock said:“It’s fantastic to be in Scotland supporting the charity of our sponsor INEOS and getting the chance to run alongside the kids and teach them some of our best rugby moves! We’ve been so impressed by the work The Daily Mile is doing to get kids more active and bring communities together through daily exercise – it’s something so simple but effective that everyone can benefit from.”
The All Blacks took time out from their Northern Hemisphere tour today to visit schoolchildren in Edinburgh to help inspire more children across the country to get active through The Daily Mile.
60 local school children from Leith Walk Primary School had the opportunity to take part in a very special Daily Mile with their guests from New Zealand and receive rugby skills coaching from All Blacks players at an event day hosted at Drummond Community High School.
This comes as Scottish children stepped their way into the history books in October, making Scotland the world’s first Daily Mile Nation. It means that more than half of Scottish primary schools are now participating in The Daily Mile.
The initiative encourages children to run, jog, wheel or walk for just 15 minutes a day in the fresh air with friends – promoting mental and physical wellbeing, which is especially important to help reduce the strain on the NHS this winter. Teachers can also take part alongside children, strengthening important school relationships and attainment outcomes.
It was started by former Head Teacher Elaine Wyllie MBE of St Ninian’s Primary in Stirling in 2012 and has grown every year, with the support of INEOS. Globally, there are now nearly 4 million children taking part in 16,000+ schools in 87 countries around the world. It is endorsed by some of the most successful athletes including marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, British track and field athlete Eilidh Doyle and the All Blacks.
Founder of The Daily Mile Elaine Wyllie MBE, said: “We are forever grateful for the incredible support we receive from athletes around the world and we can’t thank the All Blacks enough for taking time out of their busy schedules to come down and share their passion for daily exercise with the local schoolchildren.
“Their influence really does go a long way to inspire kids to get active outdoors and join in with their schoolmates. Just 15 minutes of daily physical activity improves a child’s mood, concentration and memory – enhancing their ability to learn.”
All Blacks Captain Sam Whitelock, said: “It’s fantastic to be in Scotland supporting the charity of our sponsor INEOS and getting the chance to run alongside the kids and teach them some of our best rugby moves!
“We’ve been so impressed by the work The Daily Mile is doing to get kids more active and bring communities together through daily exercise – it’s something so simple but effective that everyone can benefit from.”
Headteacher at Leith Walk Primary Mr. Gorrie, added: “This has been a terrific opportunity for the children at Leith Walk Primary School to take part in the Daily Mile alongside the All Blacks, and to receive some rugby coaching from the most famous of all international teams.
“The children have had a terrific time today. They were so excited to meet the All Blacks. “Seeing the amazing skill and fitness of the All Black players first hand, will certainly have increased the children’s motivation to be active and participate in sport.
“On behalf of everybody who attended I would like to say a huge thank you to the All Blacks and wish them all the very best for the rest of their Northern Hemisphere tour. I hope they visit us again soon!”
The City of Edinburgh Council and Corstorphine Cougars RFC is celebrating a £50,000.00 funding boost from SUEZ Communities Trust and the FCC Communities Foundation for a rugby pitch drainage project at Union Park.
Corstorphine Cougars Rugby Club lease two rugby pitches from the City of Edinburgh Council at Union Park in Carrick Knowe.
One of the pitches is floodlit to facilitate evening training sessions. The growth in playing numbers in recent years has meant that the pitch is regularly in demand 7 days a week.
The club’s success, notably in recruiting primary and secondary schoolchildren (girls and boys) and senior women players, has been undermined by poor drainage effectively making it unusable for long periods during the winter months.
This funding will enable the installation of an environmentally sustainable drainage solution (SuDS) at the park. The project is planned to be completed in late March by Groundwater Dynamics using their patented EGRP technology.
Councillor Amy McNeese-Mechan, Culture and Communities Vice Convener welcomed the news: “As a Council we are committed to promoting and supporting access to sport and physical wellbeing and this is a fantastic result for Union Park.
“I look forward to seeing work get underway to install the environmentally sustainable draining solution and seeing the pitches being enjoyed all year round.
“We will continue to work with sports clubs across the capital to look at how we can best manage facilities.”
Stewart Pilkington, Corstorphine Cougars RFC President, said: “We’ve been very successful in growing the club in the last few years.
“This project will be a game changer in improving the club’s training and playing facilities as we push forward with our development plans and continue to encourage participation in rugby in the west of Edinburgh. We are very grateful to each of the funders for their valuable contributions.”
SUEZ Communities Trust and FCC Communities Foundation each contributed £25,000 through the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund to the £65,000 project.
Funding from the City of Edinburgh Council’s North West Locality Community Grants Fund, the Scottish Rugby Union, Friends of Scottish Rugby and the rugby club itself made up the balance.
Ardrossan Accies under 16s won a rare opportunity to spend a day in the shoes of their sporting idols thanks to Courtyard by Marriott Edinburgh West and Oriam.
The four-star hotel, situated on Heriot-Watt University campus, joined forces with Oriam, Scotland’s national performance centre for sport, to offer one lucky team a money-can’t-buy training day – and the Ayrshire youngsters recently redeemed their prize.
The 16 boys spent 24 hours in the life of a professional player, which included a two-hour training session in world class facilities coached by Scottish Rugby Union professional Gavin Scott.
Following the high-octane training at Oriam, they relaxed in the hotel’s Heriot suite – often used by national visiting teams. The suite was kitted out with sofas, an Xbox, projector screen, table tennis table, arcade machine and lots more.
All players were given the VIP treatment including protein-rich lunch, dinner and snacks at The Avenue Lounge & Dining within Courtyard by Marriott Edinburgh West. They then enjoyed an overnight stay within the large, bespoke designed team bedrooms with breakfast before check out.
Team Manager Ali Cairns said: “I entered on behalf of the boys, I think they’re a special group and really deserved an opportunity to be treated like professional players. The team is embedded in the local area and is always looking at ways to help others – it was great to give something back to them.”
Comments from the team throughout their VIP day included; ‘wow’, ‘best experience ever’, ‘superb training session’, ‘I wish my bedroom at home looked like this’ and ‘if this is what winning gets you, I want to win more often’.
Ali added: “For me, it was amazing to see the boys being spoiled. The hotel team made every one of them feel special and the Oriam experience was superb thanks to our coach for the afternoon, Gav Scott.”
Will Macpherson, General Manager at Courtyard by Marriott Edinburgh West, said: “With world class sporting facilities next door, we regularly accommodate sports teams and travelling athletes in our custom designed guestrooms. We wanted to offer a youth team the opportunity to train like a pro and spend a day in the shoes of their sporting heroes.
“Our competition asked amateur teams to apply with an email explaining why their team should have this ‘professional athlete experience’ and the application from Ardrossan stood out to us. We’re delighted Ardrossan Accies had such a great experience with us – we hope they’ve been inspired and we wish them the best of luck for their future sporting careers.”
Courtyard by Marriott Edinburgh West is operated by RBH, the UK’s leading independent hotel management company.
Scottish rugby legend George “Doddie” Weir has been presented with the prestigious Edinburgh Award 2018.
Surrounded by friends, family and familiar faces from professional rugby, Doddie was reunited with a set of his handprints outside the City Chambers before being presented with an engraved Loving Cup from Edinburgh’s Lord Provost Frank Ross.
