garioch’s development officer buoyed by enthusiasm
Donaghue aims to nurture young talent
Published:
Garioch’s new rugby development officer Rob Donaghue has vowed to repay the club’s faith in him by bringing through a new generation of talented young players for the Inverurie side.
The club has struggled on the field this season and is without a win after three Caledonia League Division 1 games going into tomorrow’s fixture against Crieff and Strathearn.
Off the park there has been far more success as the Kellands Park outfit builds for the future.
Donaghue, the Australian who worked as a coach in a part-time capacity last season, has been promoted to a full-time role.
Scottish Rugby, Sportsmatch, the club's sponsors and Aberdeenshire Council have added to Garioch’s own contribution to produce a funding package in excess of £28,000.
Donaghue’s challenge is to foster the game in the Inverurie area and he is relishing his new task.
He said: “Garioch have shown an enormous commitment to the development of rugby in the north-east over the past two years and I am very excited about the opportunity to enhance this further in my capacity as a full-time development officer.
“There is huge potential for rugby in the region and this is best demonstrated by the enthusiasm that the schools and the community have shown in supporting this initiative".
Donaghue, 29, holds Australian and Scottish coaching certificates at various levels and is currently an under-15 coach with the north-east Hurricanes district side.
He aims to build on the 700 hours of schools coaching delivered last season by Garioch’s community coaches to 1,750 primary pupils in 19 schools. The club supports the academies in Inverurie, Meldrum and Kemnay.
Pete Thomson, the club's schools coaching and sponsorship co-ordinator, said: “Unlike other development officer positions in Scottish rugby, our job description is one which is based on five days a week schools coaching for the 40 weeks that the schools are in term.
“The additional hours shall be spent promoting the game, organising rugby camps for the school holidays and cultivating the link between the schools, club and general community.
“From our past two year's experience, we know that there is a healthy demand from the schools for the first two terms and the club has also recruited a part-time coach for an additional two days to cater for this."
