Read below the Team Manager’s comments ahead of this weekend’s Youth Cup Finals!
U18 Girls – Johnny MacColl:
The County girls are really looking forward to playing this fixture and getting the chance of a full-field game at BT Murrayfield which should be a fantastic experience for them. We are expecting another tough encounter against Edinburgh Harlequins after playing them a few times earlier in the season. I would like to say a huge thanks to the girls and also the coaching staff, for all the hard work they have put into training this season, with over 20 now regularly attending. This had paid dividends with the way they have improved over the season. A highlight would be our tour to SE England playing two strong County teams. We recently have had good representation in the Regional series games for Caledonian Midlands and from that, a number of girls have been selected into the U18 Scotland futures squad. On Wednesday night we played against a touring Canadian team, St Mary Catholic Secondary School from Cobourg, Ontario which was ideal preparation for next weekend’s final.
U16 Girls – Joey Crozier:
The girls are massively excited about representing themselves, their families and the rest of the squad in the cup final at BT Murrayfield. So far we have had a very successful season building on the successes we had as a club last season with recruitment and retention after Covid. It has been a fantastic challenge having a squad of 34 players this year and there were lots of really difficult coaching decisions to select the squad for the final. The biggest success for me this season has very much been seeing 34 girls regularly training and playing for the club both in our Inspiresport League campaign as well as the SRU Evolution series and friendlies that we have picked up over the season. Over the last few months, we have had a number of the squad experience regional rugby which has aided their development and it is great to see 8 of the squad in the Scotland U16 performance pathway. This is a fantastic achievement for the players across the whole squad but has given us some challenges in preparation for the cup final. They have all worked really hard to develop both as individuals but more importantly as a squad and cannot wait to show their skills on the international pitch.Â
U16 Boys – Graham McAlpine:
We are delighted for the players to reach theshield final this weekend. It has been a frustrating season with injuries, and the postponement, however, this makes the final even more special as we have had to use our full squad to achieve this. We have been delighted with the progress of the overall squad. I must give credit to the hard work of all the coaches and players and thanks for the support of the parents/guardians. With an almost fully fit squad, the selection for the weekend has been a really tough decision for the coaches, the squad are focused on continuing their development pushing themselves on the pitch and playing a brand of rugby that they really enjoy and that we hope is entertaining for all concerned on the day.
