Boroughmuir rack up the Community Awards

Two of the club stalwarts had their service recognised at the recent SRU community awards.  Ritchie Somerville is the East Region Youth Rugby Volunteer of the Year, and Graham Hogg was awarded East Region Referee of the Year. I caught up with them both to find out more about the Murrayfield 100 Celebrations. This is where SRU gave out the Community Recognition Awards which is an annual domestic game awards programme, focusing on the on and off-field efforts of clubs, schools and societies across Scotland over the course of the past year

Andy - Ritchie, firstly congratulations from all at Boroughmuir, and thank you for 15 years of volunteering for the club. What award did you receive?

Ritchie - Thank you. I was awarded the Youth Volunteer of the year, for which I'm hugely grateful. I have hugely enjoyed the past 15 years volunteering for the club. From turning up as a parent to let my son play minis, getting to know the coaches who welcomed me in to volunteer, through seeing them develop as Midis and now with so many of the senior adult team being players I have coached is fantastic. The coaching whether on a Sunday or the weekday evenings is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the running of our Academy.  I was lucky to have the opportunity to volunteer in lots of different ways with a great set of people, supporting the formation of the Academy structure and developing lots of different aspects of how the Academy runs and operates. It's been a real pleasure to watch the Academy, and the groups of players I have coached develop and grow. I’ve greatly enjoyed helping the players and the Club through the ups and downs of a huge number of seasons!

Andy - Nice one, Ritchie well done. Graham - last time we spoke, you were looking to encourage more people to become referees, which is clearly something you're excellent at. What does this award mean for you?

Graham - Thank you yes, always room for more referees, and I'm still really enjoying it! Getting this award was a really wonderful moment and I'm really thankful for being nominated and selected. I know that everyone that was nominated volunteers huge amounts of time and resource to make Rugby a success.  Without referees, matches won't happen, and I'm delighted to have had my efforts recognised. 

Andy - The event involved you getting interviewed by Chris Patterson as part of the ceremony - how did that go?

Graham - Chris was lovely, and it was great to get to speak to one of Scotland's greats. He was clearly appreciative of the role referees play in making rugby work. 

Ritchie - I ended up missing the Awards as I had a holiday clash, but Alex Toolis kindly stepped in and collected my award for me. I'm looking forward to receiving it from him when he takes it down from his own mantlepiece!

Andy - Good luck with that, I've heard Alex is a bit of an award hoarder! Sorry you missed your on stage interview, but you've got an interview with me instead - anything else you'd like to say?

Ritchie- yes, thank you. I've loved volunteering here - even on wet rainy nights. Seeing the Club and its players develop and grow, seeing kids enjoy rugby and all it brings has been a really important part of my life, and I'm delighted to be recognised for this, This is my last season, and the East Cup Final victory at the weekend was my last game as a coach.  For me it is the right time to step back and let others take the Academy and coaching forward; time to hand on the baton, and leave on a high.

Andy - thanks again both and congratulations!