Cumnock Rugby Club History

55 Auchinleck Road, Cumnock, Ayrshire KA18 1AN Telephone Number 01290 420292

www.yell.com map of Cumnock RFC

CLUB HISTORY

Following the traditional end of season Old boys versus Cumnock Academy 1st XV game in March 1961, Jim Donaldson, Kenny Blair and Ross MacPherson discussed the possibility of forming a local rugby team. Indeed a Cumnock Academy FP club had been discussed on and off for a few years. The main stumbling block was however a lack of changing and training facilities at the Cumnock Academy School.

It was decided to approach the Head Teacher of the newly built St Conval’s School. After assurances that the new club would indeed be open to all, irrespective of class and creed the Head Teacher gave his permission for his school facilities to be used. Following an advert in the Cumnock Chronicle on 29th September 1961, inserted by Ronnie Houston and Allan Davidson, a meeting was held in the Dumfries Arms Hotel Cumnock on Friday 6th October with a view to forming Cumnock Rugby Football Club. It was at this meeting that Cumnock Rugby Football Club was officially formed. The following weeks Cumnock Chronicle read “Birth of a New Club”.

The report went on to state that although rugby had been played at Cumnock Academy almost consistently since 1935, this was the first effort to form a senior Rugby Club in the District. Until now rugby players in the district have had to travel to Ayr, Kilmarnock and even Glasgow clubs to continue playing, may of them achieving First XV status. Now it is hoped that the Club with these new facilities at Broomfield will be able to arrest this flow of talent from Cumnock. With this thought in mind, messrs R Houston and A Davidson (Ayr Rugby Club) and J Donaldson (Kilmarnock Rugby Club) got together and decided there was sufficient enthusiasm in the district to warrant the formation of a club. The enthusiasm was amply rewarded by the attendance at the meeting where there was between twenty and thirty prospective members present and the promised support from a like number.

The question of colours, practice nights, games etc was discussed and a running Committee was formed to deal with these problems for the remainder of this season. The Committee consisted of J Donaldson, J Ferguson, J R McClure, R Houston, W Morris, R Jess and A Davidson. The meeting was chaired by Mr J McClure who, in closing, said he was particularly pleased with the turn out and hoped that those present would pass on the word to any one interested. The first official committee meeting was held on 17th December 1961 when the under noted were elected.President:
L Sim
Vice President :
Ronnie Houston
Secretary:
Allan Davidson
Treasurer:
W Davidson
Captain:
Bill Cooper
Vice Captain:
Ronnie Houston
Committee:
Adam Blair, Robin Armour, Harry Scott and Jim Donaldson
A typical early First XV game was against the Ayr Seconds on 8th December 1961 when the team was D Johnstone, W Lammie, W Morrison, W Cooper, A Stirling, A Blackwood, A Davidson, F Little, S Stobie, A Blair, J McAtee, B Gunn, J Jenkins and K Blair.

THE EARLY DAYS


From these early days the club has grown from strength to strength and from 1962 when they really got started up until the opening of their own clubhouse at Broomfield in June 1979, the club used St Conval’s for changing and Broomfield for training and used the local pubs, Craighead, or the Tup Inn for their after game hospitality. In 1976 the club obtained a lease from the district council for Broomfield house and spent the next three years completely renovating with the help of a grant of £5000 from the Sports Council and a brewers loan from IND Coope.


PRESENT DAY


In season 1993/94 Cumnock won the Glasgow and District league gaining promotion to National League Division 7. League reconstruction then saw Cumnock promoted to Division 6. In 1998 we carried out major internal changes to the clubhouse at a cost of £20,000 making it one of the most envied in the district. In season 1998/99, Cumnock won National League Division 6 clinching the title with a hard fought win away to Earlston. However league reconstruction saw Cumnock entering National League Division 5 West. In season 2002/03, Cumnock won Division 5 West beating Newton Stewart in the play-off gaining promotion to National League Division 4.

1st Team Scores and Table from Scottish Rugby website

Reports from the games will follow (I hope).

Cumnock 2nd Team league can be found on Div 6 west fixtures and results website

Hopefully I will get results as well for these.

Membership

TYPE OF MEMBERSHIP
FEE (YEARLY) FOR SEASON 2009/2010
Playing member:£40
Social member:£20
Under 18/student/unemployed:£20
School student:Free

Match Fee per game:- £5 per player

CLUB OFFICIALS AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Office Bearers
President Alex Dunsmuir alex@dunsmuir5.freeserve.co.uk
Vice President Jim Morrison
Secretary Jim Morton
TreasurerRobert Hunter
Club CoachKevin Horton
General Committee Members
Daniel McLaren
Robert Horton
Mick Smith
Morton Houston
Thomas Cunningham
Marie Johnson
Yvonne Bennett
Catriona Hunter


ANY COMMENTS FOR CUMNOCK RFC CONTACT ME ON:- trobert_c@yahoo.co.uk
That includes reports, pictures, suggestions. Just let me know.

Thomas Cunningham.

Scottish National Academy

Mission... To provide the best environment for young Scottish players to develop their skills, disciplines, knowledge and attitude to achieve their full rugby playing potential, thereby meeting their aspirations to become professional rugby players.

Selection
The National Academy selects players primarily from performances in age-group international, district, club and school matches focusing on players who have the potential to develop to become influential in the pro-game and beyond. Selections also reflect the positional needs of the Scottish professional teams.

Player Categories
Scottish Rugby’s National Academy consists of 2 categories of players. A definition of each category is provided below:

Area Institute Supported Academy Player
(27 Nationally in 2009-10)

Players playing in clubs and schools whose individual programmes are managed by Academy Coaches and supported by Area Institutes of Sport.

These players sign a SRU academy agreement outlining commitment from both parties - there is no remuneration for any of these players.


Contracted Academy Players
(28 Nationally in 2009-10)

Players playing in clubs, as appropriate, but training full-time under the supervision of National Academy staff. Player’s individual programmes are managed by Academy coaches and when appropriate Contracted Academy players will train/play with professional teams.

All Contracted Academy players sign either full-time or part time remunerated contracts with the SRU.
Adam Ash - Stirling County RFC
Ross Aitken - Howe of Fife RFC
Sam Atkin - Edinburgh Accies RFC
Steven Aitken - Aberdeen Grammar RFC
Mark Bennett - Cumnock RFC
Murray Beckwith - Marr College
Dougie Fife - Currie RFC
Danny Gilmour - Stirling County RFC
Kris Hamilton - Caithness RFC
Jason Hill - Heriots RFC
Rory Hughes - GHA RFC
Gregor Hunter - Gala RFC
Craig Jackson - Melrose RFC
Harris Jones - Merchiston School
Andrew Kirkland - Glasgow Hawks RFC
Michael Maltman - Heriots RFC
Robert McAlpine - West of Scotland RFC
Murray McConnell - West of Scotland RFC
Ryan McConnell - Peebles RFC
Dougie Orr - Haddington RFC
Craig Owensen - Heriots RFC
Colin Phillips - Stewarts Melville RFC
Michael Roy - Musselburgh RFC
Matthew Scott - Currie RFC
Alex Spence - Haddington RFC
Jamie Swanson - Glasgow Academy
Duncan Weir - Glasgow Hawks RFC
Grant Anderson - Ayr RFC
Alex Blair Edinburgh - Accies RFC
Chris Bloomfield - unattached
Fraser Brown - Watsonians RFC
Tom Brown - Edinburgh Accies RFC
Tom Bury - Boroughmuir RFC
Nick Campbell - Glasgow Hawks RFC
David Denton - Edinburgh Accies RFC
Struan Dewar - Heriots RFC
Michael Doneghan - Stewarts Melville RFC
Alex Dunbar - Selkirk RFC
Chris Fusaro - Heriots RFC
Grant Gilchrist - Stirling County RFC
Finlay Gillies - Heriots RFC
Robert Harley - West of Scotland RFC
Robin Hislop - Boroughmuir RFC
Stuart Hogg - Heriots RFC
Rory Hutton - Heriots RFC
Peter Jericevich - Glasgow Hawks RFC
James Johnstone - Currie RFC
Nicky Little - Hawick RFC
Ashleah McCulloch - Watsonians RFC
Stuart McInally - Watsonians RFC
Lewis Niven - Edinburgh Accies RFC
Neale Patrick - Boroughmuir RFC
Neil Rodger - Haddington RFC
Joe Stafford - Glasgow Hawks RFC
Steven Wilson - Edinburgh Accies RFC


Cheers to Stewart Bennett for news.

On other news Mark is the latest player to join the Scotland Under 18 Training Squad.

Well done Marko Bennetto (thank Rodger Stewart for nickname)

Chatboard Link

Cumnock RFC Mini/Midi news

Player Information for 2009-2010 Season

Well here we are again at the start of a new season and we felt it was important to give you a heads up for forthcoming events prior to the first games of the season on 6th September.

Registration Day – This will take place on Sunday 30th August at 1200. You are asked to come down to the club to complete your child’s registration. Fees for the season remain unchanged at £10 per child.

We would also encourage at least one parent within a family to take out a club social membership (£20) which in effect also enrols their spouse/partner and any other non playing children as members of the club. This membership will allow use of the club facilities and give additional benefits such access to bar facilities as well as free use of the function hall for parties and events.

Match Day / Training Subs – At the last AGM it was agreed that from the start of this season these fees will be paid monthly (on the first Sunday of the month) at a rate of £10. This allows the coaches to focus the collection of fees on one day of the month and will make the administration easier. Should any families find any difficulty with this they should speak to their child’s coach were an alternative arrangement can be discussed.

Volunteers – The club is always looking for parents to help out in a number of different ways including driving buses to helping in the kitchen on game days to becoming a coach with your child’s team (full instruction provided). All help is needed to ensure that the club continues to offer rugby at an affordable rate and you are encouraged to speak to your child’s coach for more information.

Club Fun Day (August 15th) – To coincide with a warm up game for the 1st XV and 2nd XV there is a Fun event planned on the 15th August. As well as a chance to watch our principle senior team, which will be fielding a number of players who have recently graduated from our section, there are plenty of other activities including SRU Skill Stations, Zig Zag Wall and the latest Dance Mat equipment for all to test their skills. To cap it all there will be hot food from the BBQ and all this for the blindingly good value of £6 for adults and £3 for kids…see your coaches for tickets.

We look forward to your support in making 2009/10 another great season for Cumnock RFC

Scottish Hydro Regional Bowl

The cup competitions have been revamped and we are in the West Regional Bowl. The draw has just been made and we have been given a home draw against Braidholm on 14th November. The winners will then play either Cowal or Hyndland away on 28th November.
The final of the competition will be played at Murrayfield in the spring.

Article from Jim

Cumnock Chatboard thread

IRB Launch Interactive Laws Website

This week saw the launch of an exciting new IRB web based offering. The new site www.irblaws.com is an interactive website which teaches and tests the Laws of the game. SRU are convinced that this will revolutionise Rugby Law education.

The key features are:

All compliant with 2009 Laws as approved by IRB Council on the 13th May.
Hundreds of video clips to illustrate the laws
Animations to support learning
Videos to illustrate all Referee and Assistant Referee signals
Self-test capability which covers:
All 22 laws
7's and Under 19 variations
Referee signals
Video tests

The test can be taken over multiple visits to the site. On completion you can download an awareness certificate. Access to the site is free to everyone and a registration is only required when you want to undertake the tests.

Why not log on and give it a go?

Link to chatboard

If you are planning (or not) to play Senior Rugby when you are Under 18 you have to have certificate from IRB website as part of you playing Senior Rugby.

Please see Alex Dunsmuir (Cumnock RFC President) in Cumnock RFC for more details.