WE
ARE NOW THREE DAYS PAST MID-SEPTEMBER:
WHERE
IS YOUR PROMISED REVIEW LESLEY THOMSON?
IN
THE post-apocalyptic
world of “Russellgate”, The Fat Controller and the Minions had to
be seen to be doing something. A squirrel was called for to deflect
attention from the clusterfuck TFC and the Consigliore had unleashed
with their cavalier attitude to employment law and sound personnel
management practise.
Sheila Begbie has announced her new team
The
squirrel took the form of the lovely Sheila Begbie, who found herself
with a new job title, a new department title – and the usual
corporate rebranding spending spree. Today, in one of those
breathless 1064-word press releases that are his stock-in-trade,
accompanied by imagined trumpet blast, Matt Horler The Small
Controller, announces the new Chiefs, and several Indians, who
will actually do the work, in Ms Begbie's new department: “which
is charged with growing the game across Scotland.
A new regional structure sees five new Regional Director posts created, supported by a team of Regional Managers to provide closer, more direct support to rugby clubs at all levels.
“The new structure is part of Scottish Rugby’s Agenda 3 programme which.....” blah-de-blah-de-blah corporate bullshit.
There then followed quotes from TFC and Ms Begbie, which can be paraphrased as more pish and bullshit than Jock Craig, Muff Scobbie and David Rollo combined have had to remove in the past five years. We learn, however:
A new regional structure sees five new Regional Director posts created, supported by a team of Regional Managers to provide closer, more direct support to rugby clubs at all levels.
“The new structure is part of Scottish Rugby’s Agenda 3 programme which.....” blah-de-blah-de-blah corporate bullshit.
There then followed quotes from TFC and Ms Begbie, which can be paraphrased as more pish and bullshit than Jock Craig, Muff Scobbie and David Rollo combined have had to remove in the past five years. We learn, however:
“The
Caledonia region will be supported by Caledonia North and Caledonia
Midlands teams.
Heading up the Caledonia North team as Regional Director will be Chris Hildrey, who joins from sportscotland, where he has most recently been Regional Performance Manager for Highlands and Islands.
He will be joined by new Regional Managers Alan Falconer, who has been Hamilton Rugby Club’s Development Officer from 2011 and worked in rugby development for over a decade.Sinclair Patience is the other Regional Manager following his previous role as Coach Development Officer at Scottish Rugby.
In Caledonia Midlands the new Regional Director is former Edinburgh player Steve Turnbull who has worked as a Regional Club Services Manager for Scottish Rugby since January 2018. He previously worked in Edinburgh, Mid & West Lothian areas and will be joined by two Regional Managers.
Graham Lindsay has worked at Scottish Rugby since 2008 and his most recent role was as School & Youth Development Manager covering the Midlands area.Andy Cummins joins from Perthshire RFC where he was Director of Rugby for 17 years. He is also a specialist coach in the Caledonia Regional Academy and a Scottish Rugby Coach Educator.Alex Edmonstone of Scottish Rugby is promoted to Regional Director covering Glasgow North. He was previously School & Youth Development Manager for the Glasgow North area and has been with Scottish Rugby since 2010
Alex is joined by Jen Miller who was previously Scottish Rugby’s Women & Girls Development Officer for the West.
Also taking a Regional Manager role is Ailidh Hood who joins from Scottish Curling where she was National Development Manager. A former netball and basketball international Ailidh previously worked at Scottish Hockey and Scottish Sports Futures.
In the Glasgow South region Jen Griffin takes on the Regional Director position having previously been a partnership manager with sportscotland working with Scottish Governing Bodies. Jen has also worked at South Lanarkshire Leisure and with the Active Schools programme.
Supporting Jen as Regional Managers will be two Scottish Rugby staff. Glen Tippett, who has already worked extensively in the region as School & Youth Development Manager and Jess Broatch, who was Regional Club Services Manager.
The Edinburgh, Lothian & Borders Regional Director will be David Drummond.
David joins from the Scottish FA where he was responsible for the overall planning, management and implementation of regional football strategies, within the South East Region of Scotland.
David has over 13 years’ experience in sports development working in both local authority and governing body positions.
He will be joined by four Regional Managers given the geographical reach of the area and the number of clubs and T1-4 schools.
They are Ally Chalmers and Chris Pacey who have held School & Youth Development Manager and Regional Club Services Manager roles at Scottish Rugby respectively.
Louise Dalgleish is a former Scotland internationalist and coaching within the Scottish Futures programme. Previously a Principal Teacher of Guidance and teacher of PE in East Lothian, as well as a current Head Coach, Louise has experience of sports development and age-grade rugby.
Kenny Brown returns to Scottish Rugby following a period of time at sportscotland and Premiership Rugby as a Play Development Manager where he was responsible for planning, resourcing, and delivery of the national community development programme.
Alongside the regional delivery teams two other key roles in the new rugby development structure have been appointed.
Ken Muir has joined the team in the new role of Head of Business Operations. Ken has experience in corporate strategy, business analytics and project management. He previously held positions at WestJet in Canada, American Express and British Airways, where he was Global Payments Manager.
Vicky Cox is the new Competitions & Compliance Manager. Vicky was previously Senior Operations Manager at Scottish Qualifications Authority. She also worked as the Public Ticketing Manager for Glasgow 2014 and a Contact Centre Project Manager at Ticketmaster.
All five regions will also have their own coach development officers and regional administrators, providing additional resources to ensure a high-quality delivery of support on the ground.
All the appointees are now taking up their roles in the coming weeks with the final new starter in post by early November.”
Heading up the Caledonia North team as Regional Director will be Chris Hildrey, who joins from sportscotland, where he has most recently been Regional Performance Manager for Highlands and Islands.
He will be joined by new Regional Managers Alan Falconer, who has been Hamilton Rugby Club’s Development Officer from 2011 and worked in rugby development for over a decade.Sinclair Patience is the other Regional Manager following his previous role as Coach Development Officer at Scottish Rugby.
In Caledonia Midlands the new Regional Director is former Edinburgh player Steve Turnbull who has worked as a Regional Club Services Manager for Scottish Rugby since January 2018. He previously worked in Edinburgh, Mid & West Lothian areas and will be joined by two Regional Managers.
Graham Lindsay has worked at Scottish Rugby since 2008 and his most recent role was as School & Youth Development Manager covering the Midlands area.Andy Cummins joins from Perthshire RFC where he was Director of Rugby for 17 years. He is also a specialist coach in the Caledonia Regional Academy and a Scottish Rugby Coach Educator.Alex Edmonstone of Scottish Rugby is promoted to Regional Director covering Glasgow North. He was previously School & Youth Development Manager for the Glasgow North area and has been with Scottish Rugby since 2010
Alex is joined by Jen Miller who was previously Scottish Rugby’s Women & Girls Development Officer for the West.
Also taking a Regional Manager role is Ailidh Hood who joins from Scottish Curling where she was National Development Manager. A former netball and basketball international Ailidh previously worked at Scottish Hockey and Scottish Sports Futures.
In the Glasgow South region Jen Griffin takes on the Regional Director position having previously been a partnership manager with sportscotland working with Scottish Governing Bodies. Jen has also worked at South Lanarkshire Leisure and with the Active Schools programme.
Supporting Jen as Regional Managers will be two Scottish Rugby staff. Glen Tippett, who has already worked extensively in the region as School & Youth Development Manager and Jess Broatch, who was Regional Club Services Manager.
The Edinburgh, Lothian & Borders Regional Director will be David Drummond.
David joins from the Scottish FA where he was responsible for the overall planning, management and implementation of regional football strategies, within the South East Region of Scotland.
David has over 13 years’ experience in sports development working in both local authority and governing body positions.
He will be joined by four Regional Managers given the geographical reach of the area and the number of clubs and T1-4 schools.
They are Ally Chalmers and Chris Pacey who have held School & Youth Development Manager and Regional Club Services Manager roles at Scottish Rugby respectively.
Louise Dalgleish is a former Scotland internationalist and coaching within the Scottish Futures programme. Previously a Principal Teacher of Guidance and teacher of PE in East Lothian, as well as a current Head Coach, Louise has experience of sports development and age-grade rugby.
Kenny Brown returns to Scottish Rugby following a period of time at sportscotland and Premiership Rugby as a Play Development Manager where he was responsible for planning, resourcing, and delivery of the national community development programme.
Alongside the regional delivery teams two other key roles in the new rugby development structure have been appointed.
Ken Muir has joined the team in the new role of Head of Business Operations. Ken has experience in corporate strategy, business analytics and project management. He previously held positions at WestJet in Canada, American Express and British Airways, where he was Global Payments Manager.
Vicky Cox is the new Competitions & Compliance Manager. Vicky was previously Senior Operations Manager at Scottish Qualifications Authority. She also worked as the Public Ticketing Manager for Glasgow 2014 and a Contact Centre Project Manager at Ticketmaster.
All five regions will also have their own coach development officers and regional administrators, providing additional resources to ensure a high-quality delivery of support on the ground.
All the appointees are now taking up their roles in the coming weeks with the final new starter in post by early November.”
Nobody
can deny, there are some excellent people in there, men and women who
have demonstrated in the past, they can deliver in terms of getting
studs on the grass, or artificial surfaces. I wish them well.
As one weel-kent club official said to me once he had read the press release: "Sheila Begbie has been given the scope. She now has to deliver."
It's
just, am I alone in thinking, maybe an organisation the size of the
SRU doesn't need quite as-many people in suits, other than
track-suits? Did anyone bother to consult the people who will
ultimately have to pay for all these new jobs etc – the clubs?
I see the OSL were asking that very question yesterday. The SRU didn’t manage to respond.
ReplyDeleteI wish these people well. I’m not sure what they are going to do but any assistance to clubs is welcomed.
However, I always remember to apocryphal words of Peter Wright who opined that ever since the DOs starting multiplying like rabbits, the number of youths playing and the number of teams has reduced.
Is there an inverse effect in operation?
I've heard that to. However, I sometimes think, while a DO can go into a club, create interest and start things off; it is really up to the club to maintain and build on the initial impetus. It is sometimes too-easy to blame the DO, when perhaps the fault is with the club for not following-up properly.
ReplyDeleteThis inverts the pyramid..... think about it!
ReplyDeleteMind you, that raft of appointments vastly reduces the national unemployment stats.
What are the goals, specific objectives & detailed targets...???
ReplyDelete