Column: David Ferguson on creating a unified voice in the Borders

02/28/2025 03:00 AM

WITHOUT club rugby, Scottish rugby would not exist. It is that simple. And that is why I agreed to become part of the new body created in the Scottish Borders, named – less with a nod to creativity and more the 'does what it says on the tin' school of thought – the Scottish Borders District Union (SBDU).

‘Rugby’ does not appear in the title because while he SBDU is a rugby body, a collective of all clubs and teams in the Borders at all levels, it is designed to be outward looking and thinking – out of the Borders, and out of rugby.

It was formed from post-Covid debate among senior clubs about how they could come together more with junior and youth clubs, schools, girls and women's teams, referees, the organisers of sevens, and others, to develop solutions to local (and national) challenges, while still trying to run clubs week to week.

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Last month the SBDU held its first workshop, where people with physical, sensory and learning disabilities came together with girls and women, older men and non-rugby people with deep knowledge of the keys to good health and wellbeing. The session looked at how clubs across the region can become more inclusive for people across their communities, and where help for that might exist.

A new network across clubs is now being created, with a guide to improving access for people with disabilities being drawn up by rugby supporters and disability experts who know first-hand how poor it can be, and who are focused on improving the picture. The workshop also started talk of a Scottish Borders Walking Rugby Festival for later this year, where all clubs in the Borders, and others across Scotland, are being encouraged to enter a team of over-50s and develop their own walking rugby clubs. The success of this venture in places like Kelso and Ayr has led to interest from health practitioners keen to engage with older men and women on a variety of issues from prostate tests to mental health. Much like walking football, which now has more than 5,000 players in Scotland, the participants rave about the chance to meet up once a week … not just for the rugby itself, but the coffee and chat.

Girls and women's rugby is growing in the Borders with an agreement from the leading trio of Gala, Kelso and Berwick clubs to combine resources in a Borders-wide youth set-up to grow participation. As well as growing numbers, this step has led to more than 10 players being selected for the East district set-up.

This Sunday, the spotlight turns to funding, club reps coming together at Gala RFC with local council and third sector representatives to talk about maximising existing and new routes to funding through rugby and sport channels, but also outside sport, and to discuss the value of charitable status. The two-hour session (1pm-3pm) is free and open to anyone, and it's clear the delegates will be from a wide cross-section of interests.

At the end of March, the Greenyards will host a 'Future of Sevens' workshop, where delegates can discuss and debate where sevens fits in modern Scottish rugby, what potential exists to use the shortened game to grow clubs and communities, and whether it needs a nationwide strategy. Crucially, there will be attendees at Melrose from across Scotland and outside the country, contributing to the session, and that is at the heart of the SBDU outlook.

An area like the Borders, with a population of less than 120,000, will share some concerns and challenges with clubs across the country, and globally, but it also has unique issues, just as the north-east, the Highlands and Islands, and Glasgow city has peculiar challenges and opportunities. So, the SBDU is working with Scottish Rugby, clubs across the country and non-rugby organisations to look at both the national picture, and the local one, where rugby remains a hugely popular sport but not with the participant levels of 20 years ago.

An example or the constantly moving landscape requiring positive strategising is the SRU's new ‘Open Conference’ approach to improving youth and schools rugby. With nearly 1,300 pupils, Peebles High School is now the Borders' biggest school, but with less than 800 at Hawick, around 400 at Selkirk and less at Jedburgh, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for addressing the youth pathways and lack of playing numbers across the region. So, finding solutions that enable the Borders to continue to feed into the national picture and keep the game growing locally where that doesn’t work, is the two-prong approach.

And then we have referees. Had all games gone ahead in the Borders over the last few months, they, actually, wouldn't have. In the region of 30-40 percent were called off due to weather and other reasons, which meant there were enough officials for those that went ahead. But they are talking of a crisis in refereeing, and so a workshop on solutions to that is in the offing.

What is the point? Alongside me on the SBDU Board are people like former player and businessman Mark Moncrieff; retired PE teacher Colin Richardson; chairman Scott Forbes, who has held every position going in a rugby club (Kelso); girls and women's player and coach Steph Dalgliesh; and ex-player and sevens guru Keith Robertson. We are joined by experienced representatives put forward by each sector in the region, who bring issues to the SBDU and take thoughts back to their clubs, and specialist advisers.

We all share a common goal – a passion to strengthen community rugby, and ensure it is an inclusive sport for all ages and abilities.

The key now is how it genuinely helps Borders rugby clubs and links across the game in Scotland. That challenge has been grasped.

More info: www.sbdu.scot.

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