Carrick a community club . Eighteen of the twenty two that played at Murrayfield are former pupils of either Carrick or Girvan Academies with an average age of early 20s .
We are the biggest school of rugby in Scotland and our development team , led by Michael Kirk and assisted by Kyle Johnson and our modern apprentices , deliver rugby at primary schools and both Carrick and Girvan Academies . We run countless girls and boys teams plus two senior XVs . Not bad when you consider Carrick Academy alone has only 470 pupils .”
Integration
“ Our biggest success is the unique and sector leading partnership between school and club . Gordon Brown is our Head Coach and a teacher at Carrick Academy and our Development Officer , Michael , is also our Captain . We consider the club and school are one entity for rugby purposes . This means when youngsters come through they already know a number of the team . For example , Benjamin Brown , this year ’ s school captain played at Murrayfield .”
Community
“ We pride ourselves on being a community club . The Carrick area does not have a large population but the people and businesses are hugely generous and supportive . Every Saturday you find countless volunteers helping coach sides , run tuck shops , organise pre match meals and sponsors lunches . The volunteers are fantastic and the local community and businesses are very generous in their support .”
Facilities
“ There is currently only one rugby pitch in Maybole and that is not ideal as it means teams need to play in Ayr . Therefore significant work is underway with the support of the local community and other sports groups to improve facilities in the town which will benefit the whole community including the rugby club .”
Challenges
“ The biggest challenge is retaining players and maintaining funding for our DO and his team plus transport costs etc . As said above , the community are fantastic with supporting fundraising events , volunteering etc . We recently held our Sportsmans Dinner with Colin Gregor making an appearance .
Trump Turnberry , Brunston Golf , Pickles Agriculture and many others have donated auction prizes . The generosity of these businesses and the people that come to the events is fundamental to the success of Carrick Rugby . Players will clearly come and go as they move for work or other challenges but we have created an inclusive winning environment that the players enjoy and want to be part of .
We do not pay players but others do and that will be a challenge . You can ’ t stop clubs doing that but you can put criteria in place before they progress through the leagues . For example they must have a second team , youth teams etc .”
Ambitions
“ We have huge plans for 2017 . Clearly we want to win the league next season and get promoted to the national leagues as well as retain the Shield . We want to continue getting more kids into rugby in the Maybole and Girvan areas .
In five years we would love to see Carrick in the national leagues with a thriving second XV and maybe even a third XV . Rugby would be played in all Carrick and Girvan Academy catchment area primary schools and both academies would have thriving sides .
Off the field the playing facilities in Maybole would be improved to the benefit of the whole community and we would be playing some games in Girvan . We want to be an active part of the community that makes it better for everyone .”
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