Ken was a huge part of my rugby life, and I’m so grateful for everything he did. He was tough and uncompromising, but he was always fighting his team’s corner, and a wry smile was never too far away!
A memory that sums this up perfectly was when we were drawn against Edinburgh Academy in the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Cup. We were supposed to play them away on a Saturday, but they wanted to switch it to midweek. Ken repeatedly refused and only eventually agreed on the condition that the match be played at North Berwick instead. He then cajoled (or bullied!) Mr. Sutherland into letting the whole school out to watch and insisted that our squad needed most of the day off to go to the Nethers for a pre-game lunch and motivational meeting. Unfortunately, we still got beaten by 40 points, but the coach can only do so much, and it was a day that will live long in all our memories!
I’ve got loads of fond little memories too: his love of two-minute runs and speedball, his habit of only ever watching games from under the posts, and one night, when the training pitch was under a foot of snow, he took us for a run around the streets of NB!
Above all, I’ll remember him as a great rugby man. He loved the game, he loved its values, and he passed that love on to so many of us.
Thanks for everything, Ken.
Ken was a huge part of my rugby life, and I’m so grateful for everything he did. He was tough and uncompromising, but he was always fighting his team’s corner, and a wry smile was never too far away!
A memory that sums this up perfectly was when we were drawn against Edinburgh Academy in the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Cup. We were supposed to play them away on a Saturday, but they wanted to switch it to midweek. Ken repeatedly refused and only eventually agreed on the condition that the match be played at North Berwick instead. He then cajoled (or bullied!) Mr. Sutherland into letting the whole school out to watch and insisted that our squad needed most of the day off to go to the Nethers for a pre-game lunch and motivational meeting. Unfortunately, we still got beaten by 40 points, but the coach can only do so much, and it was a day that will live long in all our memories!
I’ve got loads of fond little memories too: his love of two-minute runs and speedball, his habit of only ever watching games from under the posts, and one night, when the training pitch was under a foot of snow, he took us for a run around the streets of NB!
Above all, I’ll remember him as a great rugby man. He loved the game, he loved its values, and he passed that love on to so many of us.
Thanks for everything, Ken.
