Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
-- Aristotle


by Kenny Hamilton (Director of Rugby)

Being relegated for the first time in its history is a sobering experience for Hawks. It leads to a lot of soul-searching and reappraisal of the kind of organisation that you are – and want to be. Before looking forward though it is important to work out where you came from.

There were 3 principles that I think we agreed at the time of the creation of Hawks:
a) Hawks was created to ensure that there was a vehicle for top level club rugby in the west and to challenge the traditional strong-holds in Borders and Edinburgh. It worked for a number of years, and if Scottish rugby had gone in a different direction it might have achieved a different level of success.
b) It was created with naked ambition to go as far as it could; and
c) We had seen the effects of mergers in the past where a short term influx of players brought a temporary boost but the medium term always produced a net loss of sides/ players. (I think the 6 or 7 teams at the time of the Glasgow High & Kelvinside merger were replaced by 4 then 3 teams. However, it was a different era so not so easy to draw comparisons)

Hawks produced Scottish Championships, Scottish Cup wins and International players. We led the debate about the way forward for Scottish rugby with many of our recommendations, like cross-border competition finally being adopted after years of opposition from vested interest in keeping clubs “in their place”.

But competitive sport is not about what you did in the past, it is about what you produce on the day.

The best way forward for Glasgow rugby is to ensure that a strong Hawks re-emerges in the top league as quickly as possible. Of course it could be one of the other Glasgow clubs that aspires to join our Ayrshire neighbours in the top flight but I think we have a number of advantages:
a) A community of schools and the 2 founding clubs that can offer support and a player development pathway that offers something for all
b) A highly skilled and committed coaching team who have worked hard in attracting players and developing existing players
c) An ambitious community programme involving local primary and secondary schools
d) A new set-up at Under 18 level to follow the success of the national champions at Under 16 last season

There is no doubt that Hawks have lost their way a bit in recent times, but they are not the first rugby 'power-house' to have been relegated and will not be the last. A lot of hard work is required but we are off to a reasonable start in reinvigorating Hawks by:
• Developing the existing pool of talented players into a successful one on the field and to supplement that pool of players with new emerging talent.
• Engaging more effectively with its community -meaning the schools, their former players, supporters and sponsors as well as the geographical community and build its support and establish itself as a recognised asset in that community.
• Turning its current youth development activity into a throughput of highly talented and successful players who get enjoyment out of the game.

We need lots of volunteers and supporters to get there.

Together – let's promote Glasgow Hawks!

This article was originally posted on 25-Aug-2012, 12:55 by Russell Sim.
Last updated by Russell Sim on 25-Aug-2012, 12:57.