EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS REPORTS

Enthusiasm all round as Leslie gets Co-Optimists back on go



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By COLIN RENTON
CO-OPTIMISTS secretary Iain Leslie believes there is a place for the invitation side in Scottish rugby and hopes that an enhanced programme of activities will offer a meaningful incentive to club players.

Despite the disappointment of seeing Saturday's scheduled game against Edinburgh Accies postponed, Leslie is upbeat about the role the Co-Optimists can play.

He said: "The club never really went away, it just took on a lower profile. But since we started to look at doing more, there has been a general enthusiasm from everybody we've spoken to. There is very little representative rugby left and, although the calendar is quite busy, we believe that there is still a place for it.

"There is now a club international but apart from that there are very few opportunities for players to get involved with invitation teams. Having put out feelers, the suggestion that we should do more has been well received.

"The Barbarians still exist but they are operating at a different level. There used to be loads of teams such as the Saltires, Public School Wanderers and Edinburgh Borderers. Very few of them are still active. It was very much the case that if you were picked to play for any of those sides it meant something to the players. Anyone who was anyone played in an invitation team at some point. And it's not just the players. Coaches also have a lot or respect for this kind of thing."

The club, which dates back to early in the last century, operates on an invitation basis and during recent years has been limited to a single fixture against an East Lothian select, although a second match was played last year to mark the 150th anniversary of Accies.

Saturday's repeat was frozen off and it seems unlikely that it will be rescheduled. However, the Co-Optimists will have further outings against Ayr, the traditional encounter with East Lothian and a veterans game against their English counterparts on the eve of the RBS Six Nations clash with the Auld Enemy.

In addition, they have been invited to field a team at Gala Sevens, which will celebrate its 125th anniversary, and later in the year there will be the traditional dinner which is held at five year intervals.

"Playing in the sevens is a big thing. We won the Melrose tournament about ten years ago but never went back to defend it," said Leslie. "As for the dinner, that will be held in a hotel in Edinburgh in November. Everybody who has ever played for the Co-Optimists will be invited."

Leslie is hopeful that the bid to raise the club's profile will be boosted by the involvement of a series of ambassadors. Scott Hastings, Gregor Townsend, Fergus Wallace and Ian Rankin have agreed to fulfil the role in each of their geographical areas, while Ken Macaulay will do so for national league clubs. "They all accepted without any question," explained Leslie, a former president of Watsonians. "Their actual role is still to be defined specifically but the main thing is that they will chivvy things along."

The early efforts of the ambassadors have produced promising results, with a generally enthusiastic response from club coaches in the Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership, who acknowledge the benefits of having representative rugby available to their players.

Leslie believes that such an opportunity is important. He added: "When it comes to picking a team, we won't always pick the best players, so it gives others at that level an opportunity to be involved in representative rugby."

He is confident that the club has a rosy future and has taken steps to strengthen its relationship with the wider rugby community by creating an association with the charities, Hearts and Balls and the Wooden Spoon Society.

Resurrecting a club with a strong tradition is not a straightforward task, but Leslie's job has been made easier by the presence of several high-profile colleagues on the Co-Optimists committee.

The current president is Fred McLeod, a former president of the SRU, while Robin Lind, who was previously manager of the now defunct Caledonia Reds pro side and will assume the presidential role in 2011, and Charlie Bryden, who is chairman of the Wooden Spoon Society in Scotland, are also on the committee.

And Leslie believes that gradual progress is the most effective way for the club to re-establish itself as an important part of the game in Scotland. "There is a huge amount of enthusiasm," he said. "But we are not trying to do everything.

"For this season, we will be happy with three 15-a-side games and the sevens tournament. We are making sure we can walk before we try to run."

This article was posted on 29-Dec-2008, 12:47 by Hugh Barrow.