I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone very best wishes for 2009. I hope you all have had a good break over the festive season and are now ready to tackle (bad pun - sorry) the rest of the season.

2008 finished on a high with two wins for both the 1st and 2nd XVs against Currie. The 1st XV turned in a magnificent second half display which was one of the best 40 minutes played by Hawks in recent years and demonstrated what a good team we are when we knuckle down and work hard. Well done.

But that is history.

There is no getting away from the fact that the next six weeks are hugely important for the 1st XV and the Club as a whole. We have three home games and two away as follows:

10-Jan Boroughmuir (H) - 3:00PM
17-Jan Stirling County (A) - 3:00PM
24-Jan Melrose (A) - 2:00PM
31-Jan Hawick (H) - 3:00PM
07-Feb Heriot's (H) - 3:00PM

I would like to encourage as many of you as possible to come out on 10 Jan, 31 Jan and 07 Feb to give the boys as much vocal support as possible. The players greatly appreciated the support given to the team during the West and Currie matches and they would like it again over the next few weeks. It really does make a difference.

Peter and the coaches have put together a comprehensive festive training programme which all the players should have been following and this will stand us in good stead for the challenge ahead. Training is on Sat Jan 03 at 1:00 PM.


Off the field, 2009 is going to be ground-breaking for Glasgow Hawks.

Since August 2007 the Club has been making great strides into the local community through our Club Development Manager, Grant Talbot. Over the last 18 months, Grant has been working with the 31 cluster schools in North Glasgow in some cases introducing rugby for the first time.

GLASGOW HAWKS MINI SECTION

The output of all Grant's hard work is that on Saturday, January 24 the Glasgow Hawks Minis will be launched at the Donald Dewar Sports Centre in Drumchapel.

Many of you will be asking why we launching a Mini section in Drumchapel. The answer is that in many cases the parents, boys and girls cannot get to Anniesland on Sunday afternoons, therefore, we will go to them. An eight-week pilot will run at DDSC and if there is enough interest we will have a two-week break then run another eight-week block until the end of May. More news on this exciting and ground-breaking initiative will follow over the next few weeks.

We are extremely thankful to Glasgow City Council Sport and Recreation Dept for their assistance so far.

DEVELOPMENT XV

Following on from games against Scottish Exiles U'20s and Christ's College (NZ) in the autumn, the Development XV has two more fixtures in the New Year. Games against Edinburgh Accies and a Royal Navy Development XV are scheduled for February.

GLASGOW HAWKS DEVELOPMENT TRIP

In April, Glasgow Hawks will take circa 30 young players (16-21 years) to Perpignan for 13 nights. This is part of the Glasgow Thistles programme in conjunction with Cumbernauld College and the Leonardo da Vinci fund.

The aim of the trip is to give young rugby players a taste of what it is like to train as professional player and to build on the good relationships we have with our three independent feeder schools, the Hawks U'15s and also players from schools in the local community. The intention is to run this on an annual basis.

If anyone knows of any young player keen to go on this trip, please contact Peter Wright or Grant Talbot.

U'16s

It is hoped that an output of this trip will be the creation of a Glasgow Hawks U'16 team. In order for Hawks to continue to compete at the top end of the club game in Scotland (and hopefully beyond) it is essential that we grow our own timber and so an U'16 team is essential. It is hoped that we will also be able to field an U'18 team in a year or two as well.

STREET RUGBY

In partnership with Rangers FC and Strathclyde Police, Glasgow Hawks are going to be running a pilot Street Rugby programme. The purpose of this is to again introduce rugby to the local community and it will be interesting to see how many of these boys and girls we can encourage to join our new Mini section.


On the social side of things, there are a few dates that you should put in your diary.

The Glasgow Hawks Supporters Club Dinner - Saturday, January 31 (7:00 for 7:30 PM)

To celebrate the official formation of The Supporters Club, Glasgow Hawks are proud to present a special evening of good food (courtesy of Alan James), good company (courtesy of the Glasgow Hawks Supporters Club) and hilarity (courtesy of the amazing Willie Allan).

This is a mixed event open to all and restricted to 120 places. Tickets are only £20 for members of the Supporters Club and Hawks Players and £30 to all others.

It promises to be an excellent night so please reserve your places now by replying to this e-mail or e-mailing Allan Mackintosh at [email protected].

The dress code is smart casual and we will be looking for the usual donations for the raffle and for the auction. Again if you can help out in these areas with donations please contact Allan Mackintosh either by e-mail or via mobile 0776 416 8989.

Player of the Year Dinner Dance - Saturday May 16 - Hilton Grosvenor Hotel

You should all know the script by now. End of season ball to celebrate the previous seasons successes and enjoy a night of dancing and socialising. Awards this year are:

Young Player of the Year
Most Improved Player of the Year
Club Man of the Year
Player of the Year

More details to follow and anyone interested in helping organise this event, please let me know.

There are more socials planned and these will be announced in the next couple of weeks.

Here's to a successful 2009 for all of us at Glasgow Hawks and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Boroughmuir game on January 10.

Best wishes,

Kenny Baillie

This article was posted on 2-Jan-2009, 23:49 by Hugh Barrow.