All age groups return to some form of training in Invergordon at Ross Sutherland Rugby Club
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Ross Sutherland Rugby Club have returned to training in some capacity across the board in Invergordon.
The senior squad were the first to return to socially-distanced sessions, followed by groups who do not have such stringent restrictions in place – the mini and micro sections – and then finally the youth teams.
Training will resemble what the Stags were allowed to do last summer, when it was still hoped a 2020/21 rugby season could take place in some form.
Club president John Scott hopes it will purely be progress from here in on though, as opposed to being forced to stop again in the future, keeping his fingers crossed that as time goes on more activities will be allowed on the pitch.
“It’s all under Covid rules, so it’s all very carefully done, but it’s good,” Scott reasoned.
“It’s back to what the original, post-lockdown training was, and hopefully we can move through those phases.
“We’re obviously working very closely with the SRU. They have been great, and I’ve spoken a lot to sportscotland and the Scottish government to make sure training is done in a very safe way.
“Murray Kennedy, our former captain, we call him ‘Captain Covid’ – he keeps us right with temperature checks and hand sanitiser.”
The pandemic has reinforced many people’s ideas of how important sport is, and Scott says he has seen that first-hand.
“We’ve been needing to look out for each other, we’ve all had our ups and downs,” he added.
“We’re way past rugby now. Wellbeing is a big thing for us, and helping people lead better lives by being part of a club – whether that’s playing, watching, volunteering, being a member, just having that feeling of belonging.
“Covid has been a challenge, but it has also made us think about things in a different light. We’re really on the right track, there are big plans, we’ve got good stuff going on.”
