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It's not often that a side goes through a season unbeaten
at any sport or at any age group. Even the illustrious Chelsea with all
of Roman Abramovich's billions couldn't manage that feat. But for
Boroughmuir's Mighty P4s that achievement is a reality. Winning trophy
after trophy they maintained their 100% record throughout the 2005/2006
season. I caught up with head coach Peter Wood to ask him the secret of
their success.
Peter Wood with the Squad and their trophies
The first thing I noticed when I turned up for the end of
season photo shoot on the big pitch at Meggetland was the total lack of
mayhem that was going on. Coaching primary Under18 kids can often be
little more than crowd control but I was met by a group of excited but
well behaved lads who obviously look up to their coaches. The number of
parents in attendance on a blustery Saturday afternoon was also
impressive. This is obviously a squad that sticks together and is well
supported both on and off the field.
After the players had posed with their impressive array
of trophies and medals for the massed ranks of parental photographers I
asked Peter to tell me about the season. "I think we've had one of
the most successful seasons for a long time" he said with no little
understatement as the side have won each and every game they have played
in.
 I
asked Peter if any other teams had come close to them all season and he
confessed that "Our biggest rivals have been the North Berwick club,
and Stewart's Melville." He added that "Linlithgow were very good
this season they had a lot of big boys". Despite Peter's magnanimity
in naming the illustrious but vanquished opponents their is no
disguising his pride in his squad.
"We've got about 40 boys that have come regularly
throughout the season and played for us - they're spread between the P3
and P4 age groups and we've got a really good mix of players." Peter
said "We've got some naturally very gifted boys and they all enjoy
playing together and we train or play once a week."
Knowing that many teams, even at this tender age, get
very serious about their rugby and push things as hard as they can, I
asked Peter about his training regime. "My approach has been to try
to get the boys having as much fun as possible." was his simple
reply. He confirmed that at this age fun is vital for the boys. "If
they enjoy it they want to come back" he said "We work well on
their skills - passing, running - which has been my focus this year.
We've tried to stay away from the physical aspects of rugby and tried to
concentrate on our running and our passing game which has worked well
for us."
But Peter admitted it's not always plain sailing, and the
lads can be difficult at times "I shout a lot at them during the
games" he laughed, "And I'm very passionate about my rugby."
Peter used to play rugby himself and he has the winning ethos. He thinks
it is important for the boys to taste success and they've certainly been
able to stuff themselves this season.
 Peter
does not claim all the credit for himself. He leads a team of coaches
and helpers and he was quick to acknowledge his colleagues. "I have
Ken Simpson whio's helped out mainly with the P3 age group and Vince
Macari has helped out as well; his son plays" he went on "I've
had Craig Addison as well; his son also plays and another parent Mel
Mitchell has helped out as well - I've had a lot of help this
season he concluded." I asked him if the blend was there as a
coaching team "I think so, yes" he replied "But it would be
interesting to ask the others the same question and see what they say."
Peter learen his coaching skills working with Colin
Halliday who is now taking the P5s at Boroughmuir and this gave him 2 or
3 years of invaluable experience before taking on his own team "With
boys at this age it's a bit like herding cats" he smiled "Trying
to keep them all together and get them doing the right things can be
difficult so there's a lot of shouting but it's all in good spirit."
Peter admitted that he gets a lot of pleasure form the
coaching himself "I feel I'm putting something back into the game"
he told me as he confirmed that he will continue to coach the boys next
year as they enter P5 "We're waiting for a fall" he joked, "The
pressure is on for next year."
"We'll make a really good effort to maintain the
levels" he said "But a lot of the strong clubs like North
Berwick, Linlithgow and Watsons train more than once a week but we don't
do that. I'm not sure we will next year either." he told me "But
we're certianly looking forward to the new facilities here at
Meggetland." Peter conclude "I think that will be a big boost to
everybody and will help us push on."
 Finally
I asked Peter for the roll of honour for the season, recounting all the
tournaments the squad had won "We started at the end of last season
where we took the Currie tournament, we then went to Stewart's Melville
and we won that tournament. We took North Berwick and we won at Biggar."
Not satisfied with this haul Peter went on, "We've won at Stirling
County and we won at Haddington, we took a big Cup there were Simon
Taylor and Mike Blair were presenting the trophies, we won at Forrester
and we won at Edinburgh Accies at their home ground. That's a pretty
good record" was Peter's final comment.
It is patently obvious that Peter Wood is immensely proud
of his charges and the way they have pulled together as a squad to beat
every opponent this season. What may not be so obvious to Peter is the
respect and affection that both palyers and parents have for him.
Mark Furnivall |
