SRU 'inspiration' Tom Davidson lands top apprentice award

Tom Davidson, a Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQ) community coach with Cartha Queens Park RFC in Glasgow, and part of the Glasgow Life rugby development team, won Apprentice of the Year in the non-traditional sector and also collected the overall Outstanding Achievement Award at the ceremony held in Glasgow's Radisson Blu Hotel.

The awards ceremony praised "those who have, through their involvement in a range of MA programmes, demonstrated initiative, enterprise and outstanding commitment to the improvement of skills development for the Scottish economy".

The SRU explained what that meant in Davidson's case, stating: "Tom delivered coaching sessions and rugby festivals for children in some of the most challenging areas of Glasgow and showed himself to be an inspiration - encouraging and motivating children to get involved in all aspects of the game, at times using unorthodox coaching techniques, to get everyone to take part and leave the session with a smile on their face."

The SRU have put more than 400 youngsters through at least a year of the modern apprentice scheme, which helps school-leavers develop skills that are applicable to the current demands of jobs across rugby and sport and sometimes provide a platform to further and higher education.

Davidson said: "I have earned a great reputation, not only within rugby development throughout Glasgow, but also with Schools and Active Schools Coordinators in Glasgow city council. I have improved massively and gained a large amount of confidence."

Davidson's mentor and education manager at the SRU, Paul Kesterton, added: "Tom is simply an inspiration. Acquiring limited qualifications at school he has driven himself to produce an outstanding portfolio of evidence and has since successfully applied for a place at Cardonald College and is now studying for an HND in Sports Coaching."