July Onside Rugby Club Spotlight - GHA RFC

We caught up with Rangi Jericevich, GHA Director of Rugby, to find out a little more about GHA Rugby Club and why they're seeing an increase in junior memberships.

A wonderful club, with fantastic facilities, plenty of great things happening at the Clarkston club.

When was the club founded?

"GHA was founded in 2002 following the amalgamation of Glasgow Southern RFC (formerly Clarkston) and Hutchesons' Aloysians RFC."

What age groups does GHA cater for?

"GHA caters for people of all ages, with boys and girls rugby from P1 to U18, and 4 senior men's teams including our veterans team (over 35s) the GHA Gazelles."

How important are your volunteers?

"Volunteers are the lifeblood of any club and GHA is no different. We have approximately 60 volunteer coaches across the club as well as a dedicated team of volunteers assisting in various roles."

Tell us a little more

"Under the leadership of ex-Head Teacher Chris Nairn, our schools development programme has been a hugely successful initiative in introducing rugby and the values of rugby into our local catchment schools. This, along with significant upgrades to our facilities at Braidholm including the opening of the JWF 3G Pitch in 2018 has seen our playing numbers increase steadily in recent years."

How do you engage with the local community?

"Thanks to our facility upgrades we now host a number of other community sports clubs at GHA for both training and games, 7 days a week. We also run the Giffnock Beer Festival and the GHA Fireworks Night which are two large community events, jointly attended by over 6000 local people, as well as weekly functions on Friday and Saturday evenings. This has helped us establish Braidholm at the heart of our local community."

What's special about GHA Rugby Club?

"Like any club, what makes GHA special is its people. We are an open and welcoming club that caters for players of all ages and abilities."

You can find out more about GHA and how to join at: www.gharugby.co.uk