Hamilton Rugby Club are delighted to announce Steven Meenagh as our new Development Officer. Steven joins us from Glasgow Sport and brings a wealth of experience to our club.

"Coming to Hamilton is a really exciting opportunity for me. The community engagement that Hamilton currently deliver is excellent. The club is going in a very positive direction. You can see this as they are currently Club of the Year, I am looking forward to seeing what I can bring to the table to continue to grow this great rugby club!"

So who is Steven Meenagh? I caught up with him to get his background.

"I started playing rugby when I was 8 years old! Playing some representative rugby at different age grades and going on some tours with Glasgow Thistles was the highlight of my playing career so far...

When I was 15 I was set on leaving school after my exams with the ambition of becoming a Scottish Rugby Modern Apprentice (MA). Being successful in my application, I was enrolled as a MA and based in Glasgow, working with DOs in all areas and working with Hillhead Jordanhill, Glasgow East and Cartha Queens Park. The two years I spent as an MA had it’s up and downs but I found my career and became very passionate about developing rugby!

After my MA finished I was given the opportunity to work in Malta as a Community Coach for the Maltese Rugby Union. Not only a culture change at young age of 18, it also opened up new opportunities working along side the national coach of Malta. It was fantastic to see rugby at the development level and the performance level.

Coming back from Malta I spend some time coaching in different schools across Glasgow and in 2013 I was given the role of Cambuslang DO. I really enjoyed my time there, being the first DO in Cambuslang gave me the opportunity to make my own programme and I could see where I was in my knowledge and understanding of rugby development. I had a successful time with Cambuslang and am very happy to see the club growing still today as a result of some of the work I put in.

My next move was to Glasgow Sport, where I became the North/West Rugby Club Officer, working closely with Hillhead Jordanhill and the local schools in the area. After two years I swapped areas and moved down to the south side of Glasgow, working with Cartha.

The past 18months have been really enjoyable seeing many non rugby schools flourish in the area and links with the club being made.

During this time, I was the Cartha Women’s head coach, were I supported the club on gaining Premiership status by helping to structure how training was ran.

I was given the opportunity to be involved in the Scottish Women's pathway programme working with the PDP programme and coaching the Women’s U18s 7s squad."

Ross Whiteside, Club President commented: "We are delighted to welcome Steven to Hamilton Rugby Club. He brings a raft of experience which will help us build on and improve our current set up as Club of the Year! We can't wait to start working with him"

Steven joins the Bulls on 12th December and is already planning for the New Year. His experiences at different Rugby Clubs, school community programmes along with Senior and International coaching experience will only benefit our club! Make sure you say hello when you see him about our club and give him the welcome that Hamilton is famous for!