Highland Rugby Club agree development staff sponsorship deal with law firm Harper Macleod
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LAW firm Harper Macleod has agreed a deal to sponsor development staff at Highland Rugby Club for the coming season.
The firm’s name will be emblazoned on the kit of the club’s community coaches and development officers and will also be displayed on a pitch-side board at the Canal Park ground.
Head of Harper Macleod’s team in the Highlands and Islands Chris Kerr and his colleagues David Eason, Ross Thomson and Calum MacLeod joined the club’s Director of Rugby Brian Bell and Development Officers Ruaridh MacDonald and Hugo Crush to mark the partnership.
Kerr said: “We are absolutely delighted to lend our support to Highland RFC and particularly its efforts in the community which strike a chord with what Harper Macleod is all about.
"The club is a great example of an organisation committed to doing all that it can to provide opportunities for young people.
"We are proud to play a small part in helping them do that, and at the same time perhaps develop the next generation of talent that will drive the club to the top table of Scottish club rugby.”
Highland RFC has teams at all age groups and runs a programme of activities in local schools and the community.
The club recently recruited a second development officer to increase the programme, which is delivered in conjunction with Active School Co-ordinators of all the secondary schools in the Inverness area.
The club’s recent five-day summer camp attracted more than 350 young players, while every Sunday morning the club regularly hosts more than 180 five to 12 year-olds in its Minis and Micros.
Highland director of rugby Brian Bell said: “As a club we are all about offering opportunities to the young people in our community, and of course helping them develop as both people and potentially the rugby players of the future.
"Harper Macleod is a business that shares that commitment to the community, and their support has enabled us to expand our programme in the schools and local community and brings added resource in channelling our efforts to youngsters in the Inverness area and beyond.”
Highland RFC’s first XV start the new season with a home game vs Ayr RFC on 4 September 2021, and will be looking to make an impact in the National League Division 1 after the Covid-enforced break affected club rugby in Scotland. The club’s first season in National 1 saw them in third place before the campaign was declared null and void due to the pandemic.
