Make a date on 24 March for the second Student Cup Finals to be held, once more, in Edinburgh. Last year 42 teams and 500 players took part – this year the target is 45 teams. There will be three men’s 7s – Premier (by invitation only), Men’s Cup and Challenge Cup, which is aimed at freshers, second and third year intermural teams – and two women’s events – a 12s Cup and an emerging Cup at seven-a-side for new start teams and players.
Scottish Rugby offer support to non-traditional student teams – and entry is free!
John Hodgkinson (second from right) presents a new Heart Start machine to Selkirk RFC’s club doctor, Jeff Cullen, at Philiphaugh alongside Selkirk’s most capped internationalist, John Rutherford, Selkirk President Donald Macleod (centre) and Mrs Diane Hodgkinson.
A special presentation took place in Selkirk Rugby Club’s Philiphaugh clubrooms earlier this season, when a cardiac defibrillator was presented to the club by John and Diane Hodgkinson of Glasgow.
Mr and Mrs Hodgkinson’s son Craig, a former Glasgow Hawks player who later joined the Royal Marines, tragically collapsed and died when playing for the Royal Navy’s development rugby side in a match against a Cornwall Development XV at Plymouth in November, 2006. It was discovered that Craig, 27, had been suffering from the condition Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC), believed to be the second most common cause of unexpected sudden death in the young.
Craig’s parents founded a memorial trust in their son’s name, with the aim of providing a life-saving ‘Heart Start’ machine to every rugby club in Scotland. A variety of fund-raising events have been held to raise money for the trust, while invaluable support has also been received from the British Heart Foundation and Scottish Ambulance Foundation.
The Craig Hodgkinson Memorial Trust Fund made an initial purchase of 60 cardiac defibrillators, after which Mr and Mrs Hodgkinson wrote to 40 of Scotland’s leading clubs, asking if they would like to receive one of these machines to cope with any cardiac-related incidents during matches.
“We are delighted that Selkirk was one of the clubs who responded to our letter,” said Mrs Hodgkinson, adding that the trust was currently planning to buy more of the machines.
