The Scottish Rugby Academy, for sponsorship reasons the Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy, is a national academy structure designed to give Scotland's young rugby stars a pathway into the professional game. The academy structure is based on 4 regional academies geographically based on the traditional districts of Glasgow District. Edinburgh District,

North and Midlands North and Midlands - and now known as Caledonia - is a select provincial amateur rugby union team that draws its players mainly from north of Scotland, roughly corresponding from around Stirling northwards. Historically the North and Midlands ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

Background

The regional academies were launched at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

’s Hillhead campus on 1 October 2014 at the flagship academy in

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...

, which is a combination of North and Midlands regions. The Academies are open to the best talent, male and female, from the age of 14 onwards. The initial focus will be on players within the 16, 18 and 20-year-old age-groups and the top tier of the academy, stage three, will replace the current Elite Development Player strand within the pro-clubs. They will also seek to develop the next tranche of coaches and seek to better bridge the gap between the club and professional game.

Academy Development Stages

Supported stages

Stage 1 and 2 are known as the supported stages. They are often combined in the listing of annual intakes.

Stage 1 - Early Talent Identification

Regionally selected and regionally supported players Under 14 and Under 15 players invited to attend regional skills camps and local pathway sessions/matches as an initial Academy selection process.

Stage 2 - Player Membership Terms

Nationally selected and regionally supported players Selected as having the potential to play professional rugby or influence the future success of Scotland Women's rugby. Players will be managed by Scottish Rugby through the Academy Membership Terms and supported regionally within the academy structure.

Contracted stage

These players are given a professional contract by the Scottish Rugby Academy. Although given placements at professional clubs, they are not contracted by

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

etc. Players graduate from the academy when a professional club contract is offered.

Stage 3 - Player Contract

Nationally selected and regionally supported players Players selected by Scottish Rugby and supported through the academy based on Academy Membership Terms but who are also separately contracted by the Scottish Rugby Union and aligned to a professional club and supported regionally within the academy structure.

Regional Academies

Caledonia

The Caledonia Academy was the first of the four academies built in Scotland, a year before the others arrived in 2015. Originally Bruce Frame was announced as manager of the Caledonia Academy. He has since been joined with other coaches. Both Aberdeen University and the Aberdeen Sports Village offer their facilities to the rugby union students.

Edinburgh

Former Scotland international scrum-half Graeme Beveridge was announced as manager of the Edinburgh Academy. The facilities include a number of exercise physiology labs, one featuring an environment chamber that simulates altitude, humidity, and hot and cold conditions. An extension will be built to the university's current performance gym, which will include a 20-metre running track and physio area, as well as free weights and cardio machines.

Glasgow and the West

Along with the announcement of Bruce Frame, Jamie Dempsey was initially appointed Manager of the Glasgow and West Academy. After leaving the

Scotland women's national rugby union team The Scotland women's national rugby union team represents Scotland in women's international rugby union and is governed by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team competes in the annual Women's Six National Championship and has competed in five of ...

on 2019,

Shade Munro Donald Shade Munro (born 19 November 1966, Paisley, Scotland) is a Scottish rugby union player, who played at lock/second row. Rugby union career Amateur career In Scotland he played for Eastwood High School (Newton Mearns) and subsequently ...

is now the Lead Coach of the Glasgow Academy. Work went underway to create a new purpose-built facility, on-site at

Broadwood Stadium Broadwood Stadium is a multi-use community stadium and sports complex in the Westfield, Cumbernauld, Westfield area of Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. The stadium is currently the home of Scottish League One side Hamilton Academical F.C., Hamilt ...

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

, with fitness and medical equipment, all part of Scottish Rugby's major policy initiative to develop a regional Academy system. The Glasgow and West Academy has relocated to the Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell for season 2019–20.

Borders and East Lothian

The Borders and East Lothian Academy will operate from the Netherdale Campus, in Galashiels. This is the fourth and final facility to be announced and has been made possible through a partnership with

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

Borders College Borders College is a further education institution in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. Its main campus is located in Galashiels. Additionally, the college maintains secondary campuses at Hawick, Tweedbank and Newtown St. Boswells. The college was ...

, Gala Junior Rugby Council and the Borders Sport and Leisure Trust. Chris Dewsnap, the Borders and East Lothian Academy Manager, and his staff will have access to gym facilities at TriFitness and the 3G pitch at Fairydean, while Heriot-Watt will provide office, rehab and medical space, with Hayward Pavilion hosting changing and on-field medical facilities. Borders College will provide access to the gym and will offer additional office space.

Current season

Previous seasons

Competition

The academy teams compete in the U-20 Championship, U-18 Championship and U-16 Championship.

Sponsorship

Originally sponsored as the BT Scottish Rugby Academy for the first three seasons, the academy was sponsored by Fosroc in season 2018–19.

Honours

Glasgow City Sevens Glasgow City Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held by Cartha Queens Park, in Dumbreck in the south side of Glasgow. The tournament was previously known as the Cartha Sevens and the Cartha Queens Park Sevens. History The first rugby ...

** Champions (1): 2016

References

{{Rugby union in Scotland Rugby union teams in Scotland

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

Scottish Rugby U-20 Championship