Emotional Andy picks up award
Published 31 May 2012 09:30
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PROUD: Andy, right, and brother David were delighted after winning the volunteer award on Friday
A DEDICATED Bishopton Rugby Club member has been honoured at Scottish Rugby's annual awards dinner.
Andy Jackson was filled with emotion when Scotland legend Andy Nicol announced he had won the RBS Volunteer of the Year Award at Friday's glitzy bash at Murrayfield.
And the 46-year-old admitted he was blown away after winning the accolade.
He told Gazette Sport: "How I'm feeling right now is another planet."
The second row is currently the club's secretary and has helped drive Bishopton, which was only formed in 1994, to win accreditation status from Positive Coaching Scotland.
As well as being responsible for the development and organisation of the mini and midi sections, Andy also takes rugby at Park Mains High School in Erskine, where both he and his brother, David, who played for Glasgow district and Scotland under-21, are former pupils.
Andy - who paid tribute to wife Julie, 47, and daughter Eleanor, 14, for their unstinting support - said: "I do what I do because I love my club and I love my sport. I do what I do because I love the smiles and to be acknowledged with this is phenomenal.
"It's not what I went in for and I won't stop what I'm doing.
"I have done various roles but as a club we have a plan of where we want to be and what we have to do to get there.
"The Positive Coaching Scotland is a cornerstone for our junior section and that's going to be how we go forward as coaches. It's about how you want to improve your club and players.
"Those ethics and values is how you take your club forward. We want Bishopton Rugby to be the focus of the community.
"We know we are competing against football because there are eight clubs in our small village, but there is one rugby club and you are a member of that club if you are three-years-old or 83-years-old.
"We want to be in the heart of our village showing parents and children the positive aspects of sport and rugby.
"You should play rugby with a smile on your face - win, lose or draw."
Brother David, who coaches the club's first XV, added: "There is no better person to win this award than Andrew because if you are putting the same hours in that Andrew has done you would expect to get a wage. There is no more deserving person to win this than my brother and proud is not the word."
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