Callum Harris has started work as rugby development officer (DO) within the club. He will be responsible for taking forward and building on the work started by Rory McGee who has moved on from the DO role to spend time working with Bhubesi Pride's Rugby in Africa initiative.

Callum has extensive experience working as a rugby development officer. He will work alongside Gregor Paxton who continues in post as a temporary assistant development officer. Their main focus is strengthening the work the club has been doing on youth development. This includes ensuring the vital component of rugby being played through Marr College continues to grow and we further expand and improve the opportunities for young players to learn and develop.

At this stage of the year Callum and Gregor are also heavily involved with staff at the local primary schools as they deliver the next stage in the programme that introduces rugby to P6 and P7 pupils.

Callum is a qualified coach educator. He will bring this skill set and experience in helping further support the development of the club’s coaches to improve their knowledge, understanding and application of coaching theory and practice. This will to allow young players to get better experience and support as they participate and enjoy learning and developing their rugby and other life skills as part of Marr Rugby

Looking forward to his new role Callum said “I'm fortunate to take on the role at a time when the club is performing well across the board. Rory McGee has laid down a strong foundation for rugby in the community and I'm excited to build on this over the coming seasons. A key part of the role will be to help improve the playing and coaching standards across the age groups and I'm looking forward to working alongside the club coaches to achieve this. "

Club president Kevin Quinn welcomed Callum’s appointment “Callum’s experience, energy, enthusiasm and vision are a good fit for what we are doing and the development of Marr Rugby we aim to achieve.

Marr Rugby knows that it’s essential to have a strong infrastructure in place to support the development of the whole club. A critical component is the work being done in providing the opportunity for young players to learn and develop rugby and life skills and experiences. This helps young people’s growth and prepares them for a future in rugby. We offer opportunity to experience and enjoy playing high quality rugby and development opportunities to let them play at the highest possible level. This work has the added benefit of providing development of transferable skills, values and qualities that will help in their future careers in a working environment.

To achieve this we need to have a high calibre team within Marr Rugby and Callum, along with Gregor and our highly experienced senior coaches will be a key in achieving this goal.”