The North Edinburgh Vikings (NEVs) season for Under 13s through to Under 18s saw all year groups compete in a variety of friendly, league and cup fixtures across the Borders and Central Belt. We have a membership of 218 players from 16 local schools, demonstrating the welcoming values of the NEVs. Our Chair Kirsty McWilliam must be congratulated for her efforts in being our strongest advocate.

In the Under 13s it has been a year of transition as players adapt to progressing from one age group to another. Year Group Manger Viv O’Regan’s positivity and unwavering determination to find matches and take care of players has been second to none. Supported by her coaching team of James Osborne, Rowan Sheppard and Mark Polson they have achieved exciting results with their squad of 45 registered players. Their most recent outing saw them host Penrith with a high scoring match allowing a 42 to 40 win at home.

Kian Coertze is the Head Coach for the Under 14s, which has a membership of 33 players. Unfortunately, the season was has had various call offs due to unplayable pitches. A season highlight was their victory over BATs in their development league match. There were plenty of tries during the watch with the final score of 33 to 26.

The NEVs Under 15s have a squad of 40 players from 12 local schools. Adrian Graves is Head Coach and Vice Chair. Their most recent outing against Boroughmuir which was played at Inverleith and saw the home team victorious with a score of 52 to 41. Other notable scores in the season were against Currie in the development league where NEVs came away with a winning score of 19 to 7.

The Under 16s went on tour to Bristol under the watchful eye of Bryan Sherriff in February and had two challenging matches over their weekend away. Friday night was against North Bristol and they were narrowly beaten in a very tough but evenly matched fixture. The final score was 41 to 40. Sunday’s match was a convincing win against FCCST Barbarians with the final score was 50 to 12. A total of 32 players toured out of their squad of 36. The Under 16s tour every year, which is part of the NEVs blueprint, helping players connect as a team.