The Edinburgh Reporter October 2023

SPORT 23

Tennis success away from home

Castlebrae friends reunited

It’s a family affair

Rugby ‘a way of life’ for Lynsay and her household

FIVE GIRLS FROM

Castlebrae who had the

distinction of being on court

at the same time when

representing Scotland in a

schools basketball

international against England

met up again at a reunion

held in London Road Foundry

Bowling Club

The star five are Pauline

Sharp (now Jackson), Caroline

Myles (now Leslie), Yvonne

Strain (now Cairns), Lorraine

Nichol (now Robertson) and

Sonya Steedman (now Hall).

Not only did they share the

Meadowbank spotlight in

their under-15 international

but they also helped produce

a winning result for Scotland.

Back in those heady days of

the early 1970s Scottish Cup

victories were a regular event

at Castlebrae during

schooldays and afterwards

successes continued.

At the same time the

Castlebrae boys reached the

final of the Scottish under-15

cup with a side including

Gordon McCubbin and Stuart

Baillie (pictured back row)

who went on to play senior

club basketball

Not present for the re-union

were Monty Montgomery also

in that team, and the Cropley

twins David and James who

were in the Scottish

Schoolboy under-15 squad.

Former coach Toni Szifris

recalled: “Castlebrae was a

hotbed of sport in the ‘70s.

The PE department was open

morning, lunchtime and

night. Basketball, volleyball ,

table tennis, football and

badminton were all popular

and successful.

There was also a re-union

for an older (1972) Castlebrae

age group held at the Jewel

Miners Club this year and

organised by Wayne

Hutchison and Kim Sharp,

sister of Pauline.

EAST OF SCOTLAND 12-and-under

tennis boys, coached by Reuben Henry,

are off to Nottingham shortly and

national finals after travelling to Bideford,

Devon, to win a qualifying group.

The squad comprised Myles Shanley,

Arthur McKinlay, Mitchell Tasker, Patrick

Gilchrist, Coby Stewart and Seth

Kandasamy. The team defeated

Hertfordshire and Warwickshire and drew

with the hosts to emerge unbeaten.

The girls photographed above did not

have so far to travel to Jesmond,

Northumberland, where under the

watchful eye of coach Jack George-

Burnell, they gave a good account of

themselves by beating North of Scotland

but lost out to group winners Durham

and Cleveland in a tie which hinged on

three tight tie-break singles deciders.

Meadows City Tennis at twenty

MEADOWS CITY TENNIS Club was founded

two decades ago as part of the LTA’s City

Tennis Club initiative by local players with

the help of Edinburgh Leisure.

Surprisingly, it is a club without a

clubhouse and has done remarkably well to

keep going in a park. This is down to the

hard work and dedication of people who

have served on the committee, volunteers

and the members over the years.

Edinburgh Leisure coach Alex Harkins said:

“The club’s longest serving chair-person,

David Wood, has been a mainstay

throughout and like many others deserves

great credit for at times what many will

appreciate can be a thankless task!”

The club can be proud of the following

achievements in its twentieth year...

• VMH Solicitors East of Scotland men’s
  leagues – 1sts – won Division Five; 2nds
  
  
  • promoted to Division Four; 3rds – won
    Division Six; 4ths – Remained in their
    division.
  
  
  
  


• Women – 1sts – consolidated last year’s
  promotion to Division Two; 2nds – won
  Division Six; 3rds – Won Division 9.


• Girls under-18s - won Division One; Girls
  under-14s – won Division Two.


• Summer mixed tournament – won both
  East Leagues


• Women’s Inter Club Singles – for the first
  time ever reached the final and lost 2-1 to
  Scottish Cup finalists, Braid.

DALKEITH RUGBY Club’s revived women’s

team have made a storming start to the season

winning against Gala and Aberfeldy in their

opening Aspire League fixtures at Livingston.

The women’s team was originally formed in

1994 and ran successfully for many years

before merging with Penicuik to become

Midlothian ladies who ran until 2006.

The recent rise in women’s rugby sparked

interest in getting the team going again

especially as it is Dalkeith’s 125th season, and

the SRU-run Aspire League for newly

emerging teams who play in round-robin type

‘festivals’ is hopefully a stepping stone into

national leagues at some point.

For player coach Lynsay Halliday, a

physiotherapist, the rugby club is a family

affair. She said: “My husband Stevie plays for

the 1st XV and sons Sam and Archie play

for the under-14s and P4’s respectively.

“For us rugby is a way of life!”

Lynsay, who moved on to represent Royal

High ladies for a spell when rugby in

Midlothian lapsed said: “We are a real mix

including nurses and teachers with everyone

getting along really well and managing to put

out full teams. Originally we planned to start

a couple of years ago but COVID got in the

way. The whole club is buzzing now though.

“What’s more one of our players, Pam

McIntosh, has taken on the role of coaching a

girls’ team to ensure there is an eventual

pathway through to the women’s team.”

Dalkeith Rugby Club are holding a Former

Players Day to coincide with the local derby

against Penicuik on Saturday, 14 October

2023.

Dalkeith Women’s rugby team

Castlebrae greats

at the reunion

Meadows tennis juniors