“Trymendous” success for Orkney rugby player as he touches down with Glasgow Warriors U16s!

Juggling schoolwork, exams, training and travel has become the norm for Orkney’s Owen Spence as he embarks on a new rugby journey with Glasgow Warriors U16s squad! 

His selection shows that hard work and dedication pays off and Owen hopes to further improve his skills after recently being selected for the Performance Development Programme (PDP) and as a recipient of the Athlete Travel Award Scheme grant. 

Owen, 15, from Firth, said: “I am grateful to all the coaches past and present at Orkney Rugby Football Club in coaching and supporting getting me to where I am today.  

“I am honoured to have been selected and to be given these opportunities to play at this level of rugby. I have always enjoyed playing rugby and with my dedication to the sport I am really excited to see what the future holds and where rugby might take me.  

“My dream is to be a pro player, and a Scotland Cap would be the ultimate however, a lot of hard work needs to be done before any of that can happen.” 

Owen was selected to take part in three national training days with Scottish Rugby Union with the potential of a fourth training day and the chance of being part of an U17 Scotland squad. He will find out in due course if he has been successful. 

The commitment Owen shows to his sport can be summed up by his extensive travel to training and games involving boats or flights, trains, taxis, Ubers, or the taxi of Mum and Dad and one or two overnight stays. 

These trips are expensive, and Owen is very grateful to both Orkney Rugby Football Club for providing a monthly retainer towards these costs and to sponsorship from Steve Rogers from Orkney Shooting Holidays. Owen recently found out he has also secured Athlete Travel Award Scheme (ATAS) funding for the coming year. 

Stromness Academy has also been very supportive of Owen’s training. 

“I miss quite a bit of school which can be tricky especially with upcoming exams. I ensure I keep on top of revision notes, and I catch up on missed work in my own time, which often means bringing my laptop on trips when travelling. I am very grateful I have understanding teachers. The SRU youth coaches are very good at ensuring there isn’t games around exam time, and understand if you cannot attend a training session due to schoolwork etc.” 

Owen’s rugby journey began in P1, aged just five. He attended West Minis and Rookies in Dounby until S1 and then joined the U14s and U16s which both take place in Kirkwall. He captains the Orkney U16s. 

He trains twice a week with the U16s and there’s often games at the weekend. Outwith the game itself, Owen can be found in the gym and now as a PDP athlete, he has twice weekly training sessions with Rugby Development Officer, Sean Corrigall and Lee Rendall, Physical Preparation Coach, at the Picky Centre gym. 

“This involves a mixture of weights and plyometrics to build my strength and my locker of skills to grow and develop to becoming a better player.”  

Owen was initially selected for a Player Development Hub with Caledonia Rugby through Orkney Rugby Football Club, and from there was chosen to be part of the Caledonia U16 squad. 

“Most recently I have been training with the Caledonia Academy and then playing games against Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Borders. From this I got selected for Glasgow Warriors U16 squad and I have also been selected for Caledonia North U17 squad. 

“For Glasgow Warriors I have been training once a week either at Ravenscraig, Motherwell, or Dundee Regional Performance Centre for Sport, there will be more training and games coming up in the Easter holidays.” 

As if that wasn't enough, Owen also works weekends and holidays at E. Flett Butcher in Stromness, and again the young rugby player has expressed his gratitude to his bosses for their support and understanding when it comes to time off for training and games. 

Chair of the Council’s Education, Leisure and Housing Committee, Councillor Gwenda Shearer said: “Many congratulations to Owen on his rugby journey which is clearly testament to his hard work and dedication. 

“There are many high-performing athletes who make these trips back and forth, balancing school and other commitments with their sporting dreams. Schemes such as the Performance Development Programme and Athlete Travel Award Scheme are able to assist a number of our elite athletes. 

“Owen is clearly a dedicated and determined young athlete with a clear goal in sight - I hope being part of the PDP now can continue to elevate him further and take him a step closer to his dream of playing for Scotland.” 

PDP is a scheme run through Orkney Islands Council (OIC) and sportscotland. Through the programme support is given to athletes on the performance pathway which includes physical preparation, performance lifestyle support, nutrition support and physio guidance.   

Now in its eighth year, ATAS is a targeted partnership between sportscotland and Councils in the Highlands and Islands - Orkney Islands, Western Isles, Shetland Islands and Highland Councils – and is aimed at helping elite pathway sports people in these regions with the extra costs of accessing development opportunities – without having to relocate from their communities. In Orkney, the scheme is funded through sportscotland, Orkney Islands Council and Stagecoach.