Dundee Rugby Club hopes shifting youth training to new pitches at Drumgeith Community Campus will boost its squads.
The club wants to agree lets for the floodlit 3G pitches at the £100 million campus which includes new Greenfield Academy.
Director of rugby Colin Sangster says the new facility would make training more attractive to young players and less susceptible to inclement weather.
Youth players currently train on the grass at Alloway Place.
Winter struggles at Alloway Place
But Colin said: “The floodlights there are not great. In the winter months we struggle.
“Often ground conditions mean we can’t train there.
“So training is restricted and we’re scurrying about trying to find an alternative training venue at the last minute.
“Sometimes we don’t achieve that and training is cancelled.”
Using Drumgeith Community Campus pitches would, he said, make training more consistent and enjoyable.
That would, he hopes, encourage even more young people to take up or stick with the sport.
“It’s not everyone’s cup of tea training in the mud in winter when you can’t see the ball coming to you!” he said.
“The difference between that and training on a 3G pitch is night and day.”
More players from Braeview and Craigie
The number of players from Braeview and Craigie has soared in recent years.
It is pupils from these two Dundee secondaries who will move into Greenfield Academy when it opens in August.
Dundee Rugby Club has 20 teams ranging from its senior 1st IV side to its P1 Eagles.
Colin said: “Numbers from Braeview and Craigie have grown significantly since we first put a development officer in.
“We now have 60+ kids from what will be Greenfield Academy at the club, which is fantastic.
“For some of them it has become a big part of their lives.”
It was at a game in Ayr a couple of years back that Colin saw 3G pitches as the way forward for Dundee Rugby Club.
Drumgeith pitches would be ‘massive benefit’ to club
He said: “They had the same number of grass pitches we had and the same number of teams.
“I asked how they did they training and they said they don’t train on grass at all. They did all their training on a council 3G pitch in the centre of Ayr.
“I thought that’s a great way of working. Could we do something similar?”
Colin saw progress on the pitches during a recent tour of the campus for the media and Dundee councillors.
He said: “This facility has come along and could potentially be the facility that we use for most of our training.
“That would be a massive benefit to the club, providing us with probably a replacement training area.”
The club hopes to agree lets with Dundee City Council and has set aside funding to cover the costs.
Conversation