Bill & Teaching
Bill was a far more rounded PE teacher than someone who just taught primary school rugby. He taught at both primary and secondary level and could turn his hand to any sport. At secondary level he taught whatever the curriculum demanded, from circuit training to basketball. I remember we got circuit training with him on a Friday and he was a hard task master. We would pray it was an international weekend and we’d get Shorty Anderson who would say: 'Right boys. Pick two teams.' We played football for the next 40 minutes.
He was his own boss at primary level and although rugby was his great passion he taught general PE to one and all. He organised a hockey tournament for the girls and in the summer there was athletics and cricket. The athletics organisation SAAA used to promote a scheme called the Thistle Awards at gold, silver, and bronze levels. Bill strived hard to make sure every child got some sort of award and the paper work he had to keep for this to happen was immense. Every year it was a Hawick primary school who gained the overall award, for the most individual awards.
Primary rugby is what he is known for. He must have organised and run it for over 30 years before handing the torch for 7 a.m. winter inspections over to May Sinclair. He had a system where he phoned x people if a game was off, then they phoned so many: a system that stopped players and families turning up on a frosty morning for 30 years. The afore-mentioned May Sinclair was by far the most famous female coach. She was not the first. That record belonged to a Miss Simpson at Trinity who did not bring a smile to Bill's face when an article about her prowess appeared in the Sunday Post.
As a referee, Bill allowed me to ref games that top class refs dream of: Barbarians v the Rest of the World, Northern Hemisphere v Southern Hemisphere, even Drumlanrig v the Rest of the World! Mind you, most Saturdays it was plainer fodder: Drumlanrig, Wilton, and Trinity with Bill Borthwick, May Sinclair and George Scott giving you helpful advice from the touch line. Bill always said the ref was always right and nobody argued with Bill.
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