SUCCESSFUL PRIMARY SCHOOL VISIT

NEWS Sunday 27th January 2008, 12:54pm

by John McGillivray

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Captain Derek Sneddon and Commercial Manager John McGillivray had an enjoyable day at a Stirling Primary school recently. John McGillivray tells the story.

We visited Borestone Primary School in Stirling. The teacher of the class is Miss McDougall, daughter of Tom McDougall who works for Central Scotland Police and who it was that got Derek involved in Speedway.

We took along 2 of Derek's bikes, his race suit, race jacket as well as helmets, gloves etc.

Derek gave them a brief rundown on what speedway is and how the bike works. He then took questions from the kids which ranged from how did you get into speedway, how much money do you earn, what are the dangers, and, my favourite, if you hit a wall on one of those at 100mph do you think you would break a bone??

Derek allowed all the kids to sit on the bikes and have photos taken, he gave out goody bags to all the children, signed photos and posed for pictures.

Derek recieved a great response from the kids, who have all written letters to Derek thanking him for taking time off his work and coming to visit them. We also gave the class the chance to be a mascot at one of our meetings.

Personally, I feel it was a very worthwhile exercise, the only problem is rider availability. The kids all loved Derek and keep asking when he'll be coming back, which I told them will be when he has some silverware to show them!!

POSTSCRIPT: The club has received a letter from Fiona McDougall thanking us for arranging the visit. She said "It was a great afternoon which the children really enjoyed and got involved in. Derek was extremely professional and worked well with the children to make the most of a really good opportunity for my class."