Rutherglen boxing coach's joy as he receives surprise award

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Rutherglen boxing coach Archie Durie received a surprise award at the Cambuslang and Rutherglen Sports Council Awards earlier this month.The head coach of Blairbeth-based Durie’s Boxing Gym had been disappointed to miss out on the Coach of the Year award, for which he was nominated.But Durie was called on stage to receive the sportscotland Services to Sport Award.Durie, who attended the evening at Rutherglen Town Hall on May 17 with boxer Lucas Ewan, says he was “shocked” by the surprise award, but added: “They had kept it quiet in the lead-up to the awards, with me thinking I was up for Coach of the Year.“Myself and young Lucas thought it was strange I didn’t get called up for a merit award, which all the other nominees received, but I was really surprised when they announced my name to go up on stage.“I’m not usually stuck for words, but I just went up got my award and walked off, because I was in shock!“But when I got back to the table I felt really proud, this was better than any best coach award, and I was grinning from ear to ear.”Durie was in action over the next two days as a Western District team, led by Anne Armstrong, Alex Mullen and Davie Sutherland took a team of 25 boxers to Dublin in Ireland.There they were hosted by Portlaoise Boxing Club for a show featuring 25 bouts, with Durie’s represented by Golden Gloves winners Lucas Ewan, 14, from Castlemilk, at 57kg, and Mohammed Dean Khan, 12, from Cambuslang, in a 46kg match.Durie said: “Both our lads had a fantastic time, making new friends on this trip and enjoying a fantastic experience for all the boxers who were invited on this trip.“This was a great experience for the two boxers and it’s trips like those that help make them even better boxers.”Follow