Rugby match to honour 'everybody's best friend'

A special rugby match will be held in Kelso on Sunday in memory of Borders women's coach Eilidh Walker.

She died in May, aged just 31, from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS) after holding a coaching session.

One of the Kelso players and now assistant coach Donna Borthwick was Eilidh's partner and the couple were due to be married on 17 August this year.

She believes the annual memorial match between Kelso and her first club Gala will provide a fitting legacy for Eilidh - and a new focus for girls' and women's rugby.

"Obviously, for me personally it's been awful, losing my partner so suddenly," said Donna.

"But the support of the women and the club as a whole has been huge."

She said Eilidh's death had been a shock for everyone.

"We were at training on the Friday night, and she was coaching fine, and then we did a team run and she just collapsed," she said.

"One of the girls is a paramedic and the ambulance arrived within minutes, but sadly her heart couldn't cope and she died from SADS.

"It could have been an underlying genetic thing that we didn't know about.

"There's still some shock really - she'd just turned 31 in April - but how people have come together since then has helped."

A meeting was held at the club shortly after Eilidh died to allow players, friends and family to show they were "there for each other".

"There was always someone to come and pick me up morning or night just to make sure I was OK," said Donna.

"At the funeral the ladies and girls escorted Eilidh in for her final journey at the crematorium, and that was really moving, and gave me strength.

"I wouldn't have got through this, and I think we as a team we wouldn't have got through this, without that support for each other."

Eilidh grew up watching her father Tim play for Gala, but she was hit by tragedy as he died when she was just 18.

That strengthened her passion for rugby and she joined Kelso as a player before her organisational skills were quickly spotted, and she became the team manager.

She would go on to study for coaching qualifications at college, and was a popular choice as the ladies' head coach.

"The ladies respected her I think because she'd been a player," said Donna.

"She was super knowledgeable; she would read everything.

"We've got hundreds of books about rugby and she would sit for six nights out of seven and plan training sessions."

But there was more to it than just her knowledge of the game.

"Eilidh had time for everyone on the team, and at the club," added Donna.

"She would go up into the stand to speak to people and thank them for their support.

"And she started to give people jobs to give them an involvement because she was passionate about involving girls and women in sport."

It has all made her loss more keenly felt.

"She wasn't just a coach; she was everybody's best friend," said Donna.

"She encouraged all the young girls to reach their full potential and many of them really miss her.

"She was a great role model, especially for women's coaches.

"It annoyed her when we'd go somewhere and people would ask for the coach, assuming it would be a man."

The idea of an annual memorial match, bringing together the Borders' established women's clubs, Kelso Ladies and Gala Vixens, with some input from the burgeoning Berwick Black Diamonds, quickly found traction.

"Eilidh's death has taught us that it's not just about what you do on the field, rugby's about what happens off the field as well," said Donna.

"It's about keeping that alive and pushing to bring some awareness to women's and girls rugby in the Borders, and that's what Eilidh would have wanted."

A welcome and tribute to Eilidh will start proceedings at noon on Sunday, followed by the match - competing for a new trophy.

"We only lost Eilidh in May, and we're still all grieving in our own way, but we want this to be a really positive occasion," said Donna.

"If we can do something as a family - my family, Eilidh's family and our rugby family - to keep her memory alive, then it keeps us going as well."