My Sporting Saturday.....
I loved the imminent arrival of autumn; I still do. For me it meant the start of a rugby season, National Hunt season and getting close to my birthday (which is less exciting now). I was lucky to horse ride too so Saturday mornings were mucking out and riding my pony and then heading off to rugby.
My father is a sports journalist and for some strange reason he always said I could go and watch the rugby match that he was reporting on. At that stage, it was all club rugby and I spent most weekends in the Borders and many of those at the Greenyards watching Melrose dominate. I got to spend my Saturday's chatting to and studying Bill McLaren at work and all the old guard of the press room. The banter and friendship between them all and that they showed to me, even as a young girl, made me want to become part of that world.
Watching rugby and being paid to write about it, could there be any better way to earn a living? The players couldn't have been kinder to me. As 'Bob's daughter' I made a lot of friends, got a fair few drinks before I legally should have and had met 'legends' of the game before I could really appreciate who they were. After watching a match, I always wrote my match report the next day and showed it to Dad who would critique it. It was great knowing the players in the Scotland and Lions teams and I still have the postcards, rugby shirts, shorts any memento they gave me! It is quite a collection.
At the age of 15 I started writing the rugby reports for the local paper. I was allowed a couple of hours off school on Monday morning to go into the office to type it up. Again, it amazes me and is credit to Ayr RFC, the players and the paper for taking a 15-year-old girl seriously.
I suppose since then I haven't stopped. I went to Uni in Edinburgh when I was 17 and I didn't want to work in a cafe or bar like most other students. That would have stopped me from writing, so I got in touch with an agency in Edinburgh and on Saturday's or sometimes midweek evenings I would go to a match and churn out 100 words for this paper, 250 for that, 500 for another. In reflection, it seems all a bit strange and ahead of my years but in that moment it was all I knew. It still is to a certain extent.
It was the same story when Dad started working in Formula One. There was no doubt that I was the annoying child that turned up at every press box, not just in Scotland but now I was global! There can't have been many teenagers who had been to Rugby World Cups, F1 races, Wimbledon, Commonwealth Games etc! Maybe it was my destiny to report and present at all of those which I have since done.
Dad certainly gave me the contacts and the confidence to go into media but it has taken a lot of hard work and a lot of knock backs to get to where I am now. Last year I had 12 days off between Wimbledon and Olympia on the 21st December. In between I did nine F1 races, eight weeks in Rio for the Olympics and Paralympics and presented England v Fiji in between. It was amazing but exhausting.
Strangely, I didn't really work in rugby for years, until last year when I started doing Six Nations for the BBC. This year I felt much more in my comfort zone and loved being part of it. When you have your memories, and have gone all your life to Murrayfield, to be on the pitch interviewing after a match is a truly special feeling. It is both funny and lovely for me working alongside Andy Nicol, someone who has known me since I was a kid.
Last Saturday was an emotional day for a whole host of reasons. It certainly was for Vern Cotter. I loved being a small part of his farewell. As he walked over for the interview, the reaction from the crowd was amazing and to see such a formidable man get emotional as all the players surrounded him was one of those moments you just don't forget.
This weekend finds me in Melbourne and back on Channel 4 as the Formula One season kicks off. I love being part of this travelling circus. The dynamic is so different to other sports. I spend four days a week for over half a year with the drivers so we get to know each other pretty well. We are often in the same hotels, restaurants and on the same planes. Some you become friends with, others you are simply united by airmiles!
The travel is tough this month. Next weekend I am back in London on the banks of the Thames for the boat race on BBC. I've not worked on it before so I am looking forward that. My next free weekend is in a few weeks and I will come back to Ayrshire, and maybe watch some sport. It's not a bad way to spend a weekend off!
Lee McKenzie covers F1 and Paralympics for Channel 4 and rugby union, Olympics, Wimbledon, equestrian and Commonwealth Games for BBC.
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