Kilmarnock Rugby Club’s new president Claire Provan says she’s ‘full of pride’ after taking up the role and has vowed to work hard to take the club forward. Claire had previously served as vice-president before being appointed to the top role in recent weeks, becoming the first female to hold that position at the club. She admits it’s a ‘huge honour’ as she embarks on her latest journey at the Bellsland outfit. Things are positive both on and off the park at the moment with Killie coming off a West Region League Division One title and looking forward to National League rugby this term. They’ve also appointed a new Director of Rugby in former Scotland international Gordon Reid and have seen the committee double in size as they prepare for the new campaign. Speaking to the Standard, Claire spoke of her pride at being elected into her new role and her hopes both on and off the park in the coming years. She said: “It’s a very proud moment for myself becoming the first female president. I was actually the first female vice-president as well. “Usually what happens is you do that role for a couple of years and then make the step to president if you don’t do anything daft. “I was voted in as president a few weeks ago now, so thankfully that must have meant folk at the club didn’t think I had done! But I’m full of pride at taking on this new role. “I had been heavily involved in the junior rugby side of things for a number of years because of my two boys who played and I’ve kept on with that path and moved up the age groups. “It was tough at points, especially during covid, but the club seems to be in a great position right now and I just want to hit the ground running and do what I can to keep that positive momentum going.” One of the key plans for Claire is to build what she calls a ‘proper pathway’ and ‘unity’ between all the age groups from P1 to senior rugby. She explains: “A lot of the teams have been working and playing sort of independently from each other and there’s maybe not that unity that we’ve been trying to get. “That’s really what I would say is my key focus - to unite the club and make sure everyone feels like they’re part of Kilmarnock Rugby Club and can see that pathway. “We’ve spent a lot of time working on the girls side of things as well and we now have a convener for them, who is on the committee, which will be great for growing that aspect of the club. “We now have a really strong structure behind the club now. We’ve got around 14 members of the committee, whereas it was seven or eight last year, so there’s so much more support and more people working to try and benefit the rugby club.” That’s included appointing a Director of Rugby with former Glasgow Warriors prop Reid the man taking on that role. Claire believes they’ve managed to pull off something of a coup in attracting the 41-times capped Scotland star to the club and says his presence can only be a positive. She commented: “We want to progress and develop and I think getting a Director of Rugby in was a key part of that. To be able to get Gordy is incredible. “We’ve been promoted and want to build on that and have a pathway and structure in place that allows Kilmarnock to keep hold of their homegrown talent. “That’s been an issue in the past, players thinking they need to leave to develop and progress their careers. That’s something that myself, Gordy and the committee will be working hard to turnaround. We want our youth players to see that there’s a clear pathway and progression through the age groups into, eventually, senior rugby at a competitive national level.” She added: “Gordy’s pedigree in the game speaks for itself. I think his appointment, and the fact he buys into what he hope to achieve, shows people that we’re serious about advancing the club and that we have a structure in place to allow us to do that. “We want to be able to grow both on and off the pitch. We want the parents of the youth players to be proud that their son or daughter plays for Kilmarnock Rugby Club, because I know I’m proud to be president and proud that my children have played for the club.” On the pitch, Killie will be facing different challenges with their rise to National League Four, which brings about away days to the likes of Highland sides Ellon and Moray. But it’s a season their president is looking forward to and is confident they’ll be able to mix it at the higher level. She said: “Our dream goal would be to get promoted again to National Three but whether that’s achievable in the short-term, I guess we’ll find out this season. We want to be amibitious and bold, but we also have to be realistic. “Our coaches are confident that we can be competitive in the league and we want to continue that positive momentum from a tremendous league-winning season last year but we know we’re playing at a higher level. “It’s going to be a challenging season and there will be plenty of difficulties to overcome, but as a club we’re confident that we can meet that challenge and thrive.” Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter