Name: Andy Deacon

Date of birth: 31 July 1965

Birthplace: Gloucester

Occupation: Raging Bull Sportswear sales manager

School: Beaufort School (1976-81)

Your sport at school: Football, cricket, rugby, squash, swimming – I wasn’t built then as I am now!

Your position: Second row in rugby; centre-half in football; medium-paced swing bowling all-rounder in cricket.

How did you get involved? Former Gloucester no. 8 John Simonett was our PE teacher at secondary school and he was a big influence on me. I’d only played football at Grange Junior School and he introduced me to rugby as well as the other sports. I think the only reason I went to school was to play sport!

Best achievement/result and why: Beaufort School was a very new school when I started. In my third year, our rugby team became the first team from the school to win against one of the grammar schools when we beat Crypt School. It was a great achievement at the time and I still see a lot of the players today. Crypt and Tommy’s were always very good.

Your best coach at school and why: John Simonett. He was passionate about rugby. He knew how to run a side and coached and taught us very well. He taught us what rugby was all about.

Other sports played at school: As above.

Did you continue to play sport after school and if so for whom? I joined Longlevens along with quite a few of our school rugby team and then went to play for Gloucester and Cinderford.

What is your involvement in sport today – watching or playing? I am director of rugby at Cirencester Rugby Club. Before that I was director of rugby at Cinderford Rugby Club.

How do we get more of today’s youngsters involved in sport? First and foremost sport has got to be enjoyable. If they enjoy it they will keep coming back for more. I do sometimes think that kids today start playing sport at too young an age. If they start playing football and rugby at six, by the time they’re 20 they’ve been playing for 14 years. That’s a long time and sometimes they can lose interest. I didn’t pick up a rugby ball until I was 11 and that was the same for a lot of people in my era. That may explain our longevity in sport.