Gridiron: East Kilbride Pirates star Neil Baptie explains retirement call after 15 years with hometown club
dailyrecord.co.ukEast Kilbride Pirates legend Neil Baptie admits starting a family and the fear of more injuries has led to him calling time on his 15-year spell with his hometown club.The quarterback, who hails from St Leonards, first stepped foot at a Pirates training session back in 2010 when he was the understudy to hall of famer and 2011 Division One title-winner Ryan Hunter.Baptie managed to replicate that feat when he guided the Pirates to the Britbowl Division One crown in 2022, and he has now bowed out after helping the club finish the 2024 campaign in the top flight with a third place finish.The 35-year-old’s last game came earlier this month in a 36-12 victory away to Tamworth Phoenix and he revealed the reason he is now retiring is to focus on becoming a dad for the first time.His wife Amy is expecting their first child in December and fears that he might have broken his collarbone for a third time in his career at Newcastle Vikings in April, made his mind up.Baptie said: “That’s 15 years I was at East Kilbride so that is quite a decent stint!“But my wife fell pregnant this year and we are expecting our first child at the start of December.“We don’t really know what to expect, what our new normal is going to be and speaking to guys in the team with families and other friends I have that have played, having kids is a big responsibility that takes up a lot of your time.“The Pirates are at such a level now where the commitment is quite high.
It’s not just attending practice and games, we do a lot of film sessions as well and that is a lot about the mental aspect of the game and that is another big aspect also.“That, along with an injury at the start of the season, made my mind up.“I have broken my collarbone twice before and I
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