COACH
VIEW
GALSTON YFC’S COACH
HUGH MCNEILLIE TALKS
ON YOUTH FOOTBALL
WHAT DOES GALSTON YFC
MEAN TO YOU, BOTH AS A
FOOTBALL COACH AND AS A
PARENT?
The club is a fantastic organisation
providing a platform for young
footballers to learn and develop in the
grassroots game as well as making lifelong friendships. My job as a coach is
to manage the progression rate and try
to put old heads on young shoulders.
Regarding being a parent, my son
plays in the team but I stopped being
a parent when I took the coaching job
on. There is no room for any sort of
nepotism in my team.
HOW AND ALSO WHY DID YOU
BECOME INVOLVED WITH THE
CLUB?
I was asked to help out with the 2002
age group four years ago when their
coaches moved up an age group. At the
time I envisaged it being a support role
as a coach. It turned out to be a coach/
managers role.... I would have loved to
have been involved with coaching in
some capacity, probably at Young Killie
had this opportunity not arose.
Words by Kyle Brown
WHAT SORT OF BASE DO THE
CLUB HAVE?
The club don’t currently have a
base but we are working hard behind
the scenes as part of a legacy project
to create a hub for the club (as well as
the local community) at the Western
Road complex next to Galston
Primary School.
EXPLAIN ABOUT THE
TERRIFICALLY RENOWNED
GALSTON TOURNAMENT.
The tournament has been a success
over it’s seventeen years. It follows
a simple format but a lot of hard
work and organisation goes into it in
the weeks and months before. We
have a great sub-committee who
ensure all the boxes are ticked on an
extensive check list. Bringing in teams
from different regions has definitely
enhanced the tournament over the
past two years.
COULD YOU EXPLAIN WHAT
THE QUALITY MARK WILL MEAN
TO A CLUB LIKE GALSTON
YFC?
The Quality Mark is a good vehicle
to ensure the administration of the
club is consistent. There should be a
positive outcome for the players as
our Quality and Standards Officer
will ensure our coaches are improving
their level of coaching by monitoring
and progressing them through the
SFA coaching pathway.
HOW WILL THE CLUB
CONTINUE TO GROW IN THE
NEXT FEW SEASONS?
A6. Improvements on the key areas of
forward planning, coach development
, having our own hub and increased
interaction with the East Ayrshire
community through multi-channel
media should see the club flourish.
Issue # 1 | YFS Magazine | 59