10
reasons to be
cheerful
about the
future of
Scottish
youth football
10 Opportunities to play
Whether you are a 4 year old kicking the ball for the
first time or a 20 year old hoping to make the step up
into professional football, there has never been more
opportunities to play the game. Admittedly street
football is now a thing of the past; however this has
been counteracted by the amount of organised playing
opportunities now on offer. Play for a club team, a school
team, a pro youth team, a regional school select squad, a
regional club select squad, in Midnight Leagues, organised
weekly 5-a-side leagues, the SYFA national squad, the CYP
national squad, the full Scotland national squad. There are
probably a lot more out there, too.
9 Additional training opportunities
Playing for your club, your school, and for those lucky
enough representing your region or nation, will always
be the number one way for youth players to develop.
However in the last few years the amount of independent
coaching schools, academies and skills classes has went
off the scale. Regardless of what region you come from,
what age you are and what ability level you possess, you
are likely to have a large selection of additional training
opportunities.
Some may say ‘anyone can start one of these
academies up’ or ‘the market is too diluted’. However,
the good setups will shine through for years to come and
those which aren’t up to scratch will fall off the radar. The
important thing is for the kid who wants to train 3 or 4
times per week rather than just 1 or 2,, then they can do
exactly that.
8 Club development – on and off the park
In the last five years youth clubs have been transformed –
not only on the pitch but behind the scenes. Social media
is being used brilliantly by many, to push out positive
messages in the public domain. Having just catered for
mainstream boys in previous decades, many clubs now
have thriving girls and disability sections. In many cases a
young player is no longer thinking about ‘is the team I’m
joining top of the league?’, but ‘what does this club offer its
players across the board?’.
7 A clear strategy at performance level
Since the introduction of Mark Wotte as Performance
Director and the Scottish FA’s Performance Schools,
what Scotland is trying to do to turn young players into
68 | YFS Magazine | Issue #1