college draft

AUFA & Reid Kerr College, a perfect partnership

In conjunction with Ayr United Football Academy, 15 youth players achieve National Qualifications at Reid Kerr College.

How many youth players get the chance to train with a SFL team under the guidance of the clubs manager while still having the opportunity to attend an affiliated college & get educational qualifications in football? Well that opportunity came true for 15 young players who trained with Ayr United during season 2009 - 10.

It's every young footballers dream to be offered a professional contract and have a successful playing career in Scotland but only a few will succeed at the highest level. The Academy Board made it one of their targets to develop a way for those players by providing a partnership with Reid Kerr College to provide an education pathway. Reid Kerr College ran NQ courses at various levels in football last season & in the future will offer HNC & eventually HND. These qualifications offer future career prospects for the students involved but also provides an important route from pro youth into the Ayr United first team squad.

The 2009-10 course had 22 students, 7 of which were Academy players. Based at the John Pollock Centre and Pro Soccer Complex, they were taught by lecturers from Reid Kerr & also from the Academy. However, the greatest attraction for these young footballers was the opportunity to train with the Ayr United first team every Tuesday & Thursday morning. As Brian Reid is a full time manager, it meant he had time to watch & talk to the students & discussed those assessments with Academy coaches. Brian also shaped these sessions to allow the college course practical sessionsto be integrated into the training time. The Academy proposed that he selected 8-10 players a week to supplement the first team squad at training, a proposal that Brian accepted & the players were picked on a rotational basis so that all students got equal playing time. This increased participation by Brian, played an important part of co-ordinating the college course session with Ayr's overall training regime.

Newly appointed Head of Youth Development at the Academy David White, has a very positive approach to encouraging the next batch of Academy players to join this course & wants to make these players fully aware of how important this course is for their path into the first team, as well as offering further education in football.

The Academy gives due consideration to 'over training', with the Academy students allowed optional training attendance on the Tuesday and Thursday night sessions, with most choosing to attend Thursday night as their new weekly training schedule differed to the under 19's not on the Reid Kerr course. David Gemmell also offers guidance sessions for the students to allow them an outlet to discuss any problems they have.

The positive outcome from the football sessions was how the non Academy players excelled in these games & led to 2 players being signed by Academy teams. The success of this course is good news for the Academy as it is unique in that this is the only college course set up by a football Academy tailored for their youth players. The partnership they have developed with Reid Kerr College shows true professionalism & vision from staff on both sides.