Youth Initiative – Building for the Future

Proud Sponsors of Ross County Youth

2006-07 Under 14 Squad - the building blocks of Ross County’s future.

Ross County are part of the Scottish Football Association’s flagship Youth Initiative Programme. The aim of this programme is to develop talented youngsters by focusing on the skills, tactics and teamwork required to progress both as individual players and as a team. For this reason no league tables are kept and therefore the teams really can follow the old football cliché of “one game at a time”!

The Initiative is separated into four different age levels: Under 13s, 14s, 15s and a dual age band for 16s/17s. The season runs from August to November and after a winter shutdown the second half of the season is from February to May. Within the Youth Initiative Ross County play against teams from some of the biggest Clubs in the country including Rangers and Celtic, and this is helping us to develop the building blocks for the day when our First team plays against these same teams, week in and week out.

The Under 17 Team of 2005/6 celebrates a goal. 6 of the players pictured have progressed to U19 level and Daniel Moore already features in the first team at just 18 years old.

Overseeing the development of these young players and teams is the Club’s Head of Youth, David Kirkwood. David came to the club after a period working at Rangers Football Club, and he has brought a high level of enthusiasm and drive to the Club as well as his coaching expertise. He already holds both Youth and ‘A’ Licences and is currently working towards his UEFA Pro Licence. David is also our U19s Manager, and plays a key role with the First Team alongside manager Derek Adams.

All coaches involved with our Youth Initiative teams are SFA qualified. They are all motivated by enthusiasm for the game of football and a willingness to nurture and develop talented young players, giving the players a great example to follow. Without these individuals giving up their evenings and weekends, the Club’s ambition to be a centre of excellence for Youth Development simply wouldn’t be possible.

Each squad is looked after by a pair of coaches, and a list of those responsible is below. Please click on the links below to see the full squad list.

Our teams train at least three times a week, with an additional training night for selected players. The aim of the training nights is not just to prepare for games, but to give teams and individual players a chance to practice their skills and techniques in a controlled environment with experienced and qualified coaches on hand to give them guidance and advice. There are also frequent sessions which focus on the importance of other aspects of the game such as teamwork and nutrition.

Youth Initiative matches are played on Sundays and with all Youth games free to watch we welcome as many spectators as possible to come along and support all our Youth Teams.

For further details on all youth fixtures or any other aspect of the Youth Initiative System, please call Kirsty Macdonald on 01349 860862 or e-mail kirsty.macdonald@rosscountyfootballclub.co.uk.