As the nights start to get brighter it’s a sure sign that our Academy is about to get busier and busier. The “business end” of the season fast approaches and games come thick and fast - so too do the demands on our young players.
A prime example of this is our current Under 15s as they continue to fight on three fronts while several players hope to be selected for Northern Ireland’s trip to a three team tournament in Belgium and Milk Cup Country trials are now under way.
This gives just a flavour of how the amount of football on offer for young players in the modern era has increased dramatically. Add to this the amount of school football being played and it’s hard to see where players can catch a break.
Here at the Academy, keeping the players fresh and available and finding innovative and exciting ways to coach the players is a fundamental part of what we do as we strive to keep the players energised and focused on their development and enjoyment of the game in these hectic periods.
At Under 19 level the Colts are one of the youngest teams in the country with upwards of 8 – 10 Under 17s in the squad on any given week. It is a credit to them then that they are sitting comfortably in mid-table and still in with a shout in the League Cup. Colts players are regularly training with the Seconds and taking their chances when they come along to impress at this level.
Our Under 17 squad is probably the most fluid squad within the club as they are rarely able to field the same team two weeks in a row due to players playing up for the Colts and U16 lads being drafted in for experience. Despite this they are in the top four in the National League, in the quarter-final of the NIBFA Cup and into the semi-final of the National League Plate competition. Karl Hamill has been selected for the Northern Ireland U17 European Championship Elite Qualifying Round Squad while Patrick Caffola made the standby list.
At Under 16 we were very proud to have three players represent the club in the Victory Shield competition this season (Tre Sterling, Jack White and Lucas Galashan) while recently Scott McArthur has been added to the NI training panel. Young Scott has made great strides having regularly represented our Colts this season also. The Under 16's have a NIBFA Cup quarter-final ahead against holders, Cliftonville and have a National League plate quarter-final to look forward to also.
Our Under 15 team are sitting second in the National League, three points behind SOPFC with three games in hand. They are set for another epic tussle with SOPFC before the end of the season having already won one and lost one against them this term. The victory coming last Friday night at Seaview in the League Cup quarter-final . The boys now look forward to a semi-final against Loughgall or Glenavon. The Under 15's are also in the quarter-final of the NIBFA Cup and hope for an exciting end to the season as they battle on three fronts while trying to juggle international call ups and county trials for this summer’s Milk Cup. Our Under 15's have enjoyed a successful season to date in terms of international call ups with 9 players involved in the recent Club NI trips/ friendlies.
The Under 14's will also have a busy run in to the end of the season as they fight on three fronts too – they have two games in hand in the league that could take them to within four points of leaders Portadown while they are in the NIBFA Cup quarter-final and League Cup second round where they will go away to Ballymena. It has also been a successful season so far in terms of international call ups for the Under 14's with 9 players involved in recent internationals. This on top of the recent call ups for the Spain trip – we will update you on those selected and the details of the tournament closer to the event but yet again Glentoran have had more players selected for an International squad than any other club!
At Under 13 we have had 10 players involved in Club NI this season. The lads find themselves in the top four in the division and still in the League Cup with a second round tie away to Cookstown to come. This young squad are packed with potential and talent and several players have recently made a big contribution playing up a year.
The National League commences with 11 a-side football at Under 13 only. Below this level we have a lot of smashing young players plying their trade in various small sided games centres ranging from 9 a-side in the Lisburn League for U11/ U12s to 5 a-side in the IFA development centres for our U9s. Below this again we have teams playing friendlies and training right down to as young as U4! A first for our Academy and a huge expansion that has taken place in recent months which augers will for the future of the Academy and in turn our Senior side.
We look forward to bringing you more updates as the season draws to a conclusion in the meantime please add us on Facebook (GlentoranYouthAc) and follow us on twitter @theglensacademy for all the latest Academy news!