Scotland Boys Club (Academy of Football)
Receive Prestigious Award
Scotland Boys Club – Academy of Football has been recognised for their valuable contribution to grassroots football.
Bobby Mc Donald (Academy Director) was presented with the Scottish FA Quality Mark Standard Award by Scottish FA Chief Executive Stewart Regan and Director of Football Development Jim Fleeting.
The Award, part of the Quality Mark accreditation scheme run by the Scottish FA in partnership with McDonald’s and The Big Lottery Fund, recognises pro-active clubs and schools working to increase youth and community participation.
Clubs and schools receive the award after meeting standards in areas such as coach and player development, management, administration, welfare and planning.
Bobby McDonald from the Academy said: “Since its inception in 1966, Scotland Boys Club has attempted to provide quality coaching, organisational skills and quality supervision for youngsters of all ages. It was always our vision to improve our young players technically, physically, tactfully and socially to promote skill, fun, enthusiasm and enjoyment when playing football. We also encourage our youngsters to make friends and of course learn the game of football. I am delighted to see that the Scottish FA has now recognised this achievement formally in the form of this Quality Mark. I would like to thank everyone who was involved in making this Award possible, and in particular Richard Bullough (Operations Manager) who managed to co-ordinate the entire task.”
Scottish FA Club Development Manager John Brown said: “I am delighted to be part of the team that helped Scotland Boys Club (Academy of Football) to achieve the recognition they so richly deserve. The hours of hard work and dedication that the committee and coaches put in is often overlooked and we want to let everyone involved know that the whole of Scottish football appreciates their tireless efforts.”
There are three Quality Mark categories – Standard, Development, and Community. So far more than 100 clubs and schools have achieved accreditation over the three categories, and over 4,000 coaches have benefited from coach education and first aid training.
McDonald’s, Scottish FA’s community partner since 2002, will help to attract 13,000 new volunteers and 10,000 new coaches by 2014, as well as supporting 600 clubs and 52,000 players through new and existing football networks.
Through the Quality Mark Accreditation Scheme, McDonald’s and the Scottish FA aim to provide support to grassroots clubs and schools across Scotland as they strive to broaden youth and community participation and to enhance player, coach and volunteer development.
The Quality Mark scheme is supported by the Big Lottery Fund, which contributes to the employment of all Scottish FA club development staff, as well as discounted coach education and first aid courses for grassroots volunteers. The Big Lottery Fund is a key Scottish FA partner, contributing £6m to the delivery of the Scottish FA Youth Action Plan.
For further information on the Scottish FA Quality Mark programme, please visit: www.scottishfa.co.uk/footballdevelopment
Scotland Boys Club (Academy of Football) receiving ‘Scottish FA – Quality Mark – Standard Award’ at Hampden Park on Thursday 18th November 2010.
Pictured above from left to right; Richard Bullough (Operations Manager SBC), Shirley Clark (Secretary SBC), Stewart Regan (Scottish FA – Chief Executive), Bobby Mc Donald (Academy Director SBC), and Scottish FA – Director of Football Development – Jim Fleeting.
From January 2011, Scotland Boys Club – Academy of Football will be embarking on a challenge to attempt to achieve the next step in the SFA Quality Mark Programme – the ‘Development Award’.
See below for a full explanation of the various Awards.
Standard Award
The focus at Standard Award is to ensure that basic club operating standards are in place. Putting basic criteria in place will make for a more robust and sustainable club structure. Participating clubs should consist of one or more teams.
By establishing a basic club structure, the Scottish FA will continue to work with clubs who wish to grow to “Development Club” status. This Standard Award is also aimed at those Clubs who cannot grow their club due to geography or demographics but where quality of football provision is clearly demonstrable. An example of this being clubs in the more remote areas of Scotland.
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Development Award
Development Clubs will have demonstrated a commitment to creating a player pathway and to the development of players through a number of age groups including girls’ football. These Clubs will have a minimum of four teams at four different age groups.
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The Development Club should also demonstrate a link to local Primary and Secondary Schools, providing School pupils an opportunity to train or play where a School team does not exist.
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Community Award
The key objective of the Community Club or School is to ensure that members are encouraged to stay with the Club and continue to play, train and compete at their chosen level whilst developing a sense of Community belonging. These Clubs will have a minimum of eight teams representing children, youths, adults and girls/women.
The Club should also seek to identify talent, develop it, and produce young players capable of performing at their maximum level.
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