I get my kicks when I see ex-kids’ names on first-team sheet
George Cairns says seeing his kids get recognition at different international age groups gives him an enormous sense of pride – but so does looking at a team-sheet on a matchday.
Cairns has seen several players progress from his academy set-up to the first-team at Hamilton Accies, including Ali Crawford, Greg Docherty and Scott Mcmann, but there are others beneath them who are also turning out for their country.
He said:“in the last few months we’ve had players who have been recognised internationally. We have Taylor Wilson, and Jamie Hamilton and Andrew Winters who both represented Scotland at under-16s.
“Andrew, a striker, scored a couple of goals for Scotland and has now been included for the Victory Shield squad for the under-16s.
“Jamie would have been included but has taken an injury to his knee. They actually moved Jamie from the 16s to the 17s squad, but we had to pull him out because he took a knee injury, playing against Maryhill Juniors.
“At the young age of 15, playing against a Junior team was a fantastic experience for him, but he just took a wee niggling injury which kept him out.
“We have Greg Docherty, who has just made the under-21 squad, goalkeeper Ryan Fulton is in that squad, and we have Lewis Ferguson who has represented Scotland at under-19 level and is doing very well.
“The proof is in the pudding. Getting recognised internationally is great. It’s great when it happens but my job is to try and get these guys into our first team, or try to show a pathway from a very young age.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to see the kids play in the first team. It’s great to watch your kids, and I can go as far back as Ali Crawford, Greg Docherty, Mikey Devlin – who is our club captain and came through the academy.
“It’s great, it’s an honour and that feeling never wears off. Every time you pick up a team-sheet, you’re looking to see how many young kids you have in that squad for the day, and it’s great to see some of these kids going and doing some things as well.
“It’s a great privilege and an honour to try and help these kids get something out of the game,”
George says anybody who is considering coaching kids needs to be prepared to give it everything they have – and they’ll get that back in return.
He said:“my advice would be to go in open-eyed. It’s a great opportunity and there are a lot of opportunities out there to go and help kids.
“We as a nation have a lot of talented football players at grassroots level, and a lot of talented kids out there as well, and it’s a case of‘go and live the dream’– it’s there for the taking.
“If you’re a good coach, and you’re good at what you do and bring something new – because all coaches do things differently – there are always people watching, and you never know, you could be the next person to be the head of youth.
“The opportunities are there, grassroots level football is fantastic. I love going back to watch my son play there as well.
“It’s getting as many kids to enjoy the game as possible. There are a lot of kids out there that they by-pass that could have been a hit.
“We have a lot of talented kids in this set-up, but you have to push them and get the best out of them, to challenge them.”