Appliance of science will help United youngsters

Dundee United’s next generation of stars are set to benefit from cuttingedge sports science thanks to a new partnership with Abertay University.

The scheme will give Abertay students the chance to work with elite athletes, while academic staff will take the opportunity to tie the sessions into ongoing research projects.

United will provide four internship opportunities for students, while data from the testing period will be reported back to the club’s medical and management team.

The club will also provide staff to deliver talks and workshops as part of the university’s academic programme, with Abertay staff returning the favour for educational events run by the club’s academy.

Staff and students from the university’s Division of Sport and Exercise Sciences will provide a full range of fitness testing for the U13, U14, U15 and U17 sides, analysing players’ body fat, sprint speeds, flexibility and endurance capacity.

Andrea Cameron, head of the School of Social and Health Sciences, said high quality performance analysis is essential in elite sport and can often mean the difference between winning and losing.

She said: “Abertay’s suite of courses offers a variety of avenues into the industry with performance analysis becoming ever more important in all disciplines.”

Graeme Henderson, head of academy football science and medicine at United, added: “I’m confident the impact of this relationship will be visible over time in the development of our youth players.”