Trio of places up for grabs in Alpine Series finals
Eighteen young lads got the perfect Christmas present with the unveiling of this season’s TSB Under-18 schoolboy squad to represent Scotland in this season’s Centenary Shield campaign.
The chosen few recently enjoyed a first training session at Toryglen Regional Football Centre in Glasgow and the squad, selected from schools throughout Scotland, were put through their paces by coach Stewart Taylor’s staff as they began preparations for the annual Centenary Shield competition, which features England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Edinburgh’s Kyle Hogg is determined to turn his international nightmare into a dream this season after being named in the squad.
It is no surprise that 17-year-old Hogg was one of the few selected, having donned the Scotland shirt for the 2011 Victory Shield.
On that occasion Hogg, a pupil at Leith Academy, featured just once and it unfortunately came in a 4-2 loss at the hands of England, live on TV.
But as he prepares to take on the Auld Enemy once again, Hogg is confident he can avoid disappointment second time around.
“It was great when I found out I was in the squad especially since I was worried after the first trial because my back and groin were hurting,” he said.
“I played through the pain the first time and thought I played alright, but I was much happier with the improvements I made in the second trial to get my place.
“I played for the Under-16s a couple of years ago which was a really good experience and really opened my eyes that football could be my career. Unfortunately we got a bit of a thrashing and it was live on Sky Sports which wasn’t great, but it was still a great experience.
“I can’t wait to do it all again and hopefully we can have a better result this time around.”
Hogg is not the only Edinburgh representative looking to help Scotland improve on last year’s results that saw them lose all of their games.
Trinity Academy centre midfielder Jamie Dishington and Edinburgh South FC striker, James Flynn, have also been selected, with the latter eager to make up for lost time after falling at the final hurdle last year.
“I was buzzing to get picked, absolutely ecstatic,” said Flynn, who attends St Thomas of
January marks the launch of the second Scottish Schools’ Alpine Series and the good news for competitors is that three teams – as opposed to two in the inaugural year – will qualify for the finals at Cairngorm.
Another change is that the primary and secondary finals will take place on separate weekends. Mearns Castle High School will be defending the secondary title, with Abernethy Primary School seeking to retain the primary trophy. The school’s skiing programme also has the prospect of an exciting new venture in 2014 with the addition of a Scottish Schools’ Nordic Championship.
Scottish School’s organiser Iain RamsayClapham revealed: “The inaugural SSSA Nordic champs are in planning for Tuesday, 29 April. This is a big first and we are very excited to get Nordic into the calendar. There will be more news about the championships very soon.” Aquin’s High School. “Last year I was at the trials but didn’t get picked.
“It’s good to come back and get selected. I made myself a training programme to get myself fitter. I felt pretty confident, I was playing well. I want to win the tournament, hopefully I can get a few goals.”
Iain McCall, Scottish network director for TSB, said: “Congratulations to all the players selected to represent Scotland in the TSB U18 squad. It’s a huge honour to represent your country and I’m sure the boys will relish the opportunity.”
Gordon Pate, president of the Scottish Schools’ Football Association, added: “Our International schools’ set-up has an illustrious history of 21 J anuary – Glenshee; 4 February – CairnGorm Qualifier (The Sir Francis Walker Cup); 11 February – Lecht; 25 February – Glencoe (The West of Scotland Schools Race); 27 February – Nevis. FINALS 7 March – Primary championship finals at Cairngorm. 13 March – Secondary championship finals at Cairngorm. nurturing young talent in Scotland, with the likes of Kenny Dalglish, David Moyes and Darren Fletcher just a few of the many famous names to have progressed through the schools’ football ranks.” l
Scott Burns (Braidhurst High School), Kieran Campbell (St Modan’s High School), Kyle Chalmers (St Peter the Apostle), Jamie Dishington (Trinity Academy), James Flynn (St.Thomas of Aquins), Michael Hardie (Drumchapel High School), Jamie Henry (Clydebank High School), Kyle Hogg (Leith Academy), Mikey Hopkins (St Peter the Apostle), Scott Hynd (Dunfermline High School), Chris Liversedge (Harlaw Academy), Conor Mckenzie (Dunblane High School), Craig Quinn (Bearsden Academy), Jai Quitongo (Braidhurst High School), Chris Truesdale (Coatbridge High School), Leonard Wilson (Cults Academy), Lewis Wilson (Kilsyth Academy), James Yates (Perth High School).