Academy Teams Being Set Sterner Tests

[chilledbear 16]

I like the thinking behind this, not before time to be honest.

 

RANGERS Under 14s will travel to Northern Ireland this weekend to take part in a four team tournament with a French Academy, the Northern Ireland national team and Everton.

 

Under the guidance of former Rangers captain Ally Dawson and fellow coach Gary Gibson, it will be the second event the U14s have attended in the last two weeks having been defeated in the final of a tournament last weekend in Newcastle featuring Newcastle United, Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

Also this weekend the under 11s and under 12s will travel to Blackburn to face Blackburn Rovers in 9 v 9 matches at their Academy.

 

These tournaments and visits south of the border are now a regular occurrence and are part of a new Academy strategy to challenge the young Rangers players as often as possible.

Head of Academy Craig Mulholland said: “Playing ‘best v best’ matches as often as possible will accelerate the development of our young Academy players and this will be the third tournament that the 14s group have attended since the start of the season.

 

“The under 9s, 10s, 11s, 12s, 16s and 17s have also played in top tournaments or played in England against Premier League opposition this season resulting in matches against the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sunderland, AIK Stockholm and Tottenham Hotspur.

“Exposing our players to this level of opposition is critical to their development if our Academy is to improve the quality of player we produce and achieve our aim of developing lads who can play at the highest level of the game in the Champions League.

“Taking on these challenges is a key component of the new culture we are creating within the Academy.

“If the emphasis in our Academy was all about winning then you may not take these challenges however our focus is firmly on player development.

“While these tournaments can throw up a range of different results we have no doubt in the longer term it will help us produce technically excellent, intelligent footballers and that is far more important than whether one of our teams wins a match at youth level.

These tournaments are exciting for the players and the staff and it allows us to put Rangers name back among the big clubs in Europe where we belong.

“It also allows us to put our new style of play and football philosophy into practice and for the staff it is an opportunity to observe and share best practice with coaches from other clubs.

“We hope all of the lads have a great time this weekend and gain a lot from the experience.”

 

http://www.rangers.co.uk/news/academy-news/item/9975-u14s-on-their-travels-again

Edited August 28, 2015 by chilledbear

[craig 5,199]

The younger age groups have been travelling south to play Blackburn, Everton & Newcastle for years - that isn't something new. Certainly the 10's to 12's. I think it might be new for the 9's though.