Queen’s Park Football Club, like the famous Barcelona motto, is more than a club. From his newly refurbished office in, the shadow of the national stadium, the man behind the plan discusses the club’s youth development programme.
After an hour spent in the company of Queen’s Park Football Club Head of Youth Development David McCallum, it is refreshing to leave knowing that all is being done to give the club’s young footballers every opportunity to become successful, not only in football but life.
Away from the glitz and glamour, the fame and fortune of the upper echelons of Scottish football, there are clubs whose purpose is not about the bottom line or trophies, which is not to say this club do not have ambitions.
The 37-year-old has a clear vision for youth players at Queen’s Park and is taking the club’s under-17 squad to Valencia on the Leonardo da Vinci Coaching Initiative.
The Da Vinci project is funded by the European Parliament and administered by the SFA and it will be the sixth time that the club from Glasgow’s south side participates in the project.
The training camp will last two weeks and will incorporate a cultural, sporting and educational programme. A lot of work goes into applying and justifying being selected to participate.
“There is a selection process; you’ve got to put an application in, which is quite detailed and I think the application can put a lot of clubs off because there is a lot of work involved in it to justify why your organisation should be part of these trips. We put a lot of effort into that.
“Part of the commitment to the programme is not only football; you’ve got to subscribe to cultural activities, pre-trip and post-trip activities; you’ve also got to publicise it and we but into all that and we make sure that what we put together, actually happens,” McCallum said.
“It’s easy to say: ‘here’s what we going to do’ but maybe not stick to it. You do get monitored to make sure that you stick to what you’ve proposed. You’re judged on your own merit, irrespective of what football club.
“If you’ve applied and stuck to what you said you were going to do, the club that you work for is irrelevant as long the work you get done is buying into what the programme is about.”
A fortnight seems little time to make a difference but in reality, the gains from such an extensive and intensive programme are of high value to Queen’s Park.
McCallum said: “Da Vinci, we can get players, ranging from 16 to 20-years-old, out to an environment where we can work with them; two practical sessions a day and a theory session in the evening.
“The theory session can consist of some media work. It can consist of doing match analysis on the game and the training sessions as well.
“A lot of activity we can get done in such a short period of time that over here, we might get 30 training sessions done out there in a two week period, where as here, it might take two-and-a-half to three months to get done. That in itself makes it worthwhile for our organisation.”
The trip is about more than football and education, it is an opportunity for players to broaden their horizons.
“We’ve done trips to the salt caves. We are going to Valencia City; we’ve been to Santa Barbara Castle in Alicante … we want to make it cultural; it’s not just about going shopping.
“We will also take in some football matches as well. We’ve been to Levante versus Barcelona and Valencia versus Sevilla,” McCallum said.
The time away from home gives the players a shared and personal responsibility. A tight budget means private tutors are used sparingly and the boys must take responsibility for themselves while abroad.
The Bellshill-born coach says: “Ideally, you’d like to have a teacher but the reality is that it’s difficult to manage that.
“They [the players] bring their schoolwork with them and there’s time assigned to them to get that work done.
“The players help each other out, which is good for the bonding aspect of football. It’s good to see these guys are willing to help each other through areas that are necessary football,” added McCallum.
One obstacle that can be daunting is the language barrier, however, Queen’s Park has taken steps to ensure that the players learn Spanish and study the country’s culture – this is the club’s third trip to Spain – preparing thoroughly before they depart.
“We’ve started language lessons already – we bring in a tutor to deliver those. The lessons are not just about the language, it’s about the country and it’s specific for the area we are going to be in.”
The programme has benefited many young players because of Queen’s Park’s dedication to youth development.
High-profile former trainees include Blair Spittal and Aidan Connolly of Dundee United. However, it is Andrew Robertson who is the brightest talent to have emerged from the Da Vinci programme.
The 20-year-old plays for Hull City in the English Premier League and has earned a senior international call-up to the Scotland team, memorably scoring against England in last week’s friendly at Celtic Park.
McCallum and Queen’s Park’s dedication to enhancing young Scottish players as people and sportsmen is starting to reap the rewards for their hard work and endeavour; long may it continue.
The Queen’s Park under-17s will be away in Valencia from January 5 to January 18, 2015
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