The 3 R's of Plymouth Argyle Youth Development
Reason, Running, Results

Reason

As with any football club, when financial restrictions begin to bite one of the first things to go is the youth development With so many other financial pressures, training boys with the objective of playing them in the first team is a long term, commitment with little or no guarantee of ever seeing a return on input. This situation applied to Plymouth Argyle some years ago with the resultant sale of Elm Cottage and only a token number of boys being trained at the Centres of Excellence.

The emergence of the Plymouth Argyle Supporters Training and Development Trust (PAST&DT) and Plymouth Argyle Youth Development (PAYD) was to change all of that. The financial control was taken away from the Club thus releasing these funds into the first team and ensuring that when times were hard the boys at the Centres would still have the same quality coaching.

On 1 January 1996 there were just two Centres of Excellence at Plymouth and Ivybridge but these were quickly followed by Soccer Coaching Centres at Newquay, Tiverton and Taunton. When these were established a further Centre was opened in Penzance thus giving boys in the depths of Comwall the chance to show if they had what it took to be signed by a League Club. Much had always been made in the past of the boys that never stood a chance and those involved in PAST&DT/PAYD decided that it was high time to put matters right in this area. A geographical circle was thus formed around Plymouth.

More recently Centres have been opened in Chivenor and Bideford to cover North Devon and this season we have representation in Penryn and St Austell.

Running

Each Centre is run by an Administrative Coach and the appropriate number of coaches for the boys who attend. Following pre-season trials boys who show the right skills and attitude are invited to attend coaching sessions which are split into age groups from under 8 to under 16. Goalkeepers have specialist coaching before joining in for small sided matches to end their sessions. Boys are asked to make a small contribution for each attendance and provided with the necessary kit and equipment The only thing the boys have to supply is their own boots and trainers.

With the money received from our many sponsors, both large and small, the Centres pay for their pitch hire, kit and equipment. Some also hold fund-raising events to cover the cost of coach hire to play competitive games against other Centres and each year there are inter-Centre tournaments.

All of the coaches have a good level of F.A. Coaching badges and are registered under the Child Protection Act. In fact every step is taken to ensure as far as is ever possible every boy has quality coaching and care including treatment from qualified Physios.

Any of the boys at these Centres who shows that favourite Argyle word "potential" is assessed and, if considered good enough, moves onto one of the Centres of Excellence. That must be a feather in any boy's cap when he is asked to attend a coaching session at either Bodmin or Ivybridge. Not all the boys at the Centres of Excellence are taken from our Soccer Centres.

Within the youth programme there is an extensive network of Scouts who are always ready to follow-up leads. Sometimes these leads come from Schools, Team Managers or just from watching the various weekend schoolboy soccer games.

It is when attending the Centres of Excellence that the world of soccer begins to open up for the boys. There are away matches at Under 12, 13, 14 and 15 levels on a regular basis when they play against teams of comparable or better quality thus giving them an insight into what the real world of football is all about. The weather has made this season a particularly bad one all-round but we have still arranged away games against Bristol Rovers, Bournemouth, Swindon, Cardiff, Bath and Swansea. As an early season treat we took a team to Manchester United where the boys really saw what it takes to play for "Champions".

Under F.A. rules, no charge can be levied for boys attending the Centres of Excellence but Clubs are currently in receipt of Sports Council and Lottery funding over a period of 5 years with the amount available decreasing annually. The idea being that these funds enable Clubs to cover set-up costs and become established. Unfortunately, it is likely that many Centres will once again be abandoned when funding ceases and all costs have to be met from within the Clubs. This is where the Argyle youth programme will triumph.

Results

We like to think that the result of all we do is to train young, enthusiastic boys to play football to the highest level they can achieve and hopefullysome will come tbrough into the first team. Although we are still waiting for a star to shine we certainly have some twinkling brightly and, several of the Centre boys have been signed on as YTS. and now on the Scholarship scheme. Steve Adams and Kevin Wills are now working for first team places, but even if success does not come their way the boys who sign for local teams or move further afield, have all had a good grounding in football skills and are able to earn good money from the game.

To one extent or another hundreds of boys have benefited from PAST&DT/PAYD over the past 5 years and hopefully hundreds more will do so. Due to the vision of a handful of supporters who wanted to do more than moan about the state of affairs at youth level and the support of the Management team of the time — Neil Warnock, and Kevin Blackwell — PAST&DY/PAYD is going from strength to strength. With the financial support of more Argyle fans we can keep forging ahead and who knows — one day a star will be born!

Lorraine Knight
PAYD Administrator
April 2001