Albert Watson says he is looking forward to "giving back to Larne" as he takes up the full-time role as the club's new U16 Head Coach at the end of the season.
The experienced defender, who has also played for Ballymena United and Linfield in the Irish League, will help pass on his wealth of knowledge to the rising stars at Inver Park.
Watson's appointment follows on from the announcement of Ryan Prentice as Head of Professional Development Phase.
Read next: Kenny Shiels leaves Northern Ireland job as he reflects on historic reign
Larne say it will see players "exposed to an environment that will mirror that of professional clubs in England, Scotland and throughout Europe" and Watson is relishing the new challenge.
“I’m very excited about the role and to give back to the club by bringing these new players through the Player Development Phase," he told the club website.
"The ambition is to have players capable of playing throughout our club at scholarship and senior level, and moving to clubs across the water.
"Within my role, I will be working hard to prepare our young players for these opportunities in advance of taking them.
“In recent weeks I have spent a bit of time looking more closely at our younger players within the club and can’t help but think how impressive the facilities and opportunities on offer at Larne are compared to what I had as a teenager.
"Between the gym facilities, strength and conditioning programmes, nutritional advice and increased contact time, players really do have the best opportunity to fulfil their dreams at our club.”
Larne boss Tiernan Lynch welcomed the appointment and hailed Watson's professionalism.
“This latest appointment further shows our commitment to providing a professional environment for our players here at Larne," he said.
"Albert’s role will be to develop our players at under-16 level, preparing them to make the step up to the club’s Scholarship Phase and eventually first team squad – alongside opportunities at professional clubs beyond the island of Ireland.
“To achieve this, we need to give the players access to the best coaches. This means people who have been there and done it in terms of experiencing the journey in football and know what it takes to succeed at the highest level.
“I’ve been very lucky to work with Albert as a player over the past number of years and the word which epitomises his character is ‘professionalism’, which is something we are trying to achieve through our Professional Development Phase within the club’s academy.
“How Albert carries himself as a person, how he trains, how he eats and how he thinks about the game are all qualities which we want to feed into our young players.
"We want to see our young players having careers in the professional game, alongside taking part in our Scholarship Phase and first team."
READ NEXT:
- Schofield 'disappointed' after stepping down from Northern Ireland U21 job
Glentoran boss McAree offers update on McClean and McMenamin injuries
West Ham United linked with late bid for Cliftonville teen Sean Moore
'Go-go gadget neck' - McCartan reacts to controversial goal as Baxter hits out
Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox.
