George Cairns says 10 kids who have been put on professional contracts at Hamilton Accies have been given a huge opportunity – but now it’s up to them.
Academy director Cairns has steered the youngsters through the early part of their fledgling careers.
But with players like Fergus Owens, Chris McGinn, Cian Newbury and Ryan One already having been involved this season, he says the system is working.
Cairns said: “We put 10 of them on professional contracts, who have been through our system since they were eight or nine.
“Being in a full-time environment helps. There in here every day, they’ve been training with the first-team, they train amongst themselves, and the 18s’ season kicked off with a 4-3 win over Rangers at Murray Park.
“There is a lot of high hopes for them. Ryan One has already made appearances for the first-team, from the bench. Cian Newbury Chrissy McGinn are others who have potential, so hopefully they can push on and get something,
“I think they learn a lot in the first-team environment, where you’re unsure, where you will make mistakes, but you’ll have senior pros who are there to help you.
“That helps the coaching side of it as well, because they’re not hearing the one voice all the time.”
Cairns says it’s not just him pushing the kids through and there is a whole network at the Championship club.
“It’s all the coaches who take the credit,” he said. “It’s the scouts that bring them in, the physio and sports science departments – there are a lot of bodies at the academy that try to push these through.
“We know we have the backing of the full board, regarding kids. They want to see our own kids coming through and that’s great news.”
Cairns added: “You’ve got to believe in he kids, first and foremost, to give them a chance.
“They will get that at this club. Sometimes you can take that opportunity and it might not go well, but it’s how you bounce back from that, how you come back from mistakes.
“It’s a great environment to learn. If you can get used to that sort of stuff you’ll progress a lot faster than others.
“We’ve given out 10 contracts and these kids still have two years of under-18s football. I think that will work for us.”
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