SFA give clubs mark of quality

Dec 3 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

BLACKBURN United Community FC and Craigshill Thistle CSC have become the latest clubs in West Lothian to be awarded the SFA Quality Mark.

Both clubs received the prestigious honour at Tynecastle recently when club officials visited the home of Edinburgh giants Hearts before the SPL visit of St Johnstone.

Ex-Hearts and Kilmarnock captain Gary Locke presented Blackburn and Craigshill chiefs with the award which sees them join an elite group of clubs to have earned the accolade.

This summer marked the fifth anniversary of the founding of Blackburn United Community Football Club which was born from a coming together of all the underage teams in the town with Blackburn United Juniors, the town’s semi-professional adult side.

The youth section of the club is made up of a soccer school and teams that range in age from under-9s through to under-19s, providing coaching to equip upwards of 140 children with the skills and the confidence necessary to progress in the game.

The overall structure provides a player pathway from the very youngest age groups all the way to a semi-professional level with the adult side.

And within the club there are 31 coaches and two goalkeeping coaches, all of whom are SFA qualified.

Community Club President Ian McGinty has been on the committee of Junior side Blackburn United for more than 15 years and this summer he ascended to the position of president.

And Mr McGinty was delighted at earning the accolade from the SFA. He said: “The SFA Quality Mark is about recognising good practice in providing opportunities to play football from a young age through to adulthood in a safe, friendly and developmental environment.

“Blackburn United are delighted to receive such a national award that recognises the excellent work that is carried out by our countless volunteers and well-qualified coaches as well as the contribution we have made and continue to make to our local community.”

And Craigshill chiefs were equally thrilled at the news with club president Craig Brown revealing his enormous pride.

He added: “I am very proud of the great strides that Craigshill Thistle CSC are currently making. We have only been established for two years but are rapidly becoming one of the largest clubs in West Lothian.

“This is a great achievement for what is essentially a brand-new club and has clearly shown our ability to run in line with the SFA development pathway for community clubs, within grassroots football.

“In the process of gaining this award, we as a club have refined our long-term plans and hopefully this will ensure that our club is now able to be more robust and should also allow us to continue to grow as we have done from just two children’s teams in 2007, to having eight teams in 2009.

“This award should also ensure that the structure is in place to make certain of a sustainable and successful club for many years to come.

“Over the early part of 2010, our club hope to continue this success story by progressing through our levels of accreditation both at a local level by achieving our West Lothian Council Community Club Status, and we have also already started planning towards achieving the SFA Quality Mark Development Award to further enhance our club within the framework set out by both organisations.”