Borders Schools score for fun with Bank of Scotland Soccer One

On Thursday 1^st October, S1 pupils from all nine secondary schools in the Borders area were in attendance for the Bank of Scotland Regional Football Festival held at Netherdale in Galashiels.

Nearly 300 local boys and girls played over the course of the day at the Festival which had been organised by Scottish FA Regional Development officers to celebrate the success of the initiative in the South East. 

The schools involved were Hawick High School, Berwickshire HS, Earlston HS, Gala Academy, Jedburgh Grammar, Selkirk HS, Eyemouth HS, Peebles HS and Kelso HS.  It was the first event where all nine secondary schools in the area had been able to attend to play one another. 

Bank of Scotland Soccer One is a national network of football activity running in participating High Schools across Scotland from August to June.  Run in partnership with the Scottish FA and title sponsors Bank of Scotland, the programme aims to create new football teams in schools for boys and girls, regardless of ability. 

In the past two years, Bank of Scotland Soccer One has helped create over 400 new boys and girls school football teams, providing free coaching and games for thousands of young people who would previously not have had the chance to play. 

In total, over 300 schools are currently participating across Scotland, reaching 8,800 young people. 

In addition, and to assist with the development of coaches and volunteers, the programme has provided support to over 900 volunteers via access to Scottish FA coach education courses, in-service sessions and the provision of coaching curriculum's and other resources.

Scottish FA Development Officer for the Borders, Dougie Anderson commented “Today's Festival was arranged around the geographical spread of schools as there are limited opportunities for the pupils to play other secondary school.  Bank of Scotland Soccer One allowed us to bring them all together for the first time after two years of establishing the initiative in the area.  There has been huge demand for Soccer One in the area with even schools new to the project, such as Earlston, attracting over 100 pupils to their training sessions.  Support to help fund transport for the pupils from the various areas has also been vitally important to its success.” 

Sarah Cran, Head of Sponsorship for Bank of Scotland commented “.  Soccer one was established in 3 local authorities as a pilot scheme in 2006, we have been delighted with the success of the programme which now runs in all 32 local authorities across the country; the long term aim is to have sustainable football programmes in place in every high school in Scotland. The initiative is integral to our community sponsorship programme and our long-standing support of Scottish grassroots football." 

Notes 

The initiative is run in partnership with Bank of Scotland, Scottish FA, the Scottish Government and  Local Authorities. 

Bank of Scotland has established the most comprehensive programme of support for grassroots football in Scotland by a commercial sponsor.  By 2010, over 140,000 young people will have benefited from one of three football programmes:  Bank of Scotland Midnightleague, Bank of Scotland Soccer One, and the many competitions organised by the Scottish Schools FA. 

Bank of Scotland and the Scottish Government work in partnership via the Cashback for Communities initiative to provide the most comprehensive programme of investment in grassroots sport in Scotland and one that, through football, will make a difference to the lives and well being of thousands of young people throughout the country.  

The Government’s “Cashback for Communities” scheme will see the money and goods seized from serious organised criminals being used to make a real difference to the lives of young people across Scotland.