Speaking with a Scotsman can sometimes be a difficult endeavour. Even with a hint of the tartan in my bloodlines, there are times when the thickness of one of the most recognisable accents in the world confounds me.
However, this is not the case with James Boyle, whom I had the pleasure of meeting last week and talking all things football.
As a young man, Boyle’s talent had been identified by Scottish Premier League Club Motherwell and his professional career appeared on track.
Unfortunately, as is the case with thousands of gifted young players across the globe each year, injury curtailed his journey and he became somewhat distanced from the game.
Without football as an outlet, career and family became his central focus and as his reputation in the corporate world grew the opportunity to migrate to Australia arose. It seemed like an exotic and exciting adventure and now, years later, with twin teenage boys and a loving wife, an adventure that has paid dividends in terms of quality of life and career success.
Despite that success and relative comfort, something gnawed away internally and it was the beautiful poetry of football that sought to re-ignite his passion, despite being without a close affiliation to the game for over ten years.
As is the case with many amateur football players, the large portion of their athletic years are taken up with work and family commitments and the game seduces them again through age restricted competition.
Such was the case with Boyle, as he was lured back by competitive football, playing for the St Michaels Knights and simultaneously working with a senior ladies team in a coaching capacity.
Looking after the Under 11’s SAP squad at NPL side Granville Rage, eventually led to an opportunity to mentor the FNSW U12MetWest team at the State titles in Mudgee, where his boys played strongly and won five from nine matches with two draws thrown in for good measure.
(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
This upcoming season will see him work with NPL side Stanmore Hawks at Under 13 level.
There is nothing particularly astonishing about his football journey and Boyle himself has something of a humble assessment of his own talent as a player, “I wasn’t a great player, I had a solid passing game and pretty good vision.”
One of Boyle’s kids has Celtic first team coach John Kennedy as a godfather, a man who shares Boyle’s passion and ideals and the two have been life-long friends.
What is apparent in the forty-seven year old Scot, is a refreshing junior development philosophy that is inspiring a new endeavour.
As part of our discussion, we had arranged to never utter the word academy, as Boyle’s vision for developing thinking footballers is somewhat at odds with the existing structures.
As parents fork out vast sums to see their talented youngsters given expert tuition, high quality competition and a feeling that their sons and daughters are in the best position to maximise their footballing potential, Boyle sees a rather sad side to the system.
The ultra-competitive environment in junior football development structures fails to keep kids engaged with the game for its sheer joy and leads to disenfranchised players feeling they have failed.
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Boyle recalled watching under five players competing in a trial for which parents had payed $85 for the privilege.
Personally, I am not sure for what purpose this ‘trial’ was held, however, the dollar figure could potentially have had more significance to the organiser than the kids themselves.
The ‘one size fits all’ nature of representative selection is another of Boyle’s gripes.
Seeing ‘tall timber’ selected, based purely on their height, at the expense of more skilled players who are consistently told they are too ‘small’, is another source of his frustration.
In turn, this feeds through to instruction, as players are taught to perform skills technically and run choreographed drills, with little emphasis on the most important attributes of a footballer; thinking and decision making.
Seeing one of his own sons consistently told that he lacks the size required for representative football in this country, despite both Everton and Celtic having him on their radar, further infuriates a man who sees more than the physical dimensions of the athlete.
Boyle’s mantra is simple and born of the great Andrea Pirlo; football is played with the mind and the feet are the tools.
When selecting his MetWest team, Boyle was approached by club representatives from some powerful junior nurseries who suggested taking the bulk of their squad. Something of a red rag to a bull, Boyle chose a few, yet found talent elsewhere.
One young boy was selected without any academy or rep experience. Officials were aghast that a park footballer dare be selected above their boys.
The team Boyle took to Mudgee for the tournament was therefore smaller than most yet fleet of foot and the young boy from outside the system was one of the most influential in the side. He has subsequently become a representative Under 13 player.
These experiences have sparked an altruism in Boyle and led to the establishment of his own school. With a difference that is.
Caledonia football will be a small boutique school without exorbitant expenses for parents and a place where players are encouraged to think about football in a new way.
Designed for players between the ages of 12-16 of both sexes, the school aims to fine tune the skills of players who may have fallen victim to some of the inadequacies found in the current system.
Watching hundreds of players trial for a handful of positions and seeing disappointed kids walk away with nothing more than a ‘you’re too small’ or similar pointless comment, has broken Boyle’s footballing heart.
Rather than succumbing, he has contacted local clubs, designed the school kit and mapped out a training schedule for the upcoming year.
Boyle’s intention is to run a weekend camp in January over two half days and then work with his students one additional session per week to supplement their club training.
I for one, will give him a hand. His experience and knowledge are extensive and the purity of his vision is honourable.
There is something about true footballing people. Something in their blood. Something that twinkles in their eye when a youngster kicks a ball and really, isn’t that what the game is all about?
Post_hoc
Guest
Like I said slight ;)
Kangajets
Guest
About a 40 degree temperature difference between the 2 Newcastle’s
chris
Guest
LH one thing I have noticed is that coaches are not taught how to correct a players technique etc. Eg what do you tell a player who continually slices the ball or a player who's shooting is weak or inaccurate etc. Not many coaches are able to look at a player and work out what they are doing wrong.
Post_hoc
Guest
Both have Coal, so is there any real difference? Maybe the weather is a slight difference :)
Post_hoc
Guest
Chris, I think you summed it up perfectly. It appears James that you are doing it for the Kids (yours and others) and that is what should be celebrated. You are doing it as they say so the next generation can drive the game forward.
j,binnie
Guest
Kangjets - My apologies. To be honest when I was writing my answer to you I was visualising your "Newcastle" as the one based in Northern England. Sorry. Your comments about the introduction of 'unusual" newcomers to our shores are 100% correct and require no more comment Cheers jb.
chris
Guest
James good luck with it all. You are in this for the right reasons - unlike many who just see dollars.
Kangajets
Guest
Would Celtic be looking for an Irish Scottish community in Australia or is a totally new enterprise without the name Celtic in it . Canberra and tassie and Wollongong would be next and whichever geographical part of Mrlbourne that is growing rapidly should be included.
Kangajets
Guest
Thanks j b I grew up playing in the late 70s early 80s My area of the coalfields was just traditional white British people , no racial mix at all . The new Australians at the time set up successfully clubs in Newcastle such as the Greeks Macedonia and azzuri . They easily surpassed our ability on the field . I think they lived and breathed football more then us guys who were mainly living in rugby league towns . Anyhow 30 odd years on , the cosmopolitan mix can be seen all over the A league from many of the European clubs and coaches . Just a recent demographic change in Newcastle is the higher amount of African kids who come to live and go to university. Their skill level is up another notch . I’m sure the generation of Socceroos 20 years from now will feature many players of African heritage. Can only be a good thing too .
j,binnie
Guest
Square Nostrils. - You are obviously a great admirer of Andrea Pirlo and as a wonderful player that is not surprising. However Andrea was born in 1979 so it would be wrong to put the European revolution in coaching at his feet. After the 2nd World War it was actually Russia that gave the first indication of the coaching revolution that was to come, when in 1945 their touring champions showed definite signs of players being given free rein in their positional play using what was to become known later as "zonal play". They were followed by Hungary in the early 50's who went 4 years without losing a match displaying a totally new formation ,a fluid 4-2-4 which very quickly could change to 3-3-4. Then followed the emergence of "minnow " Sweden who had players like Leidholm,Simonsen ,Skoglund and Hamrin who all moved to Italy after the 1956 World Cup final to extend their playing careers in that country. If we push on to the the early 60's we find Spanish football starting to flex their muscles through the great Real Madrid team with more World Class players like Puskas, Santa Maria and the incomparable De Stefano ruling Euriopean club football. The 70's almost belongs to the Dutch who, with Cruyff, Gullit,Van Bastin and Rijkaard all lured to Spain and Italy and yet by this time Andrea Pirlo was only 8 years of age so it is probably more accurate to place the man as an influencer in European football from 1990 until his retirement last year in 2016. Cheers jb.
j,binnie
Guest
Lionheart - Don't "wonder". The whole idea of a coaching programme is to get a 5-11 year old kid fully versed in the basic skills of the game. The coaching of these youngsters is actually an "apprenticeship" and by the time he reaches 11-12 his comprehension of those skills, and when and how to use them, should take him into the next area of football education,how to become part of a winning team. So you are 100% correct, that should be the aim of every coaching programme. Cheers jb.
pacman
Guest
You are correct SN, having players keeping the ball up like performing seals does not, in itself, develop good players. On the other hand, can you think of one top player who is not extremely good at keepy up? I believe it is a case of finding the happy medium. Keepy up is the most effective way for juniors to develop ball control. Have them spend twice as much time using only their weaker foot and/or thigh, and the coach is maybe on the way to developing a two footed player. This activity needs to be predominantly "homework". But let's face it, it doesn't matter where in the world one is coaching, the chances of developing a truly great player are akin to winning Lotto. In fact,the odds are probably longer than Lotto odds! I coached juniors from 1982 until 1995, including several rep/zone teams. In all that time, the number of players I observed with even a hint of true potential I could count on the fingers of one hand. Two of them may have progressed further than they did had they been exposed to better coaching when they reached the XXXX League (top QLD comp in those days}. I say "may", because one never knows. Then we have what I refer to as "player nous". My first Qld Zone coaching stint was with an U/12 regional team, and the selection process was conducted on one of the last weekends of the season. I relied on my manager (who I first met that weekend) to name the players of interest. Best manager I ever worked with, but he was a RL man, only there because his son was there but, as a result, deeply involved in the junior game. At the trials, I nominated one player of interest and was informed "Err, he's a second division player, probably just making up the trial team numbers". "Fine" I replied, "but put his name down anyway.". This kid could not kick his way out of a paper bag, but his movement off the ball was something I had never seen before in a 11/12 year old. Long story cut short, this kid made the cut (16 out of 50), and scored the only goal in the Harry Linning Cup tournament 3rd/4th place play off. He is one of the two I referred to above, coming from what I discovered was an excellent family background. Went off the rails at 18 or 19 (mixing with the wrong crowd) and lost to the game. Probably the best 18 yo old playing in the XXXX League at that time. So, SN, even when you think you have found a star, there are still so many hurdles to overcome. Difficult for us here in the "Lucky Country", because we only have access to a portion of the junior talent, and this in a country boasting less than 0.03% of the world population.
j,binnie
Guest
Kangajets-Your experiences in junior or youth coaching is very dependent on the time you are talking about. Organised coaching of kids in the UK was actually a "johnny come lately", and if one wanted to be objective as to why, and when, it began, one can only finish up in 1953 when the mighty Hungarians became the first "foreign" team to beat England at Wembley ,thrashing them 6-3 at Wembley and 7 -1 some months later in Budapest. Despite these warnings the powers that be at the FA put it down to an "act of God" ,but thankfully there were people around who recognised the truth,"continental " players were fast passing British players in being fully versed in the basic skills. England had long been recognised as a team closely allied to a strength regime depending on the other British countries Scotland ,Ireland and Wales to source their "playmakers"at club level. Meanwhile there was much soul searching going on in England and it was in a government educational establishment at Loughborough that some minds went back to scratch and came up with reasons and methods to begin a coaching revolution in that country, and as part of that investigation it was found that "youngsters " have a psychological "barrier" to what their conception of playing football was all about. That is where the "divide" in teaching comes from,generally under 11's have a totally different attitude as to what "soccer training" is all about. and only after that age ,11-12 does that attitude subtly change to winning games,cups,and titles. . And so programmes were set up to change the teaching of youngsters and those programmes were brought to Australia by Worthington in 1974. So you see our way of learning in narrow streets with walls to act as" team-mates",and 25 -a- side games was gradually eliminated and "coaching football " almost overnight became an "industry".. Hope this is of some interest. Cheers jb.
Kangajets
Guest
When I played a football as a wee lad in the coalfields of Newcastle there was a mass influx of Scotsman imported to the local club Weston bears . Lots of success of lots of good coaching through the years We also had a old German fella come and drill us, who demandied perfection with everything. And yelled at us constantly. I don’t know if the verballing from this coach was a hindrance, but I soon turned to play rugby league
Lionheart
Guest
Thanks Stuart, and commenters. I enjoyed the article and subsequent discussion. I often wonder what is the more important quality in a football coach, tactical understanding/reading of the game or teaching of ball/game skills? I assumed that the former is for competition and the latter for development at youth level.
James B
Guest
I just want to take this time to say thank you to Stuart for taking the time with me to talk about Football and about Caledonia Football. He has captured my thoughts and hopes in such succinct words. Stuart - you are a true gentleman - thank you so much for your support. To everyone else, thank you for your positive comments and support, I simply want to try and give both my own son and other kids who I feel are being unfairly looked at an opportunity to progress in the game. I am always learning new things and will certainly learn as well from some of the comments on here. Just a couple of wee comments on some of the comments here... I'll certainly be looking at Eric Worthington's books. Certainly sounds like something I'd learn from - definitely parallel beliefs. Hills Knights... I know who they've aligned with - shame... I do speak to the kids on the side - but don't scream or wave my arms frantically... - the way I see it, you don't shout at kids when you're teaching them the alphabet - why scream at them when they're learning how to play football Once again gents, thank you so much for your comments and for taking the time to read the article. Stuart is a good man and his writing style is certainly one that captures and maintains the audience. So, thank you. James
Square Nostrils
Guest
"Boyle’s mantra is simple and born of the great Andrea Pirlo; football is played with the mind and the feet are the tools." Pirlo is a great player, this mantra is where all great players come from, whatever their position on the park. Even a notch below we see players who have a lesser seemingly 6th sense. Question to ask is, is it natural or learned, IMO a combination of both. There were great players a generation or two ago produced from the street, same mind/feet are tools combo with no coaching by adults in the modern sense. Yes you learned from older kids sometimes adults ,but in the street as they joined in. The secret today is how to replicate the Pirlo mantra a mantra origonally from the street in modern coaching. Well first of all as seems to be agreed already is that shouting at kids is a no no. However thats just part of the issue. Times have changed, no cobblestones, no factory walls, no dusty savannahs in Australia(Or any Western country). Does small-sided games help follow the mantra? Because whatever the time from at least the Seventies to present this crops up. Does it enforce the belief that skill in football is "Mt Everest" and at the same time learn innovation. I dont know Boyles methods, but anybody can be taught the skills of football, some are better at it than others. As example you see a player who can keep the ball up indefinitely, can he translate that to the park and use his/her obvious ball control skills as per the likes of Messi and dozens of his predecessors some passed away into the great Football Valhalla. See incredible ball skills in freestyle football, but most are in reality performing seals, put them on the park and their lost. So maybe its not the skills that are the problem (they are inherent in some and can be learned by others to varying degrees of skill) but as this article indicates the thinking and decision making. I am not yet convinced that any modern junior coaching methods I've seen can replicate the decision making of street football, certainly in this country IMO players are poor decision makers as a whole. Having said that I stand to be corrected by those who are currently coaches with greater knowledge of the methods today.
Nick Symonds
Guest
On the topic of Scotland, I wonder where is the best place in Australia for Celtic to go? Central Coast Brisbane South West Sydney (Campbelltown/Macarthur) Canberra Tasmania Other
chris
Guest
Griffo you nailed it when you said better that they work it out for themselves. Nothing worse than watching a coach talk and talk and talk about a situation. Just get on with it!
chris
Guest
Thanks Stuart. I remember my time as a youth playing football and being yelled at for all the things I was doing wrong and never heard about the things I was doing right. As you say, you need to strike a balance between not spooking the kid out of playing but at the same time making sure that they are constantly learning.