High school hosts stars of tomorrow

One of seven across Scotland, the school sits within the central region alongside Braidhurst High School in Motherwell and has helped nurture local talents such as Craig Sibbald and Leah Eddie.

Speaking to the Herald, the school’s head coach, Ian Ross, says the future once again looks bright for Falkirk’s stars of tomorrow.

“There’s been a history of successful football programmes here at Graeme High,” he said.

“We’re just going through the new intake process now for the 2010s group.

“It’s been intense but it is the best part of the job, working with new players.

“Now we are at the stage of confirming our final group, and interviews with the school management team will happen at the end of the week.

“After that, offer letters will go out and they will have until just after Easter to accept or decline.”

He says some of the players he’s watched so far have been outstanding and it is a tough job to whittle the numbers down.

He said: “Not everyone gets through but we want to get the best of the best and some do miss out.

“I think we have some really talented players this time around from what I have watched so far.

“My job is to make sure they progress well and make sure when they reach that 16/17 age range that they are ready to go into the game.

“If you look at the players in the national youth level sides at the moment, you can see we are starting to do much better in general.”

He added: “The quality of player is increasing in my opinion and that bodes well for the future.”

Ross has been at the school since the programme first took off in 2012, and before that he was a youth coach at Falkirk.

He says the local area in general is in good hands for bringing through talent.

“There are some brilliant people involved who I know really well,” he said.

“Players like Sam Kerr and Leah Eddie have come through and that isn’t just down to the school.

“The standard has been brought right up over the past few years thanks to the work of the local regional programmes in the central region.

“Teams like Central Girls have a real historical background of bringing through players who go on to be national squad-level players.”

He also added that the town’s League 1 side will be taken well care of under the stewardship of CEO Jamie Swinney, who worked with Ross previously.

Swinney is currently assisting interim head of youth development Greig Patterson at the Bairns while they hunt for a replacement.

Ross said: “Jamie used to help out at the school coaching within the Forth Valley academy and I was spoiled to have a person of that calibre, and a coach of that calibre, coming in a few nights a week. He will get it right at Falkirk over time and I am excited to see what comes from them.”