Rangers Committed to Bridging Gap Between Girls Academy and ...

The Light Blues, alongside a number of other Scottish clubs, are working with the Scottish FA around supporting younger players in making the step up to the top team environment.

NextGen is the Scottish FA’s Girls’ Performance platform that supports the Talent Development Environment system in Scotland, alongside a games programme. It governs the development of players from the age of 12 to 18.

The Gers faced rivals Celtic last week with both teams fielding players from their respective academies, loan clubs and first team players currently not away on international duty.

Gillies believes these types of matches will help younger players as they look to progress into Jo Potter’s squad in the future.

He said: “I am delighted to see this test event take place as it’s been a few months in the making.

“As the Girls’ and Women’s game in Scotland grows in participation numbers, the depth of talent at younger ages increases too.

“The difficulty that we and a number of other clubs have, is that the jump from Under-17s NextGen to first team football is big, and you could argue as clubs continue to invest in the top end, the gap could conceivably get even larger.

“Having a ‘bridging the gap’ initiative that provides players with a platform to remain with the club that they have played with at academy level, whilst challenging them in new environments provided by loans to other SWPL clubs, is a good way giving them more time and space to mature, grow, and gain experience that will help them continue their journey at the elite level.

“We are looking forward to more of these games and working with the Scottish FA and other clubs to achieve a positive and sustained talent development pool at these critical ages.”

Women’s head coach, Jo Potter, added: “The club has a strong tradition of graduating academy players into the first team, and we want that to continue.

“It was great to see more of the young loan players, and from a selfish perspective allow for more minutes in the legs of first-team players who are returning from injury or needing more game time.

“Between the last league game and next, these players will have gone 14 days without kicking a ball in game based situations, and blending the Under-20s with them was a great way to achieve continued momentum in their season.

“There is so much that the young players can learn from senior professionals like Tessel Middag, Kirsty Howat and Jane Ross, and to see them working together was a really positive moment for the club, and Scottish football in my opinion.”

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