 | The Boys are BackA party of Queen's Park youth players and coaches have returned from their two-week training camp in Turkey under the auspices of the Da Vinci Initiative. It's the third year running that the club has been successful in its application for a place on the highly-sought after scheme. A blog of the travels from this - and previous years - can be found through the links at the top of the page. What is the Da Vinci InitiativeFunded by the European Community, and administered in Scotland by the SFA, the Initiative aims to offer young footballers a gateway to a career in the game. It also aims to broaden their education by allowing them to sample other countries’ cultures at first hand. |
Return Visit
Our success let more than 20 youth players and coaches travel to Antalya in Turkey in January 2012 to enjoy a two-week training camp at the superb facilities offered by the Adora Hotel resort.
Queen’s were based at the same complex last year, where the young Spiders were surrounded by famous football teams from all over Europe. The group travelled on the same plane as Rangers and Celtic, and shared a hotel and training facilities with, among others, Rubin Kazan senior and youth squads.
The players had the opportunity to watch Trabzonspor play Werder Bremen. And Queen’s were also fortunate enough to be admitted to a training session held by Spartak Moscow’s 1st team - including former QP youth player Aiden McGeady. The Queen’s party encompassed the Spartak training session in their own programme the next day to show the boys that they were capable of participating in the same type of activity as Champions League players.
A great opportunity
The benefits of the 2011 Turkish camp - and the one held in Portugal the previous year - can be clearly seen in the current first team squad at Queen's Park.
Da Vinci graduates Paul Gallacher, Ian Watt, Gavin Lachlan, Michael O’Hara and Alan Urquhart are established in the squad, while others such as Kieran Kennedy are now pushing for a place. And as in previous years, Queen’s will be raising funds themselves to take additional players, coaches and backroom staff to maximise the benefits of the Da Vinci trip.
What the trip means to QP
David McCallum, Head of Youth at QPFC:
"Naturally we are delighted to have been successful with our application to take part in the Da Vinci 2012 programme.
“I can’t stress enough what an opportunity this is for a club such as ours which relies so heavily on bringing through our own young players.
“For the youngsters and the coaches it’s a wonderful opportunity to sample full-time training in superb facilities - broaden their cultural horizons as well ... and enjoy some winter sunshine."
Gardner Speirs, QPFC First Team Coach:
"Anybody who wants to fully appreciate the significance of Queen’s Park gaining a place on this programme needs only take a look at our senior squad and the number of youngsters who have come through previous Da Vinci trips.
“It’s a marvellous platform for the kids to build on, and we’re all very grateful to everybody who was involved putting in a lot of hard work behind the scenes to ensure that we were successful in our application."
