Extra Time

13 boys from our sessions went down to the Rangers training centre today to play games v Rangers 2019 age group .

The boys competed very well in the games and enjoyed their day .

Great experience for them all , hopefully more experiences and memories like this in the future for the kids at Extra Time 👏⚽️

⚽ THEY ARE PLAYERS — BUT FIRST, THEY ARE KIDS

Youth football can become serious very quickly.

Training schedules. Selection. Academies. Results. Expectations from coaches, parents and sometimes even from the children themselves.

But Ancelotti’s message reminds us of something easy to forget: behind every young footballer is still a child.

Children need coaching, discipline and standards. They should learn responsibility and how to compete. But pressure and development are not the same thing.

A young player who is constantly afraid of making a mistake may start choosing the safest option. The difficult pass disappears. The 1v1 disappears. Creativity disappears. Eventually, even the enjoyment can disappear.

Communication therefore matters.

Instead of only asking “Why did you do that?”, we can also ask “What did you see?”

Instead of immediately giving the solution, we can help the child understand the problem.

And when they fail, our reaction can determine whether they become afraid to try again or curious to find a better solution.

High standards and a positive environment are not opposites. The best coaches can demand more without making children fear failure.

So perhaps every youth coach — and every parent — should ask:

Are we putting pressure on children because it helps their development… or because we, the adults, desperately want them to succeed? 👀⚽

⚽️ Not just Scotland …and I keep saying the majority spend nowhere near enough time with a ball at their feet to even have a slight chance .

🗣️ Mario Balotelli on the state of football in Italy:

"The problems, in my opinion, are very simple. I prefer to give practical explanations rather than technical ones, based on everyday life and what I see in Italy.

When we were little, we played hours and hours of football. I remember my mum getting mad at me because I’d stay out until it was too dark to see the ball. They’d threaten you that you couldn’t go out to play the next day. Now, when I walk around cities like Brescia, though I see it in other Italian cities too, the parks are empty. There’s no one around.

Computers, phones, and PlayStations have ruined a lot. Above all, the parents’ mentality has changed. A seven‑year-old kid today might play football for two hours every three days. We had the same structured training sessions, plus three hours of playing at the park every day, which felt like fun but was actually extra training.

I truly believe talents were born on the street and in the parks. You played a lot, learned a lot, and tested yourself against older kids. If you were good, they didn’t let you play with kids your age; they made you play with the older ones. Those were tests that served me well in the long run. Playing with people older than me has always been one of the most important things in my career.

Today, kids are on their phones. They feel like Ronaldinho because they watch his videos. I felt like Ronaldo because I could actually pull off the same tricks at the park. It’s very different."

6 boys from our sessions were invited down to the Rangers Training centre last night to play in games v a boys club from Liverpool .

Ruaridh , Mason , James and Seb from the 2019s , James and Rogan for the 2016s . Matteo who attended previously played for the 2014 team .

Boys were first class on and off the pitch and represented the region superbly 👏

More experience and exposure against different opposition in a different environment will only help their development.

I took the 2019 team on the night and it was great to see the boys up close in a different environment

Well done boys ⚽️❤️

⚽️ Spaces are available in our last week long holiday camp of 2026

⚽️ For more information or to book a space please get in touch

⚽️ August camp complete ✅

⚽️ Absolutely brilliant week with a great group of kids 👏🏻👏🏻

⚽️ A mixture of football fun & games throughout the week which was made even better with the ☀️ shining

⚽️ Thanks to Goals for the use of their new air pitches for the kids to try out , they had a great time 👏🏻

⚽️ Well done to all the kids during the week , they were first class 👏🏻👏🏻