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Am I alone in noticing the greater coverage this season to the youth set-up and the Academy (previously Centre of Excellence)

I have to say that it appears this season more than any in recent years that the club seem to be really pushing the Academy and the youth set-up. There seems to be a great deal of coverage on the .com website and with the parade on saturday before the game it was really nice to see the youngsters having a great time.

Both Geoff Harrop, Matt Williams and the youth coaches should take great credit for the work they are doing which I have experienced first hand over the past few months with my lad who was on the parade on saturady. With Niall Thompson's performance on Saturday I am sure that those youngsters watching on from the family stand will only have been more encouraged to work hard as one day it could be they who tread the turf of Plainmoor.

In the days of multi-million pound premier league footballers and the likes of Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd et al dominating it is great to see a club focusing back on grass root talent. The more we see the youth of Torbay walking around in TUFC tracksuits, shirts etc the stronger the future is for our beloved club.

Keep up the great work guys!

For 4 hours I bet you thought you were alone! Totally agree with your sentiments, Torquay are finally putting in the foundations for a more sustainable and successful club.

monkeyboy wrote:For 4 hours I bet you thought you were alone! Totally agree with your sentiments, Torquay are finally putting in the foundations for a more sustainable and successful club.

I wonder how much of this has to do with the EPPP that the Premier League forced through?

Of course, Chris. That had totally slipped my mind but now you've mentioned it I'm sure it has a role. We spent £300k on the youth structure to ensure we reached Category 3, so the club have decided to give it more publicity.

It certainly doesn't hurt to see Niall in the team, and Kirtys McKenzie/Ashley Yeoman on the bench. Gives all the adacemy and YTS boys an achievable goal, and players to aspire towards.

nicktufc wrote:It certainly doesn't hurt to see Niall in the team, and Kirtys McKenzie/Ashley Yeoman on the bench. Gives all the adacemy and YTS boys an achievable goal, and players to aspire towards.

Agreed. It was always going to be hardest to get that first one through the door and into the team. I won't say Thompson will be the first man to play in the first XI and cement his place in the team, it's far too early to make those kind of judgements, but it is a promising step for him, and for those currently in the youth set-up. If they can see that Ling is clearly employing a 'if you're good enough; you're old enough' mentality then they will push themselves more to try and get into his thinking.