THROUGHOUT the season, Rangers alongside a number of other Scottish clubs, have been working with the Scottish FA in a programme to support younger players within the nation to help make the step up to first-team level.
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 17.
The programme at Rangers, called ‘Pre-Professional’, is designed to help bridge the gap between the club’s academy and first-team level, which has involved loan agreements at SWPL 1 and SWPL 2 clubs as well as u20 matchdays. These games taking place have involved current academy, ‘Pre-Professional’ and senior first-team players, and provide them with the opportunity to pull on the jersey and experience a first-team environment on occasion whilst featuring for their respective loan clubs.
Women’s and Girls’ Managing Director Donald Gillies, says Rangers are actively looking at ways to support young players and believes the programme will only benefit the prospects coming through the academies.
He said: “At Rangers the standard and the recruitment that goes in to playing at first-team level is obviously significantly high, so you actively look to make sure that the club is representing the players that are putting time and energy and full commitment and passion into playing for the club at youth academy level.
“It is important to Scotland, the women's national team, the youth national teams that a club that is heavily invested in the well-being of the game as a whole provides a pathway that allows young people to prosper.
“This Under-20s team that we have put out there really will only play together between five and six times a year.
“The rest of the time these players that will graduate the academy will go out to their loan club so they are getting experience at senior women's football at a young age but also having the ability to come back into the club, pull on the red, white and blue, feel attached to something that they would have been attached to for many years in lots of cases.
“We are working with many of the club's in SWPL 1 and 2, who are able to provide a good learning and playing opportunity for them.
“We have been very thankful for their engagement in the programme.
“We like to think that we are providing them with top young talent, something that is going to benefit their team and the players that are in their team but we also recognise that environment has got to be positive for them.”
Women’s head coach Jo Potter says it is important the club keeps on producing players within its academy to help the team in the future.
She said: “We are so keen for our players to come through our system and as you have seen previously the players that we have had come through the academy into our first-team.
“We understand that is getting a little bit more difficult with recruitment but we wanted our players to have the best possible opportunity to remain Rangers players and play for the first-team one day.
“It is massive, I get a report on all of my loan players every single week.
“We take a real key interest because they are not just out of the door and out of sight, out of mind, we very much have long conversations about their development.
“How they are playing, their performances, their training, how much they train, what their load-in looks like.
“So we are fully in control of what our players are doing away from here and it is super important for us to have those relationships with other clubs as well where they know that our players are getting looked after and we give them support should we need on it on different days.
“Keeping them in with us and training on certain days as well.
“We feel like they are getting a really good balance of working between 17's, going out to their loan clubs and coming in and training with our first-team as well.
“They are getting a really broad range of variety at that age and I think it is super important for their development to experience different environments.
“We all take massive pride in bringing these players through and watching them thrive.”
First-team striker Kirsty Howat says the programme is helpful for the younger players and said it is highly beneficial in bridging the gap having not had similar opportunities herself when breaking through the academy.
She added: “It is definitely something that we didn't have growing up.
“I think to be able to have the players and the girls that are on loan, girls in the lower age groups come in and play and for us to be able to play with them as well is really good.
“To have the likes of Liverpool come up, we have had Sunderland up, played Celtic before as well.
“It is really beneficial and it has been really good to be involved in.
“It is not easy been a young player and coming into an environment with a lot of big characters, women that have been in the game for a really long time.
“I remember as a girl it is not easy, but just trying to get them involved as much you can.
“Get a little bit more confident and showcase what they have.
“The more confident you are, the more relaxed you are on the pitch and you can showcase what you have and that is what it is all about.”