{"id":8230,"date":"2015-10-28T04:30:52","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T09:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/?p=8230"},"modified":"2015-10-28T21:37:56","modified_gmt":"2015-10-29T02:37:56","slug":"scotland-scouts-goal-bring-college-opportunity-to-teens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/scotland-scouts-goal-bring-college-opportunity-to-teens\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland scout’s goal: Bring college opportunity to teens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ian<\/a>
Ian Rankin (right) poses with NSR president Rusty Rigney at the home office.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

National Scouting Report scout Ian Rankin was a football (soccer) prodigy as a lad in Motherwell, the capital of North Lanarkshire in Scotland.\u00a0 And in a nation that really loves its football, being a\u00a0young phenom\u00a0is saying something.<\/p>\n

North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, somewhat akin to our counties here in the U.S.\u00a0 It borders the major metropolitan city of Glasgow on the northeast and contains much of Glasgow’s suburbs, commuter towns and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Stirling, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the South Central part of the country.<\/p>\n

Youth sports in Scotland, like in most non-American countries, work differently than in the U.S.\u00a0 Much differently.\u00a0 In the States, generally speaking, athletes primarily advance through the school ranks — high school and college — and then perhaps become professionals.<\/p>\n

There, if\u00a0a\u00a0young Scottish football player\u00a0has the talent for it, he can be identified as early as 12 to compete at\u00a0advanced levels for club teams in academies under the watchful eye of coaches paid by the clubs, plus receive a scholarship and basic living stipend.\u00a0 Athletes continue their schooling as usual but, in addition, receive a full dose of instruction from the club’s best football minds. Because the sport is wildly popular, these academy spots are highly sought after.<\/p>\n

Rankin was invited to the Skill of Excellence at various clubs such as Everton FC (Football\u00a0Club),\u00a0Celtic FC, Queens Park Rangers FC, Airdrieonians FC and Motherwell FC.\u00a0 He was<\/em> indeed 12 which, of course, put him in elite company.<\/p>\n

Explained Rankin, “I played boys club football til I was 16 years old,\u00a0then signed professionally for\u00a0four years with Airdrieonians FC and\u00a0Albion Rovers FC for two years.\u00a0 In addition, \u00a0I played five more years at the semi-professional level.\u00a0 I started coaching at 17 years old\u00a0while I was still playing.\u00a0 So altogether I clocked up 19 years of experience behind me.”\u00a0 Meanwhile, Rankin continued his studies\u00a0at New College Larnarkshire.<\/p>\n

\"Ian<\/a>
Ian Rankin\u00a0playing professionally for the Albion Rovers FC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Once he qualified as a coach with the Scottish Football Association, his future was pretty well set.\u00a0 But opportunities\u00a0were just around the corner.\u00a0 An old friend of his from Motherwell had moved to America and was teaching and coaching soccer\u00a0in Davis, Calif.\u00a0 In 2005, he contacted Rankin about helping out with a summer camp and Rankin jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

“It was an eye-opening experience,” Rankin said. “I learned so much there because of the different approach American coaches had and the different terminologies.\u00a0 It was one of the best things I’ve ever done for me personally and professionally.”<\/p>\n

“I was a student of the game,” Rankin said. “I ate and slept it and found that I had a real knack for understanding game strategies and player positioning.\u00a0 It came quite naturally to me and I really enjoyed that side of the sport.”<\/p>\n

Today, Rankin coaches at the professional club Motherwell FC Community Trust at the u-14 level.<\/p>\n

“It’s an age group that needs special attention,” he said. “The very good ones can go farther if they are given great coaching and that’s what I try to do every day I’m with them.”<\/p>\n

NSR discovered Rankin through an online ad in Scotland.<\/p>\n

“[Area Director] Jerry Vance interviewed me several times,” Rankin said. “I saw NSR at once as something unique and\u00a0wanted to be a part of it.\u00a0 Once\u00a0Jerry asked me to lead NSR in this part of Scotland, I was ready to come to America for training.<\/p>\n

“Being in the NSR home office [in Alabaster, Ala.] was wonderful.\u00a0 The people there took a lot of time with me as we went through every part of how recruiting works in American colleges.\u00a0 I thought that I knew something about it, but the information they gave me from start to finish made me very glad that I made the trip.”<\/p>\n

Rankin believes NSR can be very successful in Scotland.<\/p>\n

“I can help these young players,” he said. “Scotland does not have the same sporting culture as the U.S.\u00a0 I can give [the players] another avenue to continue their passion for soccer and education. It’s really exciting that I can help young people get the opportunity to live the dream in America.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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National Scouting Report scout Ian Rankin was a football (soccer) prodigy as a lad in Motherwell, the capital of North Lanarkshire in Scotland.\u00a0 And in a nation that really loves its football, being a\u00a0young phenom\u00a0is saying something. North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, somewhat akin to our counties here in the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[11,31,56,302,222,303,304],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8230"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8303,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8230\/revisions\/8303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}