Buckie Thistle have a minor role with regard to the youth teams but it is very important that a strong link is maintained with them and the Highland League team . The youth team also provide ball boys and mascots which is always good to see .
It isn ’ t always easy for young players to hold down a position in the first team . What has happened is that we have involved some of the youth players in our pre-season training which gives them an opportunity to catch the manager ’ s eye .
We also have an under 20s team which play on Monday nights during the season and the players are closely monitored . It is also very important to have local players making it through to the first team as the fans can identify with them more easily and it also shows the youth players what can be achieved .”
Community
“ We do consider ourselves to be a community club and are currently attempting to incorporate the word community in to our name . We have facilities which we are offering to businesses within the town . Already we have had company learning days , a keep fit class and quiz nights held within our Function Hall and Hospitality Suite .”
Challenges / Ambitions
“ The biggest challenge we face as always is trying to compete with teams in the league that are spending much more money than we are . We also have a lot of work to do in improving the number of sponsors , advertisers and spectators that we can attract to the club . In addition , we have to try and
maximise the use of the Function Hall and the Hospitality Suite which is a major challenge .
The ambitions of the club are a mixture of what has been said above i . e . remain competitive in the Highland League and capitalise on the facilities that we have within the ground in the form of much needed income . There is also the thought of pushing into the Scottish League proper .
We were unlucky against the Lowland League winners last year and would like a further crack at getting through to a play-off match against the bottom team in Division 2 . This however has mixed emotions for our supporters who would like us to achieve this promotion but the travelling distance to away games would be prohibitive to the majority of them .”
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