Rangers & Ayr United Ex-Pros Help the Next Generation of Canadian Soccer Stars

Eight years ago, the Sherwood Park Rangers soccer club in Canada saw the natural evolution of ex pros from the Glasgow Rangers, help run a summer camp for its young Sherwood Park prodigies. 

Skip forward nearly 10 years and the Sherwood Park Rangers, now called Phoenix, still hold the summer camp but it's now billed as X-pro Soccer.

Though not very well known in Canada, the three main instructors at the X-pro camp, which recently attracted more than 70 young soccer players at the Strathcona Athletic Park, are household names within the Scottish soccer family.

Bobby Russell, Gordon Dalziel and Alan Kerr are the men that have made the trip this term.

Dalziel was the Scottish first division manager for 12 years at Ayr United when the club made it to the Scottish League final and two Scottish FA Cup finals. He also played for Glasgow Rangers, Manchester City, Millwall and Ayr before becoming the manager at the Somerset Park club.

Kerr, now a professional goalkeeping coach, played five years with Glasgow Rangers as well as for Ayr United and several other Scottish first division teams.

X-pro Soccer have been sending different groups of coaches to Canada for seven of the last eight years and Russell, for one, was glad to return.

"I was delighted to come back," he said speaking to local Sherwood Park news. "It's been a great success apart from all of the mosquitoes. They are very annoying."

Russell said he hopes that camps like the one he runs will inspire more interest from kids in soccer in the country.

"There has been a wee bit of a lull in registration," he said. "I think there are 30 percent less than there were a couple years ago. Hopefully we can make a wee bit of a difference and try and generate some interest and excitement. The standards of play in Canada are definitely getting better. And some of the kids here have shown some good potential."
 
Margaret Dunlop, the General Manager for the Sherwood Park District Soccer Association, can see the real benefits of bringing groups of qualified coaches from Scotland to the area.

"When it was the Sherwood Park Rangers, we were the first ones to bring them in," she said speaking to Sherwood Park news.

"We're hoping it is something that is going to continue. It's a great opportunity for these kids to be taught by professional people like this. The kids really love it and they are good with them. They put on a good program for them. We had a couple of coaches there that were learning from it as well. I think it is important to give the kids something extra. To get someone in with a different voice.These guys all have high licenses from Europe. They could all coach professional soccer teams. They are top-notch."

Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report as well as Not Just Scottish Football and youth development reporter for Ayr United Football Academy. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.