Commitment praised at Caithness United 25th anniversary awards
Players, parents, coaches and others connected to Caithness United were praised for their commitment to youth football as the club held its 25th anniversary presentation evening.
Caithness United was founded in 1999 to help develop young footballers from the county by introducing them to a higher level of opponents more frequently.
There are now three age groups – under-12s (playing in a festival format), under-14s (competing in the Moray Youth Development League) and under-16s (Highland Youth League). Across the three groups the club has 13 coaches and approximately 70 players.
The presentation evening in the Norseman Hotel, Wick, was well attended by players, parents and coaches as well as some special guests.
Guest speaker was Owen Harrold, a current Wick Academy player, who came through the ranks at Caithness United. Owen gave an insightful speech, touching on his own football journey and sharing some personal experiences.
He emphasised the importance of values such as work ethic, communication and training with intensity and perseverance. Owen also answered a number of questions from the floor.
The club’s chairman, Alan Turner, thanked everyone for their support over the past year, noting also how successful all the age groups had been during that period.
Alan then underlined the level of commitment involved as he detailed the mileages that the teams had covered to fulfil fixtures over the past season. He made special mention of the coaches, as they drive the minibuses to and from those matches.
The under-12s had attended multiple festivals as far away as Inverness, including midweek ones in Alness.
The under-14s had travelled more than 2500 miles, going as far as Elgin and Inverness.
The under-16s’ road trips amounted to over 1900 miles, including games in Nairn, Fort William and Inverness.
Coaches from each age group were then invited to provide a summary of their season. They all mentioned the development and improvement within their groups, noting the enjoyment and bonding they experienced and making reference to some specific team performances.
Coaches gave a short description on the reasoning behind each player being awarded with an individual trophy.
Award winners:
U12 most improved player: Charlie Breeze. U12 player of the year: Olly Forbes.
U14 endeavour award: Lewis Breeze. U14 most improved player: Kody Munro. U14 player of the year: Harris Shone.
U16 endeavour award: Arran Bain. U16 most improved player: Connor Davidson. U16 player of the year: Jayden Bremner.
Special guests in attendance included Malcolm Clasper, who was the original secretary of the club, and Philip Sinclair, who was a coach with Caithness Utd for 20 years. Another long-serving coach, John Suttar, as well as Alistair Gunn, a former president of the club, couldn’t attend but their contribution to the growth of the club was recognised.
