We are pleased to announce our latest long-term academy partnership with South Belfast club Rosario YFC.
The new and exciting partnership will have a mutually beneficial impact across both boys and girls academy set-ups, and at senior level.
It includes a joint commitment to sharing new and existing resources, the two-way movement of players, enhanced coach education and the opportunity to take part in games programmes hosted by both clubs.
Based on the Ormeau Road in Belfast, Rosario has been offering sporting opportunities to its community for more than 100 years. One of Northern Ireland and Ireland’s largest grassroots football clubs, the club currently boasts 1,400 members across 62 teams at all levels of the game and are supported by 250 volunteers.
While the club offers its 1,400 members the chance to take part in the game they love on a weekly basis across Northern Ireland through training sessions and matches, Rosario have also sent almost 30 teams across globe on sporting trips across Europe, the USA and Canada, showcasing the extensive network which the South Belfast club have at their disposal.
Discussing the latest partnership, our Head of Youth Development Phase Ryan Prentice said:
“Our club partnership programme has been underway for a while now and we’ve had real success with the clubs already on board. The plan was always to expand the programme with a few more clubs in different parts of Northern Ireland and we believe that Rosario is the perfect next club to create a link with.
“Having had initial conversations with Rosario, it was obvious that both clubs are a good match for each other in terms of how we work with and develop our young players, so it was quite a natural coming together of two like minded parties.
“The key for us when bringing new clubs into our partnership programme is to ensure that we are hitting a variety of areas outside of Larne, and that we aren’t joining up with different clubs who sit right on each other’s doorsteps.
“Rosario do so much good work in the South Belfast area on a weekly basis and we want to support what they do within their community while learning and sharing ideas along the way, as they will also do with our coaches and staff at Larne.”
Speaking on behalf of Rosario, 2009 Head Coach Stephen McConnell added:
“We’re very excited to have signed off on the partnership deal between both clubs and believe it presents a fantastic opportunity for coaches and players alike to grow and develop at both clubs.
“The long-term aim for Rosario is to continue growing not just at academy level but within the senior game also. I believe that Larne will be able to provide our coaches with more opportunities to learn via their continuous professional development sessions, which will no doubt have a positive knock-on effect for boys, girls and senior players at our club.”
