THE opportunity to represent the district at football is on the cards for Tynedale‘s youngest talent.

Prudhoe sports coach Chris Hill is starting a West Tyne representative team at U9 level to ensure local players can develop their skills on their own doorsteps.

While many young children head to Newcastle teams to realise their potential, Hill is working with Prudhoe Youth Club to start a team that showcases the potential of Tynedale’s little stars.

Inviting children who play for teams in the Tynedale Mini Soccer League on Saturday mornings for open sessions, a squad for games in the Pin Point Recruitment Junior Football League on Sunday mornings will be hand picked by Hill and his helpers.

A director of Magpie Sports which offers high standard coaching sessions across multiple sports to young people, he is well qualified to spot talent at an early age.

And he wants to work with local clubs to ensure Tynedale talent is being recognised on a wider scale.

Hill said: “I was chatting to a parent at Prudhoe YC who was saying they had a few lads who play locally on Saturdays, but want to play Sundays too. And we were saying what a shame it is that they have to go to Newcastle to play as there‘s no local teams.

”We both agreed that it would be great to provide something for the areas, and it then dawned on me that it was something I could run!

”We’re making a rule that the children must play regularly in the Tynedale Mini Soccer League to be selected, because we don‘t want to step on any teams‘ toes. Rather we want to work hand in hand to benefit the area.

”We don’t want a problem where children say, ‘I play for this great team on a Sunday so I’m going to stop playing on a Saturday‘ because it’s important we work closely with local clubs.

“What we want to create is a representative team where local players can play at a high standard to assist their development.

”This will give them extra coaching and the chance to play alongside some of the area’s best players, although this is certainly not about elitism.“

The idea to create a district team has also been motivated by a lack of a representative school team.

In years gone by, schoolchildren within Tynedale were selected to represent the West Tyne Schools Football Association against other districts.

But the WTSFA decided around seven years ago to ditch the inter-association team, instead concentrating on inter-school contests within the area.

Following the introduction of the U9 team, there are plans to add teams at U8 and U10 levels the season after next.

But, at present, there are no suggestions that the team will continue after mini-soccer age as there are already plenty of options out there in Tynedale above this age.

An open session for Tynedale Mini Soccer League players will be held on Monday evening at 7.15pm to 8.15pm, at Eastwoods Middle School, Prudhoe.

l Prudhoe YC Rockets U14 are looking to add to their Saturday squad, with training sessions to be held on June 17 and 24 June at Eastwoods Middle School between 6pm and 7.30 pm. Mark Jones can be contacted on (07913) 449630.