A chat about extraordinary coaching experiences led to Aberdeen’s academy director Gavin Levey and Cults-raised former Scotland international Shaun Maloney delivering free football sessions on the remote island of Barra.
Levey, Maloney and another Dons youth coach, Liam McGarry, flew from Glasgow to Barra last week for a holiday with a difference – after Maloney was captivated by Levey’s stories about the island, where he had visited in a previous role with Ross County.
Levey said: “Me and Shaun (Maloney) were out in Slovakia in the summer for our pro licence.
“We were coming home from a game and we were just talking about when coaching was quite simple and the most interesting experiences we’d had in football.
“I started speaking quite passionately about my time going to Barra, and Shaun wouldn’t leave it alone and kept pushing me with more and more questions.
“I was trying to describe how they have one pitch in Castlebay and how much the people valued it when you went there.
“After 20 or 30 minutes of speaking about this one place, he said: ‘come on, we need to go’.”
Having convinced those on the island their offer to travel across to deliver free sessions, helped by funding from Arnold Clark, was genuine – and following a journey which sees the small aircraft from the mainland land on the beach – the trio set to work.
They eventually delivered seven free sessions for children and adults on Barra, and Levey explained: “Barra’s a big Celtic-supporting island, so Shaun was obviously incredibly well received on that side.
“But also myself and Liam McGarry, because anyone who is willing to go out and put something back into the local community, and in our case at no cost, was something they were really grateful for.”
The coaches made their sessions for the island’s schoolkids as accessible as possible, Levey adding: “First of all, you’ve got to understand the dynamics of the pitch and try to imagine it.
“You’ve got one pitch that’s quite boggy, even though we had lovely weather. There’s football’s littered around the pitch because there must be a rule where you leave the ball when you leave.
“The kids are on it before school, at break time, after school, so it’s wrong of us to do a session and ask kids to move. There’s always going to be kids on the pitch.
“In terms of content, we just put on practices which were basic and which other people could continue when we left really.
“I believe there were kids there who never get involved in the PE or football sessions who got involved and had a great time, which was important.”
Having retired from playing in 2017, Maloney served as Hibernian boss for a period last season.
However, Levey says his work on Barra shows his love for the game and coaching is pure, adding: “He’s no different to one of us in the coaching he was doing – primary 4-7 girls, secondary boys, the men’s team.
“He’s been a first-team coach with Belgium working under Roberto Martinez, but the fact he’s out there, taking sessions with us, and enjoying it with the same enthusiasm he had even at that level, says a lot.”
On paper, the timing of the trip couldn’t have been better Barra FC, the local men’s team – who trained with the elite coaches on Thursday ahead of their scheduled Billy McNeill Cup final against Lochdar Saints on Saturday.
The game didn’t take place due to the suspension of football in the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s death, however, Levey was nonetheless impressed by the squad, saying: “If they’d played like they did at the training, I’ve no doubts in my mind they’d have won that one, but unfortunately it was cancelled with everything going on.”
Massive thanks to yourself, Shaun and Liam for coming along and taking the session on Thursday, plus all the coaching you gave the juniors too. Everyone loved the training and was great to see you back on the island once again after so long. We hope you guys had a great time!
— Barra Football Club (@barrafooty) September 11, 2022
Levey left Barra struck by the “special” passion for football, saying: “We drove to Glasgow Airport and went past a bus stop with 35 kids there all looking down at their phones. At the same time, the following morning, there’s about 35 kids playing on the Castlebay pitch getting covered in mud before school.
“That’s the difference. The pitch is iconic in Barra and it’s what all the kids talk about.”
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