AN EXCITING new era for youth football is about to dawn in New Cumnock with the creation of a new Glenafton Youth Academy.

The current Glenafton Mini Minors teams will now officially come under the umbrella of Glenafton Athletic FC.

The club are now looking to form two additional teams, for kids born in 2014 and 2015.

A Glenafton under-17s team will also join the new Glenafton Youth Academy, after previously being part of the Auchinleck Talbot Youth Academy.

New manager, Cammy Black, his coaching staff and many of players have made the switch from Auchinleck to New Cumnock to join the newly-formed academy, in what is a major boost for the Glens.

The creation of the Youth Academy is a major step forwards for the club’s own ambition of creating a thriving youth system for kids of all ages, with a clear and well supported football development pathway, and making Loch Park a venue that is inclusive to all of the community.

Glenafton are also delighted to announce that within this new youth set-up, Cammy Black has been appointed as their new Head of Youth.

Despite only being 25 years old, Cammy has more than 10 years of coaching experience with various age groups. He also holds a Uefa B licence and was a previous youth player with Glens.

Following his appointment, Cammy said: “I have had some really good discussions with the team over the past couple of months and it’s clear to see that they have some excellent short term, medium term and long term goals for both the club and community as a whole.

“I’m delighted to be involved with the creation of the Glenafton Athletic Youth Academy as we aim to provide a proper and well supported football development pathway in the local area with a meaningful and realistic opportunity for players to hopefully gain entry into the senior team.

“I look forward to working with the management team of Ryan Stevenson and Mark Roberts and the full senior set-up to ensure that they have a reliable structure below them that they can call upon with confidence; and I’m excited to see what we are able to implement with a footballing development environment in mind.”