The future is bright for Don Boscos, after they announced an exciting partnership with one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Celtic have come on board with the local side to develop their underage talent.

Last night the Glasgow club’s coach Barry Rodgers took his first training session in the CK centre – run by the Don Boscos charity - and he said he was delighted to be involved.

“We’ve actually got quite a big partnership throughout the whole of Ireland. Through working with other clubs and the club’s media the guys from Don Boscos seen that we are happy to work in partnership with clubs,” Rodgers told the Derry News.

“It was just a case of Marty Crumley from the club contacting me directly at Celtic and we started to cultivate a relationship from there. I spoke to Marty and explained the programme to him and it seemed the right fit for Don Boscos and, likewise, the right fit for Celtic as well so we’re happy to be here in Derry.”

The programme involves Celtic coaches regularly travelling to the city to work with the club, and Rodgers agreed there were exciting times ahead.

“Obviously Celtic have got a massive support in Ireland and it’s engaging with the fans and the younger generation. We’re looking to bring Celtic coaches here on a regular basis to work with the young players in terms of developing them and showing them that there is that opportunity in terms of the pathway,” he explained.

“We’re working with the coaches as well and hopefully we can show them the Celtic way then they can implement that with the players on a regular basis as well.”

He continued: “It’s not just about developing the players; it’s about developing the person and giving players a chance. We want to show them that there are opportunities down the line and we want to prepare them to take them, whether it’s in football or their professional career.”

The coach admitted that it was great to be involved with a club full of enthusiastic talent who are always eager to learn.

“It’s a privilege for myself and the club to come over because you always are very well received by the coaches and the young players,” Rodgers said.

“At the end of the day football is what we all love and when we go out on the pitch and the young players get that opportunity we just hope that it gives them that extra percent. We hope we can cultivate that relationship with the club, and we feel it will help Don Boscos and Celtic in the future.”

The partnership is currently set to run for three years, but Rodgers said that Celtic are ‘always open to working with clubs’ and that there is ‘no reason to say it won’t go further’.

Boscos coach Jock Dunne agreed that it was a momentous occasion in the club’s history, and that they are all looking forward to working with the Glasgow team.

“To be honest, it’s setting the club on a different level. We’ve been really excited about this for the last couple of months from when we got word that it was actually happening. Hopefully as word goes out it will catch the interest of a few players because we are all about developing young ones as people as well as players.”

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