'We want to keep young people out of trouble. We would rather be working with them than having the police or other statutory bodies getting involved.'
A West Belfast football club is helping tackle anti-social behaviour in its community by launching a new Under 17 team.
"Our pitch is situated at Brook Leisure Centre. There have been incidents where some young people have been able to get access to the pitch through the fence. "There are kids who just want to play football, but there has been no team for them to join and play for. So we did some soul-searching ourselves to help these kids.
"We didn't want to jump in too deep, so we have decided to launch an Under 17 team to start with. Glendowan were happy with the plans as well. Kevin says the uptake has been positive, and says the club has welcomed more numbers than it initially expected."We spoke to them, and we also put an advert out on our social media. We wanted to make it open and transparent, so we advertised for a new manager and explained that we want these lads to feel pride in the club and their community. And it will grow from that.
"The kids will gain from this long-term and the club will also benefit from doing this. And hopefully there is a pathway now from Glendowan right up to our senior team."
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