Belfast Boys Model School

Most schoolboys still harbor dreams of turning out for their footballing heroes be it at Anfield, Ibrox and or Windsor Park. However, one Boys’ Model pupil has decided that even at the tender age of 18, he would much prefer to get his kicks on the sidelines. Belfast boy Aaron Bickerstaff has taken the tentative steps towards what he hopes will lead to a bright future in coaching.

Aaron, Head Boy at the Boys' Model school which launched the fledging career of Sunderland defender and Northern Ireland international George McCartney, works alongside dad, Gordon, as a coach with Linfield under 13 side and has had terrific success already.

The ‘wee blues’ were last season ‘s Tesco Cup winners, a feat that was trumped when they went on to represent Northern Ireland and come home victorious in the Home Championships at the City of Manchester Stadium in May.

And it is moments like this that made Aaron all the more determined to fulfill his ambitions to help produce the David Healys and Kyle Laffertys of the future. “I realised that I probably wasn’t good enough to play football at a high level but I really wanted to stay involved” he explained. “My Dad has been coaching the kids’ teams at Linfield and he brought me on board and I just started off by watching the other coaches to pick up tips. When I was younger, training was running round the pitch for a while and then playing a match. There is so much more to it than that and that is what I am interested in”.

And it is involvement in the youth teams that Aaron hopes to carry on with. “I prefer to coach with the younger ones because you really get a sense that you are teaching them”, said Bickerstaff, who sites his Dad as his biggest influence. “By the time they are 18 or 19 they have developed their own style and learned a lot. At a younger age you are the one teaching them to play football.

Bickerstaff admits that his school has been a great source of encouragement in helping his young career bear fruit. “Yes, the school have helped a lot, in encouraging me and also in an educational sense as well,” he said. “I did GCSE PE and we learned about the different aspects of other sports. I have tried to use that in my own way as well. We looked at tennis and rugby and I have tried where possible to bring that into football”. He added “I would have liked to have done a coaching degree in University but there aren’t many actual jobs out there for that so I am going to do either law or marketing and hopefully I will carry on coaching in some way and stay involved” (Belfast Telegraph, Chris Holt, 18/11/08)