IT is during school hours, but these children are being put through their footballing paces.

IT is during school hours, but these children are being put through their footballing paces.

Five days a week, they come under the guidance of top coaches and enjoy the same support system as Scotland's professionals.

This is St Machar Academy, Aberdeen, one of six Schools of Football, set up by the SFA. It is funded from CashBack For Communities, the flagship programme of young people's activity set up by the Scottish Government earlier this year using money recovered from the proceeds of crime.

Pupils here have a great role model in Denis Law, one of Scotland's greatest footballers, who attended the same school, although it was called Powis Academy in his day. But if they want to follow in the footsteps of the Lawman, they will have to learn to follow the rules.

To be allowed out on the pitch every day, they have to work hard. That doesn't just mean improving their football skills and fitness, they also have be disciplined, smart and do their best at their lessons.

"This is not an elite athlete programme, it is using football as the vehicle to make these young people better citizens," said Neil Hendry, deputy head.

"Sport offers tremendous opportunities to increase discipline and I think Scotland is just beginning to pick that up.

"If the pupils want to remain part of it they have to be on time, they have to be in uniform, all the things you would expect from good quality young people. We don't want to produce 14 prima donnas - well rounded individuals is what we are after."

He explained St Machar is one of Scotland's Schools of Ambition which is focused on physical activity, health and sport.

The 14 successful candidates were selected from more than 50 boys and girls from the feeder primaries for St Machar who expressed an interest and took part in trials.

They were studied by SFA coaches and picked primarily on football ability because one of the aims of the programme is to help motivate youngsters to lead a fulfilling life, no matter their background.

"This year it is 14 boys," said Mr Hendry. "There were some girls at the trials but none was at a level where we felt they could cope with the intensity of it. All have quite a bit of potential and are very motivated which is important because it requires a big commitment from them and their families."

The pupils attend school as normal but for one period a day they leave for their football training. Two of these are the last period of the day so the training can be extended and on a Monday morning they have to turn up at the swimming pool at 8.30am for a hydrotherapy session.

That allows a recovery session for most who are likely to have played for club and school over the weekend. However, not all are currently associated with boys' clubs. Nor are they guaranteed a place in the school team.

"They will be trialling for the school football team like everyone else, although obviously they will be pretty strong candidates," said Mr Hendry.

"St Machar has a strong history of football over the years and we have two first-year teams.

"I want the differences between them and the other pupils to be as little as possible. I want them first and foremost to be successful pupils of St Machar Academy and then I want them to be part of the SFA School of Football."

He explained that the football training would last for two years.

"Educationally, unless they were youngsters who had a real good chance of getting a professional contract, you would question why you would take them out of class in S3 and S4.

"In S1 and S2 you can justify it because they have not started certificate work and the work they are doing in the football training is invaluable. "They are a very diverse group of boys. A couple of them are very talented musicians and one plays in a band which guested at our Christmas concert."

The man charged with running the school is Iain Scott, the SFA player and coach development officer for the area.

The former Queen of the South manager and Gretna coach said: "I am looking for improvement in all areas. They will all be given kit to wear from Diadora. At the beginning of the year they will be fitness tested by the experts at Hampden, and skills tested so we have a benchmark and we will monitor it throughout the year and see how they improve.

"They will have access to physiotherapy and will be given nutritional advice - anything a professional footballer requires they will be provided with.

"We will be speaking to their teachers throughout the year to ensure their education is not affected because from our point of view that is vital. The football is a bit of a carrot and to have this carrot they have to work twice as hard in school.

"If we can get children to perform well at football and then go back and perform well in the classroom that will rub off on others and we may find someone who may play professionally."

Ryan Insch, 11, hopes to play for Manchester United one day and knows all about Denis Law.

"My granddad was in the same class as him and they were friends," he said. "I have been wanting to be a footballer since I first knew about football. I have been playing for about seven years. This is a massive chance for us to be professional footballers."

Nico Berton, 11, plays for a local boys' club on a Sunday and turned out for his former primary school on a Saturday. "I think almost every kid of my age, and younger and older, dreams of being a footballer and the same with me. I want to give it a try and I hope it works.

"Mr Hendry said we have to keep the standards up so I am maybe not looking forward to the classwork so much but I will have to. It will be worth it for the football. My dad is Italian so I support Inter Milan and my English team is Liverpool."

Graeme Sutherland, SFA North Regional Manager, said: "This wouldn't have been possible without the money from CashBack For Communities which is creating a tremendous opportunity for these youngsters. We hope they make a great success of it and it leads to 60 schools of football, not just six.

"If we do find another Denis Law that would be fantastic but there is much more to the project than just that.

"The kids have an aptitude for football but we want to teach them more lifeskills. We want them to toe the line at school and to be well educated. These children are getting the opportunity because of their ability at football, and we want them to be role models within the school.

"All 14 might go on to be smashing young adults even without this programme but some of them might not and we are hoping this will encourage them to make something of their lives."

Old boy who makes a perfect role model
Denis Law, son of a fisherman and the youngest of seven children, was born in Aberdeen in 1940.

The Laws were a poor family and his first pair of football boots were a present from a neighbour.

He supported Aberdeen Football Club and watched them when he could. His obsession with the game prompted him to turn down a place at grammar school, where he would have had to play rugby. Instead, he attended Powis Academy (now St Machar Academy) in Aberdeen and while there was selected for Scotland schoolboys.

His professional career began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956, then to Manchester City for a British record fee.

A year later he moved to Torino for £110,000, this time a record fee for a transfer between an English and an Italian club.

In 1962, he returned to the UK for Manchester United and spent 11 years there, scoring 237 goals.

He is the only Scottish player to benamed European Footballer of the Year (in 1964), and helped his club win the First Division in 1965 and 1967. Law left United in 1973 and returned to Manchester City for a season, then represented Scotland in the 1974 World Cup.

Law played for Scotland 55 times and jointly holds the Scottish international record goal tally with 30 goals. He is also United's second highest goalscorer behind Bobby Charlton. He holds a United record for scoring 46 goals in a single season.