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Scottish soccer coach strikes Saskatchewan

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Yorkton, Sask. -

Scottish soccer coach, Scott Murchison, made his way to Yorkton this week to work with young soccer players.

He toured through major cities in the USA, then travelled to Canada. First, he hit Toronto and then made his final stop in Yorkton.

"The stereotypes are true, Canadians, for the most part, seem to be very polite people," Murchison said.

Murchison has been an international soccer coach for almost ten years and recently joined the Rangers Football Club.

The Yorkton United Football Club (YUFC) developed a relationship with the Rangers Football Club in 2019, when the YUFC trained in Scotland. After a two-year hiatus, it reconnected with the Scottish club to bring in Murchison as a guest coach.

"We jumped at the opportunity,” said Michael Jakubiec, technical director for the Yorkton United Football Club. “To bring a coach of such a high level, you know, it's important for the kids.”

Members of YUFC spent five days training with Murchison.

"I enjoyed it, Scott pushed us a lot and it was nice to actually do some training with soccer and take the next step further," 13-year-old Cayden Bowley said.

"It was fun! Sometimes hard to understand his little accent," 12-year-old Hamidah Kasim said.

"We did a lot of different drills. It was challenging at first but you get used to it," 13-year-old Aubrielle Butler said.

The drills aimed to teach kids important technical skills.

“Teaching players how to recognize moments in the game, how to take players on, how to effectively support their teammates, and then how to create opportunities to score goals,” Murchison said.

So far, Murchison said he’s enjoyed his time in Yorkton.

"It's a quiet place, and I'm from a quiet place myself, back in Scotland, so it's nice to get a bit of silence, rather the hustle and bustle of the city life," he said.

Murchison leaves on Sunday, but he hopes to be back in Canada in the future.

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