Casual kickabout for young people set up in Tranent

The idea for ‘Fitbaw Fridays’ stemmed from a conversation with a teenager and Scott Wylie decided he would take it upon himself to expand his positive contributions in Tranent.

He wanted to give under-18s a chance “to be seen for who they are” instead of “just what they’re sometimes labelled as”.

Two years ago, Scott set up a mental health group in the centre of the town, a safe space for adult men to come together and talk or listen without any judgement.

The setting up of the group, which has been a success and continues to take place on Tuesday evenings at Volunteer Centre East Lothian on Tranent High Street, followed an attempt from Scott to take his own life.

Scott Wylie is giving his time free of charge to organise the weekly sessions (Image: Contributed)

During a recent group, Scott saw a young person climb on to the roof of the building and had a conversation with him, during which he “really felt he listened”.

The interaction then got him thinking about the rhetoric of there being nothing for teenagers to do and how often this is seen as the reason for anti-social behaviour, as well as a jump to quickly blame parents.

Scott said: “But what if instead of just saying it, we do something about it?”

Knowing that the World Cup has brought people together in recent weeks and the ability of football for “crossing every divide”, he decided to use it as a starting point for the new sessions.

He explained: “I’m taking it back to when I was young… jumpers for goalposts, and when the ball goes out? The ref shouts ‘play on!’.”

The “casual kickabout and friendly tournament” sessions will be held on Friday evenings starting this week at Ross High fields.

It will bring together young people from first year at secondary school up to age 17 and is open to everyone.

There is no cost for the sessions; Scott is giving up his own time for free and hopes that other volunteers might join him too.

The rule for the group is that there is no judgement or bullying, instead just a chance to enjoy the sport, as well as a chance to chat and laugh.