190 miles, three times a week? Life at Ross County has been one great road trip for youth academy talent from Caithness
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Ethan Kevill knows the road towards first team recognition at Ross County is long and winding – and strewn with hazards.
For a talented teenager from Halkirk in Caithness, even making it to training at Ross County’s youth academy was a journey and a half.
Up to under 15s level – for three full years – Kevill relied on the love and dedication of mum and dad Sadie and Anthony in transporting him 190 miles between home and Dingwall three or four times a week.
Brimming with promise within Carl Tremarco’s under 18s squad, Kevill (17) was able to showcase his ability to a bigger audience as the team was given the full Friday night Global Energy Stadium experience before 290 fans.
County’s young set performed well against the current best team in Scotland at their level, Kilmarnock, but eventually went down 4-1 to exit the Scottish Youth Cup.
All of the squad now has eight months remaining to stake a claim for a full professional deal in Dingwall.
Whatever happens, Kevill is hugely thankful to his parents for helping him to the brink of achieving that dream.
“I come from Halkirk in Caithness. I started off two or three years playing until under-15s, with my mum and dad and a couple of others trekking me up and down three or four times a week,” he said.
“I owe it all to them for those three years. I’m staying in Inverness at the college now.
“It’s my last year here in the academy, so it’s about blocking everything else out and having tunnel vision.
“It’s my last year of staying here locally – so I need to go for it.”
It is a tale that echoes the early life experiences of Gary Mackay-Steven, who was driven south from Caithness to County by his parents before forging a career that took him to Liverpool, Dundee Utd, Celtic, Aberdeen, New York and Hearts.
It is a huge sacrifice from working parents, with Kevill’s dad manager at Bell’s Seafood in Scrabster and mum working in children’s services.
“That’s part of the reason I went to the college in Inverness, because they were taking plans out of their day and stopping work sometimes,” he said.
“It’s going to take a toll on them.
“Even in Friday’s game, in the 90th minute, I was still working. I just thought ‘I’m not having my mum and dad trekking all the way down here for three years for me not to track a winger.’
“It started off as two or three times a week in the under-15s and under-16s, but in the last couple of years I have gone full-time, Monday to Friday.
“Even if I'm playing a game down towards Glasgow, they will travel down to watch that from time to time.”
Head of professional academy Tremarco and academy manager Gary Warren wanted to give the 18s players a chance to sample stadium football, rather than their usual haunt on synthetic pitches around the back.
There was a recognition some might never get the chance again while, for others, it could be valuable learning experience before winning contracts to remain at the club.
“It was a great opportunity to walk out and see everyone here. It’s quite a change from Friday in the week,” Kevill admitted.
“We obviously didn’t get the result, but our determination to not give up when they were 4-1 up was there for all to see. We now need to do that when there aren't 200-plus people watching us.
“Under the lights it was a great feeling. It was beautiful playing on the grass, it feels like an eternity.
“It just makes me want to work harder and push on more to get more games like this.
“I want to push on and get involved with the first team. It’s what we are all looking to do.
“Gary Warren and Carl Tremarco are people I listen to every time they speak, they are fighters.
“They say they made their career through the ugly side of the game. I’m trying to adopt those harder parts.
“You can be however flashy you want, but if you are not going to track a winger it’s no use.
“Going into the Kilmarnock game, we had people saying we didn’t have a chance as we were playing the best team in Scotland.
“Carl said before the game that one of his coaches told him that ‘if you punch them in the nose, it’s going to bleed’ as they are all human.
“It’s 11 v 11. They can be the best team in the country, but if we can beat them one-on-one we’ve got a chance. That showed at half-time I feel.
“We had opportunities, we hit the post, and it would have been a completely different game if we had gone in at half-time 2-1 up.
“We held our own and Carl said we did everyone proud.”
The future is uncertain for all of the youngsters, but the desire to succeed is strong in Kevill.
“I have not been told yet – it will be April or May,” he said.
“There is quite a bit of time for me to make a name for myself and keep kicking on.”
