A RISING star with the Blue Brazil has become one of the first Fife Elite Football Academy players to graduate from an SFA performance school.

Kyle Sneddon, a regular in the club’s under-20s side during the second half of last season, became one of the first to complete the four-year initiative since its launch in 2012.

The programme, at the heart of the SFA’s performance strategy, saw seven secondary schools across the country take on the role as a performance school to focus on supporting the development of Scotland’s best young footballing talent.

Aimed at boys and girls in the S1-S4 age groups, it is designed to give those who are selected the best chance to develop their abilities and practise football every day.

An additional 800 hours of coaching is provided for those in the initiative and Kyle, 15, attended a graduation ceremony ahead of Scotland’s international with Belgium at Hampden last month to mark the end of his time at his performance school, Dundee’s St John’s High.

Cowdenbeath director, David Allan, said: “Kyle is now in his third season playing for Fife Elite Football Academy and, of course, played regularly for Cowdenbeath’s under-20s in the second half of last season.

“He scored a header against Forfar up at Station Park, he was the youngest player on the park at just 15 that evening.

"A versatile player, Kyle can play centre or right midfield but has previously, and comfortably, played centre half or right back.

"His previous clubs include Dundee United Youth Academy and AM Soccer in Cupar, where he began his football journey.

“At Kyle’s graduation ceremony at Hampden, he became one of the very first FEFA players to graduate from the performance school.

“Every year, each school selects a number of the most talented under-12 players to join the programme. Each school has its own full-time youth coach who has overall responsibility for the delivery of the programmes.

“At St John’s, that coach is ex-Cowdenbeath assistant manager, Iain Jenkins. Jenks coached and guided Kyle for the four years he attended St John’s.

"He enjoyed working with Iain on a daily basis and gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and footballing experience. He has now returned to Madras College in St Andrews this summer to go on and sit his highers.”