Jonathan Heathcote

The Youth Team are back in training after the summer break and for Jonathan Heathcote the return brought the news that he has been named team captain. He explained the role and looked forward to the coming season.

"It was nice to have the time off, but it's definitely nice to be back," he said. "Everybody's fresh and ready to go."

Heathcote was delighted to be handed the responsibility. "I had a chat with Rick (Duncan - Youth Team Manager) and he said that he wanted me to be captain this year, which I was obviously delighted with," he said. "It gives me a bit more responsibility, and it's nice to be able to pass on some stuff to the younger lads who have come in; to help them settle in. It's a little bit extra to deal with, but hopefully it will only make me better as a player."

A left-sided defender, Heathcote explained that there is more to the job than just wearing the armband on a match day: "Off the pitch, it's helping the young lads settle in and dealing with any problems at the digs.

"Michael Shinn is Head Boy this year, and between us we'll try and sort out any little problems, not just around the digs, but around the Club as well. Around the Changing Room area, if there's anything that needs sorting, if the Gaffer or anyone needs anything done, they'll come to me and I'll sort it out.

"I was Head Boy last year so it's not too big a step because it's virtually the same sort of role off the pitch. On the pitch I'll be captain, so I'll show leadership there, and I'm looking forward to doing it. There's more responsibility, which is something I need it think! Part of the reason I've been given the job is to help me as a person mentally as well. It'll be good me for me, and hopefully good for the team as well."

St. Neots-born Heathcote, is following in illustrious footsteps; the previous two Youth Team captains, Adam Tann and Graham Rush, have gone on to be awarded professional contracts, and it is a tradition he would love to maintain.

"That's something to look at as well, it's something to follow," he said. "From what Rick said, I was given the job purely and simply because - when he came in at the end of last year, from what he'd seen when I was Head Boy - he thought that I'd be the person to lead the lads and that it would help me."

Towards the end of last season quite a young side was representing the Under-19s, and this is something Heathcote believes will stand them in good stead for the coming campaign.

"If you look at the bunch of lads we've got this year, although it is a young side, we've got quite a lot of lads - the first years who are now second years - who played a lot of games last year," he said. "It's a good thing, and I'd say that this year we'd look to go one step further than we did last year, because of the strength in depth we've got. Just in the midfield area we've got six or seven lads who've all played quite a lot of games, all competing for places.

"Within the team there's lots of rivalries for places, but it's healthy competition and there's a good team spirit. I would say that with the experience of the lads we've got across the team it'll be a good year - it doesn't always work like that, but we'll do out best."

This year is the third and final year of his scholarship, so the coming months have added importance for Heathcote. "The one aim for the end of the year is a pro contract," he said. "It would be really nice but I can't think about the pressure. You can't feel the pressure, it's just something that you've got to get on with and deal with. First and foremost, I've got to concentrate on playing in the youth team then we'll see what we can build on and go on from there. There are examples like David Bridges last year benefiting, so anything can be done if you put your mind to it.

John Taylor and Dale Brooks

"It's a good time to be at the Club. With Brooksy and the Gaffer here everyone's happy. With Brooksy, he knows all of us anyway. He was my coach as an Under-13 in the Centre of Excellence, and then he was the Youth Team Coach so, especially my year, he knows a lot of us. It's a good thing for us, because you don't have to try and impress a new person. Obviously you've got to show them that you can do the job, but they know pretty much what you're about anyhow, so that's something that takes a little bit of pressure off you.

"I'm looking forward to it. It's a challenge to try and get a new contract."

It's often said that the Youth Team matches are more about development that results but, from a player's point of view, it's not that straightforward.

"I think, to a certain extent it is about development," Heathcote said, "because our main aim as a team, and from a coaching point of view, is to get as many of us through to be in the first team as possible. But at the same time, when you put your shirt on on a Saturday you don't think 'it's all about development'.

"It does cross your mind at times; if the team has a bad game and as an individual you play well, but most of the time, with all the lads in the digs, the team spirit is such that everyone wants to win and do the best they can. In a winning team you're more likely to go through because they notice you more. Winning is a habit and hopefully we can get that habit going.

"So when you're getting ready for a game, definitely you think about winning - especially our first game of the season, Peterborough at home. You don't think about it as development, you think about it as a game and there's only one thing on your mind, and that's winning. There's no love lost between me and Peterborough, and with many of the lads as well.

"I've been here since I was nine, when Paul Ashworth started the Centre of Excellence, and obviously there's been a few games against Peterborough over the years. It's the first game of the season, like it was last year, and we'll take it the same way as we did last year, just try and get off to a good start."

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