Airdrieonians FC’s new "Diamond Life" scheme got off to a fun-filled start on Tuesday afternoon as children from St Margaret’s High School in the town had a ball at the Excelsior. 

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The new initiative, funded by a £10,000 grant from the Scottish Football Partnership, will see the Diamonds provide five six-week programmes for different Airdrie schools over the next year. 

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In Week One Airdrieonians Director of Coaching Eddie Wolecki Black, educated as a coach at Barcelona over the last eight years, gave an informative talk of his experiences at the Spanish giants before the kids enjoyed a training session with Eddie and Chief Executive Iain King. 

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The award from the SFP’s Community Initiative scheme is a huge boost for the Club and gives us the chance to deliver six separate sessions around the topics of health, fitness, business, football and the media. 

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These entertaining and informative lessons are held in the club’s Boardroom at the Excelsior Stadium, which becomes the classroom for the day. 

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And after Day One Eddie smiled: “One of our big aims is to put the Club’s footprint back into the community and the Diamond Life programme is designed to improve the children’s knowledge of health and fitness. 

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“We want to spark their imagination through varied work like the Barca presentation and other talks delivered in the club’s Boardroom and from the coaching sessions held on the Excelsior pitch.” 

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Stuart McCaffrey, Chief Operating Officer of SFP, added: ""The Scottish Football Partnership, through its Community Initiative, is delighted to be supporting Airdrieonians F.C.'s exciting new school's engagement project "Diamond Life". 

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"Football when used positively can act as a significant tool for personal development and this initiative is another great example of the excellent work Scotland’s professional football clubs are so well placed to deliver to members of the local community." 

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Throughout the programme - being run in co-ordination with the SFP and North Lanarkshire Leisure’s Active Life initiative - the children will learn about media, leadership and communication, decision-making and teamwork. 

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The programme will end with a special celebration day where the children will be invited along to the Excelsior Stadium to have lunch and then enjoy an Airdrieonians home game with their classmates. 

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And chief executive Iain King said: “We hope to be able to establish this project as a sustainable part of each school’s curriculum, with the football club identified as an educational partner. 

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“There can be lasting benefit for the club and the schools in working together, our goal is to make the Club the heartbeat of the town we serve.” 

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To find out more about the work of the Scottish Football Partnership visit thescottishfootballpartnership.com