Young players within Club Academy Scotland (CAS) are getting more touches of the ball this season, through an increased focus on small-sided games, as part of a new differential games programme introduced by the Scottish FA.
Once a month, Under-11 and Under-12 sides from selected clubs within the CAS framework have been joining together to compete in friendly tournaments, with different format matches taking place, designed to maximise the players' time on the ball.
These multi-format tournaments focus on small-sided games - from futsal, to six-a-side matches, all the way down to three-a-side 'street game' style contests. With the onus on the competing clubs to be creative, the shorter matches with rolling substitutions also mean that every player involved gets numerous opportunities to take to the field.
These meet-ups generally comprise five or six different clubs each time, allowing players to challenge themselves against different teams. The events will also be cross-border on occasion and the likes of English giants Manchester City have already been involved so far during this current campaign.
Two of the creative introductions - dribble-ins and kick-ins, used in place of throw-ins - allow the matches to flow better while reducing the heading impact.
Although the sides are still competing in their usual CAS leagues, the normal programmes have paused one weekend a month to make room for these creative events.
Andy Gould, Chief Football Officer, Scottish FA: "Research shows that certainty, predictability and habituation slows down the development of children. These new programmes are therefore designed to stimulate and challenge young players in a different way from their normal fixtures, which would be full length seven-a-side or nine-a-side matches.
"You can feel the feelgood factor at the events and the encouragement from the sidelines is always really positive. For anyone involved in the grassroots game, I would encourage them to look at this and try to replicate it.
"We don't always need to do the same thing, week in, week out. If grassroots clubs can get together with a group of teams, if they can create an opportunity where they are playing different formats, that will stimulate the young players, it will give chances for the coaches to see the game in a slightly different way, and it will be a great experience for everybody involved."
Campbell Money, Head of Club Academy Scotland: "We were approached by some of the clubs who wanted to try new initiatives and we have worked with them to introduce these new differential matches.
"This creative approach offers variety to the children's experiences which will be beneficial for their learning.
"These events also ensure that all the children are playing at the majority of the time, with the short, sharp matches and different formats taking place at once, giving opportunities for everyone."
Willie McNab, Head of Children's Programme, Celtic FC: "There's no rush to get to 11-a-side. Players will get to a point at Under-14 and Under-15 where they reach 11-a-side and they are playing that for the rest of their career.
"So with these new events, with children who are normally playing seven-a-side and nine-a-side are playing three-a-side, five-a-side and six-a-side. It means our players are going to get more touches of the ball and there's shorter game times as well.
"My advice to any coach would be: we don't need to be in a hurry to get to 11-a-side - the more kids that we can get playing on the pitch, the better for the whole of Scottish football."
Scott Currie, Head of Children's Academy, Motherwell FC: "For us as a club, it's huge. Obviously we want technical players who can dribble and control, manipulate the ball and make good decisions.
"When you have a tighter pitch and a smaller area, there's more opportunities to do that. It's really going to benefit young children within our academy and across all the academies in Scotland.
"The cross-border nature of these events is important too. The first question the children ask you is "when are we playing Manchester City?" - for them it's so exciting and so different for them.
"It creates that environment where they want to be playing football and they want to be testing themselves against the best here in Scotland but also the best down in England as well."