Stollar Swaps Lions For Orient
Having held the role of joint-manager at London Maccabi Lions B last season, Gavin Stollar has swapped the MSFL premier division for Npower League One, following his appointment as a Centre of Excellence scout at Leyton Orient.
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MILLET SPORT
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Reflecting on his new position - and what it entails - he says: "As a Centre of Excellence scout, I'm responsible for identifying players of sufficient quality to join each of Leyton Orient's Centre of Excellence teams. The club currently runs Centre of Excellence teams from U9's-U18's (youth team) and my role is to source individual players who will improve the quality of the group. Not necessarily in terms of teams and results but those boys who show something individually with their technique, their football intelligence, their physical attributes and their personality."
Once the season gets going, Stollar will be out almost every weekend at junior games, while he'll also be watching schools, district and county games during the week - "It will be a case of balancing work, keeping my wife happy and finding Orient's next star!"
What makes this appointment even more appealing for the 31 year-old is the fact that he's been an Orient fan for the best part of 20 years, which, as he explains, means "to have been asked to scout for my team is quite special and something that I am relishing."
But more than that, he's realising a dream, which for him goes back to when he was a child. He says: "As a kid you always wonder if a scout will spot you, where do they go, what do they look for etc. I was always intrigued by how professional clubs found the stars of tomorrow and that intrigue meant that this type of role itself was always something that interested me."
Whether this role will lead to a full-time appointment, he's not shy in churning out an age-old football cliché saying: 'I'll take it one game at a time'. "Never say never but I'm realistic enough to know that football is a hard game to earn a good living out of unless you are playing at the highest level," he says. "Being able to take this opportunity alongside my professional career as a Management Consultant is something that I am fortunate enough to be able to do."
And while on the lookout for new, exciting talent for the east London side, Stollar says he still wants to be involved with the Lions, and refuses to rule out the possibility of spotting a youngster in the MSFL who could one day turn out at Brisbane Road.
"I have lots of friends who still play in the MSFL and will naturally be keeping my eye on goings on in the league," he says. "I've told the Lions management that I would happily help them out if they ever need an extra body, I hope to still be a part of London Lions within my time constraints as it's the best Jewish club in the country and needs committed people to enable it to continue to provide the service it does to our community.
"Furthermore, there's no reason why an MSFL player who is under 18 and of a certain quality couldn't make the transition into an Centre of Excellence set up - if any managers out there think they have such a player, I'd be delighted to come down and watch them play!"
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MILLET SPORT
