GALASHIELS youngster Sophie Campbell has been selected in the Scotland U16s squad for a festival set to take place in the town later this month.

The Scots will face opposition from North Wales and the Netherlands.

The selected U16 players were identified through the Girls Regional Game Series, which ran at the start of the year.

Gordon Lyon has been appointed to lead as head coach for a second year.

He said: “The Girls Regional Game Series gave us a great platform for identifying talent across the country. We’ve now had a great few weeks in camp gelling the squad together, which gives us a strong picture ahead of the festival.

“The opportunity to face new teams such as North Wales and the Netherlands will be a fantastic stepping-stone for the development of the players as individuals and as a squad. These game play opportunities and experiences are really important as our pathway evolves, and particularly as players graduate and look to move into the U18 set up.

“The players are fantastic to work with, they bring a lot of enthusiasm and willingness to learn and no doubt they will take a lot of this back into their own environments, whether that be at club or school.

“Having a calibre of coaching staff that we do is not only of huge benefit to this team, but a real inspiration for the players involved. Working with players who have achieved great things and have bright futures ahead of them will no doubt provide extra motivation and visibility for the girls to see what they can be.”

Lyon’s coaching team is bolstered by former Scotland international Megan Gaffney and Stephen Gillies, of Hillhead Jordanhill.

Nikki Simpson (Glasgow Warriors/Garioch RFC) and Holly McIntyre (University of Edinburgh) also join the coaching staff. Both Simpson and McIntyre have played for the Scotland Futures and have been involved with Scotland Women in their WXV2 preparations.