A TEENAGER who has bounced back from a health setback to coach football to kids on a voluntary basis has been nominated for the Press Community Champion Awards.

Ryan Graham has been put forward for the 'Youth Community Champion' accolade – presented to a young person up to the age of 18 who volunteers and makes a significant contribution to their local community – by the Pars Foundation's general manager, Kelly Armstrong.

The Pars Foundation – a registered charity – is the community arm of Dunfermline Athletic Football Club, and offers a variety of initiatives for both children and adults.

Big-hearted Ryan started to volunteer in a coaching capacity after a bout of pneumonia curtailed his own playing aspirations.

Now, four years after he first started to help out with the Pars Foundation, he can be seen coaching as often as six days a week – all in his own time.

Gregor Tennant, the foundation's assistant manager, said: "Ryan's had a few health issues and it affected him playing football but, from not being able to play, he's been coming in to do coaching and get experience.

"He's been volunteering on camps for probably the last three or four years. As soon as he was at the high school, he was coming and doing simple things like picking up cones but now he's able to do sessions and is helping out the 2010s East End Boys, coaching with them.

"We started saying to him 'here's a class, we'll go along with you and support you, but we want you to deliver some of the session', or on a Friday I've got him delivering the mini-kickers session at Baldridgeburn.

"I'm always there but he's leading it; he'll see what we've done and maybe take ideas off of us, or put in his own ideas, and build up a session from there.

"He's learning from coaches of all ages and experiences and he's interacting with all the kids. He's adjusted well."

Gregor continued: "He was quite confident as a player but I think everything he went through health-wise maybe knocked him back. For him then to come back and do what he's doing has helped him as a person.

"He's in, Monday to Saturday, doing voluntary hours pretty much full-time. Ryan's only just turned 17 but he's got four years' worth of experience; he gave us his school holidays to come in and do that, and there's not many kids at high school age who would.

"There's going to be loads of parents who won't realise he's doing it voluntarily and that he's putting so much time into it."

To nominate someone for the Dunfermline Press Community Champion Awards 2018, visit www.newsquestscotlandevents.com/events/dunfermline-press-community-champions/ by Wednesday, April 25.