After another top performance from ‘The Cat’ in Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Bradford City, we take a look at Glenn Morris’ activities off the pitch and behind the scenes.
Morris has been deeply involved with the Crawley Town Performance Academy - a player pathway scheme that has been running for over a year - and is enjoying his time as he takes on a deeper role in providing mentorship and opportunities for the youngsters on the scheme.
For Glenn, it’s also something he has developed a real interest and passion in. The scheme is available for 16-18 year olds, and provides them with education and sporting opportunities - securing their future on or off the pitch. The scheme is embedded within the wider Crawley Town structure - offering a genuine pathway for youngsters into the First Team. As well as Rafiq and Szymon, there have been a number of other students training with the First Team squad this year.
And despite the Covid-19 pandemic hitting the world so hard this year, the scheme continued to operate effectively and delivered results for the students. Speaking about the way in which the scheme has adapted, Morris continued, “The team involved in the scheme did an amazing job in switching delivery online. It was a testament to the collective effort of the students and the staff to keep it going and keep delivering for the lads.”
The programme has become such a success that it is now opening up a new route - the Crawley Town Second Chance Academy. The programme will be based and rooted around the First Team - training alongside them and with opportunities for feeder programmes from south and west London as well as Essex. The scheme is open to players who have been released from clubs or previously were involved in Academy football but no longer are able to - either for family circumstances or other reasons.
Morris continued, “We’ve had such high demand for the Performance Academies that developing a Second Chance Academy was a natural next step. It’s really exciting and it’s a key area for me. We need to look after lads that don’t quite make it or can’t access Academy football for whatever reason, so I’m proud we’re launching this next year.”
And on the pitch with Crawley, Morris is equally proud of the form. “We’ve been on a good little run lately. We need to keep pushing and working hard to climb the table. We’ve obviously got a great opportunity to test ourselves against Leeds United in the FA Cup - so all the lads are really working hard right now.”
To find out more about Glenn’s work with the footballers of the future, or to find out more about any of the schemes, head to www.academyse.co.uk
