FOOTBALL daft children from St Andrew’s Primary helped Greenock Morton Community Trust officially launch the newly expanded Mini Morton football coaching sessions this week.

Tom Elliott, community engagement manager delivered a typical training session on the perfect pitch at Cappielow for the children who were thrilled when some of the first team players joined them for a kick about.

Alan Baker, managing director, of Greenock based 2020 Renewables who are sponsoring the Mini Morton initiative said: “Greenock Morton Community Trust are to be commended for setting up this programme.

“When they approached us with the idea we were delighted to join forces and lend our support. Getting youngsters involved in physical exercise is a great idea at any time but this scheme has the added bonus of being taught to play football by qualified coaches. Hopefully, lots of Inverclyde kids will sign up and who knows we may unearth a future first team player.” Also in attendance was Andy Kelly, project manager at sportscotland, who are supporting the venture through their investment stream, Sportsmatch.

He said: “We are really pleased to be a part of this tremendous community-based programme by providing investment which assists in hiring venues and coaching fees. The Mini-Morton football coaching sessions provide youngsters in Inverclyde with terrific opportunities to development their talent and enjoy themselves taking part in sport Warren Hawke, consultant for club development, gave a presentation to invitees, including chairman of GMFC Douglas Rae, chairman of GMCT Crawford Rae, Provost Robert Moran and Ronnie Ahlfeld, designated champion for Sport, Inverclyde Council.

GMCT are a charitable trust that has been established to engage with social inclusion projects, utilising the power of the Morton FC brand to add value across all initiatives while engaging within the area of Inverclyde across all ages.

For more information on the Mini Morton programme please visit the GMCT website www.mortoncommunity.net where you can also book your place and get involved.