WARREN Hawke insists Morton are as committed to creating talented coaches as they are serious about producing star players.

Over the course of the last two years, club development consultant Hawke has dedicated himself to developing a player pathway from two years old right through to the Ton first-team.

Kids can move from Morton Community’s Micro Morton physical literacy programme through Mini Morton, Morton Community club sides and Derek Anderson’s elite youth academy to the top team.

But Hawke is keen to outline another key objective, which is to create a solid pool of talented local coaches by giving them opportunities within the Morton Community and academy framework.

He told Morton Futures: “Undoubtedly, a core aspect of the Morton youth and community projects has been to provide a clear route of opportunity for players, from pre-school to the first team.

“But we have another key objective and that is to rear and develop our own coaches.

“The community programme is not just a pathway for players — it’s a pathway for coaches.

“Our policy at Morton is to never poach from another club.

“We will never poach coaches or staff from other clubs. I have clearly stated that to the SFA.

“Therefore, we are always looking to invest in talented and ambitious local coaches who are already in the programme or interested in getting involved.

“If you are a young person who wants to get into coaching, there are opportunities to come and volunteer, establish a reputation and work your way up at Morton.

“We have a policy across all of our projects that we put coaches through their badges and first-aid certificates.

“It’s not just about paying for those things; we also have established coaches who have been there, seen it, done it and bought the t-shirt who mentor the up and coming coaches through the process.

“At the moment, our head of youth, Derek Anderson, is helping our Under-17s coaches Derek Allan and Sean Crighton as they work towards their level five youth licence.

“Then Derek Allan and Sean will be mentoring some of the guys who are going through their level four. We are all working together.

“We are constantly challenging our coaches to the next level. “We have individuals in the Community Trust, the academy, the girls programme all doing that at the moment.

“The perfect example would be Marc McGhee. Marc came to us from First Touch as a good up and coming coach who knew what he wanted to do.

“He is now working with our elite youth academy’s Under-11s and 12s in a paid position and is a great example of someone who is progressing through our coaching pathway.

“His progress is an indication of what can be achieved on an individual level and illustrates our firm commitment to working with, and aiding the development of, local coaches.”