The Iron have taken on eight new apprentices ahead of the 2015/16 season.
George Barmby, Lewis Butroid, James Dean-Atkinson, William Dupray, Lewis McMichael, Brandon Phillips, Leslie Sackey (unavailable for the official unveiling) and Fortunate Sithole have all been inducted into the academy ahead of the new season – and will be enduring a tough programme ahead of the pre-season with the Iron.The club are awaiting international clearance for Dupray, Phillips and Sithole.
In previous campaigns, the team is put through around seven weeks of preparation following on from the end of the previous season. This July is deemed to be no different as each player receiving an individual power development programme, before completing a hypertrophy phase and aerobic fitness – making it a thoroughly practised pre-season and one that wouldn’t look amiss in the professional game.
Speaking previously, Academy Manager Tony Daws stated: “It’s never easy to make that step up from being a youth team player at under 17’s and under 18’s level to being a first team player because the demands are very different.
“To become a professional footballer is a very, very difficult thing to achieve. It doesn’t matter at what level the team plays; ultimately you have to be deemed good enough. Many try and many fail.
“The boys are all 16 or 17 years of age and as such are legally still classed as children, so we have a responsibility and duty of care to ensure their safety and well-being at all times.”
FRONT L-R - Lewis McMichael, Lewis Butroid, Fortunate Sithole, James Dean-Atkinson. BACK L-R - George Barmby, William Dupray, Brandon Phillips.
He added: “The apprentices have got to work hard, show a good attitude every day and take on board the information given to them by the coaching staff.”
The club would like to wish the new intake, along with members of the current youth team and the coaching staff all the best for the new campaign.