Mike Hall, the new Manager of the Three Pears Warriors Academy, intends to use Chris Pennell as a role model for the next generation of players.
Hall has just completed his first week as successor to Chim Gale as Academy Manager having held a similar post with Bristol Bears.
It is Hall’s second spell with Warriors as he was Head of Performance between 2006 and 2011 when England international full-back Pennell was just starting out on his professional career.
Pennell has remained loyal to Warriors throughout his career and has now made 227 senior appearances in a glittering career.
“There are a few old faces on the staff side of the club from when I was last here and it’s fantastic to see some of the lads that were in the academy then like Callum Black, Graham Kitchener and Chris Pennell now as senior pros,” Hall said.
“It shows how quickly time flies. They have been great servants to the club over the years and it’s great to see them at the forefront of leadership groups and being the guys who are driving the culture and leading the club forward.
“Chris is a fantastic role model for any aspiring young player. We want to encourage the academy lads coming through to be Warriors of the future and to look at someone like Chris and how he has stood by the club. He’s had opportunities to go elsewhere – being at other clubs I was certainly always recommending him to the recruitment side. He’s a fantastic ambassador for the club on and off the pitch.
“He’s certainly someone I’ll be using as a role model for aspiring young academy players to follow in the footsteps of.
“To build a successful sustainable Premiership club we need a backbone of home grown players who have come through the system and who love the club and who want the best for the club.”
Although Hall worked for Bristol for eight years he continued to live in Worcester and his knowledge of the rugby landscape both nationally and locally will be an asset to Warriors.
He will also have solid foundations to build on as Gale – who has joined Harlequins – helped to develop an academy from which Ted Hill, Ollie Lawrence, Joe Morris and Andrew Kitchener have graduated to Warriors’ senior squad over the summer.
“I have got big shoes to fill. Chim is a legend of the club, he was here for a long time and he did a fantastic job. You can see the quality of Chim in the staff he has left behind,” Hall said.
“I have come in and they have made me feel really welcome., I have had some meetings over the last few days and you can see that they are great people.
“That’s testimony to Chim as Academy Manager that he has left such a great staff behind. I am really looking forward to getting to know them better, build relationships and keep pushing the programme forward.
“Chim has left a great legacy and hopefully I can continue that.”