A warm, sunlit evening on Penrith's outskirts. The fields of Wetheriggs Country Park swarm with young footballers in black kit. At the centre of them, leading drills, is the Carlisle United captain.

"Drive...take him on!" Danny Grainger watches as a winger goes past his man and rattles a shot into the goalkeeper. There are further short passing exercises, attack versus defence scenarios.

At the end, the dozens of teenagers sit clustered together as Grainger and four other men address them. These are scenes from the Cumbria Football Academy, Grainger's coaching initiative which has thrived so much that a second branch, in south Cumbria, may soon be opened.

Originally set up as a way of giving the Blues captain and his then team-mate Gary Dicker some coaching experience, it has grown beyond expectations. "We've gone from having 10-15 players to just short of 80," Grainger says. "It just seemed to take off."

The idea is to provide a bridge between local clubs and the professional scene where Grainger's contacts are plenty. "We've had one lad picked up by Carlisle and going into their under-16s next year," he says. "We've got two lads in at Queen of the South, and numerous others in on trial."

Grainger, who was last week in Belfast finishing his UEFA A Licence coaching badge, is more hands-on than he ever expected to be. "Four or five years ago, it's not something I was interested in, but when I came back to Carlisle [in 2014] I got an itch for it," he says.

"I had come back to where I'm from, and a few of my mates in local clubs asked if I wouldn't mind coming and putting a session on. Before you know it I was thinking, 'I'm enjoying this'. And it's gone from there."

Dicker, who also lived in the Penrith area during his Blues spell, joined Grainger in helping out a few nearby clubs and it was there that the idea hatched. "The two of us were going to Ireland that summer for our coaching badges, and when we did a bit with the local teams, we saw a few good players, and thought about setting up a little academy, play games against Carlisle and so on, to see if any of them would be good enough for that," Grainger says.

"We saw there were a couple of very good players in each team, and that's when we discussed about bridging the gap, putting those better lads together. I always felt, when I was a youngster, that there was always that little bit of a gap, and one or two got missed. In big cities there are a lot of these type of academies around but around here we felt there was something we could do."

Grainger, from Eamont Bridge, says the academy relies on contacts with clubs in the Longhorn League, Penrith and District League, Carlisle leagues and also in west Cumbria. "We'll send a message to club secretaries, asking if they have any players they would like to recommend.

"We're lucky to have that relationship where we can say, for example, can you ask your under-13 coach if he's got a left-back?

"We've a good coach at Cockermouth that we speak to, for instance. He's seen a difference in the lads who have come from their teams to us, and then gone back - they're more confident, they demand more. We've had parents saying it's getting their lads more confident as well."

Players who come into the academy play regular friendlies against the likes of Carlisle, Workington, Annan and Queen of the South. Having started with joint under-15/16 and under-13/14 teams, there are now enough boys in the ranks to field separate sides at under-13, 14, 15 and 16. It is a shop window, a step up, a chance to catch an eye.

Grainger is supported by local coaches Irwin Wallace, Michael Yarker, Lee Fallowfield and Mark Bell, while some of his Blues team-mates occasionally help out. The academy has also attracted sponsorship from Liberty Work and Leisurewear, Thomas Graham, Yesss Electrical and Ullswater Road Garage. This has helped provide training kit and a full match strip. "I can't be more grateful for the support we've had," Grainger says.

The 30-year-old is preparing for another pre-season at Brunton Park but this is a glimpse at a coaching future. While United's own academy strives for success, they have given Grainger's outside work their blessing. "The club are happy for me to do it. They've never said anything to discourage it. They can also benefit if we get players to them," he says. "I'm trying to put another string to my bow and it's something I really enjoy doing."

How does he bring his own professional background into this venture, and does he have a particular coaching philosophy? "It's trying to find the happy medium. First and foremost I want the lads to enjoy it. I've never had a go at any of them for making a mistake, trying a shot from 40 yards, anything like that.

"But we don't accept people who come and wander about and look disinterested. They've got to work hard, in training and games. They all come off the training pitch knackered, which is great.

"Personally, I've never been the most blessed technically, but I've probably been one of the hardest-working at every club I've been to. Sometimes hard work, grit and determination are as important as technique.

"I watched Steven Gerrard recently talking about this. He said, since he went into the Liverpool academy, he loves the talent the young lads have got, but sometimes the mentality is that their ability will get them through, and that's not always the case."

Grainger has several years left as a player but is already sifting his memories for useful coaching tips from his time under managers like Derek McInnes, Craig Levein, Jim Jefferies, Paulo Sergio and Keith Curle. While juggling the academy with the day job is a challenge, organising it is, he says, a positive distraction on many long coach trips with United in League Two. "At night I spend a lot of time on my laptop, messaging people, emails and so on," he adds.

"It's something I sorted of stumbled upon, but it's worked fantastically. I'm delighted I can put something back into the community. I always think back to when I was younger and saw the likes of Gav and Richie [Prokas] walking around the town. I was buzzing to see them and look up to them.

"To be able to put something back now, and give lads a chance, is great. Not every player is going to turn out to be a professional footballer, but they will play at the highest standard they can. That, for me, is success. And as long as everyone's enjoying it, I'm more than happy."

For more information about the Cumbria Football Academy email cumbriafootballacademy@gmail.com, follow @CumbriaAcad on Twitter, and Cumbria Football Academy on Facebook.