I have no problem with the really young kids playing SSF, but I'm just one of those people who believes they should be playing the real thing once they get to 11's. The NC can still apply to full 11v11 games on full fields, it just requires clubs to hand out copies of coaching guidlines to each of their teams' coaches. That way players are learning to play with the full space of the pitch with a full team earlier, but are still learning to use one-touch passing to safe, easy options and then run into space to receive (which is basically what SSF is designed to teach). It's just a difference of opinion as to the age at which kids begin playing the real thing. In my club we've already seen the benifit of it too, we had to have a few U12's kids fill in for us in the last game of the season last year(we were in 17's) and they slotted straight into our system and had no problem playing our style of football. That's proof enough that this NC program gets results. Btw, if you're wondering why a 17's team had to get 12's to fill in, it's because the older teams (14's and 15's) were palying away from home that game...and i'll add this, there's a certain african-australian kid by the name of Aaron who has a shitload of potential, he shredded our opposition with his dribbling skills and his passing was spot on. He now plays rep! Don't be surprised if he's playing in the HAL in about 5 years.

My area went to SSF 4 years ago now (none of this phasing in rubbish, Year 1 it was Under 6 - Under 11!) and the benefits have been massive.
The kids that played Under 12 last year on a full pitch for the first time went away and absolutely smashed their opposition (we are in a VIC country area and played SA Country areas) as their ball skills were way ahead of SA (they have opted for the drag your heels kicking and screaming approach to SSF).
It is my understanding that in Brazil that in organised competitions, they don't play anything other than Futsal until the age of 15 which is more similar to SSF than 'real' football that the critics of SSF argue is better.
I for one would prefer that there was no competition points in Under 12s (still stay with full pitch etc) but that 1-4-3-3 was mandated as the structure and that the goalie had to play it out - they do this at Under 13 FFA tournaments now anyway so why not extend it?

Real Football, 11v11, is an adults game. Always was always will be. Football is one of the most complicated games invented. It is like chess on steroids. The art of coaching is to simplify the game for your players. As the adult brain does not fully wire itself (decision making ability) until 21-23 years it is impossible for children of 9 years old to grasp it, especially when they have not developed technique. That is why kick and chase (hoof ball) or wrestle ball is so prevalent in Australian Football. To learn how to play, the game must be chunked down. Logic and science are telling us this.

The NC releases children onto the full field from age 12 years in 2012. From age 12 onwards there are changes in ball size and length of the games until U16 years. There has been a gradual role out of the NC with some association doing it faster than others. There will always be a little pain before the gain.

Oh and the only thing I really hate about this whole "football development" program is that they have under 11's kids playing small sided games. Next season, I'm told it will go to under 12's playing small sided games. Basically that means that kids have to wait until they're 13 before they play real football. I can understand them having players from Under 6's to under 10's playing SSG but not 11 and 12 year olds. What's next, small sided games all the way through to under 18's? Fuck, when I came through the junior system it was Rooball (which was fucking useless compared to small sided games i must admit) and then in under 9's, games started being playing on full sized fields with full sized goals and full FIFA rules of the game. The only modification was the length of the halves, which gradually increased up to 40 minute halves for under 17's and 18's. I see nothing wrong with having to play proper football at the age of 9-if you have a good coach, you will develop into a good player, just as long as you have the talent to start with.

We don't have style, we have a mentality. Our "style", if you want to call it that, is to play our hearts out, bust a gut and go flat out %110 for the full game and never give up. Even if the score is 1000-0 in favour of the opposition, our "style" is to make it 1000-1. This mentality and determination comes naturally to us Aussies and it is one hell of a good base to build a real Australian Style of football on. Something like the Spanish/Dutch systems, with our attitude, and a few brazil-style players (ie game-changers) is the ideal style imo. That way we'd have the passing and fluid game needed to break down defences and maintain possession, we'd have the players who can suddenly flip a game on its head and create a goal out of nothing, and we'd have a team who never gives up and always puts in more than what they've got.

Australia doesn't yet have a 'style' of football, what it has is an approach to it and a mentallity that breeds success against the odds. The development of our style will take time, but the success of that style will be determined by the things we already have in spades.

4-4-2 narrow diamond with fullbacks like Franjic/Rose bombing forward into the box. Only one CDM because the other two midfielders both have engines like Matty McKay and are able to track back when needed. One striker a target man like Viduka and the other bit smaller/quicker (McDonald maybe) to pick up the scraps. I haven't covered all positions but you get the picture.

Australian Style of Football
-Mental and Physical Toughness of Germans
-High tempo pressuring game
-Mixed with the tactical genius of the Dutch

Should be about right...

Excellent article - and the 1st to raise it as a question and encourage debate. This debate is too often couched in terms of is the 433 mandate the right thing from the kids clinics up to the Socceroos, but this was never the intention of the Football Development Plan. The key word here is "development" and the adoption of a national 433 framework was alway intended in a development context.

My understanding of this is that in a development context 433 requires a level of technical; and tactical dicipline and creaticity that other systems don't. When Australia is a developing nation in football terms it makes a lot of sense to mandate such a framework - in effect focusing limited resources on a national approach to ensure consistency and facilitate performance measurement and [hopefuly] immprovement.

Australia is not Asia and it is not Europe or the UK - it is Australia and it is developing in its own cultural and historical context. I, for one. think the FFA have the policy right - but with so much they have done, got the communication all wrong.


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