I think the number one priority should be proper football setups like Central Coast. What the FFA should be doing is trying to get elite programs into as many schools private and public as possible. Maybe the top clubs are threatened by this no one is going to pay thousands extra to make their kids have to travel extra and play for a club if they can get a proper setup at a school.

Nick Ansell sounds like he has a story that would be similar to a lot of privately educated young players: talented young athlete gets concussed playing a contact sport at a young age so is encouraged to play football instead. He probably could have played anything at an elite level if it wasn't for the intervention of his parents.

Countering the image of football being "soft" is the biggest hurdle to getting young blokes involved in the game. As soon as there's a critical mass of students playing the game the image problem won't be such a big issue. AFL and rugby will continue to dominate in the grammar schools until that happens.

I went to an AGSV school in Melbourne and prior to qualifying to our first of our run of three world cups, there weren't many soccer teams. Now, only about 25-30 kids a year level (from a pool of roughly 200) play AFL and there are about 8 football teams per year level

I thought elite pathways and squads were already financially out of reach for most. So nothing to see here?

As someone who lives in the most densely populated private school population in the world (apparently), football has always been popular at private schools. Our school had a pretty even split between football and rugby. Our local football association is one of the largest in Australia in playing numbers.

I think the line about turning quantity in to quality is really the key. Despite the even playing numbers, the schools really pump money in to coaches and facilities for rugby. Football is largely an after thought and it certainly doesn't have the prestige in the inter school cups.

I was at a GPS school in Sydney about 15 years ago, and the game was reasonably popular even back then. Rugby was still number one for most schools, but there were plenty of kids (and concerned parents) who took one look at the over-fed Kings school Rugby players and went "no thanks", and played football instead. My school had more football teams than Rugby teams when I left, and I suspect the situation would be changing at some other schools too.

Keep soccer firmly in the public domain

May 11, 2014 - 6:41PM

Michael Cockerill's article that private schools will be the answer to the progress of the Socceroos filled me with concern and dread (‘‘Private school popularity provides pointer to progress’’, May 10-11).

As a mother of aspiring football players who attend a public school, the diversity and non-exclusivity of the game has always been one of its appealing features. The thought of dragging soccer into the private school world of buying students and million-dollar coaches is not the direction I want for the world game in Australia.

The development of soccer should stay where it is, organised and run by the Football Federation Australia. It will be a sad day when the chance to develop as a soccer player in Australia is dependent on going to a private school or accepting their charitable offer of a scholarship as proposed by Cockerill.

You can keep rugby and rowing, but please don't take the round-ball game from us as well.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/keep-soccer-firmly-in-the-public-domain-20140511-zr9as.html#ixzz31Piw4B7Z

I just got back from coaching a private school team, we won by the way. It's the school that Pat Theodore graduated from last year. And believe it or not he wasn't selected in the First team, but that's another story :d

Anyway I can say that at least here in Brisbane, Rugby is the main focus and receive the best grounds, facilities, investment. For instance some rugby games will have 2 or 3 thousand people watching the first team while the football first team will be lucky to have 100. It's just how it is, and the focus on rugby is paying off because we have 5 boys who have finished in the last 5 years or so playing in the NRL.

I have played in and watched some terrific, high quality school games, and I think if an a league coach was to come watch some games they would be surprised by the quality of some players.

Edited by roar #1 : 10/5/2014 12:47:06 PM

This.

Good article. If for no other reason than it will have one P Fitzsimons tearing at his bandana.

Well I was one of the coaches in a private school for about10 years and can tell you that despite the overwhelming superior numbers playing soccer, Rugby Union ALWAYS received preferential treatment in funding, ground allocation, school support and overall attention in and outside the school.

It's been a while since I last coached but I'm yet to be convinced there's been a breakthrough.

I know, once again just bragging about the school my kids went to

Mass Luongo is from Waverley College.

Follows on from a Fossie article last year..

Beautiful game comes top of the class in school system

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/beautiful-game-comes-top-of-the-class-in-school-system-20130817-2s3cw.html#ixzz31GeyL48S

Wherever a child attends school in Australia, chances are they'll be in a football environment, according to figures released this week by Football NSW.
In this state alone, there are more than 40,000 children playing the game within the school system and there is no question the burgeoning success of the A-League is feeding into this escalating trend, which is creating a cycle from which the game will prosper for decades to come.

One particularly strong and important area of growth has been in the private and independent school system, where some fundamental and welcome changes in policy have created the conditions for exceptional growth in player numbers.

Formerly, many of the private schools stipulated that students could only play weekend sport with the school and outside of the club system, presumably a rule that sat comfortably in the world of rugby union, in particular, for which the private schools are, essentially, the feeder system.

The collaboration between private schools and our club system has been a somewhat complicated one, with both aiming to take control of the players' development and career.

As football grows and more children in primary and secondary school wish to play the game, schools have now sensibly worked towards a resolution that suits all parties, allowing the elite players to play for both school and club, and to participate in elite development academies such as at Football NSW.

Football has now, in most cases, become the most played sport across all of these schools, most often replacing rugby union as the game of choice. Accordingly, the resources applied to the game and calibre of coaching talent migrating to the schools is accelerating.
I remember speaking at countless private schools at the request of the master in charge of football, who would usually ask me to speak with the principal about what football offers, and how quite a few schools reserved the main oval for rugby union only. No football allowed - nor anything else for that matter.

Union was held in the highest regard and for children to play on this oval in front of the student population was a mark of respect and achievement. How things have changed.

Whether simply by sheer weight of numbers, as well as the game's growing visibility and political power through parents who wish to see their children play the sport of their choosing, this is another rule that has fallen in the past few years. Now, schools not only see football as a vital factor in their students' sporting and personal development, but the game is held in the appropriate regard.

To be a first-team football player in any of the private schools, just as in the public system, is a sign of great achievement.
Some figures: in the independent girls school sport association, where football was introduced in 2004, there has been a 76 per cent increase in participation, in less than a decade, to 193 teams.

In the Combined Associated Schools - that includes Cranbrook, Knox, Trinity and Waverley College - football now outnumbers rugby union by 161 teams to 135.

Like in the public school system, you are most likely to see football shirts being worn across the schoolyard and, wonderfully, a growing number of these are A-League jerseys, instead of just the great international teams, as the domestic game continues to reach the hearts and minds of the next generation.

Football also offers amazing life experiences for the young players. The private schools, in particular, have been quick to develop international tours - many on an annual basis - in which starry-eyed boys and girls get the chance to train at clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea or AC Milan.
Imagine what a marvellous educational experience this is for a young person, something the game offers that no other sport can.
It is this rich tapestry of experience - whether being part of a team, learning important lessons about sacrifice and dedication, following an A-League team and feeling the passion it entails or travelling abroad to taste the wonders of international football - that has football flying high in the school system.

At an end-of-season breakfast for St Aloysius College this week, one father said to me that he played and loved rugby, and was surprised when his son expressed a wish to play football but now, after a year of being involved, he gets what all the fuss is about. The game is amazing, he said, it had been so good for his son's growth and his new-found love of football had opened his eyes.

Yes, my friend, you and the entire school system.

Mate where are you coming from .... the article is about private schools starting to take up Football especially across Sydney ... how that in any way has a go at state schools I at a lost .... its a simple look at a huge change in the sporting structure across the private school system...

And yet lowly Pacific Pines State High School ( Yes STATE HIGH) Won the Ballymore Cup final Last year and has been competitive for about 10 years now. Not saying you're wrong or anything , just bragging about the school my kids went to.

You're just a rugby reject!
You're just a rugby reject!
You're just a rugby reject!
And we hate your tunic!


Jokes, the level of competition between independent high schools is quite good. The CIS cup in NSW is is a very good level by the last few rounds.

Don't think private schools are necessarily the be all and end all, playing club football is still the best way to getting noticed
For example my high school (which is public) had two guys leave early and do correspondence learning when signed by teams from Italy (Francesco Stella was one, a good mate was another) and we only played interschool comps once a year

Yeh but for example with AFL, Private schools in melbourne already pour alot of money into the facilities, support personnel and coaching staff and they create an environment where the school team becomes their primary development source.

If football at private schools are to become an arena for development then it has a longgg way to go. As the article suggested, there will need to be a complete cultural change. I mean, I had ernie merrick and gary cole as coaches when I was in the senior school team. But anything below the 1st team were coached by maths and physics teachers! Compared this to AFL where pretty much each year level team had an ex-AFL person coaching them and running the show.

In the end with schools it all comes down to $$$ and whether the headmaster/principal want to spend it on a "non traditional/aussie" sport

Also remember Australia's first private football sports high school has opened on the Central coast .. will be interesting to see what this school develops over the years...

http://www.internationalfootballschool.com/

For the guys putting down the private schools ... the money they spend on Rugby is beyond belief and is in many ways the training and development academies for Rugby ..

This is slowly turning to Football and the AFL is spending heaps in these schools as well...

Has been building and coming for years....

Pretty much this. At school you would only have 2 after-school training sessions a week, and a game on Saturday. There were only like 11 schools in our "association" so the season only goes for 2.5 months. The kids that were serious all had coaching/teams outside of the school team anyway. 4 sessions a week and 2 games on the weekend :d i wish i was still a kid

How many independent schools can claim that they're developing these players? Izzo and Spagnuolo went to my school (Rostrevor) and at the same time they were playing for federation clubs as well. I very much doubt any parents are picking these schools for their football careers and it's just a likely demographic change.

I'm sure there's lots more. I've played with/against a few.. Jason Davidson went to Melbourne grammar before he went off to football school in japan. Matt foschini and jordan brown went to Caulfield Grammar. Connor Pain went to St Kevins. etc etc..

Football's growing popularity in private schools another sign game is breaking down barriers

DateMay 8, 2014

Michael Cockerill

Adam D'Apuzzo and Matt McKay didn't figure among the votes for the best player in the A-League grand final, but they must have been mighty close. And while they started on opposing sides, they did have something in a common: both are private school graduates. And as football basks in the afterglow of a memorable grand final, and looks with a mixture of fear and excitement towards the World Cup, here is another indicator of just how well the game is going right now – arguably the best it's ever been in a chequered history dating back at least 134 years.

The match that some historians argue started it all in 1880 did, of course, involve a private school, the King's School, at Parramatta in Sydney. But it's been unconquered territory ever since as the Anglo-Saxon establishment favoured cricket and Australian football in the southern states, and rugby in the eastern states.

Football was banished to the fringes – at best ignored, at worst actively discouraged. It says much about the game's buoyancy that after more than a century of disenfranchisement, football is now not simply breaking down those barriers, it's smashing them down.

Whether it's changing demographics – the student population is much more representative of immigration patterns – or a reflection of more modern attitudes, hardly matters. The fact is football is bursting through private schools like a steam train, and last year D'Apuzzo's alma mater, Trinity Grammar School, in Sydney, sliced through a hugely significant glass ceiling. By winning Australia's biggest and most important schools competition, the Bill Turner Cup, Trinity demonstrated that private schools football is steadily transitioning from quantity (Sydney Grammar now has 55 teams and 700 players) to quality – a trend that has enormous implications for the development pathway.



Trinity's success under head coach Zlatko Arambasic – a former Olyroos striker who spent the bulk of his playing career in Europe – saw the Summer Hill college knock out three public schools with highly regarded football programs: Bossley Park High (NSW), Maribyrnong College (Victoria) and Cavendish Road High (Queensland).

In winning a competition that started with 466 schools, from Cairns to Melbourne, Trinity became the first private independent school to win the Bill Turner Cup in its 35-year history.

As is the way of these things, Trinity's success is likely to set off an ''arms race'' among private schools, and with the money and facilities these schools are blessed with, don't discount them playing an increasingly important role in the development of elite players.

Whether in partnership with state federations and A-League clubs (Newington College has been talking to Sydney FC) or under their own steam, these institutions have the ability to complement or enhance cash-strapped development programs around the country – especially if the practice of offering scholarships to talented players from underprivileged backgrounds gathers momentum.

Right now, D'Apuzzo and McKay (Brisbane Grammar) provide important role models for a system that is now spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars on football infrastructure and quality coaching. As an example, the likes of Ian Crook (Newington, NSW), Greg Brown (Brisbane Boys' College, Qld)), Milan Blagojevic (Knox Grammar, NSW) and John Kosmina (Christian Brothers College, SA) are now coaching at private schools throughout the country.

And, after a decade of serious investment in the sport, the private school system can lay claim to a least six current professionals: McKay (Brisbane Roar), D'Apuzzo (Western Sydney Wanderers), Jordan Brown (Melbourne Victory), Zach Anderson (Central Coast Mariners), Michael Zullo (Adelaide United) and Massimo Luongo (Swindon Town).

That might not sound like much in relation to AFL, cricket and rugby, but the wave is coming.

How big is the wave? Just the other day in Adelaide, Kosmina counted seven players in his weekly competition who are currently involved in Adelaide United's youth team, some as train-ons. It's a sign of progress.

Another sign is in NSW, where the independent schools – which account for about 12 per cent of the total school population – have demonstrated huge improvements in just a few years.

''Probably the best way of measuring it,'' says Combined Independent Schools co-ordinator Dom Helene, ''is the results we're getting when we play the public schools. We pick a CIS rep team every year, and I remember we used to get smashed 5-6-nil. Last year we drew with the public schools, which to me shows the progress we've made, the benefits of all the work we're putting in.''


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/footballs-growing-popularity-in-private-schools-another-sign-game-is-breaking-down-barriers-20140509-zr71b.html#ixzz31ET4NCZK