Of course they dont have to copy the NC letter by letter It comes down to how they coaching our next generation of kids and the NC is a guide for that for everyone to follow so we produce players on a consistent rather than in spurts, i agree with the compensation aspect but if they are not doing the right things at youth level then it becomes a problem in the long run.

Teaching technique and tactics is far more important and looking to survive relegation or looking to get promoted, it makes a mockery of focusing on development which they talk about.

i also think having pro-rel at youth level will just ruin all the good work that the kids will have gone through at SSG and in SAP level.

Not about following NC to the letter it is about teaching good habits and technique so you can apply this tactically as you get older. You cannot do this booting the ball 40 metres in a direct line to your centre forward because that is the easiest way to get a goal. This is what I saw on Sunday at the highest NPL junior level by what was supposed to be one of the best teams in the state. Good luck if you think that is going to develop players, might win you a game.

This is why people do not go to NPL games because the standard has not changed as clubs are not focused on developing a bigger enough player pool to play at a decent standard. Listen to the Japan model and where their focus is.

Our excuse is the A-League will take all the players for a small fee, create a bigger playing pool and you will have plenty left over to improve your club. But I guess this takes investment and resources better spent on someone moving from NPL club to NPL club for $50 more a game rather than creating your own. In the end clubs are incapable to create their own because they do not invest in junior football - coaches, equipment, paying surfaces and so on.

Edited by justafan: 13/3/2015 12:39:18 PM

Maybe the FFA could give more than the $3000 transfer fee when A-League clubs pinch state league players. There's no incentive for them to be a breeding ground for the A-League. It's probably why clubs like Sutherland are sending players overseas instead.

There is no justification for clubs to get 3k per player if they charged them 3k per season to play in the youth team.
The reason there is no incentive to be a breeding ground because of the amount of money you can get by charging ordinary kids for a place in the team.
The reason Sutherland are sending players overseas is they can the charge big margins on overseas trips and earn more money that way along with academies.

FFA are there to act in the best interest of everyone in Australian Football..

Are you talking about SA? That might all be relevant down there, but it's certainly not relevant up here.

If the objective becomes survival or promotion and the club needs the $$$ from expensive 'top tier' youth league competition places, then the coaches will be instructed to do whatever it takes to get that done.

Forcing 12 year olds into promotion relegation situations to "toughen them up" is fucking stupid.

Can you name a couple of clubs who charge 3k please?

There is no justification for clubs to get 3k per player if they charged them 3k per season to play in the youth team.
The reason there is no incentive to be a breeding ground because of the amount of money you can get by charging ordinary kids for a place in the team.
The reason Sutherland are sending players overseas is they can the charge big margins on overseas trips and earn more money that way along with academies.

It may also have something to do with the kids having nowhere to go in the professional environment in Australia.

If Sutherland is doing this then good on them for creating a pathway.

I was going to write this. In Europe good kids get invited here or there. Do training camps, establish connections with clubs and the network is wide. It doenst cost much. This means as long as kids are developing they dont always need to be at the strongest clubs.

I feel that it will most likely be that one of the Melbourne or Sydney A-league teams will become the front runner in the country. I look forward to seeing the first Brisbane 12 yo move to Victoria to attend the Bentleigh Greens.

Clubs out of line in youth development

Craig Foster
Published: March 14, 2015 - 5:56PM

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One event in NSW last week perfectly encapsulated the final, major problem facing the game: alignment.

It is one Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop will have to solve as it is one of the most complex in all of Australian sport and is also of critical importance to creating the optimal system.

Despite all the beautiful things that have happened, and the growth in which we have all participated and contributed to so proudly, the game is still not in a position to be able to make medium to long-term decisions in its best interest. Roadblocks at state level still stand in the way.

We have often said that, if the game gets NSW right, we take a giant leap forward, simply by virtue of the number of players.

I am referring to the structure of the game, the talent identification, the first experience at junior level, the nurturing of good players, the passing on of technically competent boys and girls to the next coach, and increasing the pool of talented players in programs and sound environments conducive to development.

As such, a review of competitions resolved to combine the two divisions of the NSW National Premier League competitions into a flatter structure between the ages of 12 and 16 – the vital development years – to take away promotion and relegation, divide the aggregate geographically into two zones and finally add the Sydney FC and Western Sydney youth teams to the system.

The strategy is correct, the reasoning sound, and it is something that already has been implemented in Victoria to great effect.

But NSW is a very different beast. It is where incumbent clubs are famous for putting the brakes on any initiative, no matter how important for the game, that they feel is not in their narrow interests or weakens some of their authority or power.

Their reaction is predictable, and shows Gallop, the FFA management and technical director Eric Abrams just why they must dig in, refuse to take a backward step and implement these important improvements.

Like babies denied their rattles, the club representatives boycotted a meeting with Abrams and Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou. They literally took their ball and went home.

Actually, their reaction is perfect because those at the next level down, where we desperately need reform for a system that has been held ransom to petty politics for decades, have made clear to the rest of us they cannot be tasked with acting in anything but their own, narrow interests.

What is this wretched reform they are so dead against?

It is a change in competition structure that will broaden the number of clubs in the level directly below the A-League, double the number of boys and girls given opportunities under good coaches, geographically reorganise the zones so that parents no longer have to travel hours for training and competition, and allow the fastest growing regions of western Sydney a representative club to ensure the game is well placed 20years from now.

Promotion and relegation at this age is the scourge of development. It is where clubs give incentives to coaches to produce points, not players, where talent is not pushed to higher age divisions where it can be challenged so a team stays competitive or becomes champions. It's all part of the reason why we are not maximising the number of players we have, and are driving families either out of the game or compromising education for countless hours of driving time.

FFA recently conducted a Whole of Football research project to arrive at a set of deliverables over the next few decades.

These are of limited value if the game is not aligned so that every state is on song with the national game, and every competition engineered for the good of all.

Those who refused to attend an important meeting for football last week are not required in the game's future. They are most welcome to move on. We need futurists, visionaries, people capable of acting for the greater good.

The time when a small number of individuals could hold the game back has long passed.

Reform is finally coming to all levels of the game. The difference is that today, rather than having a material effect as in the past, refusing to participate only marks those incapable of working for football.


This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/clubs-out-of-line-in-youth-development-20150314-1445us.html

From the man who said Ange Postecoglou should resign

Those who refused to attend an important meeting for football last week are not required in the game's future. They are most welcome to move on.

From the man who said Ange Postecoglou should resign

From someone who plays the man rather than the ball in aid of his beloved mono ethnic club.

So do you think its right when most youth teams are playing hoofball just to avoid relegation when the purpose should be about developing players and coaches?

It should be entirely up to the clubs how they play. Clubs are the backbone of the game. Some sort of big brother organisation dictating how clubs should play- reeks of totalitarianism. It didn't even happen in East Germany.

Good players will stand out whatever system is being played- whether the club is fighting against relegation, or fighting for the premiership.

Edited by localstar: 15/3/2015 07:38:29 PM

Good players will stand out whatever system is being played- whether the club is fighting against relegation, or fighting for the premiership.

Unless it's a young midfielder playing in a team who play hoofball to avoid relegation or to try and win the league, and thus sees little of the ball and when he does he's told to just smack it up the field or get taken off.

I don't understand how playing hoofball is avoiding relegation. Teams who play this are usually the ones who get relegated. Teams who are a little more proactive are usually the ones going on to win the competition or end up surviving. If teams choose to play in this manner then it is also up to opposition teams and coaches to exploit this negative style of play. If people think that playing hoof ball is a way of avoiding relegation you are kidding yourself.