Another point Alistair Edwards made at our state FFA conference, was that it is FFA's unequivocal intention, to have A League clubs and Australian Premier League clubs take over elite pathway in coaching youth.

That it is FFA's intention to replicate what happens in most other countries - FFA will move away from coaching elite youth.

D, it is not just the pathways that are the issue - it is also the clubs that are meant to feed the pathway.

See my previous post.

Scenarios may vary from state to state.

I was talking to a coach involved with an A League club during the last week. There is a variation in states in accessing players according to him.


According to this coach, Queensland has a transparent structure where it is easy to access talent. Most of it goes through their state NTC. Relatively speaking, the clubs support the system.

The inverse operates in Victoria. There it seems some of the greatest opponents of the A league exist - known as 'Bitters' on the interweb. The perspective from this coach, is that many more clubs attempt to discourage young players from going through the FFA system. Hence, there are many good players that are more difficult to scout in Victoria.

Edited by Decentric: 14/11/2012 12:00:32 AM

M.L.

What you describe is the power trip and the joy of the so called elite who probably has a daytime job as a toilet cleaner and the I.Q. of a potatoe telling your 12 year old he isn't good enough.

I look at it this way. It's not us who are not good enough. It's them not deserving enough and the system not in place good enough for us ;)

They can go live in wanker world as far as i'm concerned. I can finally walk away from the sport and do something I enjoy for a change. Enough bullshit for me. The sport here will fall on it's sword and be rehashed over over and again like a mcdonalds big mac. I simply don't care anymore for it.

It's a circus full of clowns with actors, performers, spin doctors and politicians fighting for your $$$.

Give them only what they deserve ;)

Edited by Aussiesrus: 14/11/2012 12:14:58 AM

The only future for a player with skill is overseas.All i can say is concentrate on football and make the break as soon as possible.

Yep clubs are fighting for their survival - the recent changes as we know re the PL structure for next season has made things even harder at jnr level.
Up until this week many State League 1/2 clubs haven't even had any U12-15 trials I'm sure you know of this : "in discussion with other State League 1 & 2 Clubs about setting up a Development League for the U12-U15 Academy teams".
Its all pear shaped even more so.

You make perfect sense to me - water under the bridge I'm sure but I'm sorry for your boy - having the passion driven out of him is criminal !

What you say below is true to word watching myself from the sidelines :

It is my personal experience watching my lad trial for the last 3 years that these open trials are a complete waste of your time. They already know prior who they will pick and why. I had hoped 30 years on from my days the sport had changed. It hasn't. Just new faces reproducing the same rubbish but nowdays the only thing that has changed is the way they market the bullshit. Spin doctoring for the gullible.

I was OS on business early last week so my wife stepped in for me taking him to X trial I had him entered.
2hrs on he was culled with some others - he was ripped apart she said for all he was told "your out" nothing more nothing less, sure I don't expect cotton wool treatment but at 12 as you can imagine he was devastated and in tears like mad saying I never want to play football again, sure typical reactions of a kid with stars in his eyes but you would think in this do gooder world we are expected to live in selectors would have some words of encouragement or some skill by now how to break the bad news.
Thanks for your best wishs but I have no hope in the system just doing what my trouper desires and will put a stop to it after this coming season if nothing happens for I hate being around the BS people and my kid being exposed to BS !

M.L.

Much of what you describe is common. I can relate to it all. Have seen it all. And the whole thing leaves me disgusted. I think a big problem is that clubs are fighting for survival and their survival is cash based. Who is going to tell the 50k or 100k sponsor his kid isn't good enough? Who is going tell the chairman, coach or president etc etc their kid isn't good enough? Cash from FFA should be filtered down not milked up.

My lad has been at an academy for 2 years (Australasian Soccer Academy) Trained and played with A-League, J-League, Olyroos, NYL players, EPL juniors, gave up a years playing to train with a top flight NSWPL club, won countless division 1 titles in row. Yet now at 18 almost 19 he cannot even obtain a place in a premier 2 U/20's side despite going to around 10 trials in the last 3-4 weeks. He worked his arse off for the last 3 years day and nights and when it came time for his reward had it ripped from him. He is at the point where he just shrugs his shoulders and says it's not my problem it's theirs. Top kid.

I have given so much of myself through coaching over the years and have seen many brilliant outstanding kids who would absolutely run rings around todays youth and the sad thing is I look them up today to see they have given up the sport because the system has let them down. Such a waste of brilliant talent. Todays youth are not even a shred of the talent that i've seen and had the pleasure of coaching in the past.

It's a sad fact there is the inner circle and there is the outer circle. Talent has nothing to do with any of it.

You are now where I was about 6-7 years ago. I wish I could say things have changed but they have not. Still I wish you the best of luck for your lad. My lad will now retire from football at the age of 18 and carry into his generation with his kids the same resentment of the sport for his next generation.

It is my personal experience watching my lad trial for the last 3 years that these open trials are a complete waste of your time. They already know prior who they will pick and why. I had hoped 30 years on from my days the sport had changed. It hasn't. Just new faces reproducing the same rubbish but nowdays the only thing that has changed is the way they market the bullshit. Spin doctoring for the gullible.

Here is a weird irony that I will share. The higher the level my lad trialed the closer he came to being signed, meaning he would reach the last 20-25 out of over 150 players. The lower the level he trialed with only IE: 25 players he was cut instantly. What does this tell you? I conclude if you are from outside the circle lad your must be good enough to carry the political duds and make them look good at higher levels. At lower levels they simply have no idea in any case which is why they are lower level. Lower levels are like a rotor lactor of idiots.

Don't ever let any dickhead tell you, you are just a parent who's kid failed. It is not the kid who fails or you as a parent. It is the system and the bunch of dickheads making it a one sided no win situation.

We all love the sport of football in it's purist form. Nothing better. It's the dickheads screwing it up for everyone else that seem to take pleasure in doing so simply because they can.

Kharma has a funny way of giving back to them what they deserve ;)

Edited by Aussiesrus: 14/11/2012 01:28:40 AM

Aussierus many true points I have experienced myself for a long time in our beloved game.
As a potential prospective jnr myself I felt the barriers some 35yrs ago myself but the opposite that my parents deciding to claim their piece of land on the upper north shore we were the "wogs" in the heart land of anglos running the KDSA back in the 70's.
My teens I was in a club team winning 5yrs on the trot, 2yrs undefeated and Champions of Champions once with up to 9players chosen for Kuring-gai not once was I asked to try out for my father wasn't in the inner circle. Yet coachs from afar approached the ol man who we played in Tournaments/Finals....you could see it all but those times the ol man was focusing on earning a crust for the family and had no time to take his kid miles away for rep training then games in another district....
Alas I carried on loving the game and played AA1's to 35/1's now age creeping up 45's with mates in div2 having just won the comp but importantly the game has been indoctornated in my 2 boys coming and watching their ol bloke in turn they doing the same playing.

Now I'm going through the process of trials for my No2 12yr old the last 2yrs - its a bitch once again seeing the same old same old but worse for the modern day parent is happy to spend $$$$ far more than in the past, good on them I don't begrudge that BUT I see their Jnr is not that worthy on the pitch but the club or admin/selector is happy to take the cash no ?!
Last year he was good enough to make Div1 and the club (a current PL club) had enough players to enter 2 squads for yes it looks far better for the club doesn't it BUT being newbies to the club he was drafted into the 2nd team which tbh should have been entered in Div2 for only 3odd players were true Div1 material.
Therefore the boys got flogged every game - many times the other Div1 team played after us, I got to know a few of the Dads and they kept bitching saying my boy should be in the top squad watching him in the games but the coach had his agenda his kid and 2 others should have been dropped yaddayaddayadda you get the drift and that they can't stand the coach and club management. I'm sure this plays out everywhere as we all know. Naturally not being in the inner circle many of these average Div1 boys were drafted in the Development squads I was none the wiser nor was I asked if my boy would try out end of 2011/12.
I have 2 trials coming up for 2013 IF nothing happens and that I truely feel the kid doesn't deserve a place I'll just encourage him to be a good club man and enjoy his football as his ol bloke did for its not worth the hard ship.

So the question do academys/pathways work ? having tried the last couple of years and even though I haven't got a coaching ticket just as aussierus I see is "average players being highly trained to finish up with highly trained average players"
cuts it tuff, sure I have seen some amzingly gifted kids the last couple of years but most are not team players, they love having the latest and greatest gear on, fancy ronaldo haircuts step overs etc but the game is also putting their fellow players down and the coachs do nothing much about imo.
Its become more shallow than it was in my days go figure and were meant to be going forward afterall its the modern world ](*,)
Sorry to rant on just my observations.

By the way I am rapt for the Victory kid that Ange gave him a go - go figure how many academys/pathways coachs didn't give him the chance !

Edited by M.L.: 13/11/2012 10:28:30 PM

Edited by M.L.: 13/11/2012 10:35:54 PM

krones3,

It is only slanderous if it is not factual or cannot be proven.

An opinion is not slanderous either. Opinions are challenged and changed by the provision of alter facts.

Spin doctoring is also an art of bending the facts. Political pundits know all too well this art.

You are best off providing the alter facts.

Today i had a person suggest (that a man i believe to be above all this) may himself be corrupt.
I could not believe my ears this cumming from a person who deals in gossip,and politics at every level and associates and cohorts freely with the worst pple in the sport. the loud mouthed fat committee and sponsors who kids get in every time.


Question?
When you hear pple bagging out pple you know and you know they are wrong. After telling the person to their face that the are wrong.
Do you tell the person they have slandered or not?

Edited by krones3: 13/11/2012 09:06:28 PM

Your all pretty much on the money.

After the chairman, president, coaches, mates of coaches, fat sponsors, clubs management, ethnicity kids get selected first their might be a spot or two left for some talent. Maybe if they are lucky. So real talent doesn't get a look in while resources and opportunities are pissed up. This is why we end up with very average players being highly trained to finish up with highly trained average players. If you look at the majority of NYL players they are all related to someone in position somewhere and a lot of them are brothers or cousins.

The system is corrupt and the sport is a complete joke. Every Australian knows this no matter how much money they piss up on hype and bullshit promoting the game. Channels 7, 9, 10 etc won't touch the sport because they know all these truths.

I've had a first hand look into football from a top clubs inside workings and how players are selected and promoted to a-league and national teams. Talent has nothing to do with it. It's not what skills a players has or how good or bad they are. It's who they know and what involvement their parents have in the sport.

As for the money side FFA milk the shit out of the state associations like FNSW who milk the shit out of the many association clubs that charge local park players their rego fees for a service they get nothing back for. For every local park senior player FNSW milks around $100 per year from each. The average NSW local park senior player pays around $350 per year for a season of football which equates to around 18 ish games a year.

Football is a complete joke in this country and every australian knows it. I walked away from high level football some 30 years ago in disgust at what the game was. It's 30 years later and I am still disgusted that today nothing has changed except the faces that run the massive rort.

Football in this country is accountable to nobody. It is a law unto itself and runs itself how it pleases at the expense of the mums and dads who know no better. It is nothing more than it's own taxman with the money it collects being spent on one big party for the benefit of those who run the sport. Ah lifes good in the know.

The A-league is a joke. After 8 years they are still struggling to maintain a 10 team comp. Australia simply doesn't buy into the rort of the sport nor does it believe the bullshit. League, AFL, cricket, union, golf, netball, formula 1, MotoGP and even horse racing will always take precendence over football in this country.

Until things change only those stupid enough to pay for foxtel or the ethnic for ethnics channel SBS will ever have an interest in the sport.

Anyway it's summer. I have better things to do with my money like go to the beach or take my boat fishing n camping and enjoy the great outdoors.

Edited by Aussiesrus: 13/11/2012 07:59:25 PM

The pathway selection is not based on skill or potential but on genetics the owns passed down through the correct parents with the correct connections.

And i am sure that in every corner of Australia there is a player that on the 8th day god did say that he must be selected for every elite team, no matter how bad he trials or plays.Because when he was 13 he was a champion.
This will never change.:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

My feelings on this are well known. The pathways are for those pre ordained to be a part of them not necessarily the players with the most potential. The pathways do not have to be successful either, the reason being that their continued existence is enough to keep them receiving their funding.

I feel with the current system 95% of the effort is being focused on 1 % of the players when possibly 5 % are good enough to make it as a footballer. We should be spreading the net further and the best will eventually rise to the top. Just like what the big European clubs do, sign many teenagers with the hope that 1 or 2 will make it. Also every a league club needs to have from under 6 through to A League playing in the local competition. The best youngsters will come to you because it is a direct path into the A League team thus allowing to scout more effectively in their city.

Edited by Roar #1: 13/11/2012 12:49:12 PM

This young man was never involved in any of the pathways in Victoria and yet on debut shows a great level of skill and desire.
Leckie also was not identified in the pathways.
Tom Rogic is he another junior never selected in the pathways.

The obvious answer is that the pathways are producing some players and they are missing some players.
Does that mean the selection criteria are wrong or not effective enough?
Does it mean that juniors who dominate their Age groups then struggle to do the same are at senior level suffer from a mental performance issues or have stagnated in their technical decision making development?

I hope that the FFA does some research in this area, seeing where kids have played their junior football and how measure the success or otherwise of the pathways to identify talent.

My view is simply more investment should go to grassroots from 6 to 16yo to develop the general pool and the pathways should start at 16yo. Unfortunately the demands of the U13 and U16 National Squads have created a situation where the National Federation and State Affiliates see the need to develop pathways to feed into these teams. Maybe this is not to the correct way as selection becomes an end in itself rather than being part ofthe journey, like a Leckie, ogic or Nabbout.



Edited by Arthur: 13/11/2012 11:25:07 AM

Edited by Arthur: 13/11/2012 11:25:32 AM