With the inclusion of 3 age groups in the junior NPL comp in 2018, could it be another nail in the coffin of VIC NPL?
- Will NPL clubs further invest in coaches knowing that their best talents will be taken from them anyway with no compensation for years developed at the club
- Will parents remain content to pay $2k per season knowing that these academies will wipe the floor with their kids team
- With best players being at these academies, has the fate of remaining players in the npl been sealed
Sydney delegates advised Vic counterparts to not make the same mistake they made by letting aleague academies into the NPL leagues

With Vic clubs hands being forced by FFA to accept them due to AFC regulations will be interesting to see how this plays out. 

Currently a lot of unrest around club land with the decision to let them in.

Which is why the AAFC needs to come together and start the process of a second division immediately.

Yeah don't think the federation would have much say on whether they are allowed in or not, if they meet the criteria of a soccer club then they'd have to be let in (maybe not at the top level but they'd make their way there pretty quickly).

You could make counter arguments too:
- NPL clubs may spend more money on youth coaches / facilities to be competitive (players may chose to stay with an NPL club's academy for loyalty, more chance of development, game time etc. etc.)
- parents don't pay for kids to "win" but to develop them as a player. A-League academies would be two teams a season that they may get whipped by, what about all the other teams ... do they suddenly disappear?? I am sure at the moment there are academy teams in Victoria getting whipped each game.
- see point 1 ... could have a stronger competition force NPL clubs to improve their strategies, facilities, academies, etc. Can they offer better prospects at the NPL (all ages) level?? The A-League based NPL clubs still struggle in the NPL (for all ages). Could an incentive be for a young player to be part of a diverse / winning NPL team (and greater opportunity for a step up to the NPL than A-League academies??)

It gets better and better. Wonder when people will realise that the FFA needs to be consigned to history sooner than later. The AAFC is a far more representative group that seem to want to take the game forward. And their "Second Division"will ultimately be the premier competition in Australia.

What stops the biggest NPL clubs already taking the best kids in Victoria?? Have all the other smaller clubs simply given up over the years?? Or do many try to close the gap?? Retain their best players?

Sydney FC, WSW and CCM all have youth and senior teams in the NPL in NSW. They are all near the top but most aren't in the lead. There is nothing to worry about in terms of competitiveness. I know Sydney FC play an age group up which also helps. 

And the German and Spanish leagues also have youth teams in the set up, it'll improve the youth setup in the country.

But it's all the FFA's fault!!!

Why don't we also have promotion like the mentioned countries?

I'm not against this but the clubs should be compensated by the FFA and other clubs the possibility of entering the professional league (system).

Oh yeah we definitely need the promotion and relegation, until that happens we'll always be behind in development and quite frankly interest.

This. Perth Glory do too. How is Victoria any different?! It's long over-due that Victory and City set-up their aged teams in the NPL system, as their A-League rivals had done. It's actually been a point of criticism in-relation to the discussion over lack of younger talent coming through the league. And with the disbandment of the CoE, the A-League clubs developing their Academies and youth structures is part of the strategy. I'm actually surprised that the A-League's most successful off the field, Victory, aren't the league's standard bearers in this area. Sydney FC have Han Berger and all-sorts of investment, what do Victory and City have planned?! :?

Victory have big plans to partner with Victoria University in Footscray (in the cities inner-west) for a large development for the Academy as well as sports science and medicine knowledge - the clubs has already hired an Academy director in the form of Paulo Cardoso (former Sporting Lisbon director who, among others, discovered Cristiano Ronaldo - source). Unfortunately there is lots of red tape and the like to jump through before it gets approved, let alone construction. It also doesn't help that we already have access to a world class training facility at AAMI Park for the senior side, so the impetus to create a training base/Academy is less than perhaps some other clubs.

Trust me, it is a source of major consternation among Vuck fans that we are yet to leverage our financial clout towards a proper Academy setup.

if the npl are scared about better quality teams in the competition the problem is with the npl

Competition is good for the NPL, they need to argue for returns on their investment, not whinge about competition.

You guys gotta do it sooner rather than later, surely the bigger picture is on the line for the benefit for Australian football.

The competitiveness of the A League teams will vary according to what rules are in place. Glory's U12-U16 are effectively playing a year up (ie they're really U11-U15) and despite this they are always around the top of the league but don't necessarily win it.

At senior level though, it is a U23 side which struggles. It used to be that a couple of over-age players could play but the rules have changed this season and it is youth only.

Even in Canberra it's the same. Capital football has set up a Canberra United Academy that play an age group up at all levels. Highest is the 18s that play NPL20s, and they share matchdays with the CoE

Another npl clubman having a winge about how many players the clubs will lose. No real vision on youth development. Keep taking the thousands of dollars and let the kids that are good enough develop in the best possible environment. 

Yep more than anything it always seems like the npl types are afraid of competition or being held to any kind of standard 

Thanks for informing me Walnuts! That's some good news - with your club's clear intention of investment and development, surely they will eventually get the go-ahead. And I suppose having AAMI Park is better than not having AAMI Park. IIRC City Group have invested alot in their Training Base and facilities at La Trobe or somewhere there, isn't it? We look with interest how far that investment extends into their youth programs - but surely that is part of the point of their Australian investment, is to help identify some top young talent here. They already have the likes of Daniel Arzani, Denis Genreau and Dylan Pierias - the latter two some of the youngest ever talents to feature at A-League level. So their investment must already be having some impact?

Bang on.

No response from the OP either on any of the comments made ...

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/high-soccer-fees-an-own-goal-ng-b88419015z

Is this a real issue in WA?

Here are some questions for the NPL clubman.
In VIC NPL squads how many of the starting 11 come from the junior set up?
Why are the $2000 plus junior fees really charged? Is it to pay senior players or for youth development?
Why are the juniors still training and playing on cow paddocks with shit lighting at most NPL clubs? 
Once selected for an NPL club and playing in the seniors, what is the next step up in levels in this great country of ours?
With approx. 90-100 possible players moving to HAL academies in VIC how many players will each of the 30 NPL clubs lose? That's if all the 90-100 players come from NPL and not community or country clubs?
Can the NPL clubs give the same or if not better opportunities and development as the HAL academies?
If you or anyone else can honestly answer these questions please it would be much appreciated.

Would love to answer your questions once you tell me who the fark you are and your involvement in the game.

Get off your high horse mate.
Being a city supporter I'm actually happy that city is bringing in an academy, anything that will improve the club, I'm all for. I also support a NPL club and take an interest with whats going on in the local VIC comp.
My mates son plays in an NPL side. Great little player, probably not at the standard to make one of these academies but a good player nonetheless. Speaking to my mate about the academies coming in, he had some great points ... you probably don't agree with them but coming from a father of a young player in the npl setup he definitely made a lot of sense.

Definitely didn't see the value of the high fees. Although he said his sons coach was quite good, he said the competition is very poor and they are lucky to have a competitive game once a month. With the competition being diluted he felt the aleague academies would further dilute the competition by having the cream of the crop. This really made him question the value of npl even more. Has said he will take his son to a state 1 side with the hope if he continues to progress will play seniors at a young age.

Had a lot of other great points but I won't bother explaining here 

Lets do some maths for the ill-informed about NPL Costs. This is based on Vic experience but understand other regions are similar

Assuming squad of 18 players and cost of $2,000 each (which isnt right as many teams charge much less and have smaller squads):

- NPLV license costs $40,000 per year, NPLV limit is 7 teams so each team has to pay $5,715, or $318 per kid
- Cost for kit and training equipment is $600 per kid (min)
- C-License Coaches cost $6,000 per season or $333 per kid (this is minimum, some cost considerable more) 
- B-License Technical Director varies wildly but  assume minimum $30K (but I understand many earn much more), meaning $238 per kid 
- FFA Fee - $12.60 per kid
- FFV Fee - $73.40 per kid

This leaves about $335 per kid to cover all other club costs like power, maintenance, insurance, ref & linesman costs, trophies, etc, which they typically barely do. Majority of clubs rely heavily on volunteers, social clubs, food & drink sales and increasingly on rich benefactors to keep them afloat. 

So you would support promotion & relegation then as current HAL franchises should welcome competition from Clubs