Australia NewsYouth Policy Could Take Years |
Football Federation Australia is set to finally release its long-awaited report on youth development this Thursday, eight months after it was completed.
The review is absolutely critical to the long-term development of football in Australia.FourFourTwo magazine recently examined Australia's youth development system as part of a series of worldwide reports on how various countries approach development their young players.
In Australia, what we discovered was disturbing. Presently, there is no national system to speak of.
The various state football federations adminster and run their own programs using various different programs.
Each state operates almost totally independently of the other and the quality of coaching – as well as the emphasis on winning – has many deeply concerned.
Another issue is the use of full-size pitches for kids in the crucial 9-13 age-group. What's more, there is no program for our most gifted young players to be fast-tracked into and develop in a truly elite coaching environment.
More alarmingly, many youth coaches have become exasperated by a system that is increasingly run for financial reasons.
FFA CEO Ben Buckley told FourFourTwo that FFA does not want to “operate with a big stick” in regard to implementing the report's recommendations.
But he added, “it will probably take a number of years” for the FFA's report to work its way through the system.
Which may not be much consolation for some.
au.fourfourtwo.com recently spoke to the father of one extremely gifted junior player in this country who is so disillusioned with the present system that he is seriously considering taking up offers from European clubs where his son can develop to his undoubted potential.
David Lee is a respected former junior coach within the NSW football federation. He helped coach both Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton but quit the federation, disillusioned, nine years ago.
“The reason why I quit [Soccer NSW] in 1998 was because they introduced a program to help develop kids, but you had to pay for it,” says Lee.
“And they had to make money. That’s when I got out. The scholarships that Harry and Emmo went on were finished up.
“The [NSW] federation is run for all the wrong reasons. It’s run to make a profit. Coerver coaching’s come in. You can become a Coerver coach with three hours of training. It’s bullshit.”
Lee now runs one of the many specialist training programs that operate outside the NSW system. These privately run academies fill in the gaps left by a system many feel have let them down.
“Here, I make the ball do the work,” he says of his IQ Soccer academy. “They [Coerver] make the player do the work. You don’t use tricks.
"Playing a ball first time to bloke unmarked and moving to get it back again, is what it’s all about.”
au.fourfourtwo.com will have more on this issue as it unfolds
To read our feature on youth development, CLICK HERE.
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