Producing football talent has never been a problem for Australia, but keeping those youngsters in the game is more of a challenge. For every Lucas Neill and Harry Kewell there are numerous untold stories of talented youngsters whose dreams go unfulfilled having left Australia as teenagers.
Failure makes many return home disillusioned, walking away from a sport that once dominated their formative years.
Sydney FC youth coach Steve O’Connor worked with most of the current Socceroos squad in a former role at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), and he believes the success of the new National Youth League (NYL) is a massive development for the game in Australia.
The NYL was set up last year and every team in the A-League, apart from Wellington, fields a team in the competition.
Clubs such as Sydney and Newcastle have been forced to turn to their youth teams this season as injuries decimated their squads, allowing teenagers such as Kofi Danning, Ben Kantarovski and Rhyan Grant to taste senior football much earlier than expected.
While most of the best young players will still head overseas, O’Connor said improving the infrastructure of clubs and coaches will have a positive long-term effect on the sport.
“The A-League is now a great pathway for players, but you have agents in their ears when they are 15, 16, 17 and trying to get them overseas when they are 18 and promising parents all sorts, and this has been a problem for us over the years,” said O’Connor, who spent almost 12 years as the head coach at the AIS.
“You are not going to get any favours over there, the kids will be a long way from their families and it’s whether they are emotionally tough enough to survive in the professional world out there.
“Some like Lucas and Harry have done it, but many more don’t.”
The enhanced media profile of the A-League, particularly through live TV coverage, has provided a domestic platform for players to make a name for themselves.
O’Connor admits while clubs are heading in the right direction with scouting and identifying young talent early, this needs to spread outside of the professional setups.
“There is no shortage of young kids wanting to play football, but you are getting situations like at one under-13 team in the NSW Premier League who had 90 kids turn up for trials,” he said.
“But they are probably looking for four or five players and the rest, who get left out, often filter down to park football where they are being coached by a well-meaning parent who is not experienced in the game.
“At 13 or 14 you can’t tell what a player will be like when they are 17 or 18 and who knows how many kids we are losing because they are missing out on the chance to play.
“We need to change that and have more teams so the talent can be showcased on a wider scale.
“This is where we need to work to keep improving the pathway so youngsters know what they have to do to be picked up by an A-League club’s academy, that is how it works in Europe.”
O’Connor has seen the likes of Mark Viduka, Mark Bresciano and Brett Emerton come through the AIS and said the fact the trio played in the old NSL before enjoying success overseas is no coincidence.
“I have said to some elite kids, if you want a trial, I will get you a trial anywhere you want,” he said.
“It is easy to set up a trial over there as the AIS has a lot of credence and my name was known, but the kids often have to pay their own air fares, accommodation and generally look after themselves.
“Alternatively agents can hawk them from club to club in the hope of getting a contract but it doesn’t always work out.
“What we are doing now is creating proper pathways where players don’t have to feel they need to go overseas so soon.
“If they can play two or three years in the A-League and learn about their game it leaves them in a much better position to go on and make a good living from it.
“It also improves the quality of players available for the national team and ultimately that has to be the long-term aim.”
Sam
Guest
A-league clubs need to be smart about how they do contracts with these young players. They need to get the best deal possible for themselves and the player. This money that is received by a-league clubs from transfers will make the clubs, and the game viable in this country. We have a large amount of kids playing the game and the machine will roll on in future years to create a production line of players. I think in future we will get to a point where players will only leave for the top 5 or 6 leagues in Europe. With the increase in salaries, lifestyle benefits and lift in the standard of a-league, a lot of players will be tempted to stay home rather then sit on a cold wooden bench somewhere in Norway or Switzerland.
Kazama
Roar Guru
It seems a no-brainer to me that we should be spending as much on the kids as possible rather than chasing Jardels and Romarios. First of all North Queensland, Gold Coast and Wellington must all have youth teams next season, the latter being based in Canberra and comprised of only Aussie kids. That immediately opens the door for about another 40-50 kids in the upper age groups to have a crack at it. I was thinking that if we feel it is warranted (i.e. that enough good kids are still missing out) maybe let prospective franchises have a go at running youth teams first before being considered for entry into the A-League, sort of like what the AFL is doing with GC17. Not only will this give more spots to deserving young players it will also help these teams in terms of recruitment for their first season, should their bid be accepted. Secondly, the academy system is an absolute must. We have a similar situation in SA with there not being enough positions for the interested kids. Midfielder raised the valid point that the FFA has limited funds - however I have a feeling the money gained from the next TV rights deal (it should be a significant amount) will play a key role in allowing clubs to have football schools. It is important to get kids locked in to the game at that age, otherwise they could fail to reach their potential because they don't care enough, go and play something else or just give up on sport altogether. I've never played sport professionally, nor have I desired to. However I have been involved with professional sporting clubs and organisations since a very young age so I feel I've got a good understanding of how important youth development is. In the case of football a strong youth set-up that produces endless amounts of talented youngsters will not only ensure that the Australian national team will continue to be successful but also that our national league will stay healthy and viable regardless of how many players we lose to overseas clubs. In fact the transfer fees paid for these players will help to fund the development of the next group of kids. The key to being a good "feeder league" is obviously to always have a lot of talent to sell to the bigger leagues, and the more money from these transfers put into youth development the more kids are kept in the system, the better training they get (and at an earlier age which will keep them focused on their goals and a part of the system), and in the long term the healthier the A-League and the sport as a whole will get. To start the process though we have to plant the seeds. The youth league was the first seed, club academies should be the next. The Mariners have already got the ball rolling: http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/54420,mariners-youth-academy-makes-hyundai-aleague-history.aspx
mahony
Guest
The NYL (and its many associated developmental reform agendas) is where the 'sleeping giant' gets its traction. Of all of the big improvements in recent years in Australian football, this is the most important by some considerable distance IMO. All the major sporting codes are fighting for the same 'raw material'. How football survived all these years without its present (and emerging) level of professionalism is not a mystery for those of us who know the game well - but in many ways it is a mystery as this game simply churned through generations of young people without a conversion rate to speak of - it was highly inefficient. The future is a global stage, a domestic 'football factory' and a domestic and continental club/national team scene at the youth and adult levels for men and women that will take as many quality youngsters as we can produce. Standards up and and football's prospects with it. What a wonderful time to be a fan (and more importantly a young talent) of The Beautiful Game. mahony
Koala Bear
Guest
Sooooooo true your first post….. also the Under 14 internationals being set up is critical to the codes development. Midfielder, That's the key to get them at 14 and play a world cup ... or a touring world wide programme playing like profesionals -- what kid would not want to be apart of that...? ~~~~~~~ KB
Midfielder
Guest
KB Sooooooo true your first post..... also the Under 14 internationals being set up is critical to the codes development. Sadly still coaching at park and district level leaves a lot to be desired. The FFA have limited funds and there is no easy solution but a FTA contract with good commentators will help a lot just wish it would happen sooner rather than latter... However the revolution has begun and I cannot see any turning back..
Koala Bear
Guest
Rob, similar career as well but no O/S or Australian National Football trials ... Only in the NSW Soccer Federation as a 3rd and 2nd grader ... Finally ended my playing days in Junior District All age Football; in the Canterbury and St George Districts .. Where the skill factor was no where as good as the youngsters I see today now playing Park Football .. The future is bright for Australian Football..... ~~~~~~~~~ KB
Rob
Guest
KB, You are right. When I was coming through the ranks I played in the National Youth League in the old NSL days, and that was great. However, I then went overseas and had a crack, failed, and dropped out of the game for a while. I now play for fun, but was never particularly interested in trying to get back. The professionalism of the A-league happened about 10 years too late for me, but that's just bad luck. I think that what needs to happen is that, as Ian suggests, young kids from the age of about 12 need to be brought into an academy system and have their technique honed, their tactical knowledge increased, and just generally be placed in an environment where football is the be-all and end-all, where improving skills is the major goal. Many clubs in Europe and Sth America run a football school for kids from the age of 5 onwards, but we need to be realistic and think about the kids from 12 onwards, in my view. The small sided games initiative is an excellent one for the younger kids. I'd be interested in the views of others on this topic. Cheers, Rob.
Koala Bear
Guest
Ian, this is a subject that is dear to my heart and always of interest to me .... The discovery of bright young future Football players for club and country.. I have lived football all of my life, more than fifty years of it and I have never seen the progress that the code deserves at grass roots and youth level until now .. The professional NYL is an enormous building block finally put in place for the foundation of Australian Football .. I am not sure if all the Australian Football Family truly understands how important this initiative is; to the fundamental growth and success of Australian Football .. Let's hope that more impetus is directed to the NYL with more Government support and funding for coaches for men like Sydney FC youth coach Steve O’Connor and others like him .. To be given more encouragement from all quarters to produce the next generations of Olyroos from the NYL .. Finally, we will have a truly competitive Olympic team, skilled and honed to take on the world in the Olympics in England 2012 .. If the national Olympic Football Team can achieve success in England it would be as good as the Australian National Football team qualifying for the 2010 world cup and a massive step forward for the senior National Australian Football Roos team to be a real challenge in winning the WC on Australian soil in 2018 .. ~~~~~~~ KB