FFA blocking the path of talented Aussie kids

Obvisously Mr.Pippinu you and the FFA Corp; administration (Lowey/Buckley-AFL) and have never played at professional level or have been in a pro set up inside Europe!!! I am sorry to say. 1. You asked how Villa found this kid,,,they didn't the kid and parents went to them. Do some research and read a bit, it may make you more aware og the situation. 2. The Villa academy is one of the best in Europe and develops good young players, he would learn more there in 2 years then playing 1st team in the A-league, because he would learn from good youth team Pro coachs, not 3rd and 4th rate coachs that are here in the A-League and at youth leauge level. Sorry, if you get offended, but I have played in Europe and played at the top level here in Australia and I would choose Europe any day to build my understanding of the game off a professional grounding setup. Australian football has a long, long, long way to go, before, we even get close to the professionalism and training they have in Europe. The boy should be allowed to stay and train and play, he would be better off there. I agree with the article writer, I think FIFA's / FFAs rules are wrong and we will see Aussie kids leaving Australia and playing in England, Scottish, and Euro county shirts in the future, because of this law. We will loose our kids to foregin shores for good. As we did with Craig Johnson, who played for Liverpool and England in the 80s. When Craig was 16 in Newcastle, he went to Newcastle KB United and was told by a 3-4th rate coach Alan Vest to leave because he wasn't good enough. He also wore the England shirt instead of the Socceroos Green and Gold.......Think about it. Watching the A-League here this year, I see marked improvement in many areas of the game, admin, marketing etc, but at a football level, I feel we are going backwards. We need to bring-up better players, better coaches and better dynamic to the game here. Then we will get a better product in view of the football public and for them to enjoy what they are watching. I hope I have added some fuel to this debate and article. Maybe the FFA will also see it and start to allow our kids to develop via a professional bridgiing contract that could be easily introduced via the FFA and the club in question. This could have a dramatic increae to our game here in Australia. Reason being, we need to have our kids see what Europe has to offer and how they do things over there will benifit us in the long run. KR//

I know that I am a bit late in posting this but my son is in the same situation. He is 17 WAS BORN in the UK as was both his parents, moved to Australia when he was 8. He wanted to move back to the UK to finish his education. He went to sign up with a local team as he has been playing football since he was 4, only to be stopped by FFA due to him being under 18 and a parent not going to UK with him... How is that RIGHT!!!!!

hope you're having an mad time over there, gud luckk probs dont memba me haha

Get your info right before you comment. Reece's dad may 'sound' dinki di, but was born and lived in England until his teens. His father is of Italian ancestry but was born in the UK as was his mother. As for Reece's mother,she was born in Australia but has Irish ancestry. Regardless of what Reece's dad is tolerant or intolerant of, he is trying to do what so many other parents do for their children,which is give his son the best opprtunity to learn and flourish in the career path he has chosen. And that happens to be with European Football as Australia lags behind in funding and training facilities and the promise of a long and optimal career.

FFA have it all back to front.It should encourage all boys to have a crack at an EPL training academy or any other European club.At the end of the day there are only about twenty players in an international squad.So it stands to reason very few if any kids from OZ are going to crack playing for another country .The upside though given time and maturity , many lads would be available to trial for Australia. And those that were not up to that standard , would still be able to cement a place in an A League team.On top of this there are certain costs associated with training youngsters at the likes of the AIS.Its a high risk pursuit because very few kids make it to very top .Perhaps the EPL's of this world could help train our youngsters. And if one or two slip through the net,well, good luck to them.

Viper you are right she was a nurse by profession. His dad is and was in attitude as dinki di as they come is what i meant. He had a genuine soft spot for this country as i think did reece. He should be allowed to play I for one believe he would not neccessarily have been lost to us.

Reece is a british citizen , he holds a UK passport . His dad was born in england , his mum is an australian but has an Irish passport.

I think this is a mistake from the FFA and bad PR. Stopping young people from travelling the world to play sport is wrong in my mind. Players leaving overseas just creates an open door for someone else, instead of keeping our young players in a cage. We would never have heard of players like Chris Payne, Osama Malik or Taj Minniecon if we stopped people going overseas. The more the merrier I reckon and even better if they come back rich and famous.

Reece was originally from the central Coast played for Central Coast U/11and u/12. When it came to the premier youth league transferred to best youth league team blacktown Demons for U/13 U/14 like other talented Blacktown boys trials were arranged and Reec's parents took a dominant role. most of Blacktown's boys trialled woth westham but at least two trialled with viLLa Reece's mum is English but his Dad is as Dinki Di as anyone with his grandad from Italy. His dad is ambitious for his son bur intolerant of the culture that still plagues juniour structures associated with the FFA. Who you know where do you come from . Baet to bypass it in some cases eg Cahill. Blacktown boys look overseas when they can. Most other talentad Blacktown boys are with the AIS. Sadly Blacktown is no more .

Can't stand soccer for 100 reasons, but here goes: FFA must make youth academy / coaching a big priority - otherwise we have every half decent kid in the country going overseas in their early teens, and risk losing them to other countries' national teams down the track. 16 is okay for Aston Villa youth side, but how many teenagers who play top level (EPL, Serie A etc) actually go on to make a decenty caree. Remember that Freddie kid in the US? Tennis prodigies? Top level sport is 90% mental, so where is the reality check for the wet-behind-the-ears kids with big dreams and his parents who can smell the money? They don't care. The amount of money in soccer is so obscene - as long as they get a share of it, and to hell with the consequences. If this kid can go to the UK legally then FFA have no right to stop him. But consider him another one lost, another one who we won't see until he's 33 and buying a share in A-League club Wagga United.

watching the NYL final i was really impressed with both teams - hopefully some of those guys step up and are given a chance this season.

"The interesting point here is that the kid is eligible to reside in the UK anyway through his parents." So true. without having read the rules i am going to suggest in a "knee jerk reaction and totally uneducated on the facts" way (ie as per ususal) that he "must have a good case then". how can FIFA dictate what or where a 16 yo is entitled to live or start a "trade". He's old enough to have sex, leave school, drive (not sure on that but maybe ins ome countries=) etc but is prevented from playing football in a country he can live in under international law? Is the FIFA dictate essentially one where they say how his career mus develop? before the rant finishes... I also think there must be exceptions and reasonable reviews of applications. Legal law principles like natural justice, procedural fairness etc etc... from a freedom of choice/ residency etc point of view it's quite draconian and i wonder if the EU laws for example would uphold it (atleast between member states). i also think though there could be some bluff in al this. the likelihood being , unless he was amazing, he prob wont reperesent england etc. so i wonder that if he choses to snub austrlaia he may well be snubbing his best opportunity to play international football altogether?

Ben, I've heard a lot about young Costa over the last couple of years from a mate who's worked with him. Based on that, and now having seen him play a few times, I think if he gets opportunities he could surprise a lot of people.

Whiskeymac, good points all. Indeed most rules are in place to protect those from less developed countries who are indeed more vulnerable. This does mean that rules that work for an African context will be over burdensome for developed nations with established social protection mechanisms. The problem is that you can't make rules on a basis of GDP per capita. I guess I am just a little more exposed to the issues of child trafficking being where I am and hence tend to see things a little in that context. In the Australian context indeed it may appear draconian, and in many ways it is, however if that is what is required to protect African kids then so be it. The interesting point here is that the kid is eligible to reside in the UK anyway through his parents. Pippinu, Adelaide just signed up a 16 y.o. midfielder, Costa. It will be interesting to see how he develops and with a small squad he is likely to get some game time to strut his stuff.

I can understand FFA wanting to keep home grown talent in Australia but it is a shame to hold someoneback. Also it looks like they might lose him completely if they don't meet the family half way

ah yes Capriatti! actually it seems a lot of tennis players burn out by their mid twenties. Seems rare for them to be successful past then. Navratilolva aside. could be that they play all year round and it isnt a team sport? ie the do it all themselves?? Couldnt see Charlie Miller one on one witha 20yr old for instance, but in a team game given a bit of space etc his overall contributions are great. but I know that wasnt your point.. as a general proposition kids need to be protected and educated and developed. but who is to say that that cannot happen in Villa as opposed to the HAL? i thought the idea behind FIFA's push was to adress what amounts to child slavery by belgian clubs, and the trawling of african talent by some less scrupulous but wealthy countries. Truly commendable. but sadly the implication of the law and as it is being imposed catches everyone. Did FIFA mean for aussie kids to stop that behaviour? the law seems to be having a big impact in situations re oz. ie where (assumption here) first world educated class type kids cannot go to europe (parents being poms) or where seemingly legitimate excepetions like Kofi Danning cant play for Austrlalia outside of friendlies. actuall re reading it all ,this wasnt necessarily your point either. but the Danning farce was something i wanted to bring up - albeit witha lot of hot air included.

Tennis had to place an age limit for major tournament entry as a similar problem was emerging. Parents were driving kids at younger and younger ages, harder and harder and in the end huge numbers of them were burning out in their mid-teens and it was damaging their lives. Perhaps the argument needs to be whether 18 is too old rather than whether an age limit should be imposed at all.

i agree - getting to the top and then staying there in (any) sport is quite rare and people (parents and players) need to be made aware that for every 100 or so only a handful make it and even less stay onto an impressive career. not only West Ham (great example btw) but also players here like liejer (knowing you like MV) going o/s early when not the finished product. Zullo's resistance to o/s overtures is commendable for long term vision - as was Emertons resistance to Man Utd back in the day. However conversley is stopping them going to trial at Villa, where no doubt he is going from a small pond to a big one, the answer in the education of youngsters and realisation of the rigours of 'making it". for every 10 liejers (not picking on him per se just following on from the example of o/s struggling and not remembering the boys stuck in romania) theremaybe a Kewell or McDonald. or is it just stopping someone playing overseas because we want them here in the Aleague reserve teams? am not saying the FFA shouldn't be doing what they can to make the game the strongest they can here (and i would be dismayed if they didn't) but i cant help thinking that there must be another way to achieving it than having this rather draconian response which, to the individual concerned, must be devastating. As Paddy says the answer isprobably in pointing to the HAL teams and youth set up and saying they are as good - learn your trade here then chance your arm. but for this kid, right now, that may not be the best option in fulfilling his potential because what he gets at Villa is most likely more than what he could get here.

On a similar note, 442 had a great article a couple of issues back on the West Ham youth team that blitzed the youth FA cup about 10 years ago (they won home and away 9-0 against Coventry, who made the cup final again the following year). The team boasted Joe Cole and Carrick. But virtually everyone else disappeared into oblivion. Interestingly, there were two Australians: Garcia, who ultimately did get a chance playing EPL with Hull; and Michael Ferrante, who two seasons back left the Victory to join the Nix, where he has hardly been sighted. Every young, aspiring player should read the article, so they understand that being within an touching distance of making it big, can still be like a million miles away.

whiskey I agree it would be like a dream come true for a 16 yo (for an EPL club to show some interest - although I'm not sure if many at that age will understand the long tortuous path ahead of them to just get a sniff at actually playing for the first team). Even pre-dating the A-League, we have sufficient examples of 17 and 18 year olds playing senior games in our comp before getting success overseas - this should be the primary focus of the FFA and the A-League - giving senior experience to the very best 17 and 18 year olds.