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I was reading an article on here just the other day, where one of the comments left referred to the strength of grassroots football, and that this was why the game is always referred to as the sleeping giant. From where I stand, the problem is career pathways.
I had actually been thinking about this issue regarding the rugby union/rugby league relationship.
In this context, I was thinking about how the Wallabies captain is a true symbol of a person to want to be like. An excellent role model for kids.
Guys like Nick Farr-Jones and John Eales were literate and sensible as well as being respected on the field. Mothers loved them. So kids start playing rugby. The kid is good, not Wallabies good, but alright.
In the pre-professional era of rugby, such a kid would get scholarships to good schools and perhaps university, and although maybe never reaching true national fame, a good education and stable career (through friends of the programme) would be on the table.
This isn’t so much of an option now, which means that when talented (but not the best) rugby players reach 15 or 16, league becomes a real option; there is a better, more stable career path there. The irony is that once the superstars outgrow the earning capacity of rugby league, big spending rugby comes calling.
The talk about the strength of football juniors got me thinking, is this idea restricted to rugby? How many “jack of all sports” leave to join the “big two”. The reality is that the only viable career choices in Australia are AFL or rugby league.
Unless you’re in the top one per cent of something (i.e. eligible for an AIS scholarship), when you get to 15 or 16, tall, strong, fast boys are going to have to make a choice: 10-year career in the AFL or NRL or battle away in another code/sport, with no guarantee that by the end of their career they’ll have built themselves a platform for the rest of their lives.
Cycling, Olympic athletics and swimming, basketball, baseball, motorsport and even our dearly loved football are all sports where the riches of reaching the top leave the AFL and NRL for dead. However, the problem is what happens if you’re in the two to 15 per cent.
If you’re not in F1, top tier European football, winning Olympic medals (and let’s face it, winning gold medals), playing in the NBA or MLB, what kind of career can you expect? What kind of life is that going to be? This is where the AFL and NRL beat football in Australia hands down.
I remember hearing a commentator say that three or four of Australia’s cricketers (during its peak years) were all accomplished footballers, playing state level as juniors, after catching the slips cordon playing “keepy-upey” with a cricket ball at the end of an over. Champion sportsmen lost to our game at a young age.
You don’t measure the strength of anything by looking at the best, you do it by looking at the worst. Is the worst player in that team better than the worst player in my team? Is the worst team in that league better than the worst team in our league?
Is the worst player in that sport having a more stable and rewarding career than what the worst can carve out in our game? Sadly, in this regard, sport is no different to any other profession, if you’ve got the skill set (in this case, physical endurance, hand-eye-foot coordination and a competitive streak), then you’ve got to go where the most stable career will be.
This isn’t meant to be a doom and gloom article, more just a statement of the harsh reality, something to bare in mind for the present. We should be looking for ways to rectify this situation, more – stable – clubs means more opportunities, but the viability of the league is the real golden egg.
If clubs are falling over left right and centre then the sport as a whole in this country is going to be seen as a risky career choice.
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