While the growth of the A-League, and the continued international competitiveness of our national teams, the Socceroos and Matildas, remain key planks in the development of the game downunder, at the heart of the code’s growth over the next two decades is likely to be a continuing focus on youth and coaching development.
Only through sustained investment and commitment in these areas will the game reach it’s true potential, particularly in the face of the mega-bucks reportedly being thrown at youth and game development by the AFL in some parts.
For far too long and particularly since that glorious night in Sydney in October 2005, the under-financed FFA have gone for a top-down approach, relying heavily on the Socceroos to fund the game.
But it’s a strategy, as we’ve seen in recent years, that’s somewhat fraught with danger, as the Socceroos have gone from being the flavour of the month to a team struggling to regenerate.
For the sake of the Socceroos in 10 or 20 years time, it’s vital the FFA continue to invest in the areas of youth and coaching development.
While there has been a significant amount done already by our technical director, Han Berger, to set up the frameworks and pathways to feed the future growth of the game, you sense it’s just the beginning of a long process.
In recent times Berger and his national curriculum appear to have met resistance from some quarters, and the questions have only grown louder thanks to a string of poor results from our national youth teams.
The underlying feeling is that the game, at grassroots level, remains fractured, full of complex layers, and far too much politics.
Uniting everyone involved in youth development and getting them working to the same goal, remains a test of the FFA’s will and powers of persuasion.
Welcome, David Gallop.
The reality seems that this is a process only likely to reap benefits in a decade or two.
Patience and belief must remain the buzz words.
At the heart of what Berger is trying to achieve is a complete seachange in the way we think about producing players.
Rather that focussing on winning at all costs and having athletic and physical players, the pendulum is swinging towards encouraging the more skilful and technical players to come through.
Fundamentally, it is the right step.
The question though that many have posed is whether the national curriculum, which regulates the use of a Dutch-inspired 1-4-3-3 formation, is the only way to create these types of flair or ‘difference’ players.
While it is undoubtedly a progressive formation, encouraging the ball to be played through the three lines from defence, to midfield, to attack, the question remains whether it will create the type of players that can unlock opposition defences consistently.
And what happens in five or 10 years, if there is a worldwide shift away from the current vogue that is a 4-3-3?
One coach currently involved in youth development put it to me as such; “What it’s creating are players who are too robotic”.
“The curriculum teaches them that there’s a right pass to play in every situation, so it actually limits their creativity.”
What he advocates is a little more tactical and technical flexibility, teaching players various systems so they can adjust later in their careers.
Earlier this year I took in a game out at Valentine Park in north-western Sydney involving the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS), part of the FFA’s elite player pathway.
Here was a under 18s team made up mainly of 14 and 15-year-olds, competing in the under 18s competition in the NSW super youth league, and competing well.
What impressed me was how comfortable most of the players looked in the formation, even if the defenders struggled to consistently play out on what was effectively a cow paddock.
Despite the frustration they at least stuck to the formula.
What I was also impressed about was the proliferation of crafty, diminutive midfield types, comfortable at getting on the ball and spraying it about.
I refer to the likes of Kevin Ly, Liam Rose and Lo brothers, Tony and Martin, names we should be hearing more about in the coming years.
Such players might not have been identified or developed in times gone by, mostly likely considered too small.
It makes complete sense we fall into line with exactly what is going on around the world, from Japan to Germany in the past decade or two. Even England are now in on the act.
Germany, for example, were really struggling on the international stage at the turn of the century, offering very little flair. It was more about the power from the likes of Oliver Bierhoff, Carsten Jancker and Jens Jeremies.
Such was the dearth of talent coming through that the Euro 2000 squad featured Lothar Matthaus (39) and playmaker Thomas Hassler (34). Sound familiar?
They were stuck and took one point from their three group games.
Now you just have to look at the squad for the recent Euro 2012 competition to understand the progress: Mesut Ozil, Andre Schurrle, Mario Goetze, Thomas Muller and Marco Reus.
Of course, the big difference between Germany and Australia is that they are football obsessed nation, with all the resources and knowledge to make it happen.
But beyond that was the commitment. In a nutshell, they understood why there was a need for change, embraced it and made it happen.
Here, short on resources, there remains resistance and self-interest.
I recently spent some time with Berger in his Sydney office as he talked me through the framework and process changes that has underpins the national curriculum.
It has hitherto been a taxing process and you sense some of that frustration in Berger’s tone.
Fundamentally, what he is trying to achieve is a more uniform, streamlined and in-synch pathway.
Talking me through the development ‘building blocks’ in both the training phase (game discovery from ages 5-9, skill acquisition from 9-13, game training phase from 13-16 and performance phase from 16-20) and the game phase (small sided football from ages 5-12 and 11 versus 11 thereafter), you can feel Berger’s desire to get it right.
Already there are the Skills Acquisition Programs (SAP), Skilleroos and state institutes, which feed into the AIS and then Joeys.
Scattered throughout this system are former players like Milan Blagojevic, Ante Juric, Richie Alagich and Ivan Jolic. Much work has been done, but there’s plenty more to do.
Eventually we will likely see the A-League clubs adopt a significant role in the development process, and we are already seeing foundations put in place by the likes of the Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets.
At the heart of this challenge is resources and Australia’s geography. That and a sheer lack of knowledge.
Having this season taken on coaching my son’s Under 6s side, I can see first-hand just how much has been achieved and how much work lies ahead.
While we are playing the excellent small sided football, the lack of coach education across the 10 Under 6s teams at this club remains clear.
Essentially, all the coaches are fathers or mothers who have volunteered or been volunteered.
While much of my focus this season has been on guiding my team to focus on their first touch, on controlling the ball, on understanding space and encouraging them to take their dribbling and passing opportunities, this is not the same story everywhere.
Too often you hear the parents imploring, even screaming at their kids to kick it long, get it down the other end.
This is exactly the type of ‘fightball’ we are trying to eradicate.
Constant coaching education remains the answer.
While our local club invested a few hours at the beginning of the season to run coaches through the fundamentals of running a training session, from warm up, to ball mastery, to game development, this is just scratching the surface.
There was very little discussion about the overall objectives of the curriculum.
The message is not being articulated to the base of the pyramid. Most are being left to their own devices.
Indeed, while the move towards small sided games has, in the main, been adopted across the game, the need to educate those involved in delivering the concepts remain paramount.
As important, there is still much work to be done on ensuring the game remains accessible and affordable.
For far too long parents have had to fork out exorbitant amounts to push their children through the system. Some, it’s been reported, have had to pay close to $3,000 a season in the state leagues. Quite ludicrous.
Even now, with the granting of SAP licensees for next season, the cost is over $1000 a season for the players considered to be the elite in their district.
When they get older it will be more than $2000 a season.
Only those fortunate enough to make it to Skilleroos and state institutes are spared the expense.
The FFA has to find a way to either subsidise their elite programs or encourage the cashed-up district associations to re-invest in their SAP programs.
No talented kid should be left behind due to affordability.
The same extends to making coaching education more affordable.
Another area that needs addressing is the proliferation of independently run youth academies.
While they do give youngsters more exposure to the round ball, particularly in an age where parents are time-poor, ensuring there is more structure around this remains another challenge.
If there’s one thing Gallop should aim to achieve throughout his tenure, it’s uniting the development structures to ensure Australia is significantly further down the coaching education and player development pathway than it is today.
This is the final installment in a five-part Solutions Series that ran all this week on The Roar. Our football experts have been answering this question with their own take on the game: “If you were in charge of football in Australia, how would you fix the problems you see and make football a bigger professional code – and could this help the National Team? What are your Solutions to the big issues Australian football is facing?”
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Jonno, It takes time to alter the culture & way things are done. We can only fully assess the new style of AUS football in 2020, when the kids - who were 6 years old when the National Curriculum was released - are playing for the AUS u17 team. Remember, even the benchmark for current beautiful football, Spain, only started winning consistently in the past 4 years
Jonno
Guest
'Rather than focussing on winning at all costs and having athletic and physical players, the pendulum is swinging towards encouraging the more skilful and technical players to come through.' !! That worked well for the Joey's We can't win anything anymore under this system. We need to change this poor attitude that there is something wrong with winning, by being able to compete, that is the Australian mentality, if we can't compete in international games we have no chance. You can have all the skill in the world and we should ensure our players have that, but if we can't compete physically it doesn't matter.
nordster
Guest
MV will have to get used to that with the salary cap...the whole point is to drag the big teams back to the pack...
Realfootball
Guest
Excluding last season's first team, I assume.
mahony
Guest
MVFC are developing one. Biggest barrier at the moment is a central location. Big strides have been taken on this matter and when it is done it will be done the way Melbourne do everything in football development - with a level of excellence....
nordster
Guest
It would be ideal to see the state institute programs become the capital city team programs. I think the big city clubs are really at a disadvantage with identiying talent and putting pathways in place. Which is great for us in the regions. Me id be happy if MV and SFC could become buying clubs, provided they are allowed to pay the smaller clubs a fee for the privelage (now they aren't)
Football United
Guest
What is happening in Newcastle and Gosford with their junior academies is very pleasing to see and yet it frustrates me immensely that MVFC, the biggest club in the country, still has no dedicated Youth Academy. Forget these institutes of sport, we need our best youth going through the big clubs systems from the age of 10 who will then in turn get the best coaching possible.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Dillan It's been a while since I was a registered player with FFV, so I can't comment on what the players receive from FFV in terms of administrative support. Maybe someone with kids in the system can assist? But, let's be clear we're talking about - per player, per annum: Regional: $20 to FFV & $12 to FFA Metro: $45-68 to FFV & $12 to FFA
Griffo
Roar Guru
Haven't read the blog for a bit from that video's website but worth a read - it's branded as a Barcelona Escola academy setup but the coaches philosophy and work on shaping the squad is what we hope is happening at our elite youth levels, and ideally (although unrealistic? Why not?) in the future at grassroots? But there are some differences at this age level to our National Curriculum (and general USSF philosophy) that make sense on the surface and baring results if YouTube video is evidence? Initital concept for an U11 side: * players play and learn tactical and game plan in set positions - no rotation from backs, midfields and forwards on a weekly basis (reasoning: kids don't cement learning of one position if they are rotated; no need to think about the whole team resposibilities but concentrate on their 'area' and get it right - overall team getting it right) * 2 hour training multiple times during the week ** 'defender', 'midfield' and 'attacker' teams are split and train separately with overlap with the next squad to re-enforce what was worked on in training in game-related situation and as game-related warm up for next squad. * this team competes in tournaments across the country; don't always win but go close - keep sticking to the philosophy regardless of the result
Griffo
Roar Guru
An article in the Newcastle Herald today on CEO of Northern NSW Football David Eland on sustaining the Emerging Jets program: http://www.theherald.com.au/story/364008/long-term-ambition-for-emerging-jets-program/?cs=306
nordster
Guest
Luxury taxes...now i've heard everything. The extra 25pc would just increase the wage the club would need to pay the player, the net wage. So thats money that could have been spent by the club on their own Scholarships. You're just adding another cost to them so they have less to invest elsewhere. Ian, Keynesians dont have too much firepower, just tax and regulate :) (both a drain on the clubs ability to operate)
Dillan
Guest
Fuss, Do you know or do FFV advise how this money is spent. Does it go toward the development of the junior set-up in the state or towards senior competitions. Just interested to know as there are some issues in other states regarding junior fees being used to prop up senior competitions... Thanks..
TheMagnificent11
Roar Guru
Best article I have read on the issues the FFA face in regards to youth development...nice work Tony
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"It comes from the league snarfing the money out of the TV contract, and telling clubs they can cope with a lower than otherwise salary spend" Absolute nonsense. The FFV fees are: Kids (5-11): $57.50 Juniors (12-18): $80.50 (Note: the above figures are for Metropolitan Registrations; in Regional areas the FFV fees a flat $32.50 per player 5-18 years old) From the above fee, $12 is given to the FFA as part of the National Registration Fee. Private football clubs charge a lot of money because that's the basis for free market commerce - i.e. a rational seller will charge the maximum price he can without reducing demand. Football is so popular, the price charged to juniors can be much HIGHER than competitors (ARF, RL, RU, cricket, basketball) .. yet, demand is still stronger than the lower-priced competition. Basically, football is the dream product to sell.
william 11
Guest
First look at brazil, do they play for fun secondly as a midget i played (in the Netherlands to win) , that culture led to Holland becoming one of the great football teams in the world. If we teach or kids its fun look at the result of the Australian Olympic teams. thirdly the golden footbal era ,when we qualified for the german world cup those players played to win from day one.l we do not teach someone one way then unteach them for a new system , that says we play to win.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Excellent article Tony. In my opinion, the National Curriculum cannot be expected to produce significant results until later this decade. By 2020, the kids, who commenced their football education - at age 6 years - will be 16-17 years old. Even then, the biggest task will be to Re-educating the educators .. the coaches at grassroots level. Recently, I went and watched the Champions of several Melbourne leagues (u14 level) playing an FFV competition. The team I was following (a mate's kid was playing) was determined to play the passing game through the lines - they weren't helped by a rubbish pitch. They won their first game 3-0; In the 2nd game, even at 0-2 down, they kept their shape & kept their system. They totally dominated the game & eventually, pulled a goal back. Tony, have you seen this video of teams from Southern California - absolutely breathtaking: technique, tactical moves and pace of the players. What makes this video really special?? The players are all u11 years old! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DThjb_XyyoU&sns=em
Griffo
Roar Guru
Too often you hear the parents imploring, even screaming at their kids to kick it long, get it down the other end. Tony, not always, but it only gets worse as they get older. Not always the parent-coaches needing coaching licences but the parents on the side-lines overriding and undoing seasons of work in the space of a few short weeks, even after a 'chat' about philosophy and learning at a young age and how much damage they are doing to their own child. One kid, a good player with a parent who was passionate for the game and passed on to the kid at a young age, suddenly yelling and berating the kid because of a mistake or a pass that got intercepted and led to a goal. No longer would this kid look to take the space and/or play out, just boot to the nearest line, even when no one was around. Almost got the kid back on track before the season closed. A lot going against the tide at the U6 to U10 level. Particularly where heading towards final year of SSF at U11 where parents are getting itchy for competition and playing 'with the good players'. Lots of work by clubs, some volunteers and FFA to turn the perception around on what is really going on at this level and getting clubs singing from the same song sheet.
Griffo
Roar Guru
+1 Better to give those grassroots parent coaches access to the info in addition to having them scratching around for their own content than looking for info on their own. This way it is guided and linked to the curriculum rather than sifting what is going to be useful and what is not.
Titus
Guest
Ian- That might have worked well in Victoria where the game already dominated the media and social consciousness but the reason for the success in an area like Sydney is FTA exposure, and media/promotional saturation. You will also note in these areas the AFL payed expensive salaries to athletes known well in the area in order to generate interest. This is similar to what the FFA and clubs are trying to do, but in order to get FTA interest and media interest they have to generate the excitement for it to be there, and whatever you might think having teams full of 19 year olds who play a season before heading off overseas is not sufficient to generate the required levels of interest. The FFA needs to make a pie that is big enough to feed everyone, a pie like the AFL have.
YouthBall
Guest
Matt This is just an example (and I would like all clubs to do this) but here is an example of a breakdown of costs based on last year as a part of the FFV and assume a 16 player squad. Note a lot of this is guesswork and is based on clubs providing new training balls and strips each year. U15A Team $1,000 FFA/State Fee $85 Team Entry $18 Referees $42 Strip (Home Only) $70 Team Photo $15 Trophy $18 Equipment (Balls, Nets etc) $30 Ultilities (Electricity etc) $50 Darebin Training (Man Cup) $70 General Club Expenses $102 Coaching (Man Cup) $200 Coaching (Reg Season) $300 Total $1,000