ACTAS Ready To Campaign in England and Holland, While The FFA Reschedules The NTC Challenge

This program is broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) on Tuesday, 30 November 2010 at 7:ooPM across the Australian Community Radio Network.


Tonight’s interview is with the ACTAS Mens Head Coach – Miko Milanevic (Milo as his is known in football circles). ACTAS is about to depart on its annual overseas football tour, this time to England and Holland. It’s a fantastic itinerary, with a game very second day. The overseas tour, and integral part of the ACTAS program is planned 12 months in advance. This is usually followed by ACTAS’s participation in the FFA’s NTC Challenge held at the AIS in late January. Unfortunately, the FFA decide to change the timing for the NTC Challenge in August this year, rescheduling it from January 2011 to December 2010 - far too late for ACTAS to withdraw from the Overseas tour without heavy financial penalty. By agreement with the FFA, ACTAS will proceed on its tour and the NTC Challenge will go ahead without ACTAS. The ACTAS program will be adjusted for 2011, assuming the FFA doesn’t change the dates again. On return to Australia, the ACTAS squad will loose some players due to age and invite new players to join the squad. The process never stops. The question that worries us all is what can be done for those players too old for ACTAS, not accepted for the AIS and no further development opportunities in the ACT beyond the local Premier League which as a rule trains twice a week. It worries the ACTAS coach. John Mitchell correctly described this as a “tragic vacant space”. And so it is.


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There is a lot going on in football and futsal in the ACT at the present time.

Canberra United play Adelaide this Saturday at Deakin Stadium, commencing at 5:00PM. A Game not to be missed and a game that must be won. Its a short competition and another draw would be only marginally better than a loss. So get there and give your support.
 
The ACT Futsal teams to contest the Nationals are now in training and preparing for the Nationals in early January. Training frequency will intensify as soon as the holidays commence. It’s a good opportunity for local community coaches to get a few clues – look up the training times for the age group you are interested in, on the CF website, and go and watch the training. If you get a chance, take a day’s leave and go and watch a few games at the Nationals. There are some good players and coaches at the Nationals.

The National Training Centre Challenge is being held next week at the AIS. The best 15-17 year old boys in the Nation are on display, as each State or Territory Academy or Institute of Sport fields a team. This is the cohort of boys who are aiming up on that first serious step toward a career in professional football. They have all trained long and hard for this competition. Some will make it through to the AIS and some will be selected for Australian age representative teams. For many, this will the last serious, continuous football development they experience in their lives. Points are awarded for a team’s technical performance as well as the match result. This is a competition really worth a look at. You get to recalibrate your football compass around youth football and get a clearer understanding of the talent you see in your club. Some of the talent at the NTC Challenge is amazing. Just get there, one day for your football education and enjoyment.

The Summer 20s are trundling along, close to a finish and then the semis and final. Done and dusted by Christmas. For the clubs involved it has been a very useful opportunity to further develop players for next season. I have spoken previously about the disappointment many feel, because all the PL clubs did not field a team in the competition. Capital Football entered the Summer U17 HP squad in the Summer 20s (to make it an even number of teams and avoid a Bye each week).and that’s been a mixed blessing for all concerned. They are a young team with players predominantly 15 / 16 years of age. They are well coached, but its obvious that it has been difficult to find enough players to fill a match card some weeks. The reason appears simple enough – the CF Summer HPP U17 lads are for the most part, overmatched, the level of resistance is too high for many of them for this to be an experience that delivers good individual football development outcomes. Its surprising that the CF techncial assessment of this group of players did not reveal this prior to enterring the team. MAtters came to a head last Sunday - the CF Team forfeited their game. No one was happy about that. I regret to say that this reflects very poorly on CF. If some parents are unhappy with their boy(s) playing in this competition, as part of the HPP they should make thier concerns known to CF, which I guess at this time is the CEo, as we have no Technical Director. Is it likely the CF HPP U17 team will play either of the two remaining games? If not, CF should make it known immediately. If this is not working for the boys in this squad, stop it now. The canteen was not operating – again!
CF have not done a good job with the 2010 Summer 20s.

More On The FFA National Competition Review

Sourced from http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/2009InsideFFA/default.aspx?s=insideffa_newsfeatures_newsitem_new&id=36904

Here is another piece of information from the FFA which adds a little more detial tot he previous post on this subject. The Review will reach all the way down to the U12 competitions in each Member Federation (MF). Should prove to be a fascinating piece of analysis and a good one to do. February 2011 seems to be the fisrt critical deadline for reporting purposes. Wonder who is doing the talking / liaison for Capital Football? The NPL will stay on this one.

FFA announces National Competition ReviewTuesday, 23 November 2010


Football Federation Australia (FFA) today announced a major initiative aimed at aligning all levels of competition within the game for the first time.
A National Competition Review (NCR) has been launched to look at all aspects of the competitions conducted by FFA, the Member Federations and State League Clubs around Australia.
FFA Chief Executive Officer Ben Buckley said the NCR would be a forum to push greater co-operation among all stakeholders for the betterment of competitive football and football development.
“This is a great opportunity to get the entire competitive football community working together for the best outcome for all,” Buckley said.
“We have a huge number of participants in so many fantastic competitions and the challenge for us is to get them structured so that there are defined pathways for junior and senior footballers of all levels.
“Football will only reach its full potential when all of the stakeholders in the game are pushing in the same direction.
“Once we get it right we will be able to better underpin the Hyundai A-League, lay the foundation for a National Cup Competition and potentially for a future second tier competition framework below the Hyundai A-League.”
The NCR will be conducted at the same time as the A-League strategic review and will involve representatives of the Member Federations, State League Clubs and the FFA football development and Hyundai A-League departments.
The terms of reference includes reviewing:
- the current Member Federation (MF) competition structures from the top State League competition to the Under 12 level,
- proposals of preferred models from MFs covering competition, development, financial aspects, to seek the best option for a second tier national competition (underpinning the Hyundai A-League) and include criteria for leagues to adopt
- Financial Analysis of models

The NCR will report on the current structure, produce a discussion paper and recommendations by late February, 2011.

Gene Test Sparks Concern For Young Athletes

Sourced from http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/25/3076709.htm

Just when you thought it was safe to go and kick a ball in the park for fun!
This is the sort of thing that will attract some parents and is there anything wrong with it?  It seems that some serious biological science is finding its way into the gym and who knows, may be one day into school sports programs or the Football Club or High Performance Program registration process. Who knows, after all it's here now. I'm usually attracted to science in support of sport, but I gotta say, I feel pretty uncomfortable about this one.

A genetic company has played down concerns that its sport test could discriminate against children and budding young athletes.

Although genes alone cannot determine whether an individual will excel at a particular sport, they have the potential to determine whether someone is better suited to endurance or power-specific activities.

The sport gene test allows DNA swabs from inside a person's mouth to be anonymously sent to the firm's laboratory and analysed.

The test will soon be made available in gyms and sports stores around the country, but there are fears over-zealous parents will use the test to screen their children for sporting suitability.

The chief scientific officer of MyGene, Graeme Smith, acknowledges some people will want to gather information about future athletes as early as possible.

But he says the test will not be made available to people under the age of 18.

Catering For All Abilities

Sourced from http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/


Part 1: what is "success"?

In this article, I suggest how we can cater for children of widely differing abilities and why we need to make sure that all our players, not just the better ones, come away from our coaching sessions with the feeling they have achieved something.

But before considering how we can differentiate our sessions we need to understand how our players define "success".

Definition: Differentiation is how we adapt experiences and activities to meet the developmental needs of individuals or groups of children.

For young children up to age of about 10, it is simple. Effort equals success, regardless of the end result. That is called being "task orientated".

From the age of 11 or 12, children understand effort will only help them up to a certain point. A 12 year old, for example, may believe that no matter how hard they try they will not be as good at, say, shooting as the team's star attacker.
This new knowledge forces them to choose to either continue to be task orientated ("if I try hard I will be successful") or to redefine success in a more adult way where success means being the best. This is called being "ego orientated".

What does this mean for us as youth soccer coaches?

How your players measure their own success and whether they are ego or task orientated is very important.

A task-orientated striker, for example, will always work hard, running into spaces and trying to reach crosses even if they are not scoring goals.

On the other hand, an ego-orientated striker who hits a dry spell will stop trying in order to protect their view of themselves as successful. They may also blame their team mates for not providing them with chances to score or drop into midfield and say they want to "build up from the back".
Clearly, most youth soccer coaches would like a team full of task-orientated players. I know I would!
We can manage the way our players define success (and if they work hard or not, even when they are not achieving good results) by being careful about the messages we send out to them about success, hard work and winning.

If we focus on the importance of winning matches, design training sessions that do not cater for players of differing abilities, if we congratulate our players when they win regardless of how hard they had to work to do it... we are encouraging them to be ego orientated.

Could This Be The Chance For Capital Football To Get A Pathway Established For Talented Young ACT Male Players In National Competition?

Capital Football led the charge for an ACT Women's Team in the W League. Fantastic work and outstanding for Women's Football in our region - as long as we keep the ACT representation high and talented young ACT players get a start.

Now the men's side of things is in tatters. The "pathway"  stops at our Premier League competition. Can you recall Capital Football raising a senior men's ACT representative team to play a  fixture against a visting team of good standard (A league Youth team, visiting overseas or interstate team) in the ACT last season. Promoting the fixture, encouraging A league reps / scouts to attend and generally  making a big deal of the whole thing. Nothing comes immediately to mind! Clubs have organised better opportunties as part of their preseason and off season programs, no thanks to Capital Football and no support. Pretty misreable record in 2010 come to think of it on this matter.

The prospect of an A League team for Canberra drifts further and further into the future. No A League Youth team in prospect. The whole endeavour has run aground and the FFA has shown little interest in the ACT.

The only two Premier League Clubs that are sufficiently resourced to seek entry to the NSW Premier League are the two that have done it before (and been thrown out) - Belconnen United and Canberra FC. Good, strong clubs both. Neither seem inclined to give it a go again and anyway, if they do make the step up again and provide a defacto football pathway for our best players, why should they do it without some assistance from Capital Football? But that's just speculation on my part as both will campaign in the 2011 Capital Football Premier League.

Our best young players are stuck firmly in the ACT and that does them no good at all if they want to go further in the game.

And then I read this on the SBS World Game website. Do I detect a glimmer of a chance for us? Is Capital Football fully engaged and all hands awake and alert?

Read this one...

Football Scholarships to US Colleges (Universities) - It's A Sensational Option!

This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) on Tuesday 23 November 2010, across the Australian Community Radio Network.

Many young Australians dream of playing Football at the highest level, in Australia and overseas. It's a worthy ambition. Regrettably, only a very, very  few realise this dream. Its a long hard road, paved with disappointment more often than reward. It's hard enough to get into an A league Youth team and then you don't get paid a living wage. Professional Football is a highly competitive environment, often depending on more than demonstrated ability and perhaps a little too much on "timing", "connections" and what we would just simply refer to a plain "good luck".

Underpinning this ambition is many years of single minded hard work, too the exclusion of so many other things that would ordinarily occupy the lives of young people. "Natural talent" as some call it is not enough. Without that single-mindedness, persistence in the face of injury and rejection, and, a first rate football work ethic - nothing is possible! Simple as that.

Family support is critical to success. Parents and family provide the love and support to sustain the young Football player's ambition. Families dedicate considerable limited disposable income to make the "dream" of professional Football a reality. Playing good Football costs lots of money and don't let anyone tell you anything else! I am always in admiration of the many parents I have met that do all they can with what they have to make the best in Football for their children. Sometimes, love and desire can results in some very poor decisions for the best of reasons. The sacrifice is not without disappointment. As most young Footballers do not  realise their ambitions, it is the parents and families that catch them and move them forward into the future, a future not necessarily without football (though this happens a bit too often), but not playing for a Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona or AC Milan. Not even the A League!

The message is clear for all of us with children that want to achieve in Football - plan for a future without professional football as a means of earning a living. Keep young players focused on good academic outcomes at high school, no matter how mnay promises of success are trailed out in from of the young player. Professional football seems to have no shortage of sharks and false profets, and they care nothiong for your child's future byond the next football game.

Education provides options in the future. Football usually does not attend to this critical consideration for the vast majority that play the beautiful game. So keep them at school and doing as well as they can. Plan a career that will see them earning a living wage, that will give them a chance of economic prosperity, independent of playing good football. Anything else is madness!

This brings me to the tonight's program. I have noticed more and more young payers talking about trying to get a sports sholarship to a US College. Good idea, but as you see (if you are not already familiar with the environment), it takes a lot of planning in advance. It can't be done at short notice. To help us get some understanding of this prospective option, we speak to a US based organisation called "National Scouting Report (NSR)", a specialist agency that facilitates young Australian Football players (soccer in the USA), to apply for US College (University) sporting scholarships. It is a real option for young players with good academic results (I didn't say brilliant!) and playing good football. NSR places athletes in many sports in US Colleges on sports scholarships. Its well worth considering, before you think about heading off  to Europe on the vague promise of fame and riches. This  is an absolutely fascinating interview.

One of the players below is at a US College today.

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Football In The ACT Region Takes Another Kick in the Guts!

I could hardly believe what I was reading in the Canberra Times - The ACT Government had struck a deal with the as yet, non existent, AFL Club called Greater Western Sydney, to the tune of $26 million over a ten year period, adjusted for the CPI. The pay off is reported to be the grand total of four AFL (some Premiership standard) per season.

Wow, again bloody wow and thank you very much. I feel like I lost a thousand and found a cent. They are jumping for joy in AFL land in the ACT Region and laughing all the way to the bank in greater Western Sydney and AFL headquarters in Melbourne!

Just get yourself around the magnitude of the deal, courtesy of we ACT taxpayers - a cool $650,000 per game for ten years (adjusted for CPI, mustn't forget that !!!)

Now the Raiders and Brumbies get nothing like this sort of money, but they have done nicely over many ears, thankyou very much. Good luck to them I say.

So when is it pay day for Football in the ACT?

Questions:

1. Did anyone on the Capital Football Board know this sort of money was in the wind?
2. If they did, where is Football's share?
3. If they did not, why not?
4. If there is a plan to get $26 million dollars out of the ACT Government to develop the game in the ACT, what is it and when will it deliver?

Football has a playing constituency of more than 18,000 ACT citizens (all ages). The supporter base is so much larger and many are parents, bound to the sport because of their children's participation.

You  could wrap AFL, Rugby and Rugby League up together and not match Football participation rates.
This is real "sports political muscle", so why doesn't the Capital Football Board flex them and get Minister Barr's attention.

Where is the FFA and Frank Loewe when you need him?

I just get the uncomfortable feeling that the Capital Football (Board) has been asleep at the wheel on this one - probably more like comatose given the magnitude of the ACT Government investment. What are they scared of - that the ACT Government won't help them - well, have a look Football sportsfans, they didn't!

And please, don't accept any talk about the ACT Government's generosity toward Football through the Hawker enclosed redevelopment. Football paid part of that price, which is more than AFL will do in the ACT through Greater Western Sydney.

While we in Football have been walking around patting ourselves on the back over the installation of a terrific artificial surface at Hawker Enclosed, gratefully accepting crumbs Minister Barr's table at the ACT Government, AFL thought bigger and better, lobbied and got all they wanted. And the GWS AFL team doesn't even exist yet, nor will it base operations in the ACT.

We in Football in the ACT just don't think big! Or maybe we have the wrong people doing thinking for us! And remember, we are chasing our share of public funds here to assist the development of the game in our   region.

Another three Hawker enclosed type facilities,and we would have a plan wroth noticing, but not one that takes ten years to mature and for much less cost than $650,000 per game (adjusted for the CPI, must not forget that), then we would have something to praise, we woul dhave forward progress in the biggest (and best) game in the ACT (and the World). The ACT Government just does not take the Footaball community seriously. Why is that?

What really strikes me as plain nauseating, is that the Football sporting public is expected to be satisfied with a decision by the ACT Government to trade little more than four AFL games a year and the hint of an "Academy" and something about improving Manuka Oval (again!), in exchnage for $26 million smackers!This is the worst possible use of public funds in support of sport and does absolutely nothing for Football going forward.

We need an enormous boost in playing surfaces and facilities and not just for Football across the ACT. This is a scandalous waste of public funds.

Let's hear Capital Football on this one - loud and clear please!

This is a real kick in the guts for Football.

Read the Canberra Times article below:

Anatomy Of A Women's Premier League Club - Playing the 1-4-3-3

One Women's Premier League Club in the Capital Football Competition in season 2010, embarked on a three year plan to change the way things are done in Premier League Football in the ACT region.

That club was Woden Valley Women's FC and the Head Coach is Ed Hollis. It was no easy task, the Woden Valley Women's FC had more than its fair share of success in the first year of the three year plan, but Coach Hollis and his staff are not fooling themselves - this is a work in progress.

This year, some absolutely fantastic Football was played in the Women's Premier League grades (PL18, Reserves and PL). The standout Clubs were Belwest (who can forget their absolute dominance for so long), Belconnen United (slow to start but as Hollis describes them - "the sleeping giants") and of course, Woden Valley WFC. Newcomers, Tuggeranong United and Brindabella Blues laid the foundations for the next season and what a terrific addition to the PL they are and will be going forward. Canberra FC were very disappointing and you would expect significant work to be done by the Club to  make them ompetitive in 2011 - anything else is a poor reflection on a fabulous Club.

The Woden Valley WFC story in 2010 is a really interesting one and Coach Hollis gives us a fascinating and candid look into the making of  competitive Premier League teams in the current era. There is so much to learn from their experience - including how to use the 1-4-3-3 and why its so productive for young developing players. Woden Valley WFC lifted the bar this season, now its for others to respond and no doubt some will. Those that don't will fall further behind. That's the way it is in Football at any level.

So sit back, cup of tea to hand, put up the "do not disturb" notice on the door, kick back and listen to this local Football story.

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Does A "6 Pack" Prevent Back Pain?

This is sourced from the Sports Injury Doctor ISSUE 14, 08 NOVEMBER , -http://www.rehabtrainer.com.au - Chris Mallack - has been head of sports med at Bath Rugby and head physio at Queensland Reds Super 14. He presents the Rehab Trainer course in London each year.


I read once that only 5% of the population have the ability to attain a true and visible ‘6 pack’ of muscle in the abdominal core, irrespective of diet and training. I am glad that I am not one of that 5%. I don’t feel the pressure to keep something I don’t have so it then affords me the luxury of a glass or 5 of tasty carbohydrate laden Australian cool climate Shiraz every night.
Attaining the ‘6 pack’ of muscle in the abdominal core is a fine balance between genetics, good nutrition (often the low carbohydrate variety espoused by the bodybuilders and fitness competitors) and good training. But does a ‘6 pack’ guard against the dreaded modern day curse of low back pain.?

Well I would argue that in fact it may, for a whole bunch of reasons.

What’s Happened To The Summer 20s?

Not enough Clubs fielding teams, Premier League Clubs with good Under 20 rosters nowhere in sight, cost of participation too high ($2,000 + a team?) and probably the cause of some non participation, why isn't this development activity funded by Capital Football, the Under 17 Summer HPP team thrown in to make up an even number of teams (and do they pay more for that), no medical assistant in attendance at the games and no Canteen for parents / players/supporters! The upside is that the football is getting pretty good to watch and that's the work of the Clubs that are participating. Be good to see the members of the Capital Football Board all out at the Summer 20s in a show of support for our youth players. How's that for a start?

And it's still a dam good Capital Football idea! So why do we have the staggers?

As you know, we are into the second year of the Men's Summer 20s. Capital Football had an inspired moment and set up an off-season competition (at very short notice to Clubs) for clubs that had a population of players Under 20 years of age (that’s every Premier League Club for a start) and would be prepared to continue to play Football in the off-season.

In the first season, we had Canberra FC, Woden Valley FC, Belconnen United and Tuggeranong United answer the call and field teams. It was a terrific start to a damn good idea and made a positive contribution to the continuing development of our players between the ages of 17 to 20 years of age.

The Coaches of the teams in the first Summer 20s were agreed that this was a good thing to do in the off season. Volunteers at a few Clubs. at short notice, saddled up again to make it happen!

Club’s were able to gather their young players in one squad, have them play in company at / around their age group and make valuable assessments of their developing talent for the forthcoming season. The players got to play football and prepared for the forthcoming season. It was a simple formulae, a low maintenance concept that didn’t require a lot of “engineering” to make it happen at the Capital Football end of things. The fly in the ointment, as it were, was that Capital Football could not see it way clear to making this brand new development opportunity, free from charges to Clubs by way of a registration fee.

During the 2010 season many of us looked forward to the second iteration of the Summer 20s. Again, many of us just assumed that Capital Football were further ahead than the previous season, speaking to Clubs as a senior level, well in advance of the close of the normal competition season, to ensure that plans were afoot at Club level to field a team in the Summer 20s. Well, it’s the sort of thing you would do – isn’t it?

Capital Football Futsal Technical Assistant, Roger Cua Talks Futsal

This program is broadcast on 2xxfm, Tuesday 9 November 2010 at 7:00PM through the Australian Community Radio network.

Roger Cua is a new addition to the Capital Football staff. He is well credentialed in Futsal and his brief manage the preparation of the ACT Teams that will contest the Nationals in early January 2011. Roger is also very concerned for the standard of coach education in Futsal and plans to do something about it.

Roger has a lot of very interesting things to say in this extended interview, particularly for those that coach the game.

Download the Podcast here:

Canberra United Off To A Flying Start

This article is sourced from http://www.canberraunited.com.au/

Heyman hat-trick gets United off to winning start
Sunday, 7 November 2010 by Russ Gibbs, CanberraUnited.com.au

A hat-trick to new signing Michelle Heyman was the highlight as Canberra United kicked off their Westfield W-League Season Three campaign with a thrilling 4-1 victory over Perth Glory at 6PR Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The 2009 Julie Dolan Medal Winner and Westfield W-League Golden Boot continued where she left off last season with a devastating display of clinical finishing to which the home team simply had no answer as United got their season off to a wonderful start. The margin of victory means that Ray Junna and his team lead the way after the first round of action in the national women’s competition and will head into next weekend’s blockbuster showdown with Brisbane Roar in confident mood.

Another Word On Player Payments

This subject has caused a lot of discussion.

Some feedback from thse that have spoken to me in the last few days (and there has been plent of it!):

One thing is clear thus far, from those that have approached me to discuss the matter (on this Blog and on the sidelines - futsal and football) - many, many people resent the idea of having to work hard in a voluntary capacity to raise money to pay players for players who train twice a week and play on Sunday. These same people see it as a waste of time and effort, something that does not "develop" the game. Most of the same people, seem to also be of the view that once you get into "serious" football (they use the Canberra United players and a representative  Mens team from Canberra in the NSW or Victorian Premier League as examples), then we should expect to give players some remuneration. Our local Premier League doesn't qualify they say, for that sort of consideration. They have been unanimous in one comment thus far - Capital Football doesn't do enough to "develop" football, they make Clubs and players pay for just about everything to be part of Football and playing Football is an expensive business now for every player at every level of the game and by that they mean parents as well as young adults with full or part time jobs.

However, its worth remebering that when we talk to "Clubs", that is club officials with their "Club" hat one, they are more cautious. Every Club wants the best players they can get and most club officials are hard headed enough to know that players will shop around to get what they can by way of match payments - if they are on offer.

Its importnat in this discussion not to demonize the players - if some one offerred you $150 a match to play what you love doing, in good company, with  a better chance of a premiership, you'd probably take the money too. Players wont change this situation - only Clubs can do that.

Some further observations on player payments by me:

This is a tough subject. I admire Belconnen United and Canberra FC because over many years of effort by many, many people, they have built an incredibly solid structure to support football.  They are where the rest of us want to be. And they do demand good football as an outcome.

I have no interest in any Club that get a big handout from a large sponsor every year and have nothing to show for it and no interest in Junior Football. A Club official in a junior club a few weeks ago told me that he had been approached to allow a PL CLub to store equipment in the off season in their shed. "This Pl CLub didn't even have a shiiping container to their name to store their gear and they are going to help us?" he said in disbelief. They have no place in Premier League Football.

The status of "Premier League Club", should be held in high regard, because with it goes some serious community football responsibilities - not just the winning of a Premiership. Both Belconnen United and Canberra FC have the football power to do great good for Football in the ACT - they are / have been involved in some terrific community / charity works. And so they should. A much better use of funds than sticking dollars in players pockets at our level.

My difference of opinion is over the need to pay players to play at the Captial Football Premier League level. It brings a lot of unpleasant stuff with it. I guess the explanation for its happening is simple enough - if you have the money to spend on player payments, to secure a stronger playing roster and win a Premiership, then its an easy step to take.

But its still a very dumb thing to do in my opinion.

Better to have players who want to play, because they want to play, and want to play for your Club and stay with your club. Money, by way of player paments gets in the way of everything - most importantly - Club loyalty. Once it starts at community level football, you can never be sure that the players are with you because you pay them or because they like football at your Club or both. Players' attitudes change and not for the good.

If you want to pay anyone, pay the Coaches a little something and the person in every PL Club who does what might be called the PL manager / Coordinators job - you can bet this will be a net positive investment, because they never stop working for the Club and players, and nearly always put their hands in their pockets to cover off on little expenses and cost during a season. They are worth every penny you pay! There are equivalents in every football club at every level. They are the real football heroes in my book.

What will the Men's Premier League Football Competition Look Like In 2011?

The Capital Football MSAC (Men's Standing Advisory Committee) has met with Premier League CLubs in recent weeks to discuss concerns arising from the 2010 season and requirements for the 2011 season.

The outcome of the meetings is among others things - to settle the form and structure of the Men's Premier League Competition for 2011.

All good so far. Its always nice to talk, but far more important that we get outcomes that provide good opportunities for our players, ensure that all games (PL to Pl16) are played on first class playing surfaces, that costs are reduced to particpatiing Clubs, Clubs remain in a helathy financial state, ensure that PL Clubs make robust efforts to develop junior pathways to the Premier League, and that we build the game and all the Clubs within the Premier League. These few things come immediately to mind because they are the ones that get talked about most often on the sidelines and at training among Clubs officials, players and supporters.

Now you may recall that there is also a "Mens League Review" also underway, which is due to report soon.

You would expect the MSAC's advice on the 2011 season and the Review outcomes / recommendations to be consistent, at least in so far as the 2011 season is concerned. But does the MSAC advice for 2011 indicate the "Review" recomendations? I guess we wait and see.

In the meantime, how did the lads on the MSAC do at this years exam?

The advice from the MSAC does little to fill the hearts of some Premier League Clubs with joy. Not sure how they all feel about it. The competition remains at two rounds (Womens PL is at three), so we have less PL competition football than last season, The Federation Cup continues in its tired old form and is offerred as the substitute for a lack f a third round in the PL Competition (there were workable alternatives to include the awarding of the Fed Cup in the PL competition). There is the dubious priviledge of increased entry fes for the Fed Cup (amount not known, just that its going up), which is news Clubs did not need. Start and finish dates and that's it. Wow, the lads had to really work hard for that outcome! I guess the rest is in the review.

What really annoys is that we could have had a longer Premier League competition and that is something we really did need.

These were the options put to the Clubs:

Further to the PL cubs meetings held over the last two nights and the brief overview (details below) of the 2011 competition options discussed, I am seeking your clubs position on the proposals by Wednesday 6 October 2010.
Both options are made on the assumption that there will be nine teams in the Premier League in 2011 and there will be no football over the Easter weekend. The options are only aimed at assisting the short fall in fixtures for 1st Grade.

Option 1:
1st Grade will play three rounds of Home and Away 27 rounds-24 matches and 3 byes
1st round will begin on 12 March and will be completed the Wednesday after Easter. (This round will include 3 mid-week double headers).
The round would utilise the grounds normally available for the Federation Cup and will therefore not be strictly Home/Away
Lower grades will then join in on the first Saturday after Easter and play two rounds on normal club competition.
There will be no weekends off for the remainder of the year apart from the two byes.
Federation Cup may be taken up as a midweek FA cup knock out style competition.


Option 2:
Federation Cup will begin 12 March and will consist of twelve teams (PL clubs plus ANU. Queanbeyan City & White Eagles). It will be split into two pools guaranteeing each club five matches and will be completed prior to Easter. The two pool winners will play off for the Cup Final.
Competition will begin after Easter with two Home and Away rounds 18 rounds (16 matches and 2 byes). There will be no weekends off.
One club may have three weekends off if they do not play in the Cup Final and draw a bye in the 1st round of the competition.
This option will guarantee 1st grade teams with 21 matches over the season.

This is what the MSAC advised yesterday to all PL Clubs:

Thank you to all for your feedback in regards to season 2010 through the recent Premier Clubs meeting.Capital Football Board met on Monday 25 October and the MSAC met on 1 November and I can now confirm the following:
· All existing clubs have had their Premier League licences confirmed until the end of season 2012.
· The Board has accepted the withdrawal of ANU FC and the Premier League competitions will continue with the remaining nine clubs until season 2012 has been completed. Every effort will be made by Capital Football to alleviate any issues in regards to the bye which has been created by the withdrawal of ANU FC.
· The MSAC can now confirm the following in regards to competition structure and dates for season 2011:
Federation Cup will kick off on the weekend of 12 March 2011 and will continue for five weeks for all teams. The final will be on 17 March 2011. The Federation Cup will consist of 12 teams (9 PL plus 3 from SL1). Please note that currently the Federation Cup is not sponsored and there will be no prize money, but the winner will receive a rebate on their entry fee. Capital Football is also reviewing the costs for the Federation Cup and there will be an increase in the entry fee (details will be made available soon).
The Premier League competition will kick off on weekend 30 April 2011 after the Easter weekend. There will be no free weekends unless one of your teams has a bye. PL competition will finish on 21 August 2011 with the Grand Finals on 17 September 2011.

There will be further news covering off on the results from the Mens League Review in the next week.

Well now, what can be said of this situation?

Local Canberra Players Make The Canberra United Squad - Outstanding!

Coach Junna had some hard decisions to make around the last couple of positions in his Cnaberra United squad. At the launch recently, two young Wonden Valley WFC players were jointly listed and it seemed that it woul dbe one or the other. The players concerned play in very different positions. Both had outstanding seasons at Woden Valley under Coach Hollis.

The players concerned were Sally Rojahn and Grace Field. Now how do you pick between these two players?

The good news is that Coach Junna found a way to have both young players join the Canberra United squad. Outstanding!

And there are maore waiting for the call in our Premier League Clubs.

Make sure you bookmark the Canberra United website and check it regularly. Its a good one - http://www.canberraunited.com.au/

The Capital Football presss release covers all the detail.

Local youngsters given United chanceTuesday, 2 November 2010 by Russ Gibbs, CanberraUnited.com.au Woden Valley youngsters Grace Field and Sally Rojahn have been officially drafted into the Canberra United squad for the start of Westfield W-League Season Three following some exceptional displays in training.
Both Field and Rojahn played a part in Canberra’s 3-0 win over the Illawarra Stingrays at Hawker Football Centre last month and, with news that potential US international recruit Natasha Kai was unable to sign for the club due to last minute obligations, Ray Junna had no hesitation in placing his faith in the duo.

Canberra United Begin The 2010/2011 Season This Weekend!

The W League kicks off this weekend.

Our Canberra United play their first game against Perth Glory in Perth on Sunday.

Canberra United has two Captains - Brush and Williams (Defender and GK). WE don't do things by have here in the Nations's Capital!

"Captain Brush" is pictured below:

The Capital Football media release says the following:

Co-Captains hoping for ideal start
Both Ellie Brush and Lydia Williams are hoping for the ideal start this weekend as Canberra United kicks off their Westfield W-League campaign with an away fixture against Perth Glory at 6PR Stadium on Sunday.
The jointly appointed team leaders are looking forward to finally getting into the thick of the action following an intensive build-up that has seen Head Coach Ray Junna putting the team through some extensive fitness exercises as well as forging a team bond that should stand the squad in good stead come Sunday afternoon.
“There’s a real buzz about the training field over the past week especially with the return of the Matildas’ players which has given everyone a lift,” Ellie Brush said. “We are really excited about this weekend’s game and want to come away with a win.”
“We are aiming to play an attacking formation that we have been working on, with an offensive looking side, with the aim that attack will be the best form of defence. It was a great help to have a hit-out and get out a few cobwebs out against the Stingrays, especially with the new players in the team, in order to get an understanding before the season gets underway. It’s been invaluable to do that.”
Brush has scored seven goals in two seasons for United from her position at centre-back and is keen to add to her tally in Season Three.
“There’s plenty of attacking talent in the team this season but I’ll certainly be looking for some goals myself! It’s always nice to get a few so hopefully I can get on the score sheet again this season,” she commented.
Goalkeeper Lydia Williams meanwhile has finally found her feet after an exhausting tour overseas with the Westfield Matildas. Having been selected for the squad that travelled to South Korea for the Peace Queen Cup and the subsequent European friendly with Germany, Williams has only just arrived back in the Capital. However, the Canberra custodian is confident that preparations are progressing nicely.
“Our preparation has been going well. Caitlin (Munoz), Sally (Shipard) and myself have just returned from our overseas tour but have fitted back into Australian time pretty well and all’s looking good on that front. Everyone is looking sharp,” Williams confirmed.
In a short ten-game season the onus is on racking up points early to give the team the best possible base for a finals assault, something that isn’t lost on Williams.
“We definitely need to get the ball rolling and get some early results under our belts, especially in the opening three matches, and that would be a real boost for us and put us on the front foot. We don’t want to be over-confident as we don’t know what the other teams have in terms of recruitment yet from other countries. Last year you could predict who was going to be the top teams whilst this year it’s anyone’s game. “
Canberra United starts their Westfield W-League season with an away trip to Perth Glory on Sunday. Kick-off is at 3pm local time, 6pm EST.

You can follow the match through our LIVE SCORING section on the Canberra United FC website (www.canberraunited.com.au).

Payments to Players Cripple The Game In The ACT

Why do Clubs pay players in the Premier League? Why?

The answer is simple enough some would say - so that you can get the best playing roster and become a strong chance to win the competition.

But where does that money come from - the money that goes into the players pockets?

Well for most Clubs in the Capital Football Premier League it comes from a few sponsors, donations, raffles, canteen takings, sale of gear, Club functions, not to mention reigstration fees for each player (and what do clubs get of that) and the like. Every dollar is counted and counted upon to keep the Club afloat. Its all hard graft for a few motivated people in the Club.

The Clubs with a licence to play in the Capital Football Premier League must satisfy Capital Football that they can meet the costs of campaigning in the Premier League. Easy for them to say, but do they have their collective fingers on the pulse? What does it cost a Club to run four teams in the Men's Premier League? Good question. A little bird told me that some were surprised when told by a Club that had a good season, that it was just hanging on by a thread and faced the same daunting challenge again to find the money to go around again. What planet are some of these people on? How many Board members go to PL games (mens and womens) in season or the Summer 20s (another cost to Clubs and one that should have been absorbed by Capital Football, but that's another story and I'm easily distracted) and so on? You don't even get a shoulder to cry on, much less an ear to bash!

I know some things for sure - its costing more each season, the money is getting harder to find and more and more players are looking for a pay day. Out here in Clubland, we are all getting a bit worried. Player payments are a pox on our game.

At the end of every season in the Premier League, Clubs with money eye of the emerging talent and make offers. One young player told me four weeks ago that he had been approached to go to another PL club for $260 a game and another for $170 a game. If you were young and offerred this moent would you (or I) move - I guess so. This causes lots of problems for some PL Clubs.

Another aspect - that small group of Club officials and supporters that make it all possible for players to play, go looking for a minimum of $40,000 per season for a Premier League Club licence per season. Some officials argue the figuer is now closer to $70,000 per season if you want to cover all the contingencies and that's before you get to player payments of any significance.

Now we are not talking Manchester United type payments to PL players. What is said to be paid (and this is hard to verify with real precision) is not big, big money, but try finding $100 per player per game a season. And that's before you cover off on the training costs - we train (and play sometimes) on absolutely crap playing surfaces and when we try to relocate to good ones such as Hawker enclosed or the AIS, it costs Clubs money. You don't get any help from the FFA, CAPital Football or anyone else in solving this basic football problem.

So why on earth would most of the Clubs in the Capital Football Premier League, without a huge sponsor or a licenced club behind them, get entangled in the business of paying players to play? It can only lead to the Club collapsing and leaving the Premier League. That's the history for every code of football, including our poor, but not so old A League competition. The Youth League players don't get a living wage and the our very own Canberra United plays for the love of it. And yet, we think its a good idea to pay players in the Capital Football Premier League?

I'll tell you why - because the few clubs with money / resources put together the best playing rosters. These few Clubs can pay per game, and they pick and choose the players they want from across all the clubs that are prepared to go to them (and not all do). Well that's there good fortune, but it reeks havoc on the competitive nature of the teams across the competition and the survivability of those other Clubs. That should worry Capital Football and Capital Football Board because it worries the hell out of the other Clubs that are not well resourced and float on unpaid volunteers.

We have a variety of structures among our Premier League Clubs - some have a junior club based, others make arrangements to get it from elsewhere. This structural difference raises many questions, but I'll confine myself to one releveant to the issue of paying players. Why would a big Junior Clubs form a united "super Club" if there was a real risk that the revenue earned via the junior football contributions (and thats where the real money is people), could be consumed by player payments to Premier Legaue players, who play for no more sunstantial reason than a boy or girl in the Div 3 Under 13s within the same Club? Well, you would have to mad to get into that sort of arrangement.

Paying players robs the game of resources at Club level necessary to grow the game and develop all the players. We are not a professional football environment where player payments are concerned, but all Clubs do their level best to make it so in every other way - with less and less each season. That too should worry the Capital Football Board.

This week I interviewed the President of the Goulburn Strikers, Graeme Welsh about rumours I had heard about the Strikers.

The usual Club stuff - playing roster, coaches for next season and so on. They started well in 2010 and fell away and we all know how that feels. Its always accompanied by a certain amount of finger pointing, blame shedding and if onlys. Things change all the time at Club level. I was struck by the "statesman" like approach of Graeme Welsh (as I was by his predecssor Shane Wilson), very experienced bloke, not easily fooled or flustered was my impression. When we got to the subject of Clubs poaching players with offers of match payments and he made more sense than I have heard in a long time. Four things he said hit home for me when it comes to paying a player in our league (I would summarise as follows):

1. The money you take is money from your club and your mates
2. If you want more money, get another job
3. We are not really professional (in terms of paying players) until the players start bringing in gate receipts (we have A league clubs that can't do that).
4. Don't ask your mates to pay you for doing something you enjoy.

If it was me, I would stamp out player payments now. Capital Football needs to sort out the ever widening gap between the haves and have nots in the Mens Premier League, and do a lot more to reduce costs to PL Clubs. Clubs that are successful right now against all the financial  odds, will fall if we don't find a way to contain the costs associated with playing football. Start with player payments - its a good start.

Listen and form your own opinion.

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Football Is More Than A Game

This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), through the Australian Community Radio Network at 7:00PM on Tuesday 2 November 2010.

Tonights program is a bit special. Football is life and life is Football. Football crosses every boundary in our society and across every nation state, gender, race, ethnic group and religious belief on the planet. Football is so inclusive. Football's capacity to build "community" is limitless.
One of the most joyful and thoroughly decent things to accompany the Football is the game’s capacity to help people in need.

The game floats on masses of volunteers, people who take on coaching, managing and refereeing, those that work tirelessly and unpaid to assist running Football Clubs. Ordinary people from every walk of life, often putting their hand into their pockets to help get something for a Club to benefit those that play. The battalions of parents who work behind the scenes for young players (and not so young) to ensure they are there able to play, set up the grounds, run the BBQ or canteen, sort out the lost clothes, make sure the water bottles are full, organise transport to and from  and find the money necessary to register them to play. The list or description is endless. A lot of people buy into Football when one young player asks to play Football. The "community" gives a lot to Football!

Football is such a wonderful example of “Community” and we are a very big "community" in the ACT Region. There is only one price of admission - that you are interested in Football. Football Clubs are a social hub for parents and players and supporters. So much important information is exchanged between parents at the games on the sidelines. The things you find out! It knocks Facebook and Twitter into the dustbin. It's so much better to meet and talk to people. Football Clubs are vitally important, as our society  becomes more insular and we, far too self aborbed or obsessed.

What is that our "community", particularly our young players, do in return for the "community"?

As I watched out training for the Summer 20s last week, I reflected on our "community". I watched the coaches giving it their full attention and the football co-ordinator running around like a lunatic fetching balls and doing a hundred other things. All this was accompanied by the usual symphony of player noise and occassional bursts of self interested behaviour. You get used to it if you coach or work with a Club and young players long enough.  But sometimes you wish you could just stop the training and tell the lot of them that are so bloody lucky, and don’t take it all for granted, and ever now and then think of some one other than themselves. The odd player sees it that way instinctively, but most need to be reminded and seldom are. But as I watched our training, I wondered, not for the first time - did many really know how much voluntary work was being done on their behalf? And again I concluded most were bloody clueless. And who's fault is that I thought?

Now I am close to tonights theme – Football is more than the game!

I am always knocked over by the charitable endeavours of some of Football Clubs. Just a couple to illustrate the point – Tuggeranong United FC are running a dawn to dusk football game to raise money for Epilepsy ACT, while Capital Football, Belconnen United, Belnorth and Western Creek are running the Football Connect program for children with disabilities. Then there is the Steve Arnott Challenge to raise money for the Canberra Hospital Oncology ward. There are plenty of other activities we never hear about and should.  I recall that some time ago, Canberra FC running an exhibition match with the Melbourne Knights to aid the Victorian Bushfire Appeal. The people in our "community"  are the real Football heroes.

Wouldn’t it be terrific if the players took it upon themselves to do something as a team for others. Some sort of community work. And if they wanted too we should help make it so. Why couldn't this be a formal part of the Capital Football Season draw and why not start with the Premier League?

Now to sharpen the pencil onthis program's theme.

Some time ago I interviewed a bloke called George Huitker. He’s known to many in football and futsal. He is definitely known to many generations of young citizens in his capacity as a teacher and coach at Radford College (he is in his third decade there). He is a poet, a writer, playwright, musician, actor, player, coach and thoroughly decent human being. At Radford he is simply knwn as “H”. What a glorious understatement - a bit like Bradman's batting average. His two books on Junior Football are recommended reading for every parent with a child playing football and should be compulsory reading for every coach in junior and youth football in Australia. Nothing else comes close.

George Huitker formed and organisation called teamSUPPORT at Radford College, initially around his football players and they set out to do charitable works in the wider community. His teams were playing the game in its widest and most productive context in our community. Football was the vehicle for the development of the human being, not just a football player. They gave up practicing "stepovers" away and stepped in to to help those less fortunate than themseleves. One experience benefited the other. The program has grown enormously, gone well beyond Radford College and too resounding acclaim.

So tonight, we listen to an extract from George Huitker’s book launch for latest book “Little Life”.  George reads a passage from the book on a team SUPPORT activity that involved some of his players. The story in this book is so much more than this, but I’ll leave it to you to read the book. The limk between George Huitlker's philosophy on developing players and developing young citizens is inspirational. So we continue with a part of an interview I did with George Huitker for the NPL some time ago.

This program is for listening and thinking. Football and "community" in its widest sense is at the core of the program.

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