Our best performed ACT Rep team in 2010 - the Under 13 Girls. And they were very good! Some of these young players have already moved forward to the Womens' ACTAS program. Others will follow for sure.
Out of this team - our first Australian Under 13 Girls representative - Siena Senatore. And if memory serves correctly, that's a top flight young NSW player (also an Australian U13 rep) she has to deal with and did so. It can be done! In the case of Ms Senatore, it was the product of years of work in Football, summer and winter, CF HPP, Coerver Academy (several years of it) for the high quality technical development that is second to none in the ACT region, and various other football activities that her parents got her too over the years, too numerous to list and of course, Futsal. Ron Smith's word "repetition" comes to mind. There are no shortcuts. In the end though, its the player that does the work and the harder you work if you have some ability, the more likely you are to succeed. And so it was for this young player. I can only imagine how proud her parents and brother must have been when her selection was announced. It can be done!
Here we have the 2006 Socceross, a remarkable group of players, with a first rate coach and top class support staff - among which Ron Smith was a key person - the football analyst. One picture that defeinately belongs in the "pool room"! This is where all that "development" , all that "repetition" and an uncompromising ambition / committment to succeed, may take a talented young player. Without all this and before any other factor imposes itself, nothing is possible. It all starts in our backyard - our Clubs and ourCapital Football player development regime. That's why this review of our HPP is so important.
As I have mentioned previously, we do not attempt to tick off every paragraph of the report or recommendations. You do the reading for yourself when the report is released on the CF website.
Instead, we have a long fireside chat with Ron around the major themes or key points in his report and recommendations. The report stands as it is and how it willbe dealt with is for others. At this point, I think its far more important to listen to the author’s thoughts, underpinning philosophy and views on these matters, as it will assist us in understanding what he has recommended and why.
There are no hidden corners, what you hear is how it is. Ron’s research is thorough and he has a depth of football experience at the highest levels of the game, which enables him to bring a certainty of observation not available to most of the rest of us.
I must also again remind the NPL listener, that Ron’s not responsible for implementation of the recommendations. He has tabled his report and now its for others to decide what to do with it. In this case, it is for the CF Board to decide and the new Technical Director to undertake over the next couple of years.
As ever, now the report is done, the devil is in the detailed implementation.
So sit back, cup of tea to hand, close the door, hang the "do not disturb" sign on the door knob, put on the headphones, listen and think.
Download the Podcast here:
Very interesting interview. I could make lots of comments both positive and constructive, but something that I think we all need to remember is that clubs in the ACT do NOT own junior players and this notion that somehow decisions about the talented player development programs need to factor in the fact that a club may lose 3 or 4 or 5 players from an age group is irrelevant and NOT in the best interests of the players concerned. I think there are some clubs who put premierships before players. If we think this way then we may as well scrap the ACTAS programs and just send those players to the PL clubs. Are we seriously contemplating doing that? No I think not. So the sooner we get real and re-establish the CF playing squads in the mould of the ACTAS programs the better. I hope CF makes the HPP review report public soon, appoint a new quality TD soon and ignore the self-interest of clubs vis a vis these players and do the right thing by them.
ReplyDeleteYes, you have put your finger on the crucial issue when talking about the development of young talented players. Agree with sentiments in your last sentance, as I am certain does Ron Smith.
ReplyDeleteI confess I am still worried about the cost to parents for these development programs. This was not really part of Ron Smiths brief and he gives us a big hint about the future when he observes (sorry,forget which interview part)that things are "user pays" these days. Well true, but it getting so damn expensive to play football and futsal and then have the children attend development programs. Ands ths costs don't stop at ACTAS.
How things go forward in the next two years will have a profound effect on the development of our young players. No point in another review - there isn't anything significant to find out now. Its all about the "how", which Ron makes reference too frequently - and my view was he was making a point to anyone in positions of authority who cared to listen. We need to keep watching, thinking and talking about it.
Anyway, put up some more thoughts if you have the time.
I'm not dismissing the cost factor (an issue for the sport overall as ws pointed out in the interviews) and I don't have a ready answer, but I wonder if CF are covering more than just their costs with these programs (hopefully this issue ie. cost breakdowns etc. is addressed in the report). At $550 for each summer program participant you have to wonder if there isn't some revenue making that goes to general expenditures. Also let us remember that ACT is probably the most affluent of all the states and territories. I also understand FNSW may be imposing a small levy on all players to make their Project 22 squads (ie. equivalent of HPP squads) effectively free. Whilst I'm not advocating that in a small jurisdiction like ACT surely for those kids in the most hard up of families (eg. single/low income families) there must be ways CF can support them (probably a small proportion) and possibly recoup that cost through government grants etc. I don't see the cost factor as the biggest barrier to a 'new' talented player pathway model.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the report but the two telling things from the interview seem to be that the only true High Performance programs in thge ACT at present are ACTAS and AIS and that the previous academy playing squad model delivered far superior national representation results. You were right to say that we should not dismiss things done in the past. I think we junked a model that worked in the past, and we have one at present that doesn't seem to be as effective. The way forward seems to be clear to me.