The "Nationals" are over for our ACT representative teams. They did as well as may be expected. But can we do more for our young talented female players?
The Under 14 Girls held their position in Group A for 2012 and the Under 15 Girls finished second in Group B and will remain in Group B for the 2012. Clearly the players and coaches have done well to hold the line, as it were. What will next year hold, given the steady progress in other states?
A question - Can we do better in 2012? And another - Why do we keep asking ourselves this question?
There was disquiet among some parents for the lack of effective preparation prior to (and I don't mean a few short weeks out from the championships) the commencement of the championships in both age groups, as there was concern for a continuing lack of depth in playing strength in the Under 15 age group ( a deficiency identified last year in the Under 14 age group but not remedied) and, the inability to get all the players to training sessions due to competing Club competition, Club tours and development opportunities (leaving aside the ordinary illness and other family matters that always arise).
There are a lot of competing demands on these young players and where does ACT representation sit in that hierarchy of opportunities? Perhaps the most surprising complaint / concern expressed was the lack of preparation games / fixtures for the squads prior to the Nationals. If true, it must have placed our representative teams and their coaches in a position of significant disadvantage, given the extensive preparation undertaken by the big junior football performers such as NSW Metro, Victoria and Queensland.
I can recall one notable exception to this pathology in recent times in junior girls football - The ACT Under 13 Girls of 2010, coached by Colin Johnston. Colin has extensive experience in junior player development, he develops good football habits among his young players, he was the coach that made all the difference at Woden Valley SC as "technical director", the very earliest practitioner of small sided games in the ACT that I can recall in community based club football, he trained lots of junior community based coaches in his methods (which were much of what is the national curriculumum is today in these age groups) and set standards that are copied by other Clubs. In this area of football, his knowledge and experience dwarfed anything resident at Capital Football in its time. The results of lengthy and well directed preparation, which included in excess of thirty matches (and they traveled to get them - all supported by parents of the players) resulted in a superb performance at the Nationals last year, high technical points assessment, several players in the All Stars and one of them subsequently selected for the inaugural Australian Under 13 Girls team, while he was awarded the task of coaching the All Stars team in the final fixture (take that to mean a big thumbs up from those that know Football). This was the standard for all our future efforts! Nothing less is required in order to be competitive among the girls and boys age groups at a National competitive level. So it can be done.
However, back to that question(s) - Can we do better in 2012? And another - Why do we keep asking ourselves this question?
The NPL Local will ask these and related questions of the CF Technical Director when he gives his promised second interview. Royston is smart football fellow - he will have answers. What is it we are not seeing or do not know on this subject? If there is a better way ahead, what is the plan and how long before it gets going? We need to know.
Here are the final table results for the Championships:
The question of "Can we do better in 2012" depends on Capital Football improving the communication between the clubs, coaching staff, parents and kids as I feel they don't do this very well which is why the kids are burning out and are too afraid to talk to anyone as the expectations of the coaches and some parents is too high. These kids have commitments with so many different areas within soccer and also school and god forbid they would have down time.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who was at the Nationals this week in Coffs Harbour and witnessed crying, complaints, interesting discussions with parents and coaches and we can't say anything to anyone because we all feel that it might hurt our chances with future selection to ACT Representation.
Maybe Capital Football could do an anonymous feedback form for players, parents, coaching staff etc.
If we want to make changes and do better in 2012, it's time Capital Football started listening to feedback as we are living it and have so much to say.
Concerned parent
OK. I appreciate your response.
ReplyDeleteThere is always a certain amount of pressure at the Nationals and reigning in "expectations" is a very hard thing to do, made a lot harder if the preparation is unsatisfactory etc.
The Coach(s) are left to bare the brunt of it all and this can be very unfair, as in the case of these two age groups, there was a strong feeling from some parents that there had just been insufficient time to prepare. In fact, it waspointed out to me on Sunday at the Football that we had fallen backwards in our preparation / pre nationals activities. The Coach(s) usually can;t do much about that - they are under instructions andunder resourced.
The fear of "retribution", real or imaginary, is ever present amng parents with junior talented players. Not a pleasant thought, but true - real or imaginary.
I don't think we are doing enough, but its a discussion I would like to have with the Technical Director of CF. He is the only person who should answer these questions and give us some understanding of the level of priority and support the rep teams will have and how they will be prepared for 2012. Then parents can best advise their children as to whether this is worth pursuing or simply remining at their Club and putting the enough into Club tours etc.
Your suggestion for some sort of survey is an excellent idea, should happen with every rep team - preparation / coaching/ technical/ off field support etc.
If I were the TD I would hold a simple parents forum for the participating players' parents and step through the entire experience. After all, parents pay and give enormous amounts of time! The Coaches must also be debriefed formally, as they are able to provide critical information for future campaigns. Then CF TD publishes the lot! No hidden corners.
And you parents decide whether you want your child to be part of this process in the future.Parents make the decisions for children and they are hard markers where their chidlren are concerned - that's who CF needs to convince going forward and in this case, to whom CF is first accountable.
Can we do better for our talented players is a great question. I think we should always be asking, as well, 'What are we doing for ACT boys that we are not doing for girls?' 'Why is there a difference? 'If we don't want this continue, what needs to change and when?'. The latest issue of 4-4-2 also has a great discussion of the impact of praise, of being identified as talented, and of the merit - in fact the absolute need - for talented players to also work hard and keep practicing and (presumably) playing high level training games. Eamonn's blog (nearpost blogspot) has some ideas for the next five years, which may set up these opportunities.
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