The Defensive Midfielder in the 4-3-3 (point back)

Sourced from Nike Academy at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uczW42zDIk&feature=relmfu

If you are Coaching a Junior or Youth team you should be using the 1-4-3-3 system of play.

If you are coaching according to the FFA National Curriculum......

Younger teams play the midfiled triangle "Point Forward". Put simply, one player is at the point of the triangle is forward and behind the front three players, while the two other players are to the rear but in fromt of the back four players. Essentially, the emphasis is more on defence than attack.

However, at about 14/15 years the formation in the midfiled is changed to "Point Back". The midfield now plays a triangle that has the point in front of the back four, while the base of the triangle is now forward. With two players in the midfield triangle behind the front three, the empahsis is on attack.

Its really important that the young players get a chance to play this position and for them all to know the basic repsonsibilities of each position in the midield. Well all positions really. But give them a chance to play these midfield positions.

When you play point back, the single player at the base of the triangle has a lot of responsibility. He / she is now called a defencive midfielder.

The video below is very instructive on the subject of the Defencive midfielder.

Playing Out From the Back

Sourced from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdtOq_XlZAU

If you coach junior or youth teams, you should be playing out from the back.

Not just letting your GK kick the ball as far as they can. Conducting an aerial bombardment on the other team is not football, not even close to it.. Long ball second ball is bollocks for young players. Teaches them nothing. They won't get better at the game, they get far less touches, it reduces the beautiful game to kick and chase. Not Football!

Play out from the back. Take the time to make it happen, explain how it works at training, let the young players sort it out, let the game be the teacher. Don't let them stop just because it gets a bit hard or parents whinge. Explain what you are doing to the parents. If they don;t like it, keep doing it and tell them you are the Coach and this is exactly what the FFA  requires you to do for young players. Try keeping the ball rather than hoofing it up the pitch. There will be mistakes, you will get stuck in your defensive third a bit, there will be the occassional disaster, at least until the young players work out how to play their way out of it. It will take time. Be patient but stay on track. So many more touches on the ball and so much more Football!

If you have your GK kicking long, lets face it, you are pursuing wins. You should not be caoching junior and youth football. You are undermining the FFA National Curriculum and Development plans. If you play out from the back, you are developing your young players, you are doing exactly the things the FFA requires of you and in time, these lucky young players will be the winners and so will Football in Australia.

Here is an excellent instructional video from the Nike Academy on how to play out from the  back. Well worth a look.

Majura FC Under 13 Girls - Borneo Bound!

In a stroke of Junior Football genius, Majura FC is sending an Under 13 Girls team to Borneo to play Football against the local teams.

Majura FC Under 13 Girls - the wild girls of Borneo!

A very small number of ACT junior football clubs have sent teams to campaign overseas. There is an enormous amount of work associated with getting things organised. Woden Valley SC has a fine record in both boys and girls overseas tours. Monaro FC has a wonderful relationship with the South Korean Singok Primary school. But it's Majura FC that is cutting new ground in Asia.

Why is this important? Really important!

Simple. Asia is our region, they play a lot of very good Football in our region and we qualify through this region to compete in all the Age and Open World Cups, men and Women. It makes a lot of sense to go to Asian countries to develop the young players. There is an established Boys Borneo Cup tournament and next year there is the inaugral Girls Borneo Cup. And the Majura FC girls are doing a first rate Football recon.

This is the way to develop our young female players. Europe is nice, South America too far away - but Asia (Bornoe) is spot on.

So its the young Majura FC Under 13 girls who will pave the way for the rest of Australia at Club level. All research to date indicates that this is the first girls junior team to tour Borneo. What a coup for Majura FC!

Now remember, this is a community based club girls age team, not an ACT representative team, but they are certain to represent our football community in good style.

The Coach, Heather Fitt has them playing good football, following the FFA's National Curriculum, 1-4-3-3, playing out from the back and playing possession based football. In so many ways they are a model for how it ought to be done with our young players at every competitive level at Clubs. Just as the FFA Technical Director would wish it to be.

As ever, its the selfless efforts of Club officials, Coaches and parents that make these Football adventures possible. Just fantastic. This one started two years ago. The girls will remember it all their lives. They are only this age once! And one other thing - it may be the experience that inspires one of them to go all the way in the beautiful game. You never know what lies ahead. But perhaps more importantly, it is likely to be the reason they simply continue to play for as long as life allows. That would be a priceless dividend for the Club and the game in Australia.

Good luck to them all I say and plenty more of it from every other junior Club.

The Majura FC press release, with all the details  is below.

Kanga Cup 2012 - A Festival of Football

The Kanga Cup 2012 will start on Sunday, 8th July 2012, with an opening ceremony at the AIS.

Go to the Kanga Cup website for all the right information and match results:
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-8337-0-0-0

The Football starts on Monday, 9th July at venues around Canberra, culminating in the finals on Friday.

The will be no shortage of good football, girls and boys, international teams and teams form every State and Territory in Australia. The finals are sensational. Just doesn't get any better than that!

In this program we talk to the Kanga Cup supremo, Capital Football Events Co-ordinator, Adam Castle. This will give you a good understanding of the scale and scope of this tournament and of course, just how big it could become on the world football scene, with the assistance of a substantial sponsor. The event as a whole brings and estimated $3 million "new" dollars into the local ecomony, but sadly, Football in the ACT sees very little of this expenditure. This must change!

Download Podcast here:

Kanga Cup 2012 - Vandals strike and destroy playing venues!

How would you like your local Football field to look like this?

The following two images show some of the damage.

Yes its hard to beleive, but just as Capital Football organisers reach the critical point  before the start of the biggest Football tournament in the Southern hemisphere - The Kanga Cup 2012 - vandals drove one or more vehilces on to three well prepared and maintained fileds (Belnorth home ground fileds near Hawker Enclosed) and absolutely wrecked the playing surfaces.

The fields are no longer suitable for use by the Kanga Cup organisers, and no longer fit to be used for the remainder of the ACT Football season. Belnorth must be sick with worry. Its a body blow to a good local Club. It will not doubt be expensive to restore these grounds to a condition fit for "possession based Football".

Will the ACT Government come to the rescue? You can't expect Capital Football to carry the can for this outrageous anti social and criminal behaviour toward its constituency.

Whoever these miscreants are, they are absolute bastards!

I hope the Police find them, charge them, succesfully prosecute them and they are sentenced to lengthy periods of community service. In fact, I hope the work these mongrels are required to do is assigned to Capital Football, who will no doubt have a lot of work for them to do around the Clubs.

And fine these vandals the cost of repair of the playing surfaces.

If they turn out to be Football players, haul them before the CF Discipline committee and ban them for life from Football. Matter of fact, whoever they are, cite them anyway and ban them from football for life. That way we can be certain they never have anything to do with Football.

You know the worst of this vandalism? There is likely to be a good chance these anti social muppets are minors in a stolen vehicle. Depressing really.

However, the Kanga Cup is a slick operation and plans are already in motion to rework the venues to cope with the 20  plus games a day that would have been played on these fields.

Boomerangs FS - Trials for NSW Premier League Competition Teams

Top three skills for young players

Sourced from Footy4kids.co.uk

1. A good first touch

Having a good first touch is, perhaps, the most important skill any young football player can have. This is because the more confident a player is she can control a pass, the more likely she is to keep possession, and the more time they will have to get their head up and decide what to do with the ball.

How to recognise a player with a "good" first touch

The player gets her body into line with the approaching ball - not moving into line is a very common fault and will almost invariably result in too hard a first touch.

If a pass is under-hit, she moves quickly to meet the ball.

She chooses the correct part of her body with which to receive the ball - while 90% of all passes can be controlled with the inside of the foot, it's important that your players practise receiving with other parts of their feet as well as their thigh, chest and head.

The receiving surface is relaxed and withdrawn on contact to cushion the ball - I tell my players that the receiving surface should be like a sponge.

The first contact with the ball moves it out of her feet and away from pressure - this can only be achieved if the receiving player has scanned the pitch before the arrival of the ball. Help your players do this in your warm-up by giving them numbers and asking them to pass to each other in numerical order while moving around a small playing area.

All these elements can be practised with any game that involves passing the ball - the coach simply shifts the emphasis from the pass to how the players react to and control the ball.

2. Being able to shield the ball

While a good first touch will help a young player control the ball, she must also know how to keep the ball if she is prevented from passing, dribbling or shooting.

This is done by "shielding" the ball - keeping your body between the ball and your opponent.

It's easy to practise. Demonstrate the technique then put your players into pairs, standing opposite each other and about 10 yards apart.
One player passes a ball to their partner then follows the pass, putting pressure on the receiver who puts their body between the ball and the approaching player by simply stepping across the path of the ball.
Note: The receiver's front foot should rest on top of the ball so she can concentrate on keeping her body between the ball and her opponent without having to look at the ball.Make it competitive by playing a series of 1v1 competitions in which the player shielding the ball earns a point if she can hold off her team mate for five seconds.

3. Be able to dribble!

The biggest sin a youth football coach can commit is to discourage dribbling by insisting his players pass the ball.

All young players need to be given the freedom to express themselves and there is no better way to do that than be allowed to dribble and take on players to their hearts' content.

So let's not hear any more shouts of "pass the ball!" from the touchline. Please.

President Capital Football, Rachel Harrigan Talks to the NPL about the Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Evaluation Report

Communication, Communication, Communication - Broken or what?

This program is given solely to discussion of a report titled “Capital Football Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Report“ , undertaken by consultants (The Shannon Group), and commissioned by the President and Board of Capital Football.

Criticism of CF finally reached a crescendo in late 2011 and the CF Board simply could not ignore it any longer. So here we are, a consultants report that has captured the feelings and experiences of a substantial sample of our football constituency. And its not good news for the CEO and staff of Capital Football.

This is serious stuff for any organisation. Have a read, ask yourself, would you like to receive this report about your organisation. I think not!

You can find a copy of the report on the CF website. All clubs should get this report up on their websites.

Communication, between CF and various elements of the ACT football constituency, in its widest and most meaningful sense is broken and needs to be fixed. There are many reasons for this unsatisfactory situation, but one thing seems certain, it cannot continue in this way. Things must change!

For myself, the numerous unsatisfactory outcomes around the ACT U13 Girls team at the recent FFA Nationals, were a real low point in CF operations. Disgraceful really. As the President CF observed, "so much went wrong". Sure did! And we do this work every year. Sad, because we have enjoyed so many productive outcomes in this age group in recent years. The meeting between parents of players and the CF Board did little to reassure these parents that this would not happen again. Hope they are wrong. But???? And there are some pretty smart people among those parents and a few who are quite football savvy. Something, some of the CF staff, seldom seem to fail to factor into their business practices. Pity.

The Shannon Group report is a hard hitting report. The report absolutely skewers the CF organisation.
There is no missing the fact that this report,  in substantial part, points the finger directly at the CEO and Staff of Capital Football, the organisational culture and business practices.

The buck has to stop somewhere. Make no mistake, there is a lot of work to be done to regain the trust of some important parts of the football community and enable collaborative processes to ensure positive progress with all of the football community going forward. But the CF organisation has been found to be seriously deficient in these matters - in its present form.

How will this re-education / re-orientation and organisational change be done and who will be given the task of doing it? We do not cover this matter in this interview and in fairness it's probably a bit early for the President to have a firm view on that important matter. I would imagine that  this calamity would see the Board stepping forward with great caution, but at speed. And step forward they must! Unless they do and do so decisively, it will hang around their collective necks (and ours) like a dead albatross!

I would hope that a small sub committee of the Board is given over site of this change process and monitors and regularly reports on measures undertaken to make sure the changes necessary happen, that they are sustained and communicated in quick time to all of our football community. This is surely past the stage where the entire matter is handed over to the CEO and staff to fix. As one wag remarked to me yesterday -"given this report it would be like leaving the rabbits in charge of the lettuce".

I would imagine that the CEO and CF staff are feeling a bit uncomfortable with this report, and some probably in denial. If so, get over it quickly. Listen to the President of CF, clearly there is little sympathy for not accepting responsibility for this parlous state of affairs. Its always worth reminding ourselves that it is the ACT Football constituency which underwrites CF and whom the CF organisation serves. Who pays the piper, calls the tune! It is no one's personal fiefdom, nor does all football knowledge reside within the walls of Football House.

The role and importance of our Clubs comes through in this report and in this interview.

This report appears to draws a line in the sand -  a clear line between Board and the CF operating organisation.

The President and Board have published the report in full. There are no hidden corners, there it is, warts and all. And for that we can only applaud the CF Board and in particular, the President of the CF Board, Rachel Harrigan, who was quick to respond to the NPL’s call to discuss the report.

The message is clear - we are now going to do business very differently to that which has been done in the past and in so doing, a big shift in organisational  culture. It will take time. It is vital.

So, anyone not clear on what is now required going forward?

Please read the report, its on the CF website, and listen to the Rachel Harrigan, Pres of CF Board, as she responds to some rather difficult questions. Good leadership.

Go to Podcast Part One


Got to Podcast Part Two

So this is how FC Barcelona do it!

Sourced from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6A_K8oWqfk

This is an excellent summary of the FC Barcelona approach to football.

Don't just watch the Barca player with the ball, watch the ones off the  ball and how they move. Charlie Cooke (Chelsea FC Legend and Coerver co founder) refers to these passing movements as "Sequences of play", involving 3-4 players, different players in different parts of the field, but all replicating these sequences of play, no matter where they are on the field of play. And that's the big difference between Barca and others, their ability to construct these unending sequences of play, which in turn most often see a significant possession count in their favor and of course, goals. And when they loose the ball, look at how quickly they usually regain the ball and it starts all over again. Wonderful.

Take the time and have a look.

Then start doing some of this at your Club.

Capital Football - Futsal Premier League Grand Final

Sourced from http://vimeo.com/33882892

The video below is of the mens Premier League final held recently at the AIS Training Halls between Boomerangs FS and Canberra City Prawns B. Its a terrific summary of the game, produced by Adam Grant. Wish there was this sort of product available every week during the season(s) for mens and womens Premier League Football and Futsal. Capital Football could set up a means to stream this on the internet. Its a winner!

This was a terrific game and I have no doubt that you will see most of these players at the FFA Futsal Nationals representing the ACT.

The Womens final was a highly entertaining game, in s far as it went to a draw at full time, no score in extra time and was decided by penalty shoot out. However, as a demonstration of the best that Futsal has to offer, it left a lot to be desired. A remarkably physical game by a galaxy of players who had skill and speed to burn. Pity.

One thing must be said in praise of the Mens and Womens Premier League Futsal finals - it was an extremely well run and well presented occasion. It was an appropriate celebration of the contribution made by the players, officials and clubs involved. Capital Football did it right! (This is in sharp contrast to the arrangements that supported the Mens Summer Twenties final.) Futsal does seem to get it right and you will find that the FFA Nationals are run with similar flair and professionalism.


Capital Football - Futsal Premier League Grand Final from Adam Grant on Vimeo.

FFA Futsal Nationals - 9 to 12 January 2012 in Canberra

The annual FFA Futsal Nationals will be held again in Canberra during the period Monday 9 January to Friday 12 January 2012. The best of the best at age in Australia is on show.

Ths is a must go to event for all Football and Futsal players, particularly those on holidays. There is no cost to enter the venues. A terrific holiday activity and lots of sensational Futsal. Watch the age group(s) of your choice, support the ACT teams and make sure you attend on Friday for the finals. You'll reach two conclusions for sure - that you or your child just has to be part of Futsal and that Futsal is of great assistance in the development of your players in Football.

The Futsal Nationals are run by Capital Football and they are a very well run event. Be part of it!

Go to the FFA Futsal Nationals website for all competition details at http://www.futsalnationals.com.au/index.html

Some information from the FFA Futsal Nationals website to start you off:

VENUES



•Australian Institute of Sport Main Arena, Leverrier Crescent Bruce


•Australian Institute of Sport Basketball Training Hall, Leverrier Crescent Bruce


•Australian National University - North Road Acton


•Mpowerdome, 56 Coyne St Fadden


•Southern Cross Stadium, 7 Pitman St Tuggeranong


2012 CHAMPIONSHIP DATES
9 January Opening Ceremony 3:00pm AIS Main Arena


9 January Opening Games 5:00pm All Centres


10 January Competition Day 2 9:00am - 8:00pm All Centres


11 January Competition Day 3 9:00am - 8:00pm All Centres


12 January Competition Day 4 9:00am - 8:00pm All Centres


13 January Finals Gala Day 8:00am - 8:00pm AIS Main Arena


VENUE ALLOCATIONS / DIVISION MAIN COMPETITION VENUE/S


11 Boys Mpowerdome


11 Girls Mpowerdome


12 Boys Mpowerdome


12 Girls Mpowerdome


13 Boys Southern Cross Stadium


13 Girls Mpowerdome


14 Boys Southern Cross Stadium


14 Girls Southern Cross Stadium


15 Boys Southern Cross Stadium


15 Girls Southern Cross Stadium


16 Boys Australian National University (international court)


16 Girls Southern Cross Stadium


Youth Men Australian National University/AIS Training Hall (international court)


Youth Women Australian National University/AIS Training Hall (international court)


Open Women AIS Main Arena/AIS Training Hall (international court)


Open Men AIS Main Arena/AIS Training Hall (international court)

9 Jan 12 8:00PM

NSW Lightning

v

ACT Cobras

AIS Main Arena - INT

9 Jan 12 8:00PM

NSW Lightning

v

ACT Cobras

AIS Main Arena - INT

View

9 Jan 12 8:00PM

NSW Lightning

v

ACT Cobras

AIS Main Arena - INT

View

Get yourself into the mood with a little of Brazil in the 2004 World Cup (v Australia - ouch!).

Technical Training the Coerver Way - Is there another way?

This program will be broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3) across the Australian Community Radio Network on Tuesday, 20 December 2011 at 7:00PM.

This program focuses on the technical development of young Football players. Who teaches you what you need to know?

The FFA National Football Curriculum and National Development plans are splendid documents that are helping to achieve a "revolution in Football affairs" across the nation. They focus very specifically on the technical development of our future generations of football players. The when and what of it all. But you need a lot more than a couple of glossy publications and that's the problem in front of everyone in Football at the community level.

We must become more technically proficient in order to compete effectively at the international level and the ultimate measure of success is our competitiveness in the World Cup. Simple as that.

Did you see the final of the FIFA Club competition between Barcelona (Spanish club) and Santos (Brazilian club)? Ask yourself a simple question - Are the Socceroos to the Barcleona club standard? The answer is easy - No. Change, in the form of superior technical ability among our players in our region, will take generations.

It all starts at the youngest of ages and at the ordinary community football level.

Now there are many parts to the production of technically competitive and competitive young players. It’s a process that takes generations and there is not a day to loose. Two ingredients are essential fort his football cake to rise – a proven technical football curriculum and properly trained technical coaches. The FFA has begun that process from the top down, while member federations are expected to make it work from the bottom up. Both ends could do better.

One organisation around the globe and most certainly here in Australia, is at this time (and has been for many years) best placed to service the needs of the FFA and our young players - the Coerver Coaching organisation.

We speak to Jason Lanscar (Vice President, Asia Pacific Director, COERVER Coaching Asia Pacific) and a guest Coerver Japan Coach, Katsuji Okubo. Who better to talk to us about the delivery of  football technical education? The involvement of Coerver with Canberra United might well prove to be the secret ingredient needed to win a title.

The great sadness is that not every young boy or girl gets to experience Coerver technical training. If I had Harry Potter's magic wand I would make it so today.

This interview speaks for itself, so settle back, a glass of Christmas cheer to hand and listen. Fascinating stuff.

Download Podcast Here:

The "Message" may be getting through - but to how many and how soon?

Source from Youtube and SBS World Game websites.


There is no doubt that the FFA National Football Curriculum is having a positive effect on the development of young players. In many ways, the best thing that has happened to Football in decades. The driving force is to produce more of the best at the elite level. Now to do that, there must  be a serious cultural shift in the way we coach, train and play the game. This is big change. A change that will take a generation or two. Not something you can start and fail to pursue diligently over time.

The development process, in its widest context (not just COE players) in the ACT region is very patchy. That's to be expected this early in the change process. Expected, not accepted!

The primary focus of Capital Football has been directed toward those young players selected in what was the High Performance program and is now the Centre of Excellence. The reason for that is simple - there is a serious playing / competitive obligation to the FFA, in so far as Capital Football must prepare and campaign boys and girls age teams at the FFA National Youth Championships (NYC) each year. All part of the "big plan" you might say.

Now this is what the Northern NSW Football Technical Director (David Smith) had to say about the recent NYC (very good use of social media by this organisation):



The harsh reality of the FFA's National Curriculum is that the greatest burden is shouldered by Clubs, our Junior Clubs. The Junior Clubs in particular, must pick up all of the rest of the FFA player development ambitions. Capital Football supplement the process with Centre of Development training, but in order to improve the overall technical capabilities of young players, to make a real difference, then Junior Clubs must be at the forefront of this change. The Junior Clubs are very aware of the magnitude of the task in front of them. That's where the FFA and Capital Football's efforts must be directed. Not just to the small number of players who make it through to the elite programs. But that's not the way it is.

Take our own region as an example. It's probably no good blaming the Capital Football Technical Director - his job is to get the elite player development process working from his level in order to meet obligations to the FFA through the NYC playing obligations. There is a lot of work involved in this process, from one year to the next. It seems to me that this doesn't leave a lone hand Technical Director (and a part time Skills Acquisition Coach) much time to do anything else of an equally substantial level with our Junior Clubs. So, much as before, we have a process that is very much still in two parts - Capital Football and Clubs. In this respect, I am not sure we have made much progress since the former High Performance program and the Ron Smith review of this subject. Seems to me we are moving back to the Capital Football Academy playing squad days. Opinions are certainly divided on that matter, particularly at the Clubs.

So who helps the Junior Clubs? The answer is they help themselves, just as they always have done, through their army of parents, volunteers and coaches. No one gets paid. They get nothing back form the FFA and they financially underpin Capital Football through their registration fees and other payments. Capital Football provides the administrative / operational structure that enables the Clubs to operate at all  community levels. That is substantial for a sport in Canberra which boosts more than most of the rest of the sports rolled up together, and much more than any single sports, summer or winter, a total of approx 18,000 football players and 6,000 futsal players.

The vast majority of our young Football players train. play, gain their technical and tactical competencies and have fun, develop their passion for the game, through their Junior Club. The talented players emerge at different times. We get more of them if the general football playing environment is improved, this is not news to anyone. These Junior Football Clubs are the real Football engine, the real Football powerhouse in the ACT region (and anywhere else in Australia).

And why the Junior Clubs? Well. its obvious isn't it. That's the place we all take our children to start to play the game. They do everything. This is the strategic point for the FFA and in particular, Capital Football, to intervene in a positive and productive fashion. The Junior CLubs are a part of the process, not apart from it.

With that in mind, the first critical shortfalls in implementation of the FFA's new direction appeared very quickly and still stand:

1. Insufficient coaches qualified and learned in the technical and tactical requirements of the curriculum (and subsequently 1-4-3-3), and
2. A paucity of coaching resources (teaching and learning materials)to underpin the "curriculum". that coaches and Clubs could call upon to make effective progress with those they coach (at every level). 

The first shortfall, coach education, has been attacked with some vigour by the FFA and Capital Football have made a productive impact, with many people moving through coaching courses (by comparison to past years). Junior Clubs usually appoint something akin to a Technical Director, but they receive precious little assistance to undertake their important work. Again that divide!

The second shortfall remains a serious, glaring deficiency. To be frank, to call it a "curriculum" is just a bit thin. This would simply not satisfy any teacher in our schools. There is nothing to work with at the community Club coach level! The entire FFA development strategy was released without the underpinning resources to support the document titled "Curriculum" and so very necessary to  enable effective coaching at community level. Its still that way. This is the one area where the FFA should give resources and effort. And get educational specialists (curriculum development) to do the work, with the football subject matter experts providing the technical / tactical information. Some member federations identified this shortfall early and got about creating these resources to support their programs and coaches. But why are we all doing it from scratch. Madness!

If I were to ask Capital Football to publish the current COE periodised program and supporting coaching resources, what response wold I get? A good one I hope. We need to share this knowledge. What has been done to obtain and publish good coaching resources from other sources?

Where the FFA has created good coaching resources it should publish the lot, no charge to anyone, so that every coach and every Club can get hold of it and use it. I'm talking about a substantial online coaching resource available to our football community. You may recall that the FFA trumpeted the solution S2S as the means by which this would be achieved. Of course we had to pay. I wonder how many Clubs anywhere, but in particular in the ACT are using this product or some other like it? What is the COE and COD programs using?

I don't expect Capital Football to shoulder this vital resource issue alone (although I think we should be able to view every session practice used in the COE and COD age programs), but wouldn't it be good if we took the initiative, collaborated with other member federations and created something of enduring value to our football community? One thing is certain at this time - the FFA isn't doing it! (please don't tell me the resources are with the coaching courses - if they were not it would negligent. But why not simply make all available right now to anyone, on a coaching course or not ?)

The video below is good to watch. So much to talk about on this matter. This journey had just begun.





Craig Foster recently commented on the sort of play you see in the video above. He makes some good points.  Have a read of his article, its well worth it:

About the All Stars U14 Boys team at the NYC 2011 (attributed to National Assistant Technical Director, Alistair Edwards):

"Through learning football in a system, which has an easily definable style of play, positional roles and the application of space and movements, the best youngsters were able to come together as a team and very quickly play together to a high level, because they each knew their specific role and that of those around them."

About the uptake of the changes implicit in the National Football Curriculum, Foster observes:

"From my recent experience around the country, we are now well beyond the initial cultural change process and every educator and coach is hungry for information to improve.

The real challenge, however, is that while many have recognised and accepted the need for change and are now seeking to play the 1-4-3-3, the actual deeper detail about the movements and timings within are yet to disseminate satisfactorily and remains an issue of coach education and information availability."

Craig Foster's article is below, please read.

Futsal - Its Written on Pele's Chest!

Sourced from the SBS World Game http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/video/2169365961/Pele-exclusive

Futsal - Mind Over Matter

Good enough for Pele, good enough for me!

Futsal needs to be an integrated component of football player development, at all levels of the junior and youth game, at the Capital Football Centres of Excellence and Development, and in all our Junior Clubs.

Go to the SBS World Game website and watch Craig Foster's interview with Pele. Its terrific.

Racism and FIFA President / Euro's Group of Debt / Junior Player Development

This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz) across the Australian Community Radio Network on Tuesday, 22 November 2011 at 7:00PM.

Tonights program is an unusual mix of subjects:

1.     Racism in Football and Foot In Mouth Blatter
      The disastrous and objectionable comments made by no less than the President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, on the subject of racism. During an Interview with Al Jerzeera, Blatter declared that there was no racism in football and indeed, if anything were said of the type on the field, then a quik handshake between the racially vilified and the racist will clear things up. It was just unbelievable, particularly given the work FIFA has and is doing to stamp out racism – a zero tolerance policy no less and most definitely on the field of play. Remember those big banners at the world cup and other premier competitions – “say no to racism”. Then there is the very serious allegations of racist comments by players on the field of play in the English Premier League this season. Just what sort of message was Blatter sending to the world wide football community, or was it an aged moment, or indeed, is this the way he really feels about it all? We’ll never really know, but what we do know is that the President of FIFA has, not for the first time in recent months, got it all wrong. The FIFA that he presides over is a mess, wracked with allegations of corruption, a patently corrupt world cup bidding process, operating in a world wide financial crisis that threatens most big Clubs in football as their debt levels reach astronomical proportions. In spite of this, FIFA has done some good work and some of it was about eliminating racism in sport – until Blatter opened his mouth. And yet, Mr Blatter, in the face of no credible option, got voted in for his fourth term as FIFA President and he got Australia’s vote too. Personally, I found Mr Blatter’s comments disgraceful and his subsequent attempts to justify his remarks to further underscore his unsuitability for the office he presently holds. Anyone heard anything from the FFA on this subject? Why not? Still hoping we will get a World Cup in 2022 are we? This whole thing is a mess, as is FIFA at the moment.

2.    Group of Debt in Euro 2011
           Then we have a very amusing piece from BBC4 radio, titled “Own goal from football’s “Group of Debt”). The fusion of a world financial crisis in Europe and Euro 2012.

The Times reported these figures at the end of 2010:

      THE BIG DEBTORS 

£727m Manchester United 

£609m Real Madrid* (Real claim only £296m) 

£436m Barcelona*

 
£386m Internazionale*

 
£348m AC Milan* 

£297.7m Arsenal 

£240m approx Liverpool 

£147m Juventus* 

£136m Roma*

 
£96m Bayern Munich* 

£0 Chelsea, after £340m write-off, announced Dec 2009 

£0 Man City, after £305m debt-to-equity write-off, announced Jan

     2010

The Soccerlens website reported these figures in July 2010:

Ranking	Club	Debt
1.	Manchester United	£716m
2.	Chelsea (Limited)	£701m
3.	Valencia C.F	£501m
4.	Liverpool	£351m
5.	Real Madrid	£296m
6.	FC Barcelona	£273m
7.	AS Roma	£271m
8.	Schalke 04	£234m
9.	Arsenal	£203m
10.	Fulham	£198m

3.    Junior Player Development - George Huitker
      For the final item in tonight’s program, I have returned to an interview I did about three years ago on Junior Football. I speak to George Huitker, the Director of Co-curricular at Radford College.

      George is the sort of person we need at the top  in Football and certainly on our Capital Football Board. He seems to have done it all. Huitker has written two very good books on junior football  and futsal. These two books sum up the issues for all parents and young players, as only a highly capable and thoughtful educator (in football / futsal / academia) could do. Its his massive experience of the age groups we are concerned with and wide view of the game and its role in the development of our young citizens, some of whom are very talented, that gives his writings and observations their power. George Huitker has produced and acted in a play, scripted from his first book on junior football. Books and play received considerable crucial acclaim. Try as I have over the years to get as good an interview on junior player development, I haven’t come close to Huitker yet. The inclusion of Huitker’s interview, timeless as it is, gives us a very useful counter point to the CF Tech Director’s call for complete commitment by players / parents to the CF COE programs. Now this is not a criticism of the TD, who is a fine fellow, with a job to do. An elite program (however we may define or expect an elite program to be) will obviously demand commitment. In one sense the CF Tech Director’s position is almost unarguable, but is it the full story when we think of all of the things that must accompany a young person development as a citizen, including a liberal and balanced education, but who love football with a passion, talented or not so talented.  And is it the full story in a small place like the ACT region? The word “elite” is not the same as “develop” in a football sense, nor in an education context, but they circle in football at high speed around anyone young player daubed with the title “talented, and to coin a phrase “its all so often full of crap”! The notion of elite” is always worth challenging. This one is for thinking.

Download Podcast Here: