lets_talk_soccer wrote:Yes, dropping players is becoming a problem with junior football
It's become a problem because there is too much 'moving players up'.
Sure, if an individual is super talented and suffering by playing at his age level, moving him up will help develop him. However, that is not the situation now. The situation is that too many 'good' (as opposed to extraordinary) kids are playing out of their age group and the result is that at the moment, the age groupings are meaningless. If the FFSA were to rule right now that all players should play within their own age group, you would see a massive reshuffle of teams, extra teams needed at the bottom end to cope with the flow down, an improvement in the 14/15/16/17 levels because all of a sudden you'd have the right aged kids playing there and NO DROP OFF in the competition.
At the 17 level though, you'd probably find clubs struggling to find players because the current nonsense is forcing kids of that age out of the competition because of the 'playing kids up' carry on. No, this is NOT a result of those 17s being not worthy, it's a result of power moves within clubs guaranteeing that entire squads are kept together and promoted beyond their age group to satisfy someone's desire 'have them play in the best league' - arrogance and nepotism in other words and it happens in every club to some extent.
The current 'playing kids out of their age group' culture is NOT developing the players and I contend that you can see this in the woeful level of the competition in U19, Reserves and even seniors. Why isn't it developing the players? Because too many kids have moved up. Basically, they are playing in their own age group (though polluted) with a different name and it only looks like they're doing well at that level now because older kids have been forced out the teams, often for reasons not associated with their skill, and because there is too much of a tendency to concentrate on 'the few'.
Then, all of a sudden, when you hit 16, 17 or 18, it's bloody hard to get a game, at a time when you are still developing yourself. Sure, it's a popular time for kids to drop out of sport as they discover girls and cars and girls and computers and girls and study becomes a larger part of their life, but they are not going to keep on playing if there's nowhere to play. Nor do I accept the argument that they 'just aren't good enough'. I've watched two U15 teams get promoted as a group to the 17s now, simply because their coach was powerful in the club and wanted the kudos. The result in both cases was a group of kids leaving that club. I'm watching similar machinations in my current club.
Anyone who has closely watched kids in that 15, 16, 17 and 18 age group, particular kids overlooked by the glamour squads but still given good coaches, will know that it's an age group that responds and develops well to good, skills and tactical coaching. There is still a lot that can be taught or refined. I've watched entire squads lift and develop as a good coach works on the raw material presented. The trouble is, with the current mentality in clubs, those players are often overlooked or simply forced out.
My solution is to restrict all players to their own age group (with let's say, one exception per team except in emergencies). Make more use of the grading system within age groupings (though that seems to work now).
Space out team trials so that kids can effectively try for more than one club. No, that's not a recipe for diluting the last club. Cumberland typically have 60 kids turn up for one team. Any coach will prefer players he's seen play well over the season just finished. You can't tell me that the 45 kids that miss out on that team selection are all rubbish.
This year's U16 competition is a good example. Clubs have ignored that competition over the years because it lacked the glamour of U17. Many of the teams playing this year have been built on those 'forgotten' players yet the standard within the competition has been growing all season, the pace has lifted, the skill levels improved and the games are tighter as a result. These kids will form a strong backbone for next years U17 competition ... but I wonder how many of them will find that politics leaves them without a club. That's not development.
There's a belief that top level teams are built from 'stars'. That's rubbish but it's how this mentality of playing kids above their level works. Look at ANY competition, and you will find that within each team, there are a few stars, but the majority of the players are just very skilled but very hard working players. Nothing standoutish or spectacular, just hard workers who work on their skills and do what the coach asks of them. They only learn that by serving their time in the ranks and working their way out of it. In SA at the moment, we are denying a large group of players the opportunity to learn that skill.
