11 team prem division in 2009 - Try again!!! 7

[ARodgers]

Just got word that a board meeting over the weekend has decided to cut next season's premier league to seven teams - Metro, Sturt, Fulham, C-town, Cumby, City and Olympic. I also hear that the reserves division is being cut to encourage quality players who aren't playing prems to move between the clubs (quite how this works with LESS teams in the division, i haven't really worked out yet.) Toros and Para Hills (where i'm at) have been told they can take their pick of the other divisions to play in next year.

Despite being nominated as our reserves coach for next year, I can understand the logic behind eliminating the reserves league (if the number of prems teams remain the same) to encourage player movement, but In reality I can see prems clubs (who haven't already) merely putting teams in div 2/3/4 wherever they have to play, and this becoming the unofficial 'reserves' division. Which i'm not sure is entirely fair on those people playing socially in these lower divisions.

Furthermore, I have personally always been against the concentration of talent at 3-4 'big' clubs, and with the reduction of the premier league you can bet thats exactly what will happen. At para hills we have some of the best juniors in the state coming through our ranks, along with a good number of very talented girls at Para Hills Juniors (a team which finished, unluckily third in the seventeens) who are coming across in the next few years. I also know for a fact that 3-4 very talented young players coming from other clubs want to play ressies for us next year. We are also starting to repair the Knights reputation as the major club in the north, and have had an explosion of intrest from girls playing in the north to come join our junior ranks, looking to join a premier league club. I also don't think anyone who has seen us play this year can say that we haven't improved out of sight, and I would confidently predict in 2-3 years Para Hills would be serious players in the premier league.

We run the risk of losing all these juniors in the north, purely from there being no club up there to play in! Many will defect to e&d, and I know 4-5 quality, quality players who have left the game entirely in the past few years, because they didn't see a 'serious' club to play for in the north, and parents didn't want to drive 45 minutes on a weeknight to fulham or metro.

I've been involved with development squad, and zone and have seen first hand all the talent coming through the junior ranks throughout the state at the moment. Our problems are going to change very soon from not having enought talent to spread around the prems, to having way too much for seven clubs. We'll also run the risk of losing lots of talented juniors to other sports, because they don't see the opportunity to play at a higher level if they don't play at one of the 'major' clubs.

HOWEVER,

most disturbing of all is that the SAWSA board have seen fit to do this without any consultation with club delegates. Surely a league restructure such as this would require the consent of all the delegates?? If not, it damn well should.

[John Cena]

Just got word that a board meeting over the weekend has decided to cut next season's premier league to seven teams - Metro, Sturt, Fulham, C-town, Cumby, City and Olympic. I also hear that the reserves division is being cut to encourage quality players who aren't playing prems to move between the clubs (quite how this works with LESS teams in the division, i haven't really worked out yet.) Toros and Para Hills (where i'm at) have been told they can take their pick of the other divisions to play in next year.

Despite being nominated as our reserves coach for next year, I can understand the logic behind eliminating the reserves league (if the number of prems teams remain the same) to encourage player movement, but In reality I can see prems clubs (who haven't already) merely putting teams in div 2/3/4 wherever they have to play, and this becoming the unofficial 'reserves' division. Which i'm not sure is entirely fair on those people playing socially in these lower divisions.

Furthermore, I have personally always been against the concentration of talent at 3-4 'big' clubs, and with the reduction of the premier league you can bet thats exactly what will happen. At para hills we have some of the best juniors in the state coming through our ranks, along with a good number of very talented girls at Para Hills Juniors (a team which finished, unluckily third in the seventeens) who are coming across in the next few years. I also know for a fact that 3-4 very talented young players coming from other clubs want to play ressies for us next year. We are also starting to repair the Knights reputation as the major club in the north, and have had an explosion of intrest from girls playing in the north to come join our junior ranks, looking to join a premier league club. I also don't think anyone who has seen us play this year can say that we haven't improved out of sight, and I would confidently predict in 2-3 years Para Hills would be serious players in the premier league.

We run the risk of losing all these juniors in the north, purely from there being no club up there to play in! Many will defect to e&d, and I know 4-5 quality, quality players who have left the game entirely in the past few years, because they didn't see a 'serious' club to play for in the north, and parents didn't want to drive 45 minutes on a weeknight to fulham or metro.

I've been involved with development squad, and zone and have seen first hand all the talent coming through the junior ranks throughout the state at the moment. Our problems are going to change very soon from not having enought talent to spread around the prems, to having way too much for seven clubs. We'll also run the risk of losing lots of talented juniors to other sports, because they don't see the opportunity to play at a higher level if they don't play at one of the 'major' clubs.

HOWEVER,

most disturbing of all is that the SAWSA board have seen fit to do this without any consultation with club delegates. Surely a league restructure such as this would require the consent of all the delegates?? If not, it damn well should.

so does that mean the toros are not in as well, if this is the case what happened to all clubs been given 2 years to prove themselves, do any delegates know about this, does the FFSA know about this, sawsa has to be careful here the amatuer league is looking at a womans comp

[Tottenham Hotspur]

Toros are out as well.

This strange new Prems division will not help the 'thrashing' of teams in the Prems league at all.
You will find that it is one promoted team from div 1 and one relegated team from Prems from next year.

Firstly the team that gets relegated will lose players (obviously) and may go to the promoted team, but the promoted team wont have any time to establish themselves, so they will be in the Prems for only one season. This will be the case for ALL promoted clubs to the future Prems league....one season up then straight back down.
Now who as a junior would want to go to a team that will only last one season in Prems. They will go to the big clubs for stability. The big clubs getting bigger.

Secondly, the ex-res, now div 1 league, will be full of the current res sides, the 2 clubs thrown out of the Prems and the better current div 1 sides.
Now lets presume that the Prem clubs keep a vast majority of their current res players (why leave if their happy, its not as if they are playing a lower div) and for an example, in no particular order, the Res league finished, AC, Fulham, Metro, Cumby etc, then in 5,or 6th postion came Knights.
Would Knights get promoted from that low down in the league, cause they wont last long in the Prems cause if they couldnt get higher in the league then you would presume that they dont have much strengh (this would apply to any team, other then the second tier teams from the Prem clubs).
Who ever thought up this tragic league SHOULD LOOK at NSW and how they fixed their league.
They had 2 clubs that won everything cause they had all the top players and all the rest fought out the other 8 positions in the league.
So instead of shrinking the league they kept it at 10 teams and worked out a way of SPREADING out the top players across all teams and then it became a serious and even competition.
Is this too hard to do or is there self interest involved here.
Promote the league and do it properly.......show that you care about ALL clubs at all levels SAWSA
not just a select few.
If this is the way of the future, you might as well go to a 6 team league and forget about promotion and relegation and let all the rest of the clubs fold.
Then would you be happy then????

[John Cena]

Toros are out as well.
This strange Prems division will not help the 'thrashing' of teams in the Prems league at all.
You will find that it is one promoted team from div 1 and one relegated team from Prems from next year.
Firstly the team that gets relegated will lose players (obviously) and may go to the promoted team, but the promoted team wont have any time to establish themselves (i am presuming here) so they will be in the Prems for only one season. This will be the case for ALL promoted clubs to the future Prems league....one season up then straight back down.
Now who as a junior would want to go to a team tghat will only last one season in Prems.
Secondly, the ex-res, now div 1 league will be full of the current res sides, the 2 clubs thrown out of the Prems and the better current div 1 sides.
Now lets presume that the Prem clubs keep a vast majority of their current res players (why leave if their happy, its not as if they are playing a lower div) and for an example, in no particular order, the Res league finished, AC, Fulham, Metro, Cumby etc, then in 5,or 6th postion came Knights.
Do they get promoted from that low down the league, cause they wont last at all in the Prems.
Who ever thought up this tragic league SHOULD LOOK at NSW and how they fixed their league.
They had 2 clubs that won everything cause they had all the top players and all the rest fought out the other 8 positions in the league.
So instead of shrinking the league they kept it at 10 teams and worked out a way of SPREADING out the top players across all teams and then it became a serious and even competition.
Is this too hard to do or is there self interest involved here.
Promote the league and do it properly.......

your flogging a dead horse, they have been run like a circus for years,as for toros why havent they been given there 2nd year, apparently the FFSA dont knowm anything about these changes is that true?

[Unretired]

I highly doubt this would be SAWSAs (if this is true at all) doing as they will cease to exsist by the end of the year....

If anything this would be the doing of FFSA.
They are the ones who will run the womens league next year and surely they can change it to how ever they want.....

[John Cena]

I highly doubt this would be SAWSAs (if this is true at all) doing as they will cease to exsist by the end of the year....

If anything this would be the doing of FFSA.

it is true WC made a call this arvo

[MikeBassett]

At para hills we have some of the best juniors in the state coming through our ranks, along with a good number of very talented girls at Para Hills Juniors (a team which finished, unluckily third in the seventeens) who are coming across in the next few years. I also know for a fact that 3-4 very talented young players coming from other clubs want to play ressies for us next year.change very soon from not having enought talent to spread around the prems,

Maybe there are people that are worried about Knights for the future, or just want to get their grubby hands on some of your players.

As for the decision its came from SAWSA board........not FFSA, who i think are quite unaware of what is happening.

If this is how womens football is run here it..it needs a new life....... and open consultation, not shit like this..........

[courtz]

bad move..
7 clubs is fine...
no ressies= no bridge between juniors making their way to prems/players coming up form other divs/players who arent quite good enough for prems anymore like myself (not that im playing next yr)... its not normal to not have a ressies league, for the reasons i just stated.
bugger about no northern suburbs clubs... i knwo when i was younger i had to get my parents to drive 45 mins to train/play, yet i actualyl had the choice to play north. now many families who are not willing tomake this committment will lose interest inthe game; somethign the womens game cannae afford.

eh, time is change! good luck to every1 next yr!

[MikeBassett]

and no delegates were informed until its all done.............. a great organization you have

[bennylava]

7 clubs is good
no ressies is crap

[Tottenham Hotspur]

bad move..
7 clubs is fine...
no ressies= no bridge between juniors making their way to prems/players coming up form other divs/players who arent quite good enough for prems anymore like myself (not that im playing next yr)... its not normal to not have a ressies league, for the reasons i just stated.
bugger about no northern suburbs clubs... i knwo when i was younger i had to get my parents to drive 45 mins to train/play, yet i actualyl had the choice to play north. now many families who are not willing tomake this committment will lose interest inthe game; somethign the womens game cannae afford.

eh, time is change! good luck to every1 next yr!

You are quite correct that players, or more so their parents wont take there kids far...... life is expensive now...... i dont think that everyone will be wanting to head south to train\play. Some clubs may offer petrol money or train only once a week,( which wont keep you fit) but the costs will add up.
As for 7 teams, i havent heard from to many players enjoying having a bye every 8 weeks, well now its every 6

[calin]

as a player in the prems team for knights, it is devastating to think that all the hard work put in by everyone involved with Knights over the last 3/4 years is almost going to go unrecognised - and its more than just the prems team, it will affect the club as a whole as previously stated.

If we do move back into the Premier League in 2010 we will be no better off than we were 3 years ago when first entering the league.

So much for promoting womens soccer - Knights have improved out of sight and next year will definitely be even stronger having kept the same team together for 2 seasons, which looked like a top start to the season. Same goes for Toros. I know the other premier league clubs have grown to respect knights as a team and I think most would want to see us stay up.

Sucks that SAWSA have made this ruling when they will have no existance next season - hopefully FFSA will see some sense and recognise that its not always about the 'big clubs'.

Such a ridiculous ruling - I just hope the right person does see some sense in this all!

[chanel(L)phk]

i just don't see what was SOOOOOOOOOO wrong with how it was this season, that it needed to be changed.

[adelaidepie]

I agree with al that has been said. Didn't two season a go sawsa rename the reserve league, by calling it div one or something and players started leaving clubs because they did not understand what was happening so the league went back to reserves? Maybe wrong.

Also as stated who is making these decisions and why clubs not being involved. If sawsa then a challenge should be made by all clubs not just the premier league teams to fix this. If FFSA ditto my comment above. If majority agree then ok but at least give full details to clubs to decide.

I wonder how much of this has come from a certain head coach, who from what I have heard, doesn't / didn't want his stars playing club?

I think the delegates need to act and act quickly to decide whether they want this or not and if not how will / can they fix it.

We are growing as a league not reducing. Every team needs time to learn as there was and is a big difference so you can not expect teams to come up and without recruiting 'stars' make an impact. I feel sorry if true for Para Hills because they have improved and also toros for not been given time. I also feel sorry for the teams who are planning ahead to make prems who now may have to rethink what is going on.

E&D May yet make a big spalsh on all of this if sawsa or the ffsa keep shooting themsleves in the foot if this is them.

Adelaidepie

[ARodgers]

I have a major problem with these changes being sprung upon us NOW, we've made some pretty big plans for next season based on the fact that we were in prems, our new zealand trip, and our potential for attracting a few more quality players are in serious strife! Trials, advertising, discussions with sponsors have all taken place previous to this decision, and now all need to be re-thought. Bugger giving us time to adjust to a MASSIVE restructure such as this. And good luck to those staying prems adjusting to the new reserves system (especially if you already have div 2/3 sides!)

[adelaidepie]

Do the clubs officials know and or delegates and can you call a special meeting with or without sawsa to get answers to your questions. As you say Alistar (sorry if spelt wrong) this needs to be sorted as clubs are looking at trials and player/ officials and clubs need to know what is happening.

Adelaidepie

[BillShankly]

As a club the Western District Tors are very upset by this decision which has totally been made out of the blue. We as a club were promised two years grace, but instead are not given the opportunity. Plenty of our players are young girls who are continually developing and improving, and would of done very well in the premier division next year if given the opportunity. Fortunately a lot of our players are loyal to us, and this decision should not have to much affect on player numbers. We have plans in place for next year and we were going to have 6 new players at the minimum come to us which would of strengthened us no doubt, plus we have new plans for preseason, strips, club activities, sponsorship which all need to be reviewed.

What especially is disappointing, is that the decision to get rid of reserves, would of meant a lot of fringe players looking to join ourselves and para hills, making both teams a lot stronger and more competitive. I feel sorry for Para Hills for the effort and improvement they have made over the past 1-2 years, definately feel they would of done well next season.

[Red Tiger]

I feel sorry for Para Hills for the effort and improvement they have made over the past 1-2 years, definately feel they would of done well next season

And that's most probably why this decision has been made.......we wouldn't want other clubs to actually have a chance of doing some damage next year......after all they have only been complaining all this time that they want more competition.......and now that both Knights and Toros have made positive steps in that direction they have been shut down......clearly as long as Sturt is well looked after the rest of the league can look forward to being screwed over by SAWSA with WC in charge.......maybe we need to look at having someone who isn't affiliated with ANY premier club to take over......might mean Sturt won't be given the royal treatment........tough for them.........and we may actually get a fairer competition between the clubs........as for only 7 teams.........what bull........that's not a league.......as mentioned before byes every 6 weeks........no player will be happy with that decision.......if anything we need another couple of teams to make the league prosper......and expose more players.....especially our younger generation......to that level of football......otherwise there will be a major gap between prems and other divisions.......our juniors will have nowhere to go........we lose them.......prems in a few years have players retiring......who will there be left to play....??? I'll tell you.......no one........and then what happens to women's football in this state...??

The implementation of the W-League is a sign that women's football is growing..........and it seems SAWSA doesn't want us to move forward.......not if it means Sturt not getting what they want......it's time all clubs spoke up and took a stand against this bias towards one team........and look at trying to structure the league so that all clubs have the opportunity to prosper.......not just a select few.....

[Dr.D]

SAWSA are in control of the competition until October 30th. Therefore any changes pushed through prior to that date will be in place WHEN FFSA take over next season, and they will possibly be too short on time to do anything about it.

I am a current delegate and this has not been raised at a Delegates meeting.

I have previously mentioned that SAWSA conducts End of Season Reviews at the final delegates meeting for the year. This is done prior to the AGM at the very end of the season. This year the Season Review DID NOT TAKE PLACE in its normal format. The survey that was sent out was the only review and therefore there was not the normal debate between delegates regarding any suggestions.

I know for a fact that only 18 clubs lodged the review form to SAWSA by the due date. I would hazard a guess that one or two pointed out a problem with the spread of talent in the premier league and the GAP between premier league and Div 1 (which promotes into Prems) and SAWSA have used this to push this agenda as a solution prior to handing over to FFSA.


I can tell you that Reserves teams WILL NOT be resubmitted next season in Division 1 as the competition rules clearly state that a Premier club cannot have a Division 1 team. Therefore if your Reserves want to stay with you they will have to play Division 2 next season.

We have all heard the disappointment on here from the prem clubs and it is well warranted, but I think this is also very unfair on the players and clubs currently playing in the lower divisions. They will now loose the opportunity to play against teams and players at the same level as they and be competitive as the big clubs flood the lower leagues with ex-Reserves players. Prem clubs will still need the depth of a large squad to be competitive and will need to retain many of these players

[Leppskiii]

Parahills are getting screwed!
8 teams woulda been ok..wtf do we need a bye round for?

[pvfc]

I am speechless.....this is possibly the worst decision that SAWSA has ever made
Just clueless.....

[Dr.D]

pvfc, you have summed it up perfectly. Really disappointed in the lack of transparent consultation as well. I have long been a big supporter of WC and SAWSA's efforts, but this defies belief.

[adelaidepie]

As I think I have said. Why are the delegates from each club not talking. If not happy voice it now with the FFSA and SAWSA. Call a special meeting to raise all issues and not let a happy parting shot go without a fight.
It is not too late but if people feel so strongly then start talking to each other. Para Ring Toros and other clubs get support. Call meetings etc etc.

Don't let one person or persons control your clubs destiny without trying to save what you believe is a good league.

Never too late.

Adelaidepie

[adelaidepie]

Also remember how many players did we lose when just the name was changed from state league to div one. Around two to three seasons a go. This involved the changing of the reserves set up and the div 1.

I know a few who looked at leaving because they thought they were being 'dropped' a division.

As said the women's league is going forward why this why now?

Adelaidepie

[gubs]

crock of sh.it

[calin]

As I think I have said. Why are the delegates from each club not talking. If not happy voice it now with the FFSA and SAWSA. Call a special meeting to raise all issues and not let a happy parting shot go without a fight.
It is not too late but if people feel so strongly then start talking to each other. Para Ring Toros and other clubs get support. Call meetings etc etc.

Don't let one person or persons control your clubs destiny without trying to save what you believe is a good league.

Never too late.

Adelaidepie

Calls, emails and meetings are already in progress - a lot has been done in the 24hours we have known and if all the effort continues hopefully it will get resolved :?
but yeah we still need everyones support.

[adam]

it's just some sawsa scuttlebutt to deflect attention from their premiership win

[gubs]

hahaha yeh trying to divert the talk away from them extending the season for this year

[pvfc]

Calls, emails and meetings are already in progress - a lot has been done in the 24hours we have known and if all the effort continues hopefully it will get resolved :?
but yeah we still need everyones support.

Hope it's not too late - from what I hear info will be going out to all the clubs about this today.

[adelaidepie]

Gubs you wrote crock of sh.it.

Wasn't sure if that was for my comments on what was happening! lol hopefully the later lol.

Adelaidepie