Committed to Development, Or Rolling the Dice?

Some sports do it very well, others don’t. Some have seen the influence of money and ego become a major problem, while others have managed to ensure that they appoint the right people who have a passion for the right outcomes, and are not seeking the limelight. This is the area of youth development.

At the present time there are adverts in abundance inviting young Western Australians to come and trial for a place at a National Premier League Club, in one of any number of teams categorised by age. In most cases parents and children will flock to these trials hoping that they will be selected, and the child will be on the ‘development pathway.’ Others will be hoping that they will getter a better opportunity than at their previous club. The child is often not consulted.

These annual trials are becoming a concern to many for a number of reasons.

The first question that has to be asked is since the NPL was introduced how many players has each club seen progress to their first team? How many from the A-League club’s NPL sides across the country have earned A-League contracts? (Not counting the coaches sons!) In fact how many clubs have many of these players played for before they have turned 18?

These are very valid questions and parents should be looking at this before taking their child to these trials. For just as there are players desperate to make it to the top, there are also coaches desperate to make it to the top. Coaches who will put their own position ahead of those they are coaching. Which surely goes against the grain if you are a development coach?

The development of young players has to go well beyond results on the pitch. This is something that some of the Academies in England are only now beginning to realise. There have been too many coaches and clubs ‘selling the dream,’ but as everyone knows very, very few will have the opportunity to live that dream.

Regrettably it has been found that many of the young players in the UK who are part of an academy it is the parents who are the ones puffing out their chest. Taking pride in telling everyone that their child has been signed up with an academy. A similar situation to some degree exists here in Australia with some clubs youth teams, especially those linked to the A-League clubs. Yet few parents and few players realise that the work is only just about to start on the pitch, and often the problems away from the pitch are also just about to start.

How many coaches genuinely look at the welfare of the child they are coaching? How many find out what their weekly schedule looks like before they admit them into their football program? How far are they having to travel to training, when do they do their homework, what other commitments do they have in their lives, and how does the child feel about those commitments?

There is in the UK a restriction that young players must live within a certain radius of the club they are playing for. The word is that the age-limit on this may well be lowered even further to protect the child. This was put in place initially to protect children from having to travel long distances each night for training. Maybe there is an argument for the youth of Australia that this should also be the case. This would allow young children to play with their friends, their school, and grow to love the game, and also develop naturally as a player away from the scrutiny of coaches looking to find the next superstar. Maybe the clubs could set up satellite training centres, so they go to the kids rather than the other way around. This would certainly indicate which clubs were serious about their youth development.

Of course every club believes that they are going to uncover the next Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, or Mark Schwarzer. However finding the next superstar is very, very rare, especially via the trial method of recruitment. Usually star players are spotted playing. As one experienced development coach in the UK, Tony McCool has been quoted as saying in Michael Calvin’s “No Hunger in Paradise, “I never comment until a boy is two weeks into his trial. He’s a bag of nerves. He needs to settle in, deal with the pressure of knowing no one. Let him make a load of mistakes and then, after he has trained six to ten times, I’ll let you know.” Which makes perfect sense. How many of the local trials run for six weeks or more and how many sessions are there in the six weeks? How many actual games do the children play? After all, there will always be those who hate training drills but excel in a game.

Of course ultimately it is not about finding that next superstar, it is about developing players to be the best that they can be, and hopefully have them fall in love with the game, no matter how cruel it can be in terms of your own personal aspirations and also by way of results. That in itself is a skill.

Sport is a business now, and there are good businesses and bad. Money has tarnished the game, especially with parents receiving incentives to have their talented child sign with certain clubs. That is far more predominant in Europe, but it is not unheard of here in Australia. The one question that the NPL clubs need to be asking is how much these development programs are costing, and whether they are in fact getting a return on investment. With players not being tied to clubs it is unlikely that they are. Which begs the question why did we adopt this model, especially when the old model was producing results?

With the old system, there were clubs around the country that produced players who went on to play in the old National Soccer League, or headed overseas. Some clubs were developing clubs, while others would buy the best players. Herein was the key, there were transfer fees in place when a player moved, even between State League clubs. Those fees helping to finance the next generation of talent. Today it is expected that the A-League NPL sides will attract the best young players with the lure of a first team contract.

Today the best a club can hope for in return for their investment is a development fee if a player progresses into the professional ranks; how long they may have to wait for that money is another issue. Many clubs do not even realise what they are entitled to. One European club admitting that they had paid nothing to an Australian player’s development club, simply because they had never been asked for the fee!

There are some that will tell you that football is a numbers game. The more players you give the opportunity to develop into a top class player the more chance you have of developing top class players. However look at the players Australia has produced in the past, when there were less qualified coaches and less academies compared to today. These players were successful in the main because they were all dedicated, all committed to the dream, all prepared to work hard, and they had that those old-fashioned Australian attributes. What they may have lacked in technical ability they made up for in effort and determination. They hated losing.

Whereas in that era players could step up from the State League to the NSL, there are few, if any who could step up from the NPL straight into a starting position in the Hyundai A-League. The gap is too great. Yet many players playing the NPL still hold the belief that they can make that step up. How many of them do extra training away from their clubs three training sessions a week, to try and match the fitness and strength of their A-League counterparts? If they don’t then their chances are limited.

If in a place like England they are saying that there are too many kids in the system. What can we say about the numbers here in Australia relative to our country’s size? In both countries, and probably many more, coaches build up children’s hopes. Positive affirmation has its place, but in an industry where so few will make it to the top is this really the right approach? Too many children are being told that they are the best, that they are fantastic players. Is it any wonder that they feel as if their whole world has caved in when at 13 or 15 years of age they are suddenly dropped? Is it any wonder that they walk away from the game completely, become depressed and in extreme cases attempt suicide?

They are often dropped without any explanation. They were doing what they had been doing for years and had been told that this was excellent, so are completely lost when they are discarded. Surely the game needs more reality, that these talented players rather than being constantly told how good they are need to be told the statistics as to how few players actually make it. They need a reality check, they need the truth. They need this for their own good and well-being.

As a development coach would it not be better rather than building up their hopes only to dash them years later, to tell them that it is unlikely that none of that team is likely to make it into the professional ranks? Then work on giving those who show the commitment the best opportunity to make it.

How many clubs sit with the player, their parents, have a couple of club representatives in the room and minute the meeting? All parties then sign a copy of what was recorded and keep a copy. This is what Southampton has done, and they even include a young player’s agent in the meeting. It is an open discussion where all parties can discuss where the player is at, including the player himself. Areas of concern by both parties can be aired and resolution sought. This is why Southampton are viewed as one of the leading clubs in youth development. Would such a system help in terms of player development in Australia? When it comes to youth players released from A-League club youth contracts you feel it would be a huge benefit.

It is not always about having the best pitches, the best boots, as one wise man said the best players use their environment to make themselves better. Some of the greatest players in many sports improvised when they were young as they did not have access to the best facilities. That creativity may well have been the key to their success. However rest assured that all of them also had attitude, an attitude to succeed. Most will also tell you that that they loved what they were doing, as after all there must be enjoyment when you play.

England Manager Gareth Southgate has been quoted as saying “The defining factor in a successful pro is mentality. When a player comes into a club you’re assuming he is at a high level technically, but there is something very important about the ability to learn, to keep wanting to learn and improve. It’s about dealing with the constant setbacks, the constant need to adapt and adjust.” Are we simply creating technical players? Or are we preparing players for those setbacks and teaching them how to get over them, as they are sure to happen. Are we ensuring that the players are open and quick to learn?

The story of one local teenager heading to the UK to trial with a number of clubs in the middle of a European winter with a pair of boots with moulded studs will tell you that his coach did not prepare him properly, did not give him the best opportunity of succeeding.

At the end of the day why are clubs running these development sides? This is a question every parent should ask the club they send their child to. Is it simply to tick a box with the game’s administrators? Or are they genuinely looking to develop players, irrespective of results? Is the goal to have seven of the under 16’s playing first team football in the next four years?

When it comes to that development are they developing local children, or are they simply bringing in the best and giving themselves a better chance to hang their hat on a player breaking through?

The whole trial system seems flawed. If these development teams were set up properly they should have a core group of players from the local area in each team that have been identified as talented and whom the club believes in. The clubs should be identifing players in local schools or lesser clubs who they feel have potential and should approach them to join their side. Yet how many clubs actually have a scouting network?

The trials should be held simply and purely on the off chance that one or two players may have slipped through the net. Parents and players attending those trials should be made aware as to how many positions are available at the club in that age group. Also the trials need to be held over a decent period of time for the reasons stated by Tony McCool.

There is currently a review into the Youth development pathway here in Australia, let us hope that those working on it realise that the current system has a great many flaws. We can change the direction of our development and we can once again start producing players capable of playing regularly in the top leagues around the world. To a certain degree that should happen naturally via a strong club set-up, in a strong competition. The cream always rises to the top. As nearly all of the ‘Golden Generation’ of Australian players will tell you, they were playing first team football as teenagers. Playing at a young age alongside grown men is where you learn a great deal. Most important of all you learn whether you want to play at that level or higher, where suddenly there is no safety net. You have to hold your own physically and mentally, and you have to deliver on the pitch, the place where ultimately most judgements are made.