There is no doubt that the sporting landscape has changed dramatically over the past 15-20 years.
Most sports at the highest level have moved away from being a sporting contest, to now being more about entertainment. Like many television shows those running the sports have failed to realise that the viewers in the main want quality not quantity.
Too much sport becomes like a soap opera, you do not have to watch every game, you can miss a few and come back and you will not have missed much.
We have covered extensively how things have changed away from the action with sporting bodies becoming bloated with staff and eating up the financial subsidies they receive. (Family or Community?)
There is no doubt that the pressure on the community clubs is greater than it has ever been.
As author Richard Beard identified in his 2004 book, “Muddied Oafs – The Soul of Rugby” the game turning professional, in other words the top players being paid impacted the greatest on these community clubs, and usually saw a decrease in the number of teams they were able to put out each weekend.
Many will ponder why this is so. Those who have worked in club sport will happily tell you. Paying players at club level, unless it is based on results, will nearly always end up biting the club at some stage.
Players even in the professional game cast an envious eye over their team mates and what they are earning, and want a similar slice of the pie, so imagine what it is like in the lower levels of the game. Some players moving clubs simply because they have been offered the price of two pints and a packet of crisps more a week at a rival club.
Paying players results in less loyalty to clubs. Young talented players are driven around by parents seeking the best financial deal they can get for their child, turning their backs on the club and the coaches who helped lift that player’s ability to where they are today.
In some cases it is essential that they move on in order to test their ability in a stronger and more competitive environment, and no one minds that. This is understood, and clubs will invariably wish them well and genuinely want to see them succeed. It is when they go chasing money that they leave a bitter after taste.
There are some clubs in some sports who only pay their coaches. That is understandable, as the good coaches put in hours of unseen work away from training and match days. They are planning training sessions, match day tactics, checking up on players and as many have said “having to deal with parents.” Parents who invariably think they know best. Parents who believe that their child deserves to play every game, or that they are being played out of position. How many forget that these coaches in clubland are not full time coaches? Respect them, and show faith in them that they will invariably do what is best for your child.
Look back at the career of Ryan Giggs and others who came through the youth system at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson would bring them on off the bench, or start them and then substitute them off after an hour. Sometimes, they would play a match and then not be in the side for the next few games. It wasn’t because they had played badly. It was all about managing their development, and it is fair to say that it worked to the club’s advantage.
Everyone will find their level. The level that they can play at. For some the step up to a senior team or even a higher league may be too much at that point in time. Sometimes it can be too much full stop. Having witnessed players being given the opportunity to step up then being humiliated and suddenly realising how big that step up can be, managing this expectation and development is vital.
Apart from players moving away from clubs or holding their hands out for more money, the payment of players has also seen the numbers of volunteers at clubs diminish greatly. The writing was on the wall back in the 1990’s, but it has become a real issue now 20 years on. With the clubs being asked to become involved in more and more administrative duties to satisfy the governing bodies many clubs are at breaking point.
Some club stalwarts walked away because they gave their heart and soul to their clubs, never asking for payment, but they became disheartened when those who were getting paid showed such little regard for the club they loved.
Players playing their game and simply leaving as soon as it was over. Others not committed to training twice a week, missing one session but always turning up to the second in the hope of being selected for the weekend. Injured players not showing their face at training, or even turning up to watch their team play. These are just some of the reasons shared by those who have thrown in the towel.
One behaviour of epidemic proportions across many sports is the matter of players disappearing during the season.
Sport is played by many. It is played by people of all different standards and for all different reasons. These individuals all play for clubs of varying standards playing in a different range of competitions. Some are far more relaxed that others.
It used to be an unwritten rule, and certainly if you were playing in the highest competition in that sport, just below the professional level, a level where some players may be paid, or at least helped with employment or a car, that you were committed for the season. As a player you had an obligation to be available, injuries permitting, to play every game. Of course some players had work commitments that may take them away but that was understood.
Clubs who have aspirations to be competitive and win the competitions that they play in are now being challenged by players taking holidays during the season. Sometimes missing two weeks of fixtures. As several coaches have explained they then return after two weeks lying on a beach drinking and expect to be given their place back in the starting line-up.
The ironic thing is that many of these players will tell you that they should be playing at a higher level. Not realising that one of the key attributes to play at that level is ‘commitment.’ Or as some put it “a level of professionalism.”
To make the club’s lot even harder is the fact that when they have players picked for representative sides they are made to suffer.
Imagine a club that has invested in it’s youth. The first team coach is encouraged over a season to bring these players through, for they are the future of the club over the next 7-10 years.
The powers that be organise a national tournament in the middle of the season, so these young and aspiring players are plucked out of their clubs to go and represent their state. The clubs will never hold the players back, as this shows that their development is working and they want these players to succeed. However, when a team loses four or more players who have been regularly playing in their first team it can have a huge impact on that team and their season.
Many sports used to have a rule that if four or five players were selected for a representative team then the club matches could be postponed. Today they have to suck it up and deal with it. Is that really fair? After all the clubs are, and always will be where players develop. They are the lifeblood of every sport, so should they be shown a little more respect?
To compound the problem we then have administrators not allowing these young players to play for their clubs once they return from the tournament, as part of their ‘recovery process.’ These are players in their late teens and early 20’s, they should be champing at the bit to play. Why hold them back?
Former Test cricketer Damien Fleming has been on for years about how young players in cricket are not playing enough cricket, especially bowlers. This is why many break down when they step up to Sheffield Shield or Test cricket. Maybe this is why there are no fast bowlers in the Australia squad under the age of 25? Eight of the 11 listed “pace bowlers” are in fact 29 or over.
in the past week former England cricket captain Michale Vaughan bemoaned the same issue in England where the Test players simply are not playing for their counties. He was saying how Jofra Archer has been parachuted back into the England Test team having had “one day in the field in four years.” Vaughan went on to say “I don’t understand how we are not making these players play a bit more cricket, I’m not old school I just think the way that you get good at playing cricket… I look at golf, Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer in the world, how does he get good at playing golf? He plays golf.”
Western Australia is home of the Hockey High Performance unit for Australia’s Men’s and Women’s national teams. A facility that is undergoing a $163million redevelopment. The national hockey program is under financial strain due to the funding program being results-based, and the two Australian teams failing to medal in Paris at the Olympic Games. It is understood that players selected for the High performance program have now been encouraged to play overseas in Europe or the Hockey India League. Which makes one wonder why they need a $163 million develop[ment if the players are not going to be there to use it.
How the clubs would have loved a slice of that pie, and what a difference it would have made in securing their futures.
In previous years there was a draft that saw Hockeyroos and Kookaburras players drafted to clubs in the local Western Australian competition. Last year hardly any of the men’s players played for these clubs. (To Play or Not To Play Finals That is The Question) This year the draft was abandoned, and clubs were asked to support the national players and also those in the Development squad in Perth.
Once again surely this has to work both ways? If the clubs are being asked to accommodate these players, the players must be available when not on international duty or injured?
On their return from playing in the Pro League in Europe only 10 of the Kookaburras squad of 22 played for their local clubs. Some players opted to take a holiday. What example does that set for young up-and-coming players? Is this maybe why other players in hockey take a holiday during the season? We are sure that this would not be the sole reason, but feel that it does not set a good example.
What is the reason players in other sports at the same level are also taking holidays during the season? Why has this suddenly become an issue for so many clubs and coaches in so many sports?
Do the clubs playing at the highest level need to take a stronger stance when signing players?
Some feel that this, and the timing of the various youth competitions and then the enforced rests are undermining the credibility of their local competitions, and that there needs to be more conversations in this space.
One suggestion put forward was to trim the number of teams in the leagues so that you can have a break in the seasons for the under 21 and under 18 tournaments to take place without disrupting the clubs. This seems to be a reasonable proposal, but it would require co-ordination with all the other state bodies around Australia for it to work. Could that co-operation be achieved?
At the end of the day it comes down to why you play. If you want to not be as committed and take holidays during the season maybe the highest competition available is not for you. Maybe it is time to drop down a level and make room for others who are dedicated and prepared to make the commitment required. Certainly all of the work done by the remaining volunteers at the clubs deserve to see players show such a commitment and respect for the club, and the top team.
If the current situation continues one can see it having a long term impact on the development of players in a number of sports in Australia. Somehow the clubs must take back control and put in place expectations for those who wish to play at the highest level. Never forget that the administrative bodies are there to serve the clubs. They are their to administer the competitions in which these clubs play, so the clubs have every right to stipulate how they want their competitions to operate.
