Originally Posted by
Isthisforreal
The original concept when the premier club SAP came in was probably the closest they’ve had it, and if they had of stuck with that model then grading the 11s and 12s would be pretty simple.
The original season had 16 clubs mostly with 2 teams each and played 2 games a day.
With the tweaks made to one game if they had of stayed with the 16 clubs and split into two pools based on actual results from the year prior, you would find the weekend games would be much closer games and overall better for their development. It’s not perfect as I understand some teams change players and move clubs etc but overall would level out the playing field.
Some clubs would still have an A and B teams which would probably allow their A team to compete with the stronger clubs and the B team would be very competitive in pool B..
The more clubs that get involved the more diluted the program becomes, the hard it is to grade the draw, the less development we will see and the more disappointed parents will become in the system.
It’s unfortunate but when the almighty dollar takes precedence over quality we end up with what we have now.
Cut the team numbers, make it a genuine premier competition which still has room for 320 of the age groups best U9s through to 360 of the age groups best U12s..
Before people judge the above, let’s be real and understand that it’s impossible to have the resources and man power to run 16 premier programs for development across the clubs let alone more the way it is run now.
Breakdown the numbers required to run the program just for JDL/SAP with only 16 clubs having a license with two teams in each age group
16 TDs
16 coordinators
128 coaches
1300 plus kids
All suppose to be of the level above community football under the premier competition banner and this is just U9s-12s
The regional football bodies (HV, Macquarie and Newcastle) should be working within the community football clubs from U7s - 12s with their programs and training days to help identify potential JDL level kids and identify them to clubs in their region.
It’s not a perfect system but I think you will find it would improve the quality in development of the kids, better training, better coaching, better games and happier kids