One of the suggestions brought forward by last night's twitter Q & A with the head of the A-League was the concept of a Draft.
Personally I think theres no need for one. Between the state and federal Institutes of of Sports, Emerging Jets/Academy sides, state leagues, NYL sides etc, theres already plenty of opportunities for young players.
Another point would be who would run and pick the draftees, plus where would the money come from? Surely all the top identifiers of young talent are already contracted to any of the listed organisations above and they would have already picked their choices for the relevant teams. Plus, to have people full time to run the process, you're looking at least $200k, where would the money come from? Would the kid's parent pay for the chance? And would that mean it becomes a "pay your way in" scheme?
And we can't compare ourselves to the MLS because they don't have any National Youth League type competition. They are required to have academies, but there is no national league.
Would love to hear other people's thoughts.