Originally Posted by
londonboy
As Yaa Yaa says, there are plenty of clubs out there, so anyone with some ability and desire will find a place in SAP if they want it. In terms of kids developing, based on the amount of training and games played there is nothing better around than SAP currently. Obviously you'd want to do your research and make sure the coaching at the club you choose is good, but you'd hope every SAP club will have someone capable. That's not always the case in community football as often a parent is thrown in as no-one else wants to do it. At least in SAP there will be a keen coach who (hopefully) has been trained at a decent level. Have a look at Aegon's list (first post in this group) - this will give you information on dates of trials etc.
In terms of the 'in between' level between community and SAP (excluding NET) I know some community clubs are putting together development squads at u8/u9 with things like NET in mind. I'd be surprised if some of the SAP clubs didn't do this as well. Clubs can grade their players and group the keenest/best players in one team with the future in mind and in the hope these teams stick together for a while. The flip side of this is that clubs might also be conscious about pooling all the best players in one team, leaving all their other teams to get smashed every week, and possibly meaning those kids don't come back again next year. It's all a bit of a balancing act really.
