Agree. It's crazy, especially considering the Football NSW youth competitions policy on "biological maturity". Players that are shown to be "potentially disadvantaged from a physical perspective" can play in a lower age-category, but kids good enough to play up a year or two cannot???? Mad.
https://footballnsw.com.au/2019/09/1...al-maturation/
14's just won the National Titles so I'd say they are going well.
Check out the Lawrie episode on the Jetstream for expansion on whats going on with the Academy side of things
Subscribe to The Jetstream Podcast http://www.newcastlefootball.net/podcast
I thought the interview was excellent - great work. I know Lawrie comes in for a lot of criticism on here, but he came across really well. Honest, clear about why certain decisions had been made and someone who genuinely cares about the future of the club. Fair play to him on doing the interview with nothing off limits.
Subscribe to The Jetstream Podcast http://www.newcastlefootball.net/podcast
Yes, I agree. I remain dubious that all parents have welcomed the move to Sydney with open arms. It may be the case that any sort of the unrest on the issue might not have filtered its way up to Lawrie's level, or that parents are worried about speaking out in case its effects their kid's spot in the team. Same for the move to Hunter Sports High School. Reading between the lines I suspect there will be a real push from the Jets for all kids in the program to attend Hunter Sports High School in the very near future. Lawrie mentioned the kids outside the school training 3 times a week and those kids attending the school having 5 sessions a week (plus using the schools physios etc). It may not be explicitly said by the Jets, but a time will come soon where parents/kids realise they probably need to attend the Hunter Sports High to get the best chance of making it. Tough choices.
Why on earth would you be banking on anything through a club that's future in our domestic league is not even certain let alone as a pathway to playing at the highest level in Europe ?
If your kids good enough he or she will make it one way or another - it's never going to be a case only one pathway for them in football or any sport / profession.
Plenty of time and plenty of opportunities
Last edited by The Dunster; 14-10-2019 at 06:26 PM.
Yes, I agree entirely. I find the whole Hunter Sports High thing quite troubling. Sure, use the facilities there if it makes financial sense etc, but keep the Jets out of the curriculum. The extra training for Jets kids going there is like a “reward” for attending the school. Why can’t they just do the normal football training the school does, and then save the formal Jets training for when all the kids at other schools are available?
Does the Jets involvement at the school mean there are less places for non-Jets kids to get into the football program at HSHS? How does the Jets presence at the school effect the normal program/timetable? YouÂ’d have to think the Jets will be given preference on the use of facilities.
To me there is too much putting all your eggs in one basket - for the Jets, for the school, and most importantly it seems kids/parents are being asked to do the same.
Do any other clubs in Australia have a similar set-up, with kids being encouraged to go to a certain school and “rewarded” with more training for doing so?
i thought the CEO (in the podcast) said that there was already a section of the Jets academy kids who train more than others. Sorry forgot what the reason was, but was sure he said something to that effect. (Please correct if wrong anyone).
Also, HSH and the Jets academy are all about one thing, and thats producing the best possible athletes. Yes they'd love them all to be well rounded, adjusted kids that know where the capital of Peru is on a map and be able to identify all the current genders, but at the heart of it they all want to be the best footballers they can be. If that means a change of school, a change of training base and a change of game venues, well its the sacrifice people have to make in order to achieve that.
These kids (rightly or wrongly) have dreams of playing at the very highest level. A level that no one cares how 'book smart' you are. and outside of a selective academic school, the ability for the kids to learn the same stuff as everyone else in the city is at HSH anyway.
the Jets have said "here is the best place for you to achieve your dreams". If the kids want it, they'll adjust, like the millions before them around the world that have done it.
also, if having to travel for games, training and education is a problem, then top level football prob aint for them. if any of these kids are any sort of special then they'll be on the first bus out of Newy at a young age anyway. Not everyone gets the luxury of growing up in Singleton dreaming of being a coal miner.
as for a Jets kid taking up a footballing spot at the school? I thought the Jets were supposed to be the pinnacle of football in this city so they 'should' be better than any other kids anyway. again, the goal here is to produce the best footballers. As many others have said, there is more than one pathway. If the kid doesnt get into HSH then they go down a different road. no different for the many many 'smart' kids who dont get into Merewether High. Plenty of them are still gonna be doctors and stat nerdz.
you mean TSP kids who dont go to HSH?
Id assume no, they wont get the same opportunities as they are under the NNSW banner (is that right?) and its up to NNSW to sort that out.
as for kids already at HSH for football, ive read it as the Jets are taking their program out to HSH to use facilities etc. You would have to assume that HSH football program will still be seperate. But yeah, maybe one for the CEO or technical director to answer.
My point here is that HSH has an ongoing football program, which kids trial to get into the school to attend. These kids who get in are not all Emerging Jets (although some may be), but if there is now an onus on Jets kids going to the school, are there less spots for those non-Jets kids? There can only be a limited number of spaces open, and it would be a shame if the majority of places open each year only went to those already selected for the Jets. I just hope being an Emerging Jet does not become a prerequisite for selection for the school.
Presumably a time will come when the Jets think a kid is good enough for their program, and the kid is encouraged to go to HSH? Obviously Lawrie spoke about them catering for both HSH and non-HSH kids, but it will become more and more rare that kids not attending HSH will progress with the Jets if this link-up becomes a long-term thing.
oh i think your question is valid, but again, if the kid is hell bent on being a top level player, then they need to understand more avenues are available than just the jets.
it could work the other way in that HSH expand their football program on the back of the Jets support. I dont know.
but to be honest (and without the numbers) id not be surprised that wearing an NPL shirt has been better for the prospects of local players than wearing a Jets youth shirt over the past decade.
You guys make out like this is a new thing
Didn't a former Jets Yoof coach work there and kids started magically enrolling at HSH once upon a time??
Cowburn
Hoole
Virgili
Lundy
Pepper
They are the only locals who have been in it and played HAL from memory
Others have been in it from out of town like
Chapman
Oxborrow
Pavicevic
Crowley
Thurgate
Duncan
The most blatantly obvious part of this is that most of these players were there in the first year. Since then the Jets have went for younger players
The only bloke who you could say has been in the system the longest is Thurgate