Quote Originally Posted by sapdad View Post
exactly. i cringe when people refer to it as some sort of elite production line of superstar players.theres no doubt that the majority of NPL youth 13 and will come from SAP players, but there will be many many kids come from community straight into NPL youth because they are good enough.i can guarantee also that no club will refuse to pick a player who is good enough just because they werent in SAP.my kid has enjoyed SAP and its been good for him.hes also had teammates come in and out of the program and go in different directions and ive no doubt if they are still keen by 13's they will have just as much chance of an NPL spot as my kid.
SAP is supposed to be part of the talent pathway if you bother to look at the NNSW development program. SAP in its current form however has been so diluted, that’s why people now struggle to see where it fits for development. I would say they have now made the TSP program what the old SAP was in regards to the elite pathway you are referring to.

Most of the community kids that have made it into 13s NPL are now finding they have been released for 14s from their current clubs when actually coming up against the kids that have been in the old SAP program for a season, it’s a pretty big wake up call for many of them. A lot of the parents seem to struggle with what the NPL commitment looks like when they haven’t been in a background of 2-3 nights training at the level required and some of the kids struggle to bring the discipline and commitment required.