Quote Originally Posted by Isthisforreal View Post
No exodus from the Jaffas 🤣🤣🤣 6 of the 12 players have left, what do you call that ? Along with the fact they were all quality players.
They have only 1 player left from U9s, sounds like a stable environment

It’s obvious there’s a problem
Hi all,

I’d prefer not to talk about specific clubs but I would like to address the subject discussed here. If it is indeed true that a club (any club!) has only one U9 left by U12 then I agree it does suggest that something hasn’t worked at the club.

This could be that the players initially picked were not good enough with Youth football on the horizon; it could mean the coaching hasn’t been good enough; it could mean players have found other lives, or it could mean the club turns over players quickly in the hope of finding better players.

It could also be a combination of any of these.

My hope for SAP when it started was to developed our players over four years in the hope 50% who started on the journey make it to youth football at our club. At a guess I think we still have around 70% of the players who started with us in U9 coming back for U12 next season. I’m proud of that.

I hope the changes being made elsewhere are not change for change’s sake. Of course some players might not develop as fast as others, but IMHO patience is important. Of course our club does not have the luxury of being a ‘big club’ - but we do show loyalty and hope to get that back in the long run.

A