Oldy sounds like a loser ! His kid must of followed the grubby coach and TD to olympic !
I was going to make a long-winded reply. but honestly SAP is a competitive program. It always has been. Its not about making friends. Its about football.
Anyone who's got their knickers in a knot needs to realise that and just get on with it. It doesn't get better than SAP - enjoy it while you have kids that are in that age group.
If you are having sleepless nights because your kids have to trial at another club now, you will never sleep again if they play through to NPL Youth.
And if you have more than one playing - double the fun.
Just because you have been TOLD you have been retained it doesn't mean anything unless you have the paper with it written on. Lots of people talk during the season and towards the end - But talk is all it is if you don't see it on a piece of paper with the club logo, don't ever take it as gospel. You have to do the best thing for your kids and if that means registering them other places to trial until your current club makes them an offer in writing - then that's what you do - If they want to keep you bad enough they will put the offer in writing at the very least.
How toxic has this thread become though? - lots of bored people with no football on by the looks of it.
I agree with most of your points but here is where there is an issue i was discussing earlier.My mates kid isnt allowed to trial/meet with other clubs even though he hasnt been given a spot.They are still considering picking him (unless they find someone better) and seem to be hinting that if he does meet/trial with anyone else then hes no chance to stay.I dont think this is a particularly good way to behave towards kids of that age.We can disagree on that but i take the side of doing thats best for the kids,not the scoreline.Also,for those of us in the first meetings in the first year,SAP was never designed to be a competitive league.It was designed all around the training and skills,the games were something to do on the weekend to implement those skills.It was always supposed to be an alternative to just going out and winning every game on the weekend by any means necessary.I totally agree now that is pretty much just NPL 9-12.and if everyone is happy to keep it that way then so be it.But this wasnt the original plan.Also agree on the toxic nature creeping in again.Larger issues are fine to discuss but the individual name calling and club shaming (the majority of it by heresay) is out of line.
It sounds like a very sticky situation.
I personally think the club is out of line. If they haven't offered the lad a spot then they have no right to hedge their bets and hold this over his head
There is a very real risk that they don't offer him a spot and he hasn't EOI'd or trialed anywhere. How does he then find a spot in another club?
He has to look after himself first and put himself out there.
All opinions expressed here are my own.
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -Benjamin Franklin
Unfortunately that is what the "power" brokers at some clubs do. Make threats to a kid. Unless your kid has a written contract with a club they have absolutely no hold over you. What if your mate's son was trialling with the Jets or Mariners? Is that a reason to dump him? Some local SAP clown wants to hold him back? Insane. The club will dump on a kid as soon as a more desired prospect appears. That's it. Kids/families have the same option. If a kid is good enough but trials elsewhere and misses out, I don't think the current club will be rid of him unless there is a better option presenting himself as a replacement. Self interest will always rule as we strive to be the top of the local dung heap.
Any club that says to a kid "if you trial elsewhere then there is no longer spot for you here" is a disgrace. Instead of threatening a kid, they should be asking themselves "why is he looking elsewhere?" The kid/family is delivering a message to you. Wake up and read it.
"It is not that I am afraid to die; its just that I don't want to be there when it happens" - Woody Allen
Exactly and if he is good enough, why haven't you offered him a spot already? A club who tells a player they will need to retrial should absolutely be knowing and even telling the player and parents that they should be looking for a Plan B and Plan C just in case they don't get Plan A
There is so much BS on here when it comes to little Johnny missing out then mums and dads on here saying unfair. But in saying that if the examples above are true thats disgraceful and should be disciplined by NNSW.... If you dont want you kid put in a competitive environment go play community football. The fact is that the stronger clubs are stronger for a vey good reason and select or drop kids for very good reasons so get over it.
Baffles me.
Everyone here has obvious heard a rumour or 5 about every club, (the ones you start don't count) and they class them as accurate or inaccurate depending upon your source.
Now, surely word gets around.
People involved with club X have obviously heard that they can be brutal with retention, dropping players, hedging their bets or whatever. Yet cry when they are on the receiving end. You knew what you were getting yourself into.
Kids 'allegedly' being blackmailed to stay at a club and not trial elsewhere. Why do you want to stay at such a club? Is that the environment you want your child to be playing in?
There will always be a merry go round between certain clubs. When i say "certain clubs", you all think of 3-4 clubs (May not be the same clubs), so why aren't you avoiding those clubs?
I just don't understand people.
Sure, maybe they have a good development, good coaches etc, but they also are success and results based and as a result, volatile. You weigh up the risks when you sign on at such clubs, and you're kidding yourself if you don't.
This program 12 months ago had people on here telling me it was a development program (which i believed), not an elite program. Based on the last few pages here, it is an elite program, and all this drama is part of 'elite clubs'.
This is a thread for the clubs involved in SAP/JDL so obviously the likes of Beresfield/Garden Suburbs or Hamilton Azzurri wont be discussed here but I can guarantee you there would be parents and kids out there that have had bad experiences at those clubs too.I might be reading it wrong but the overwhelming majority of people on here have had positive experiences in the program.Personally it seems that the most negative comments come from people who have nothing to do with the program and just enjoy throwing shit at people/clubs and coaches.I hate the name calling and club shaming as think its not representative of the program as a whole.I hate the idea of people both inside and outside the program thinking it is 'elite'.Its not, it was designed to be a different approach.As said before i agree it is quickly turning into NPL 9-12 and hate that aspect of it.But its also only in its 4th year so things are being learned as they go.You also have to remember that this program was implemented because it was deemed that the old system was even worse.If you want my personal opinion there have been too many people from the old system worm their way into JDL now and its not been for the better.NNSW has to cop a lot of that blame as their initial claim of being the overseer of it all has not played out that way.Anyway my kid is done and onto 13's next year so im hopeful the parents getting involved have as good an experience as mine.It isnt perfect,as everyone keeps pointing out,but I thought it was worth it.
Very interesting that todays memo from NNSWF has the JDL season continuing post lockdown.
Memo Link
Rounds 19-22 planned to be played from Sept 18/19 through to Oct 9/10.
There might be some awkward conversations & training sessions considering how many clubs have already released players or had players choose to leave.
Last edited by Aegon; 26-08-2021 at 06:48 PM. Reason: Added link to memo
All opinions expressed here are my own.
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -Benjamin Franklin
My comment isn't directed at the positive experiences.
My comment is directed at people whinging here, who know enough about the local football scene to know the "power clubs" and get their kid a spot at these clubs. You don't know who the "power clubs" are without hearing a few home truths.
If you go to a mechanic and have a dodgy experience, you warn you friends and family and anybody who brings up needing a mechanic.
If somebody who has heard that they are dodgy, goes there regardless, then the dodgy outcome isn't really a surprise is it? Maybe you'll have a good outcome.
My point is, clubs have developed reputations, it's not hard to ask and find out. If people avoided clubs with dodgy practices, maybe they will be forced to reconsider their practices.
However, people seem all too quick to forget those rumours and poor reputations surrounding retention/treatment when you get to tell anyone who will listen little Johnny is playing for locally renowned Club X.
Well it’s going to be very interesting as NNSW saying the last 4 games of JDL will be played. How will the grubby new TD who had no balls to call the kids himself and cut my son and others go about facing the kids and parents.Also the magic coach who plays Olympic twice how will he face the parents of kids He had a hand in cutting at olympic!
There is a very very simple way to solve all this BS.
When clubs pick their squads in U9’s those players can be let go until the 4 yrs are up. Kids can leave during that time if they like and then the club can replace them. But a kid can’t be cut to fit in the kid from another club who is the gun. This means it falls in the lap of the TD to identify talent initially not just go to a few games and when their team gets a touched up approach the kids that do it. This will seperate the good TD from the poor ones. Also for the clubs like Lakes if they unearth a gun they have 4 years to have the kid in their club and are more chance of keeping the kids cause they feel part of the club and haven’t had Magic/Olympic etc trying to poach them as a 10 yr old. Stops the rich big clubs pillaging the other clubs and may even level out other age groups. Happy to hear people’s opinion
I think the negative here is that not all the best players are found at 9. Every player that ive seen that has taken a spot were much better than the player they replaced. Sometimes a player needs a change due to many reasons. I think that a team to going to another club as a whole is a disgrace though. Also, its parents that seek to find the bigger clubs as well as the poaching that might be going on. Yes it is early for clubs to recruit like 1st grade but here we are.
Last edited by djjones; 26-08-2021 at 08:56 PM.
Are you serious? There was absolutely NONE of this rubbish in the old system, no club division no one rubbishing each other and in 12s they even had a ladder and it still wasn’t as competitive as this “new” system is, even state championships. The problem isn’t people from the previous system, let me tell you that now. None of what you are saying is actually remotely close to the truth. The system wasn’t changed because “the old system was worse” the system was changed purely to push more kids through - hence the level of development for a lot of kids has actually dropped. Anyone who’s had kids come through both versions will give you some hard truths about how much worse the new system is regarding the behaviours of both parents, kids and coaches.
And no. Signing kids up at 9 then telling they aren’t allowed to leave for 4 years is ridiculous as well if my kid isn’t happy and wants to move or the some kids aren’t a good fit fit a club there is absolutely no reason they should have to keep them. Parents just need to get over their own egos and realise that kids develop differently and it won’t suit everyone. Nothing in life does.