The coast is delisted by fa aren’t they?
Central Coast United & the Mariners aren’t part of the rebel comp & are still affiliated to FNSW at that level
Azzurri vs Valo trials this weekend.
From what I heard they had decent amount of players chose not to trial and requested to play in Community Teams instead of NPL or went to other NL1 teams. Most of the 2021 players that were keen, were retained in the NPL teams for 2022.
Looks to me like a lot of kids were happy being toward the top of the table in 2nd division teams and weren't that interested in being NPL up agasint the traditional powerhouse teams.
To be fair a quick look at the 2021 ladders show why:
u13s W GD
9th 1 -64
10th 2 -67
11th 0 -125
u14s W GD
9th 3 -60
10th 3 -59
11th 3 -67
u15s W GD
9th 1 -31
10th 2 -58
11th 1 -72
u16s W GD
9th 3 -46
10th 1 -55
11th 1 -52
Thats alot of teams/players having very rough years, and it happens year on year. I can see why so many kids/parents would be happy playing NL1 at clubs like Cooks Hill where they know theyll be fighting for top of the table.
Thats great if thats all you ever want to do with your football and theres certainly no problem with that.... As long as their parents aren't selling them that they will be superstars doing it, and thats certainly the attitude I came across every time we had to deal with New Lambton. Terrible player behaviour, followed up by their parents, who had obviously been drinking all the same koolaide. Glad it's a VERY rare occurrence we've ever had to play them.
Don't discount the development opportunities that working hard gets you even if you aren't at the top. Theres still kids from the bottom team in 13/14/15's ladder there you posted that are in TSP and moving upwards from there as well. You might be coming first at New Lambton in 2nd DIV but walking into a win every weekend only gets you so far. The rest is just bloody hard work.
I wonder if that gap between New Lambton and other NL1 clubs will grow even more this year as their 13's will be the first year of JDL kids coming through.They always have good JDL teams I wonder how many of the kids went to NPL teams and how many stayed to play 13's there.I dont have any issues with kids wanting to stay in NL1 and compete for trophies but yes I've had the same experience in the past where people within that club certainly enjoy telling you their teams are better than certain NPL clubs.I agree with you that for a lot of the kids winning a trophy at 13 isnt the point and I remember the Magic 13's from last year dishing out decent floggings to teams that were pushing for finals spots.It always seems to sting the parents way more than the kids when they lose.My son is so pumped up to get back out there and hes more than aware that there will be great days and bad days its all part of life.
New Lambton beat NPL clubs at various age groups in youth and certainly 18s last season.
There is excellent coaching across all grades with a lot of involvement and inclusion from all grades up to seniors.
Ive been involved in both NPL and NL1/NewFM over the years and I can categorically say, I would rather my kid (if they didn't make one of the successful NPL sides) to be playing at a New Lambton, or previous to this (not sure about now, but 3/4 years ago) South Cardiff.
Ive seen some of the absolute dross offered up to players at the mid to low NPL tier, but parents and kids want to be able to say they play NPL so they go and pretend it's all good and worth the money.
Some of the best coaches I've seen are in NL1, and are just loyal to the clubs they played for/gave them a start.
Lets face it, nobodies kid who is playing NPL in Newcastle at 15 is going to go pro. At least get value for money, good role models, an inclusive club that provides opportunities for retention and growth, and don't give your rego $ to clubs that are going to use it to give you an out of date coach so they can push the rest onto a first grader who should not be earning what they earn.
Thanks for the response.I certainly dont want to turn this into a club bashing exercise and your points are all good.New Lambton were always well represented in JDL when my son played against them.My point was more about wondering if kids in good NL1 teams ever leave to try it in upper NPL clubs or once they are there and comfortable more stay for the journey through youth?I heard their good JDL team has split up and 1/2 the kids went to Magic/Jaffas and the other half stayed.It will be interesting to see how many go back to New Lambton or how many others leave thinking there is perceived higher level for them.Its probably not an issue if the rumoured move to NPL is on the cards in the near future anyway.I agree that essentially none of the kids will make it to the big time but coming through the JDL experience has taught me 1st grade is a real goal for a lot of kids and clubs.Time will tell.
Get off the koolaide. I’m specifically talking about behaviour and if the standard was set then the players wouldn’t have even attempted to put on such an Performance to begin with, let alone the name calling etc after the game.
Let’s face it no one who was there cares about the rambling crap you added after; they represented the club and thats what they sold to everyone there at the time.
Also Angus thurgate was playing NPL up here at 15 I’m pretty sure. God it gets old all those tall poppies out there who think because they or their kid didn’t do something that no kid ever will.
**** me it gets boring hearing that same old crap.