Quote Originally Posted by Bremsstrahlung View Post
Think this needs to be addressed moving forward.
Will it be a condition of holding a NPL license?


In an ideal world, players could start in JDL and progress to youth and NPL at a single club.
This may not be suitable and viable for all clubs though. Like Toronto seemingly cannot find players. Is this the clubs fault? Or is it a reflection of the demographic in the area? Most would be off to Edgy or lakes… maybe there just aren’t that many footballers in that area. Should a senior club be punished for not being able to source quality, interested kids? The answer to than kind of dictates where we go to moving forward.

With the proposed decoupling of youth, it’s probably less vital.
But we then run the risk of clubs not fielding teams and ending up with an average competition.

I’d love to see any club be able to enter into JDL or Youth (starting at the bottom) provided they meet some basic criteria.
Let parents and kids decide what they want to do. Do you want to play for a club who has JDL, youth and NPL license. Or do you want to play JDL for a local club, see if kid enjoys it, then worry about youth later etc.

Clubs will realise that it is more viable to have the pathway in place.
In another thread, people whinging clubs have a monopoly on quality. Seems to me the clubs have developed a reputation and there’s a demand to play for certain clubs, based on their success and hard work in developing their pathways.
I'd like to see JDL a requirement of every club in the NPL/NL1 with sufficient players going through it to populate the under 13 squad in the PYL. If that means two JDL teams per club, then so be it. If clubs want to come up from ZPL, then that is the criteria they have to meet. In that way, the top two tier clubs regenerate from (mainly) within. Limit JDL to premier clubs only so community clubs still get a good number of kids.

Additionally, the top two tier clubs should also be required to have pre JDL structures (u6 etc). There are community clubs that generate these age groups then lose kids to the premier clubs as soon as JDL begins, and it breeds resentment that the premier clubs aren't doing their bit.

I'd like to see PYL squads limited to 14 players. If you are short, play younger kids up. Maximise game time and help spread the talent.

Lastly, I'd like to see regulation that prohibits PYL clubs from getting rid of substantial numbers of kids from an underperforming team, but I don't know how it would be enforced. If you thought the kid was good enough, develop him. Too many times over the last few years there have been clubs that dumped half a squad or more because the team was unsuccessful. Some kids develop faster/earlier than others. Do the hard work. It is a development league.