UNDER 19'S

[Turbos mail]

So parents should have to drive 20-30mins extra each way to other clubs a few nights a week so little billy can get a game of footy?

Plenty of parents doing that now mate. Driving past grounds to play at the so called "bigger" clubs so they play finals and get false promises. Some juniors getting payments via way of free or reduced merchandise or membership fees.

 

[trucka]

I didn't say the idea was perfect but in essence yes. What you do is restrict a club to a set number of kids so it is first in best dressed. If the get a maximum of 50 kids that is two teams. 18 on field and allow 7 on the bench. If coaches are recruiting for their own clubs the club needs to be fined. If a player goes because he has some mates at another club you cant stop that.

With the growth of soccer in the area, you are happy for the 51st kid who turns up to play to tell him he can't play. He won't go to another club because his mates aren't there and that club may have a poor reputation, so he'll go and play soccer with his other mates

 

[Over The Post]

Common problem in juniors, Trucka. Sometimes at Westbourne we didn't quite have the numbers to field a team and so did the ringaround other local clubs to see who either had too many and could spare a couple, or who was short and could take ours. We also facilitated kids to play for other clubs if they felt held back and could achieve more in a higher grade than we were in. Numbers for 19s seem OK if you have a couple of reasonably successful U16/U17 years and the playing group can move up, eg Yarraville U19s this year where the boys have been pretty consistently at the top end since U13s.

 

[Dogs till i die]

The league should actively encourage neighboring clubs to work together to ensure combined teams are formed rather than losing 10-12 kids from club A and 10-12 kids from club B when both clubs realise they haven't the numbers. These clubs could use the resources of their parent clubs and form a merged "junior committee" on a semi-permanent basis to manage the juniors without merging the whole clubs themselves. Club A would get to "keep" their signed players and Club B theirs as the players move through the grades.

Sunshine / Heights, North Sunshine / Braybrook, Albanvale / Deer Park, North & West Footscray are possible entities that spring to mind and are clubs who have had varying degrees of success with junior numbers over the years.

Joint sides have existed over the years but nothing seems formalised and lasted more than a year. Just needs some effort it seems to me.

 

[table tennis]

Make your club a desirable place to take kids. That will stop little johnny from round' the corner travelling down the road to play junior footy.

I have an 18 month year old, i live in Manor Lakes. He will have 3 choices of clubs as we sit here today. Werribee Centrals, Werribee Districts or come with dad to Point Cook.