The "Nationals" are over for our ACT representative teams. They did as well as may be expected. But can we do more for our young talented female players?
The Under 14 Girls held their position in Group A for 2012 and the Under 15 Girls finished second in Group B and will remain in Group B for the 2012. Clearly the players and coaches have done well to hold the line, as it were. What will next year hold, given the steady progress in other states?
A question - Can we do better in 2012? And another - Why do we keep asking ourselves this question?
There was disquiet among some parents for the lack of effective preparation prior to (and I don't mean a few short weeks out from the championships) the commencement of the championships in both age groups, as there was concern for a continuing lack of depth in playing strength in the Under 15 age group ( a deficiency identified last year in the Under 14 age group but not remedied) and, the inability to get all the players to training sessions due to competing Club competition, Club tours and development opportunities (leaving aside the ordinary illness and other family matters that always arise).
There are a lot of competing demands on these young players and where does ACT representation sit in that hierarchy of opportunities? Perhaps the most surprising complaint / concern expressed was the lack of preparation games / fixtures for the squads prior to the Nationals. If true, it must have placed our representative teams and their coaches in a position of significant disadvantage, given the extensive preparation undertaken by the big junior football performers such as NSW Metro, Victoria and Queensland.
I can recall one notable exception to this pathology in recent times in junior girls football - The ACT Under 13 Girls of 2010, coached by Colin Johnston. Colin has extensive experience in junior player development, he develops good football habits among his young players, he was the coach that made all the difference at Woden Valley SC as "technical director", the very earliest practitioner of small sided games in the ACT that I can recall in community based club football, he trained lots of junior community based coaches in his methods (which were much of what is the national curriculumum is today in these age groups) and set standards that are copied by other Clubs. In this area of football, his knowledge and experience dwarfed anything resident at Capital Football in its time. The results of lengthy and well directed preparation, which included in excess of thirty matches (and they traveled to get them - all supported by parents of the players) resulted in a superb performance at the Nationals last year, high technical points assessment, several players in the All Stars and one of them subsequently selected for the inaugural Australian Under 13 Girls team, while he was awarded the task of coaching the All Stars team in the final fixture (take that to mean a big thumbs up from those that know Football). This was the standard for all our future efforts! Nothing less is required in order to be competitive among the girls and boys age groups at a National competitive level. So it can be done.
However, back to that question(s) - Can we do better in 2012? And another - Why do we keep asking ourselves this question?
The NPL Local will ask these and related questions of the CF Technical Director when he gives his promised second interview. Royston is smart football fellow - he will have answers. What is it we are not seeing or do not know on this subject? If there is a better way ahead, what is the plan and how long before it gets going? We need to know.
Here are the final table results for the Championships:
