Central Coast youth Development

[afan]

I would be very interested in people;s view on this topic very close to my heart.

When I look at Football NSW, like them or hate them, they own all STATE team selections and arguably the best academies. They have things such as Coerver Coaching and soon u11/u12 combined elite development etc. Then then move into u13 Johnny Warren that we have and, correct me if I'm wrong, we have not got one u13's in this years u13 state camp. Now why do we the CCF run our own things such as Flash Football, Strike Force and so on...

Surely, we should be trying to do the same as the governing body and, thus try and get out of SECOND DIV which is where our youth are playing today.

Note: This is not aimed at anything, just concerned and would like opinions good or bad.

Thanks

[theancientmariner]

You make some very good points but I feel that you need a little bit of background info.
The 2006/07 Johnny Warren Academies (for boys born in 1994) were used as a basis for selection for this years Under 13 State camp. There were NINE Johnny Warren academies in NSW - 4 to cover the whole of Sydney, and one each in Illawarra, Southern Western and Riverina and one - just for the Central Coast. CCF was the only local association to have a Johnny Warren academy solely within the boundaries of one single association. The fact that none were selected has nothing to do with CCF not running programs - you rightly say that we had a JW Academy here, we just didn't have any players good enough.
Coerver Academies are run on the Central Coast - just not by CCF who were being charged a $20000 licence fee to run them when they did. Considering their financial problems it is no wonder they weren't inclined to run it. However, five players from the Central Coast Coerver squads and one local player who is in one of the Sydney squads all made the Coerver Oceania Squad after the camp in April. More probably would have made it if they had not been put off by the $450 cost of attending a five day non-residential camp. On top of the Coerver and Johnny Warren Academies there is also the Central Coast Academy of Sport which is run in conjunction with CCF and the Mariners Academy.
That is as much or more than a pathway than is available to most Sydney kids.
The Flash Football is just a holiday camp aimed at local club level players - nothing in anyway to replace or compete with an elite development program. The Strike Force camp is both a development and also a talent identification camp being run by one of the most highly qualified and respected acadamy and development coaches in Australia in Mark Boyd.
Central Coast may be currently in the second division of the Youth League - but have you had a look at the Club Championship tables to see how they are going?

[afan]

theancientmariner, thanks and also for the background info. I'm in no way trying to state we are not good enough and also re: Mark Boyd not having a go at his credentials.

But from your comments I then have to ask the obvious question? I totally agree with the Coerver Costs and no wonder we let it go. Who is coaching these boys on the coast, that from what you say got 5 and 1 playing in Sydney? That is pretty good odds as they are trialling against Sydney Kids etc. It is obvious that these coaches regardless of what they coach should have our total respect and try to get them into our CCF if they are not already there, as their record of 5-6 in Oceania is pretty impressive.

On Club Championship I would expect us to be leading and win it, as there are lots of talented kids/seniors here. Are we really trying to get back to the top and is this not very costly?

[offtheball]

In 2008 you have to have a senior team in the NSW Premier League for your Youth Teams to be in Premier Youth.

Whilst our Mens Lightning Team is doing well under John McClafferty it takes recruitment and money to play senior Premier League. What happens to Lightning this year when Boogs, Porter, Trott etc are not available because of Mariners commitments?

CCF obviously are not in a position to pay big dollars for players.

$1000 a season to play youth league is already on the nose for many. More so if there is an inkling it is subsidising the seniors as it has in the past.

The other reason we are not leading the Club Championship is because of the two or three kids in each age group who are playing for Premier League clubs such as Manly or Blacktown.

[mortez]

To the best of my knowledge the Mariners are paying the wages of Trott, Porter, and Boogard to play for the Lightning, which shows the Mariners commitment to try to improve the
local player standards, as well as supporting the Central Coast Lightning Football Club and its Footballing communities.

I dont think other players are getting paid anything at all, for which the players should be highly commended for.

[afan]

Thanks for your feedback. I guess that whilst we continue to run in the way then, we are destine to play second div. Yes I commend the players for playing for free, but lets hope one day things change as next year we will lose more players to Syd clubs.

[fulltime]

There is no way $1000 per season could be subsidising the seniors. Over one third of it goes to Football NSW for registration and affiliation, one third goes to supplying strips and the rest of the gear and the small remainder goes to the administrative costs of running the club, the support and the grounds.
The senior players are being paid through a sponsorship deal with the Mariners which is part of their commitment to Lightning to be an official feeder club and part of the pathway to the A League. Being able to play some of their players like Trotty Boogs and Porter is all part of the commitment. The trend is actually reversing because of this commitment and local players are choosing to play for Lightning instead of Sydney clubs purely for the chance of getting looked at by the Mariners (Xavier Forsberg is the first example - leaving Marconi to play back on the Coast). I think things are looking more and more positive, and in time Lightning will be back in Premier League although other restrictions like a 5000 seat covered grandstand at their home field is also a sticking point that could hold them back. Considering the cost of playing at Bluetongue (exorbinant) does anyone have any other suggestions as to how the Lightning can still get into Premier League without a huge ethnic community/private sponsor/licensed club paying the bills?

[offtheball]

How many of the present premier league clubs have a covered 5000 seat grandstand?

[theboyroy]

fulltime said:

There is no way $1000 per season could be subsidising the seniors. Over one third of it goes to Football NSW for registration and affiliation, one third goes to supplying strips and the rest of the gear and the small remainder goes to the administrative costs of running the club, the support and the grounds.
The senior players are being paid through a sponsorship deal with the Mariners which is part of their commitment to Lightning to be an official feeder club and part of the pathway to the A League. Being able to play some of their players like Trotty Boogs and Porter is all part of the commitment. The trend is actually reversing because of this commitment and local players are choosing to play for Lightning instead of Sydney clubs purely for the chance of getting looked at by the Mariners (Xavier Forsberg is the first example - leaving Marconi to play back on the Coast). I think things are looking more and more positive, and in time Lightning will be back in Premier League although other restrictions like a 5000 seat covered grandstand at their home field is also a sticking point that could hold them back. Considering the cost of playing at Bluetongue (exorbinant) does anyone have any other suggestions as to how the Lightning can still get into Premier League without a huge ethnic community/private sponsor/licensed club paying the bills?

You can look at getting a grant from the sport and rec, as long as it's a "not for profit" set up, you can apply for up to 300,000 grand. Not sure but the story I heard was, that the last MD may have already burnt this bridge and got a load of cash from them last year. But as no funds were coming in, he authorized cheques hand over fist from the account where the money was kept and it was used on radio/media advertising and wages. When it should of been set aside and used to upgrade the facilities. Of course this was only gossip and could be so far from the truth, but that's one place that could be looked at.

[offtheball]

fulltime said:

There is no way $1000 per season could be subsidising the seniors. Over one third of it goes to Football NSW for registration and affiliation, one third goes to supplying strips and the rest of the gear and the small remainder goes to the administrative costs of running the club, the support and the grounds.
The senior players are being paid through a sponsorship deal with the Mariners which is part of their commitment to Lightning to be an official feeder club and part of the pathway to the A League. Being able to play some of their players like Trotty Boogs and Porter is all part of the commitment. The trend is actually reversing because of this commitment and local players are choosing to play for Lightning instead of Sydney clubs purely for the chance of getting looked at by the Mariners (Xavier Forsberg is the first example - leaving Marconi to play back on the Coast). I think things are looking more and more positive, and in time Lightning will be back in Premier League although other restrictions like a 5000 seat covered grandstand at their home field is also a sticking point that could hold them back. Considering the cost of playing at Bluetongue (exorbinant) does anyone have any other suggestions as to how the Lightning can still get into Premier League without a huge ethnic community/private sponsor/licensed club paying the bills?

Fulltime this is not correct. A third ($300) does not go to Football NSW. It is closer to $60.

You only have to look at the fee to play for lightning in 2006, $550 to see that $300+ is not the amount going to Football NSW