Youth system is plainly not working
Saturday 15th January 2011, 2:30PM GMT.
DID you see Monday’s football results column?
It did not make for good reading, particularly if you are of Rangers persuasion.
The St Andrew’s-based club got walloped 19-1 at Corbet Cup level, 10-1 in the under-14s, 9-0 in the under-16s and 18-4 in the under-18s.
That’s 56 goals against, six for.
From those stats it is safe to assume that Rangers’ youth section is struggling somewhat. But they are not alone.
From a distance it appears the entire island-wide youth development is failing badly, with numbers still aplenty, but quality competition and development of the elite, of sub-standard.
Guernsey’s poor run of under-18 results is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are, I am assured, good individual players dotted about the clubs, but when you see so many results more suited to rugby, you have to worry for the future of the game, as well as those kids who are on the end of regular hammerings.
The proposed clubs’ League Management Committee set to come into action in time for the start of the 2011-12 season, should have ‘development’ at the top of its ‘to do’ list, because a shake-up is desperately required at youth level.
In recent times cricket has shown football the way on how to handle development, although admittedly it is easier for the summer sport to get a grip on issues.
No young cricketer is the ‘property’ of a club until he is 14 and up until then the junior league sides are mixed and matched to provide equal competition.
Once old enough to play senior cricket (14) the best players can appear for the Emerging Players and are directed towards senior clubs which are best suited to develop the individuals needs at that stage in his career.
The influence of Jeremy Frith, the island’s performance coach, and Jason Shambrook, development manager, are key to this.
Why can’t it be that football’s equivalent, Paul Mooney, be more involved in the personal development routes of the better footballers?
It is not part of his job spec, that is why.
Were I responsible for the football development officer’s job description, I would be sorely tempted to make him head an old style youth development committee in a bid to ensure a fairer and more competitive playing field among the youth ranks.
Something needs to be done.
*
HAVING rattled a cage or two among the Belgraves camp with comments as to the club’s over-sensitiveness on the use of the Track, I am prepared to make a concession.
The layout of the club’s emergency pitch next door in Victoria Avenue is a great improvement on its predecessor.
By swinging the pitch around 90 degrees, it at least offers the illusion of there being more room and it is perfectly adequate size-wise to stage first-team games such as last week’s rearranged Wheway Cup tie between Bels and St Martin’s.
The surface was fine and the host club went to the trouble of even setting up hot refreshments. But for all that, the ground remains a soul-less place.
As for the game itself it clearly demonstrated how far Saints and Bels have moved in opposite directions these past 12 months.
It is sad to see the champions so weak after their splendid efforts of the previous season and it is hard to see them turning things around very quickly.
As for Saints, one must commend them for their attempt to play slick, attacking football the type of which has not been associated with Blanche Pierre Lane for a very long time.
They are so strong it is ridiculous to suggest they will not be our Upton Park representatives this spring.
Their options may not be as wide as they were at the start of the season, but only a seriously disruptive injury crisis can surely stop them.
Were they to lose Dom Heaume (pictured) they would, I suspect, not be as effective going forward. The way he plays off the top striker is a delight to see.
He is so clever, deft, fit and deceptively quick in a manner of Milko Millman, strong and good in the air, but more than that he appears to be getting better.
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where will guernsey utd. be when the present team are past it, and we have to rely on the present crop of u.18s to replace them. st.martins should walk away with all of the C.I silverwear, over the last few seasons, one way or the other, they have aquired all of the better players from other clubs. over the last few weeks rob you have compared sdme of todays players with players of the not to distant past, its all about opinions, but some of the comparisons are laughable
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I’ve said it before, the ‘all singing all dancing’ restructure of the leagues of 2 years ago has done sod all for football in Guernsey.
They got rid of of a perfectly good league in the ‘Railway’ to form a u-21 league which now has 3 teams!!
Surely it’s time to knock it on the head
and bring the railway back. It could be a perfect platform for younger players to play with more mature players and learn a thing or two.
No doubt when Guernsey Utd starts they will have to change the leagues again. The current league structure will fall to pieces once Gsy Utd start playing regular matches home & away.
Take 25/30 players out of the ‘Priaulx’ league for your Gsy Utd squad and what would you have left in regards to top Guernsey league? I bet you some people won’t want to pay £2/3 to watch
probably ‘Jackson’ level football.
Don’t get me wrong, i’m all for Guernsey football going places but at what cost?
Laurie, you’ve summed it up – where will our next island squad come from? The GFA need to tell us more really rather than just trumpeting the elite. What will happen to grass roots?
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as blue i want the standards in guernsey football to improve, i was against the now defunct tics entering a u.k. league, and really cant see the difference with gsy utd.you take away the best players, the standards drop. there is something very wrong with standards in youth football, i cant remember the last time the u18s won a game , all i read is that they start slow or dont perform as they should,to be blunt thats down to the manager, if you want local football to improve concentrate on the young groups with the best people in control
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Another question is what will happen at the end of the fabled 4-year plan? We are just over half way through and things have got worse not better. what next?
Quite a few wise ‘football’ people, like Henry Davey at Saints, were against some of these plans and their fears at the time are now being realised.
I remember Mr Batiste said at the time the clubs are to interested in themselves, trying to hold back progress blah blah blah…..
Now he’s got the cheek to say the ‘system is plainly not working’. The very system he said was going to be so great for Guernsey football.
A tad fickle i think, what do you reckon Laurie?
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I reckon blue that it would take me a long time to get through to people my thoughts. what i will say is that Rob trys to compare different sports, one rugby team one cricket team. totally different to 6/7 leagues at various levels.i am not up to scratch with what grants the G.F.A. get from the F.A. but it seems the piper plays the tune. over my time i have had many great times in football, i feel sad that many people will not.i hope i am proved wrong.
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i totally agree with laurie and blue. i just cant believe that we are contemplating entering a uk league structure when there is such a mess at home. The gfa’s 4 year plan is falling apart, standards continue to drastically drop and on the horizon we have guernsey utd to smash apart division one. are we on self destruct mode? the u21 league is falling apart therefore most clubs can only offer their senior players 22 places (div1 and div2) no wonder people have left or are leaving gfa football in their droves. i am not sure what the gfa does for mini football but it seems that a small number of club officials run tournaments etc to keep the kids playing and interested. it seems that the gfa are only interested in the representative side. surely they should be trying to provide football for all ages and abilities. the u21 league is closing down the div1 league is a non event this year and was already settled before a ball was kicked in october due to the strength of saints (good luck to them but it does not help to create a competitive crowd pleasing league when one side is so much stronger than the rest) the funding provided for guernsey utd could be spread across the clubs to provide facilities and opportunities for the whole football community. entering a team, that i fear is destined to fail, into a cash gobbling uk league is madness, a great dream for people like rob batiste but in reality one that is destined to fail due to the committment required by players (the SWCC was all rosey at the start but eventually we had to pull out due to players not wanting to continually travel because of family committments) among other things. what happens in 4 years time when the sponsorship money runs out, maybe the sponsor will step in again but maybe he wont, maybe a new sponsor will be found but maybe one wont, rob batiste and co will have enjoyed a four year jolly in the uk leagues but where will the real guernsey football be? where will the players who only play in guernsey be? lots and lots of ventures into the upper uk leagues end in failure in fact a very high percentage end in folding because there are so many hurdles in a clubs way and that is without the chunk of water that guernsey utd have to overcome. mark my words this will end in tears and an awful lot of money that could have been used to help stabilise clubs and provide all weather training and other club facilities and entrance for youth teams into uk competitions instead of dribbling the money into the pockets of flybe and aurigny and giving a few individuals a day out
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Micheal
The support for the mini’s from the GFA is very good. I’ve been involved with it for about 8 years now with my club. The training is a lot more stuctured than it used to be and the chances to learn and better youself as a coach have never been better. The clubs have embraced the effort that the GFA have put into mini’s football and it’s better for it.
On that side of the coin i have nothing but praise for the GFA. Sadly It’s the youth & senior sections that are suffering.
Mind you, I’ve always, more or less, coached in the same way. As long as my players enjoy their football and finish on a Saturday morning with a smile on their faces, that’s what matters most. We’ve got more chance of keeping them in football and preparing them for Youth level. I’ts what awaits them at youth level which is a bit worrying.
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blue i thought that the gfa had decided not to provide fixtures for minis and therefore darren le tissier and jez robins among many other club officials had therefore got together to provide football for the youngsters, i would check this if i were you because i have it from a really good source that this is the case. the gfa do nothing for the youngsters and god knows what the development officer does, he certainly doesnt attend any of the mini tournaments
i tell you now that the gfa have given up on club football, they are now passing the running of the leagues back to the clubs and they will continue to just focus on guernsey utd and representative football
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The GFA are not running any mini’s tournaments this season.
It has reverted back to being run by the clubs like it used to be. The change in staff at the GFA – the new staff only working the hours they are paid for – has required this.
The GFA Dev. O. does not attend any mini’s games because he is not paid to do so.
He is paid to do something else…, gain coaching badges perhaps?
It is well know that the GFA (paid by the English FA) will turn into a mini English FA and only be responsible for representative football.
Guernsey Utd will be run under another flag.
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As i said in a previous posting, the piper calls the tune. i do hope that the reason the dev o. doesnt attend mini football is because he isnt paid is not correct, any person in that position should have the interest to watch as much of that age group as possible, and develope same. And ED could you elaborate on the coaching badge comment. Iam pleased that there are others so concerned about the game of football in guernsey
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Micheal/Ed
The GFA did arrange tournaments right up to the end of last season. I know the clubs mini set-ups are doing this off there own bat now. They also did this last season aswell to great effect.
Because ‘Le Tissier’ threw his toys out the pram over his wonderful new league set-up being sneered at, those tournaments were part of his axe.
The development officer works mostly with the schools but also arranges/promotes the courses that we coaches attend to gain our badges etc. We were told, when the FDO job was created, that he wouldn’t be working with clubs on weekly or even monthly basis. We knew this anyway but it still didn’t stop the new FDO visiting some clubs on a Saturday morning to introduce himself and see how things were being done. He should be applauded for it because the previous FDO was mostly anonymous.
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Blue
The FDO never organised the mini’s tournaments it was always Neil or Gary, it has now gone back to the way it was previous – the club run this side themselves – a model for the future of the senior sides perhaps?
Yes the FDO has been into schools to preach the football gospel.
Never seen him at a club though – maybe I go at the wrong times?
Laurie, I’ll tell you what I think next time I see you!!
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wake up blue if you speak to most of the guernsey football clubs the fdo is invisible and i suggest that most of the clubs would like to keep it that way because ed is correct he is to busy bettering himself. whilst his role will be to develop football for everyone at all ages and therefore he must liaise with the schools it must be remembered that he is not a school teacher and is not funded by education. as laurie says he should be at all minis tournaments and in and around assisting the clubs with their development. i am not sure what he does on a day to day basis besides arrange the odd link to a professional club for a training session now and again. i suggest that in todays economic climate if we all did just what we were paid to do we would all lose our jobs
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ed. do i sense a concern as to the function of the fdo? but i am glad that a few people are as worried as i am about gsy football.i am waiting for comments about the good old days, i am sure they will appear at some time. but my postings are a real attempt to find out a reason for the decline in standards. it would be interesting to hear what you do think, but i am sure you are aware that i no longer live in gsy, but very sad at what is happening. i am lucky that i am able to watch a far higher standard of football, but do miss a weekend or midweek game in gsy, and i think i have missed maybe 2 murattis in 45yrs.but think the next 12months are vital for footballs future, so you men it suits please be careful
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Ed
Your obviously not reading my posts properly. I didn’t say the FDO organised the Mini’s Tournaments. I said the GFA did. Neil & Gary did some good work in getting those together.
Is it me or do you have an issue with the current FDO?
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