Victorian Academies

[YvonneH]

Article in the Age regarding a plan for academies for Victorian Clubs based on the Sydney Swans model.

Interesting reading. Maybe someone could post the link.

[Untamed Snark]

AFL plan to restructure development of young talent

Interesting...

[jono2707]

Very VFL - no mention of the SA or WA teams???

I do like the idea of multicultural and indigenous academies, but otherwise the general population of Vic hardly needs academies, given the plethora of teams, competitions and pathways to the AFL that already exist in that state.

As the article states, it's basically a return to the old VFL zone system.

[Doctor]

One of the main drivers behind the Sydney academy was to give kids access to the same level of coaching and development that kids in other states take for granted. There are already many private academies and development programs run in Melbourne with prominent ex-players involved (eg Draftstar) so it will be interesting to see how all this fits in with that. I note that Endeavour Sports High School in Sydney now has a direct link with the Swans for those students who are accepted into their AFL program. Things are changing.

What has long been feared is that these academies and pathways will create a situation where local club footy, even at junior footy, is for kids who aren't good enough for or don't have the time, interest or opportunity to play at the top level. They end up missing out on coaching, grounds, umpires, funding etc. Lots to consider.

[Conor_Dillon]

Agree with the general reasoning behind the idea, but the reason these kids are playing other sports instead of AFL at such a young age is because of their parents, I'm not sure how these academies will change this?

[Mug Punter]

Very VFL - no mention of the SA or WA teams???

I do like the idea of multicultural and indigenous academies, but otherwise the general population of Vic hardly needs academies, given the plethora of teams, competitions and pathways to the AFL that already exist in that state.

As the article states, it's basically a return to the old VFL zone system.

It would be very difficult for the Vics to have acedemies and for the WA and SA teams to not.

They still don't get it that the rationale behindd the academies is to grow the game in the states where AFL is not the #1 code as we need a large growth inb the talent pool if the standard of the comp is not to drop and that growth will not come from existing states. And an eckowledgement that if the non AFL states are going to be viable, in the absence of any salary cap assistance, the only way to counter the debilitating go home factor, as experienced by the Brisbane Lions (and soon the GC Suns) is to have a mechanism for them to build a home grown list.

The Vic clubs are still convinced the whole academy system is some kind of ruse for us to get some of unfair advantage

If recruitment zones are re-introduced then it will be the beginning of the end of at least 2-3 Melbourne clubs

[707]

I like it, Victoria gets divided up into 10 clubs. Do SA and WA get divided in two?

Applied to this years draft it would have been lean pickings for the Vic clubs!

Eddie will be against this, after all, how is this a level playing field? Isn't that what Eddie stands for - equalisation? This is the old VFL at it's best - sheesh, is Gillon McLaughlin an idiot or what????

[dimelb]

Let me get this straight: Gill wants the Vic teams to copy the northern states as a way of dealing with competition from soccer? Here in the so-called heartland??

Has he not realised that in Australia, soccer is not a winter sport in anything like the way AF is?

To me it looks more like a kowtow to the Vic clubs who are nervous, and perhaps a little envious, at the success of Sydney, never mind the success of Geelong and Hawthorn. Talk about the squeaky gate getting the oil. What is Gill doing about the threatening disaster in Queensland? And Melbourne is eyeing off a zone in Darwin!!

Has he asked the obvious question about falling numbers in Victoria, namely "Why?" And rather than go back to the future, wouldn't it be a better option to strengthen the existing infrastructure?

Until he deals with these issues, Gill deserves his nickname.

[i'm-uninformed2]

What a knob

[Nico]

One of the main drivers behind the Sydney academy was to give kids access to the same level of coaching and development that kids in other states take for granted. There are already many private academies and development programs run in Melbourne with prominent ex-players involved (eg Draftstar) so it will be interesting to see how all this fits in with that. I note that Endeavour Sports High School in Sydney now has a direct link with the Swans for those students who are accepted into their AFL program. Things are changing.

What has long been feared is that these academies and pathways will create a situation where local club footy, even at junior footy, is for kids who aren't good enough for or don't have the time, interest or opportunity to play at the top level. They end up missing out on coaching, grounds, umpires, funding etc. Lots to consider.

The private school system is a pretty good development pathway.

As for your last point; this already happens in Victoria. Tac Cup squads start off at 52 then get trimmed to a much lower figure by the start of the season. The kids that don't make it generally stay with their local clubs. In the Eastern Football League a lot of under 18 kids go on to play senior footy at their clubs or move clubs within the same comp. The big problem is retaining them past Under 16.

[barry]

Joke. Funded by (A)VFL of course

[i'm-uninformed2]

More ahole ness

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