Just highlighting that a large number of the mens 2019 U20s & this U24 Olympic team came through Weenix & Ole.
I guess relationships like Ole setting up a base in Taranaki will help. But will unfortunately never be as good as being in Porrirua, where you will be just surrounded by more better class players every day at training, during those important development years. As opposed to be a big fish in a smaller, less talented pond like the Naki, ChCh or wherever.
I'm sure NZF are only too aware of this, and they certainly seem keen to work with the Nix to get a W League team off the ground. That will naturally draw some young talented girls to Wellington. Maybe NZF can help with school scholarships etc to help reduce costs.
I guess relationships like Ole setting up a base in Taranaki will help. But will unfortunately never be as good as being in Porrirua, where you will be just surrounded by more better class players every day at training, during those important development years. As opposed to be a big fish in a smaller, less talented pond like the Naki, ChCh or wherever.
I'm sure NZF are only too aware of this, and they certainly seem keen to work with the Nix to get a W League team off the ground. That will naturally draw some young talented girls to Wellington. Maybe NZF can help with school scholarships etc to help reduce costs.
Just don't want to see NZ representation become something only attainable by the wealthy. We only have a small pool. Need to identify and nurture as much talent as we possibly can by building those pathways.
Unfortunately in NZ (and Austrarlya) it is. Development in the game is not so much for the wealthy, but at least for the middle class. The crime here is that a lot of the kids, with passion for the game, come from the wrong side of the tracks.
It's a difficult thing to overcome given the current financial setup of the game on both sides of the ditch. In my view the semi-pro clubs are the biggest single culprits. The money goes up, from the kids to the first team players. There is some Govt funding but minimal sponsorship.
In academies, good coaches want to be mildly rewarded and the only way is for their client's (kid's parents) to pay.
Add into that the fact that there is little street football culture in either country, as in England or Brazil for instance, then it's hard for kids to develop when other codes dominate.
Even if one has has the readies. one has to be very much an out of the box thinker to overcome all the issues to develop the potential.
In my 14 years of UK life, I've yet to see a single game of Street footie played here. The 5/7 aside Goals pitches and the dream of being the next Becks, Rooney, Sterling, Kane etc. is what drives them on.
Football is the life blood of England and Brazil while for us it's rugby. England has the same issue with rugby and cricket that we have for football.
Just highlighting that a large number of the mens 2019 U20s & this U24 Olympic team came through Weenix & Ole.
I guess relationships like Ole setting up a base in Taranaki will help. But will unfortunately never be as good as being in Porrirua, where you will be just surrounded by more better class players every day at training, during those important development years. As opposed to be a big fish in a smaller, less talented pond like the Naki, ChCh or wherever.
I'm sure NZF are only too aware of this, and they certainly seem keen to work with the Nix to get a W League team off the ground. That will naturally draw some young talented girls to Wellington. Maybe NZF can help with school scholarships etc to help reduce costs.
I guess relationships like Ole setting up a base in Taranaki will help. But will unfortunately never be as good as being in Porrirua, where you will be just surrounded by more better class players every day at training, during those important development years. As opposed to be a big fish in a smaller, less talented pond like the Naki, ChCh or wherever.
I'm sure NZF are only too aware of this, and they certainly seem keen to work with the Nix to get a W League team off the ground. That will naturally draw some young talented girls to Wellington. Maybe NZF can help with school scholarships etc to help reduce costs.
Just don't want to see NZ representation become something only attainable by the wealthy. We only have a small pool. Need to identify and nurture as much talent as we possibly can by building those pathways.
Unfortunately in NZ (and Austrarlya) it is. Development in the game is not so much for the wealthy, but at least for the middle class. The crime here is that a lot of the kids, with passion for the game, come from the wrong side of the tracks.
It's a difficult thing to overcome given the current financial setup of the game on both sides of the ditch. In my view the semi-pro clubs are the biggest single culprits. The money goes up, from the kids to the first team players. There is some Govt funding but minimal sponsorship.
In academies, good coaches want to be mildly rewarded and the only way is for their client's (kid's parents) to pay.
Add into that the fact that there is little street football culture in either country, as in England or Brazil for instance, then it's hard for kids to develop when other codes dominate.
Even if one has has the readies. one has to be very much an out of the box thinker to overcome all the issues to develop the potential.
In my 14 years of UK life, I've yet to see a single game of Street footie played here. The 5/7 aside Goals pitches and the dream of being the next Becks, Rooney, Sterling, Kane etc. is what drives them on.
Football is the life blood of England and Brazil while for us it's rugby. England has the same issue with rugby and cricket that we have for football.
For men, England won the last cricket world cup & made final of rugby world cup after thrashing NZ in semi. Not sure our football issues are much of a comparison to these examples.