So, accepting that our very best will hopefully enjoy professional opportunities in leagues overseas, an increasing number, but still very few percentage wise. That group will continue to sort out our AW's and FF's.
How do we, then, keep our next tier playing domestically? Currently we probably have 200 plus young players locally paying a considerable amount of money annually because they have the dream of playing at the highest level, their dreams are focused overseas. This is not something new, it is more expensive now but it is not new.
The reality is 95% plus, will not see their dream come to fruition. There options as senior players will be to continue playing locally in a local competition of limited standards that requires of them no more than a recreational interest and commitment to sport, or some of those that retain their ambition will push on to National League level, alternatively they may continue to look to play overseas in higher level competitions taken a little more seriously than ours, partly because there is a financial return.
Our National league entries only require one senior player a year from our playing stocks, maximum. Players selected from 18 to 35 year olds. One of our problems is we can not find enough players in this age group who retain the dedication, resolve and interest to participate at this level. This results in a juvenile based female team and a team with 50% of the players from overseas in our male side.
These teams are rightly selected to get results, I do not have a problem with that and hopefully the good results will continue. I do have a problem with the lack of options our selectors have got. No where near the number of club players with the commitment or playing ability to compete for places.
I do not believe our lack of a better local or National competition is a coaching problem. We have far more coaches making a living from our sport than ever before. Certainly a lack of coaching experience, but not numbers. I believe that we do produce technically reasonably well equipped young players. I do not believe we give them the quality of competition and experiences to turn that technique into skill. I also do not believe we offer them attractive enough reasons to continue to strive to improve past their mid-teens.
I am sure one of the reasons we lose so many players overseas to second tier leagues (not fully professional) is the excitement and interest our sport holds everywhere else. We have players still playing in Australia, USA, UK, Europe & Asia through into their late twenties and even thirties. Many get financially assisted.
An exciting well resourced ,well supported local or regional competition is needed. We must do more to keep our players in the game at a local level. Time produces players, money buys their time.We need to provide for our twenty to thirty year olds.
