Mainland Premier League (Part 1)

Howdy Lads

Always good to have more match reports from around the grounds. Lets just hope your new signing is actually signed off as according to the Mainland site he hasn't been, even though others have been completed since...

Why can I see a legal backlash come end of season.....................

Rules changed this year and a complaint must be lodged by the end of the week.

AllWhites822012-04-07 09:21:06

I've gone back to try and find where I read it and can't, pretty sure it's correct tho, maybe someone else can back me up. I agree it should be up to the governing body, as noone else has that information, and theoretically they only have to check the 4 MPL, 3 WPFL, and 4 Div 1 games a week. Most will continue to be the same, so shouldn't be that hard.

Coastal 2 Bays 0. Welbourne scored both. Other updates please!

Cashmere Tech 2  Nelson Suburbs 1

Western 2 ChCh United 1

Monday's game

I'm fairly certain it can be anybody. If you go by what happened in the WMPL game a couple of years ago Mainland deleted the result of a Halswell v Coastal game (Coastal I think won 9-0 on the day) and gave the result as a 3-0 loss for both teams as they both fielded ineligible players. Neither side complained but somebody independent of both clubs notified Mainland and they took action.

Well you'll all be pleased to see that Mainland have now confirmed that one S.Bola's clearance went thru last Thursday so no dramas anyway!

some D1 grades looking like 2 groups of 4 as far as competitive matches go.

it's a hard one to fix because most parents just take their child  to a 'better' club as opposed to staying and working harder.If the optimal situation is 8 team grade with 8 different clubs then some sort of 'direction' is required.

FTC/Rep Players have moved to clubs that can win the D1 grade, very few , if any have shifted to sides who will struggle in a result sense.

Havent seen DIV 1 lists (not loaded yet on mainland site?) but looks to me like most FTC players almost certainly gone to clubs/coaches that they believe can develop their football. I'd advise any rep player to play div 1 football if possible. Might come down to what is available.

Having said that, depends on your politics doesn't it? do you let the 'free market' sort it out or are you an interventionist? I always thought benevolent dictatorship had potential!

From the minutes of the last Mainland meeting regarding junior football -

"Question was asked why a club can enter two teams within the same league, Colin pointed out that it was important for the growth of the game, if only allowed 1 team per league."

This was completely at odds with the previous ruling that clubs could only have one team in Div 1. I am not sure how Mainland solely can determine what is good for the growth of the game.

I have a similar issue with the decision not to base the PDL on the MPL because proper protocol was not followed in consultation with the competitions committee. From the minutes of the last meeting -

"Colin explained at length that the PDL may not be what was previously indicated, that being two leagues with Div 1 being a mirror of MPFL. Colin explained that proper consultation with the competitions committee was not adhered to but Colin will make this a priority to try and have a resolve, since then a letter has been sent to all clubs."

So who forms the competitions committee? Again clubs are being completely overruled. Anyone seen the letter sent to all clubs yet? Ronaldoknow2012-04-08 21:36:31

Dare I say it, most of the FTC lads have ended up at FC20 & Cashtech. Going by rumbles earlier in this thread, 1 of the girls squads have ended up at parklands. I don't see how having pretty much all the top kids in 1 team is gunna push them to be the best.

I've done a bit of thinking about the youth div 1 conundrum, and for me the only exception to it would be a geographically icolated entity being given 2 squads due to talent base demanding it - ie: Waimak. There is no reason the others should be given it at this stage...

My observations are that Mainland generally bends to the loudest voice, the squeakiest wheel pushing whatever the agenda may be. Good process is often missing.

I recall FC20something being 'allowed' a 2nd team in div 1 ONLY IF - AND IT WAS IF - their B team won div 2.

There is a bit of talk on here about the make up of div 1 leagues (which must currently be doing the rounds amongst a privleged few; as as I haven't seen it I can't really comment); BUT do agree with Ronaldoknow that ALL clubs need to be consulted not just those squeaky wheels pushing their own barrow. Those clubs wouldn't have dared to promise their members there would be 2 teams in div 1 by any chance??

Easter Monday results follow:
Western 1, Coastal 3
Bays 2, Cashmere 2
Halswell 2, Chch United 1
Nelson 4, FCsomethingorother 1

Gings, you're right that having the best in 1 squad won't push them - BUT this assumes they are all playing their own age group. I hear Cashmere are playing a whole lot of kids up - in 15th grade (which also happens to be the Nike Cup team so I'm not sure where they all are - 2 teams in 15 div 1 or pushing kids out of 17 div 1?). However I think Tsetso was pushing a "play in your age group" line at FC111 - which some kids flatly refused.Stretford End2012-04-08 22:13:05

Tony Gumley (FC90210) also spoke on this at the Junior leagues meeting. Never going to get off the ground and clearly in contradiction to Ed Baronowski's development theories. What they were doing was trying to stop better younger players from leaving the club and trying to convince other clubs this was a good idea. Poorly thought out and one of the unseen issues facing large clubs. Ctech will experience the same thing.

Fair points from both of you. Until there is a definitive ruling on these kind of things its always gunna be messy.

On a similar note PDL seems to be getting younger and younger. Bring back the days of superyouth/under 19 div 1 being a premier competition where most players honed their craft before heading into the scary world of mens footy. Seems 14 or 15D1 is seen as the last step for serious footy...

Gings part of the problem is that there has been rulings on these points, but as SE says Mainland flip flop every year on them depending on who makes the most noise. Poor leadership imo. Then they berate the clubs for not acting in the best interests of the game.
As for the age of PDL players you are right. The issue here is the appalling attitude of the Secondary Schools Football Association. As far as I can see until they swallow some humble pie and decide youth football is not all about them then nothing will change. One of the reasons so many walk away from being involved at that level is because it is just to hard to work with the schools (read CBHS & SBHS predominantly) from a club perspective. Their total focus is about performance at the natinals and in their inter school matches, they don't give a toss about player development or the wider game. Until that changes clubs are better off promoting their better 14 & 15 year olds into senior 1st team environments before they lose them to school First XI sides. Unfortunately this has created a scenario whereby if you are a 17 year old playing U18 football at a club with aspirations of one day making a first team squad and playing Premier League football chances are it's not going to happen. Again another area where there is no leadership from Mainland or NZ Football for that matter.

I don't think clubs/players can rely on Mainland to sort out 15, 16, 17, 18th grades (plus schools). I'd prefer to see a clubs meeting to suggest an alternative to the current scenario. It's such a crucial few years where players can come on in the right environments OR leave the game in the wrong environments. If RKnow is right and we are writing off 17 year olds (who may have played DIV 1 all the way through), we haven't got it right, have we? What's the solution? Some sort of super super youth league; or do clubs just develop their own youth players via club academies/PDL exposure and tours vs other Nth Island or Aussie opposition? Or is our game in this little village so strong that we can say 'on yer bike' to that 17 year old? How many imports play in club MPL sides? How many allowed?

Nelson Suburbs 3 FC Twenty 11 0. Half time 2-0

I guess from my point of view the problem is from 15s up. Once upon a time we had strong club and school teams side by side in the super youth and both funneled into mens competition.

17s is almost counter productive from my perspective. Why put what could be a handy grade for young fringe reserve players on at the same time?! merge it with 15s into an U/16s played earlier in the day -1045am like 18s and let kids who are good enough do both (Like we've finally got back for the school lads). As has been said the waters and gradings are muddied from 14s up due to schools so why try and keep the current system going?

The school vs club thing is hard. It works very very well in wellington yet down here its a massive clusterf*ck with bickering and aggro from both sides. Who has the stronger school 1st XI and mens clubs? I'd have to say wellington tbh and I put that down to the development programs and competitions supporting both groups.
gings2012-04-09 15:30:31

Coastal 3 Western 2
Bays 1 Ctech 1
Nelson 3 FC90210 0
Halswell 3 Utd 0

Check the results above vs my predictions below - I'm on fire!
Coastal 3, Western 1
Bays 2, Cashmere 2
Nelson 4, FC442 1
Halswell 2, Chch Utd 1Stretford End2012-04-09 17:18:39

Round 5 games -all on Saturday 14 April

no one chooses to go to the bottom placed team, so the comps get even more stratified. Will clubs get eaten up by the bigger 'merge', sides? Why put a side in D2 who will already beat sides in D1 by 6-10 goals?

looking at one age grade, 18 of the 30 selected FTC players come from just 2 clubs. I'd imagine this will not get better as time goes by becasue (as above) parents will send their kids to the winning team  not be necessarily thinking of a competitive grade is better than winning each week.

sad to hear Lee Hanvey is moving on from Mainland. IMO he was excellent with the kids and also very helpful to the coaches. He'll be missed. 

different clubs have different philosophies around what age grade is 'correct'.

Last season 2 clubs sacrificed one age group to try to win an older D1 grade. Both clubs now have no side in the D1 grade they gave up on last year. The good players of that age have moved to other clubs or play up in age again.

I'm hopelessly compromised because I believe the rule should be uniform and in the corresponding age grade but my kids have always played up because it was a better footballing option.

the rub for me is I have 3x FTC players who are all A+ level, really good. But i also have 4-5 players not ready for even D2. So I play D1 because the FTC boys need that level, whilst the rest of the team struggle? If I do play D1 and get hammered each week will the good players stay next season, alternately will the learning players be disheartened and quit?

It's hard to sell player development if your kid is losing each week. That's why I think we are seeing D1 become more disparate. I'll be pleased to be wrong about this too..

Play Div 1. The key to it all is working as a coach to develop all players, take the road less travelled and you will be much better off as a coach and a person :)
Agree about Lee, he was really good, where's he off to?

Jordan Swaney was outstanding for Nelson Suburbs today. Such a quality signing. Gagame Feni four goals already this season!

Must say, Keith Grosvenor is an absolute good sort.

Have the wheels fallen off the bus for ChCh Utd? After a first up drubbing from Coastal they got a good draw against Bays. Now after 2 successive losses they have 1 point from 4 games and shipping goals like there's no tomorrow. Can Harry Houdini get them up for Nelson this coming Saturday? Could be a long season for the once mighty Rams.