Oh, and on that "where are we going" subject, 2 players from the south Island have been named in the NZ U17 squad of 20 - Cory Brown from Nelson and Meysum Shafahi who has been at APFA the last couple of years. Do we figure that 10% representation is about all we can reasonably expect on a population pro rata basis, or do we have ambitions of punching above our weight? If so, how?
IMO it's 0% representation. APFA is a user pays organization that bears little to no relation to football in Chch.
There could be any number of reasons for poor numbers in National sides, one of the most common ones I've heard is the lack of National Age-Grade Comps seriously impacts on our players "shop-window" time.
The most likely answer is the players are not good enough and neither is the coaching they have received. Whilst this may be unpalatable to some, one hoped the FTC set up is going some way to rectifying this. One marker will be how many from 15's FTC get a national call up inside the next 18-24 months.