Good points
The big question ?
Why are we not getting our young men in national World Cup squads?
The very few we have got in have had to go up north or apfa when it was here to get selected for training squads or final squad.
you just have to look at the Onehunga boys that get selected ( wynrs or well nix)
Western suburbs (ole) and obviously the lads from the Phoenix academy's.
I still believe that the clubs could invest in similar paths as these academy's ,I don't know the correct pathway or answer.
One thing that is for certain is we are not getting our kids recognised at national level.
All I here in Christchurch is we have a lot of developing clubs or coaches, developing for what?
1. Our players are not in a football environment where they can train/play with national-level quality players 5-6 times a week, 11 months a year.
2. Our players don't play in front of national selectors week in, week out; 2-3 x 3 tournaments a year - Napier U19, ACFC U17, national FTC is not enough; out of sight is out of mind.
3. There is no single pathway, much as NZF/Mainland might want you to think otherwise.
4. It is my observation that the talent pool isn't big enough in Chch for each club to attempt to do this. When Mainland attempted it via the much-maligned School of Football the clubs went ballistic because the federation was "stealing our players" (yet many of the younger players from that time are now pursuing their football in environments like Wee Nix etc, what does that tell you?) APFA had similar issues, likewise Coastal's Academy. I'm sure Wynrs/Onehunga Sports and Ole/Western Suburbs attract that criticism too. What SOF/APFA/Wynrs/Ole do is have a crop of real quality players (the best of the best) train and play together 5-6 times a week (in comparison FTCs train twice a week, but not as a team, and don't play as a team).
5. But that's only the first step. Due to small pond etc, a Chch club/academy needs to regularly play opposition from outside the region; and they have to play regularly in Auckland in the key lead-in time to national camp selections. Once they get beyond 16 or 17, if they're serious about having a crack, they have to leave Chch. An A-league club here, or a national coach based here, may change things :)