Is it good for the game?
Firstly, having international players like Sigmund, Clapham, Moore & Longo playing in our leagues must be good for the game. Good for those playing with and against them. Good for young players watching them. Good for our profile as a sport.
Similarly having imports of a higher standard than our players playing is good for the game. Our players will again learn from playing with and against them.
Personally, I see our major challenge is keeping our local players focused and committed enough to continue to play in our teams once they attain a competitive standard. Making our leagues an attractive enough option to retain them playing through to senior level and beyond.
It is great to hear that Siggy wants to play some football back in Christchurch. It would have been great to have others of his age doing the same over recent years. Unfortunately our game is currently not attractive enough to get the likes of Brent Fisher, Jeff Fleming, Greg Draper, Jamie Duncan, Mike Lilley, Thierry Thou, Ben Hughes, Blair Scadden to name a few, returning and putting on their boots. Some will be playing elsewhere in more attractive competitions others will have lives that don't include football as a priority.
How do we make our game more attractive at the top level? Sorry but I still believe, as happens across the globe with football and as happens locally and across the globe with Basketball, Cricket, League, Rugby, netball, tennis and even bowls, we need to be able to buy peoples time to get the required commitment to become better.
Our best young sports people in NZ have their time bought by our national funders and their individual sports bodies, no matter the sport they participate in. There is a level of professionalism in every top sport.
I would like to see all our leading clubs with quality senior players (imported or local)helping raise the standard of our leagues. If they are capable of coaching within the clubs, all the better. Paying for their time along with developing quality facilities whilst supporting and educating their development coaches should all be priorities.
Getting the balance right within a club and coping with all these challenges is not going to be easy for any club. There are a number who have taken up this challenge and doing it well in other NZ cities, they will leave us behind if we do not respond.
National titles for men and women will not become easier, Coastal and Cash Tech have had recent success but both will be aware of the increased challenge now out there. We will only continue to challenge at this level if we increase our investment, not halt it.
It scares me more that there are supposedly excessive amounts of money lying around unproductively in our game, than some clubs investing in the quality of there football and footballers.
Not a rant just another point of view.