Agree with your comments regards the $$ around the game. If you resort to playing for $$ in Chch your dreaming, and the clubs who allow this are a disgrace,however the MPL is not a development league. The word academy is applied far too loosely and now if you own a pair of football boots and are under the age of 18 you are in an academy regardless of your ability if you can afford it. Therefore kids have their ego's boosted because they are in academies and because of the poor quality they find them selves up the chain well before their time, hence 11-0 The MPL needs players between 25 to 35 so the younger players can learn off them. Unfortunately Tech has the majority of them, but is that their fault, they have excellent facilities, appear to have a good atmosphere and have created an winning environment. There academy kids will earn their right to get a start more than anyone else if they are patient.There seems a perception that its great to have an MPL team full of young players,young players don't win you anything at MPL level and like I said its not a development league, if they are not up to scratch it ultimately does more damage and they wont be playing the game by the age of 25. which is the the issue we have now. The game has lost its way in NZ and is now dictated by money across all levels. These CUDL leagues are a joke, lopsided results everywhere, the only winners are the FDMs/coaches and clubs who make off them, No child should be paying above $200 to play football, the fees to play in the CUDL leagues are disgusting and in my opinion there is no justification for it People outside of football are shocked to hear about the $$ floating around in football, and what for, just an ego boost.The game needs a reset across all levels. Have gone a bit off topic but it all contributes to results like yesterday. It is just my opinion and plenty will disagree but worth a debate.
I'm just wondering what people's perceptions are of those who govern the game, from NZ Football down? Hundreds of thousands of dollars a year are sunk into salaries and yet the code appears to be going backwards. I see mediocre decision on mediocre decision with no regard for the good of the game. I was a strong supporter of FDM's and player development but never at the expense of social engagement. Has the pendulum swung too far? is there any club in the Mainland Football region actually growing at the moment? Is there any club that is driven to deliver an outstanding experience for a less than average or disadvantaged player?
I've got kids now playing socially as adults who struggle with the concept of paying nearly $300 for 18 games on average grounds. I hear tales of parents paying hundreds of dollars a year to be involved with Academies that would once have been coached by volunteers. How many clubs employ FDM etc with no measurable outcomes while the overall numbers of players appear to be dropping?
Well seeing as football is still growing and numbers continue to increase across the country, I guess we aren't going backwards? The question has always been "why don't we produce any decent players". Well the reason for that is partly down to underqualified, volunteer/amateur coaching, poor club facilities and admin structures etc. Whilst Coastal and FC have probably gone backwards, the rest of the clubs around Chch have improved massively in these spaces. Tech has over 1500 members and only employs two people! Bays and Selwyn are examples of clubs which are totally incomparable to 10 years ago! So I struggle to see where the game is going backward? Have you been to watch any of the "Licensed Clubs" play in their grades, the games are often more structured and entertaining battles than the MPL! The technical ability is improving across the board and I've been round the game a while. And the move away from Mainland FDO's/FDM's to club based FDO's/FDM's means that there are more qualified, full time staff who can improve the game across the region. How many staff do Mainland now employ? I'm guessing it's way less than 10 years ago. How many clubs employ full time staff to run their programmes and administrate the game? I'm guessing it's way more than 10 years ago. Whilst I agree the cost is increasing and this is unfortunate, is the cost of food/fuel/housing/living increasing? Is minimum/average wage increasing? Yes, and football is no different......
While we are getting away from the MPL discussion...
Is the game growing in CHCH? At all levels of ability? Quick count looks to be 15 teams less than last year in youth and juniors.
Most clubs are running FDO's based on grants which won't be around much longer.
Licenced clubs leagues are generally dominated by a few teams in each grade with others being easy beats that should be in lower levels.
Many top clubs produce a CUDL team with no social teams under them.
Biggest problem is that it is now very expensive to play football at the highest level - talent is no longer enough, parents need $600-$1000 each year to pay academies, which by default means the top leagues are players that can afford to play not the best.