Is There An Australian Style of Football?

In 1606, Dutch sailors made their first landfall on Australian shores. They had relied on information from the Portuguese and Spanish, who were the only Europeans to venture into the Pacific during the 1500s. The Dutch charted much of the coastline of Terra Australis, except the east coast! The most famous Dutch navigator was Abel Tasman, who gave the continent its name of New Holland.  Later, after discovering the east coast of Australia, James Cook claimed the great south land for England.

What would football have been like if the Dutch, Portuguese or Spanish had discovered Australia?  We are soon to discover this, as the Dutch are back in Australia. The FFA has adopted a Dutch based system that is highly successful and produces great players and coaches overseas.  I have great respect for Dutch methods and their way of producing world class coaches.  But is it "Australian enough" to unite a deeply divided, suspicious and cynical football community? What will the new German coach, Holger Osieck add to Australian football? What is your opinion?

Can Australia create and develop an Australian style and produce coaches that are world class, like our players?  I believe we can. We have to, in order to unite a divided football community.  If we are all pulling in the same direction, Australia will become a powerful football nation.

The points is, whilst we are following others and continue with our current structure (top down, not bottom up structure), we will be prevented from becoming leaders in football. We have the ingredients to be a great football nation, but we have to do it "smarter and faster".  We have no choice (population, distance, funding).  Importing ingredients will not bake an "Australian Football Cake," if that is what we want.  Australians are creative enough to develop a new way of playing, develop world class coaches, and build a solid football structure. Other countries have developed their own football identity, why can't we? We do not have to re-invent the wheel, just learn (from the Dutch, Spanish, Brazilians etc) and develop and define our own style. Perhaps that is what is starting to happen?

How do we develop and define an Australian Playing Style?

• Review the implementation of the Crawford Report. How far have we come, and where do we need to go?
• Re-evaluate the roles of the State and National bodies.
• Have a national summit to gain ideas on developing an Australian style of play and methods of implementing this so that it complements the National Curriculum. At the very least, consult with the nation's "football brains" to develop ideas.
• Review the business model of the A League. Is it successful? Could it be better? The Crawford Report has something to say on this matter.
• Rationalize our competitions (I believe the FFA will be publishing a paper on this subject soon). Could we use the A League Clubs to run our elite programs? These clubs could develop teams starting from 13 years and play in the local state leagues. A few times a year, these teams could meet and play each other. In this way, the best players play in the best teams and compete with the best teams.
• Rationalize our development programmes, so that they are similar in each state. Currently, we run Project 22, Institute of Sport, Emerging Athletes, all sorts of academies, disjointed representative systems, school programmes and confusing player pathways.
• Develop our own international standard of coaches. Freely exchange information and do not attempt to hide information. To date, my overseas contacts have provided me with more technical information than colleagues or organizations from within Australia.
• We need to understand that importing coaches is a short term solution to improving standards, until we start producing great coaches. This can only occur by mentoring and a thorough education system for all Advanced Coaches, not just ex-Socceroos. Going to an advanced licence course and attending a few seminars is not good enough. Coaches, like players, need proper development. The old system of teaching coaches, where they were allowed to have 12 months practice in the field, followed by a re-evaluation may produce higher standards.
• Promote a culture of excellence, not suspicion and negativity. We must move away from the "tall poppy syndrome" that is so prevalent in Australian Football.

Can we produce an Australian Style of Football? Yes we can and it can be world class. We have to work together though. What do you think?

In the next blog, I will outline a 7v7 training session for 9 year olds, based upon the national curriculum.