A National Youth League will provide "hard competition that's meaningful" to young players currently warming A-League benches, according to the FFA.
To see all the pics from yesterday's launch...
FFA head of high performance John Boultbee said many of our best young players are deficient in game skills and hardness, due in most part to not playing enough competitive matches against quality opposition.
At a critical time in a player's development, the National Youth League will give players aged 16-21 years old the chance to play in a competition that would allow them to gain the necessary match skills to take them to the next level.
Earmarked for an August 2008 start, Boultbee also said the Youth League would be affiliated with existing A-League clubs, with whom they are currently working on designs with. Feedback from all the clubs on the new league has been "positive".
Also present at the launch of the National Football Development Plan was FFA technical director Rob Baan, who spoke in-depth about the new Youth League Plan.
Using his first Olyroos camp at the beginning of the year as an example, he said he realised a National Youth League was necessary after finding out about 70 percent of his squad was not playing competitive football.
"I'll give you a few names," said Baan. "Kristian Sarkies, not playing; Bruce Djite, not playing; Adam D'Apuzzo, not playing; Steven O'Dor, not playing. Nathan Burns had played a few games. Topor-Stanley had come in near the end with a few matches. But that was it."
The FFA went on to say the league would be predominantly U21 with rules that would allow A-League teams to include a minority over 20, including A-League players coming back from injury.
But one thing that won't be happening in the new league if Baan has anything to say about it is stretching.
He added: "When I arrived in Australia all I saw was players stretching, for 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after the game. There's too much stretching!
"I'd rather players be warming up with a ball at their feet. I worked out that if you cut out the 10 minutes of stretching, you would gain over 200 hours of ballwork over the year."
To see all the pics from yesterday's launch...
FFA head of high performance John Boultbee said many of our best young players are deficient in game skills and hardness, due in most part to not playing enough competitive matches against quality opposition.
At a critical time in a player's development, the National Youth League will give players aged 16-21 years old the chance to play in a competition that would allow them to gain the necessary match skills to take them to the next level.
Earmarked for an August 2008 start, Boultbee also said the Youth League would be affiliated with existing A-League clubs, with whom they are currently working on designs with. Feedback from all the clubs on the new league has been "positive".
Also present at the launch of the National Football Development Plan was FFA technical director Rob Baan, who spoke in-depth about the new Youth League Plan.
Using his first Olyroos camp at the beginning of the year as an example, he said he realised a National Youth League was necessary after finding out about 70 percent of his squad was not playing competitive football.
"I'll give you a few names," said Baan. "Kristian Sarkies, not playing; Bruce Djite, not playing; Adam D'Apuzzo, not playing; Steven O'Dor, not playing. Nathan Burns had played a few games. Topor-Stanley had come in near the end with a few matches. But that was it."
The FFA went on to say the league would be predominantly U21 with rules that would allow A-League teams to include a minority over 20, including A-League players coming back from injury.
But one thing that won't be happening in the new league if Baan has anything to say about it is stretching.
He added: "When I arrived in Australia all I saw was players stretching, for 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after the game. There's too much stretching!
"I'd rather players be warming up with a ball at their feet. I worked out that if you cut out the 10 minutes of stretching, you would gain over 200 hours of ballwork over the year."
To see all the pics from yesterday's launch...
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