School Football - Yes or No

[Clever Dick]

Oh yeah, starring the 2 tenors, Oatey & Halbert.

Singing the praises of the "little green book" which told kids that they could only train 1 night & play 1 game per week or suffer burnout!
Problem was, a big drop off in participation rate and they forgot the "Special Squad" kids who train 2 -3 nights a week to hopefully become players of the future.
A very quick change in attitude with that bit!

BTW, no school teacher can be bothered anymore, it's way too hard and parents have to be the coaches and team managers, that gets a bit time consuming too, far too much time for many parents!

[Howard]

Hi Clever, I'm not really sure I 'get' your initial post on this topic - can you explain what you're talking about?

It may well be that we are lined up on opposite sides of this debate as well

[Clever Dick]

It matters not if we are or aren't, that's what an opinion is about.

I remember a few years ago when club football was seen by some at SANFL as the "evil necessity", so much so that a huge push was put into school footy by a couple of people in the hope it would encourage more kids to play footy at school. Gifts were heaped on schools as an encouragement to push the idea to the max.Clubs did not receive those benefits nor do they now.
Then the Dept of Rec & Sport came out with a recommendation that kids were getting "burnt out" through too much sport and place some blame on parents for pushing the kids too hard.
Along came the "little green book" which had many new guidelines listing the do's/don'ts for junior football. That lasted about 12-18 months and kids were supposed to only play once on a weekend and train only once a week for a short time, not as a lot were doing by playing at school Fridays or junior club Sat morning and club Sat arvo/Sunday.
Modified rules became more prominent ( a great idea up to a certain age) but the league clubs with Special Squads were then saying that kids development in sport was being hindered with these new restrictions. So that little green book was put in the top drawer.

School teachers no longer want to be part of the after hours group to coach/manage sports, it's now too easy to be accused of misdemeanours by anyone who sees fit, their time is precious to them and the job is left to parents to coach and organise.
We all know what this can and does lead to in some cases.
School sports(footy) apart from Private schools with organised competitions, has fallen away drastically and yet club footy is growing from the younger end at a huge rate. Something that a few years ago would not have been dreamt of.

[vics01]

I seriously question where junior football is going in this state. We have a situation at present where SANFL Club school reps are approaching clubs asking them to support the development of School football, because of the concerns that other sports especially soccer are taking a strangle hold while football withers on the vine due to a lack of interest by parents and teachers not wanting to be involved on saturdays. Why would a club who has invested a lot of money time and effort want to hand juniors back to a school who in general do not have the structure or facilities that clubs and leagues have to support football.

The SFL for example runs a very good junior comp. from under 8 through to under 18, the saturday comp. this gives the kids an identity and also gives a real community feel to the day with teams from u14 through to A grade all playing at the same venue. If clubs supported a school comp they would likely loose kids from this Saturday comp to a Saturday school comp, along with funds they use to develop junior footballers. Maybe the SANFL should look at encouraging schools to play wednesday midweek football. (Yes before all the superior schools these being colleges get on their high horse) this would be a bonus for Aussie rules. Schools would have a captive audience on a Wednesday and clubs could further develop the kids on a Saturday/Sunday. As it stands we all want football to be successful but are pulling in two directions thus allowing other sports to take a hold.

Utimately without Juniors, Community football Clubs will fold. Schools, especially the college's really give no support to anything other than to their own ends. Unless you are playing in the so called 1st team the school offers little or no develpoment. let alone trainers or support staff.

I note in the SANFL constitution a school first policy is promoted, unless a child is playing SANFL reserves or 1st's. I do believe that even then schools pressure players to put school first (for what I don't know, it's not like they are playing for points)


Football Victoria has adopted another approach

The Fostership Program involves nurturing relationships between the various segments involved in football development; a major focus of AFL Victoria Development’s strategic plan.

This Program concentrates on local football clubs supporting their local schools in their football endeavours with resources such as coaches and umpires. Local schools promote the local community football club, providing a pathway for players to join the club.

The Fostership Program also outlines how to develop strategies to foster the development of partnerships between schools, Auskicks and local clubs.

Given that the CFB is based on Football Victoria and is in position tp support leagues and clubs in SA hopefully they will look seriously at addressing the issue of Club and School. If teachers and parents do not want to be involved at school level make it a midweek comp where teachers are present and being paid and leave clubs to develop the kids into future champions. Also it may free up umpires and make more available for both levels of football

In Victoria at least it would seem an attempt is being made to strengthen football

[steiger]

I seriously question where junior football is going in this state. We have a situation at present where SANFL Club school reps are approaching clubs asking them to support the development of School football, because of the concerns that other sports especially soccer are taking a strangle hold while football withers on the vine due to a lack of interest by parents and teachers not wanting to be involved on saturdays. Why would a club who has invested a lot of money time and effort want to hand juniors back to a school who in general do not have the structure or facilities that clubs and leagues have to support football.

The SFL for example runs a very good junior comp. from under 8 through to under 18, the saturday comp. this gives the kids an identity and also gives a real community feel to the day with teams from u14 through to A grade all playing at the same venue. If clubs supported a school comp they would likely loose kids from this Saturday comp to a Saturday school comp, along with funds they use to develop junior footballers. Maybe the SANFL should look at encouraging schools to play wednesday midweek football. (Yes before all the superior schools these being colleges get on their high horse) this would be a bonus for Aussie rules. Schools would have a captive audience on a Wednesday and clubs could further develop the kids on a Saturday/Sunday. As it stands we all want football to be successful but are pulling in two directions thus allowing other sports to take a hold.

Utimately without Juniors, Community football Clubs will fold. Schools, especially the college's really give no support to anything other than to their own ends. Unless you are playing in the so called 1st team the school offers little or no develpoment. let alone trainers or support staff.

I note in the SANFL constitution a school first policy is promoted, unless a child is playing SANFL reserves or 1st's. I do believe that even then schools pressure players to put school first (for what I don't know, it's not like they are playing for points)


Football Victoria has adopted another approach

The Fostership Program involves nurturing relationships between the various segments involved in football development; a major focus of AFL Victoria Development’s strategic plan.

This Program concentrates on local football clubs supporting their local schools in their football endeavours with resources such as coaches and umpires. Local schools promote the local community football club, providing a pathway for players to join the club.

The Fostership Program also outlines how to develop strategies to foster the development of partnerships between schools, Auskicks and local clubs.

Given that the CFB is based on Football Victoria and is in position tp support leagues and clubs in SA hopefully they will look seriously at addressing the issue of Club and School. If teachers and parents do not want to be involved at school level make it a midweek comp where teachers are present and being paid and leave clubs to develop the kids into future champions. Also it may free up umpires and make more available for both levels of football

In Victoria at least it would seem an attempt is being made to strengthen football

I take it you mean that the kids will then get to play at school on Wednesdays under the guidance of teachers AND also on Saturdays under the guidance of Footy club coaches. That would be fine, but if the kids (and I am especially talking younger ones) got to only play at school and not club footy on Saturdays, then I am against that as parents who work would not be able to watch their kids play.
My confusion comes from your second last sentence re freeing up umpires, which can only come about by not being required on Saturdays. ???

[vics01]

STEIGER, yes at the present time most leagues are short of umpires, if schools see common sense and move to Wednesday footy this may free up some younger umpires for League/Club footy.

Young kids can also play club footy as well as school.

Seriously: What does School footy contribute towards development??

[Howard]

I seriously question where junior football is going in this state. We have a situation at present where SANFL Club school reps are approaching clubs asking them to support the development of School football, because of the concerns that other sports especially soccer are taking a strangle hold while football withers on the vine due to a lack of interest by parents and teachers not wanting to be involved on saturdays. Why would a club who has invested a lot of money time and effort want to hand juniors back to a school who in general do not have the structure or facilities that clubs and leagues have to support football.

The SFL for example runs a very good junior comp. from under 8 through to under 18, the saturday comp. this gives the kids an identity and also gives a real community feel to the day with teams from u14 through to A grade all playing at the same venue. If clubs supported a school comp they would likely loose kids from this Saturday comp to a Saturday school comp, along with funds they use to develop junior footballers. Maybe the SANFL should look at encouraging schools to play wednesday midweek football. (Yes before all the superior schools these being colleges get on their high horse) this would be a bonus for Aussie rules. Schools would have a captive audience on a Wednesday and clubs could further develop the kids on a Saturday/Sunday. As it stands we all want football to be successful but are pulling in two directions thus allowing other sports to take a hold.

Utimately without Juniors, Community football Clubs will fold. Schools, especially the college's really give no support to anything other than to their own ends. Unless you are playing in the so called 1st team the school offers little or no develpoment. let alone trainers or support staff.

I note in the SANFL constitution a school first policy is promoted, unless a child is playing SANFL reserves or 1st's. I do believe that even then schools pressure players to put school first (for what I don't know, it's not like they are playing for points)


Football Victoria has adopted another approach

The Fostership Program involves nurturing relationships between the various segments involved in football development; a major focus of AFL Victoria Development’s strategic plan.

This Program concentrates on local football clubs supporting their local schools in their football endeavours with resources such as coaches and umpires. Local schools promote the local community football club, providing a pathway for players to join the club.

The Fostership Program also outlines how to develop strategies to foster the development of partnerships between schools, Auskicks and local clubs.

Given that the CFB is based on Football Victoria and is in position tp support leagues and clubs in SA hopefully they will look seriously at addressing the issue of Club and School. If teachers and parents do not want to be involved at school level make it a midweek comp where teachers are present and being paid and leave clubs to develop the kids into future champions. Also it may free up umpires and make more available for both levels of football

In Victoria at least it would seem an attempt is being made to strengthen football

Dear vics01 you are obviously very confused about this issue as you have contradicted yourself in a major way in your post, I've highlighted the points I'm talking about.

The School footy vs Club footy debate is a waste of time as they are two different options for kids (and crazy) parents ie an alternative to where (and when) to play - school footy is less pressurised than club footy so people can make a choice.

Kids are still allowed to (should) just go and enjoy playing, without having to worry about winning or developing into AFL players.

[whatfuture]

The problem we have in our area and where our kids go to school is they are being FORCED to play school football. YES Trinity College force their students to miss CLUB FOOTBALL and are FORCED to play for the school and if they refuse to play for the school they are handed DETENTION notices and also risk being EXPELLED from the school altogether. This happens more so with the above average players whom are also expected to miss out on junior football at Central Districts so they can play for Trinity College. I know of several parents who have taken their kids out of Trinity and into another school. Doesnt matter that initially the parents decided to spend the thousands of dollars to send their children to a private school solely for their EDUCATION as the school now has taken the attitude that school sports is much more important than the kids education.

The school sports policy also states a parent can apply for an exemption from their child having to play for the school. WRONG the school simply doesnt listen.

Now what is happening around this area is that parents of any child with any kind of sports ability are refusing to send their child to Trinity College.

So much for giving a child any choice in where they play their sports!

[vics01]

HOWARD Wakey wakey hands off +nakey

In Victoria they are encouraging schools to support club footy with the support of clubs to get it up and going.

In South Australia the SANFL wants clubs to support school footy, they want kids to give up club footy for school footy.

Schools do sweet ---- all for developing kids for footy, they promote dont try and achieve just be participant.

It's not about every kid being an AFL footballer, clubs promote fun and enjoyment and also allow for achievement, becasue that is what life is about.

[Howard]

HOWARD Wakey wakey hands off +nakey

In Victoria they are encouraging schools to support club footy with the support of clubs to get it up and going.

In South Australia the SANFL wants clubs to support school footy, they want kids to give up club footy for school footy.

Schools do sweet ---- all for developing kids for footy, they promote dont try and achieve just be participant.

It's not about every kid being an AFL footballer, clubs promote fun and enjoyment and also allow for achievement, becasue that is what life is about.

The bottom line is if schools can support their local clubs and clubs support their local schools kids can have a choice as to how serious they take their footy.

The notion that school footy does not do anything to develop players is just wrong, development is happening at every level of competition, maybe just not as intense as club footy. By suggesting that clubs promote fun and enjoyment and school footy does not is also crazy talk, kids have just as much fun, maybe more so, mainly due to there being less pressure on them to win at all costs. I've seen enough parents (and coaches) go nuts over their kids footy.

I reckon the situation would be improved if we get away from club vs school and just consider both have a role to play in having as many kids get a chance to play the game.

[mighty hounds]

I was forced to play school footy and i didnt enjoy very much to the fact of being forced to play or risk sanction

[Jimmy_041]

HOWARD Wakey wakey hands off +nakey

In Victoria they are encouraging schools to support club footy with the support of clubs to get it up and going.

In South Australia the SANFL wants clubs to support school footy, they want kids to give up club footy for school footy.

Schools do sweet ---- all for developing kids for footy, they promote dont try and achieve just be participant.
It's not about every kid being an AFL footballer, clubs promote fun and enjoyment and also allow for achievement, becasue that is what life is about.

Gee, you must be talking about public schools. The independant schools have a massive infrastructure to look after their footy teams including proper coaches, interstate clashes and parent support groups. They also invite AFL scouts to the senior matches and some schools even provide a synopsis of each player's strengths and weaknesses. Schools like PAC, Saints, Rostrevor and Sacred Heart can have 100 - 120 seniors (16-18 yo) playing on a Saturday. I think PAC insist on students playing for the school unless there are extenuating circumstances such as Jack Trengove playing 1st Grade SANFL but I think you'll find most students WANT to play First XVIII in their final year at school.

As for not being competitive, come along to Intercoll day this year and see what goes on. The school kids right down to primary level, live for the day to give them bragging rights for the next 12 months