Swans Academy

**Reggi** · 8th March 2010, 03:47 PM

http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/s...0307-pqmq.html

Great initiative, but 10 years before we are likely to see a result. Although will really help marketing

Bit disturbing 9YOs signing to a club

**blinddog** · 9th March 2010, 09:01 AM

Thats how they do it in English soccer

**DST** · 9th March 2010, 11:24 AM

Not a lot different to the way things are done down here in Melbourne with each of the TAC Cup sides having development squads from under 12's up.

Only difference being is that these kids go into the pool for all clubs to draft, but we will have access to the kids in our academy.

From mu understanding it will be along the lines of the father and son rule where we can list our intentions to draft anyone from the academy and other clubs can lodge a draft selection to determine what draft pick we would use.

Also talk on the weekend of a super eastern seaboard reserves comp that would include the VFL sides, GWS, Sydney Swans, GC17 and Lions, which would be fantastic for our listed kids development.

DST

**AnnieH** · 9th March 2010, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by DST

Also talk on the weekend of a super eastern seaboard reserves comp that would include the VFL sides, GWS, Sydney Swans, GC17 and Lions, which would be fantastic for our listed kids development.

DST

God I hope that's true. We're wasting our reserves in the ACT comp. That comp really doesn't help us at all.

**stellation** · 9th March 2010, 11:57 AM

I'm not over the moon of having under 9s included.

I wonder how the structure works out for kids that are old enough to be offered a NSW scholarship from another club but have been training as part of the Swans Academy; does it mean that Sydney would have first dibs on them and they'd be forced to sign with Sydney if the offer was made?

**liz** · 9th March 2010, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by stellation

I'm not over the moon of having under 9s included.

I wonder how the structure works out for kids that are old enough to be offered a NSW scholarship from another club but have been training as part of the Swans Academy; does it mean that Sydney would have first dibs on them and they'd be forced to sign with Sydney if the offer was made?

The scholarship scheme is about to end. Clubs can sign up new players this year but that's their last opportunity. So this, and the equivalent GWS academy will effectively replace the current scholarship scheme.

**stellation** · 9th March 2010, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by liz

The scholarship scheme is about to end. Clubs can sign up new players this year but that's their last opportunity. So this, and the equivalent GWS academy will effectively replace the current scholarship scheme.

I didn't realized they'd confirmed scrapping the scholarship scheme yet. I don't mind the idea too much in that case, although I'd prefer they improved/expanded junior reps and worked towards more of a strong TAC Cup style model.

I don't like the idea of under 9s signing up to this, though. Rep footy doesn't kick in until under 10s, and to be honest I think that's a year too young.

**Primmy** · 9th March 2010, 02:06 PM

Its great. The kids are jumping all over the place! And in the SMH article we have got Barrel's fella wanting to sign up, and that would be just awsome if he is like his father (great legs).
We are just starting to get the runon affect sorted. The other clubs have had it in spades for years, and years, and its just starting at the Swans in Sydney.
The kids will get a bit of kudos being in the Swans Academy, they become part of the tribe and its odds on their friends will want to know about it and Auskick gets more interest. All part of the melting pot.

**BSA5** · 9th March 2010, 04:18 PM

I don't really care much about the intensive coaching, that sort of thing. That's nice, but it's not really what it's about for me. I remember back when I was 9, I was playing league on Fridays, soccer on Saturdays, with cricket in the summer. Most kids are playing multiple sports at that age. At the moment, too many go to league or union because that's what their friends play, the clubs are better funded, etc. If we're signing them up at 9, we're essentially making the decision for them (I mean that in the least controlling sort of way!). We're setting them on the path, making them more immune to the league- and union-biased culture.

Imagine if at 9 years old, Israel Folau's parents had taken him to a trial day just to kick the footy around, he had been identified as a talent and signed up to the Swans academy (it wasn't until his mid-teens that he moved to Queensland). How likely would he have then been to play league? Even if he still moved to Queensland and left the Academy, he'd have been playing Aussie Rules, and he'd almost certainly continue.

Scholarships are nice, but signing kids at the age of 15 or 16 rarely does much. The kids with lots of obvious talent will have already chosen a sport. If they've chosen AFL, then they'll probably get drafted anyway, so all it does is give those who've been quick enough to spot them first crack. If they've chosen league, they'll be having great success with that and won't really want to change. The key are the speculative ones, guys who were really late into footy but showed great aptitude at lesser sports (I mean that in terms of future career prospects, exposure, etc) such as volleyball, basketball (unless you're good enough to go to the US), athletics, etc, but how often are these going to succeed? There's a bit of extra coaching, which is great, but ultimately doesn't do much to turn the tide culturally and create more home-grown talent, improve SFL quality, etc. This Academy system will get them BEFORE they make these choices, before the guys who otherwise would have gone to league or union make that commitment.

**Steve** · 9th March 2010, 05:17 PM

This is a good intiative, although it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the coming years.

The whole 'signing with the Swans at 9 y/o' thing is going to be a bit misleading as it sounds as though that's more a case of being offered a place in a 'development squad' as opposed to signing with more intensive club academies such as in European soccer.

The real positives are promoting the pathway to play AFL in Sydney (ie. legitimately being able to choose a sport and know you have the option of staying in your home city/state, rather than being subjected to a draft that could send you anywhere), as well as getting professional coaching into kids at an earlier age.

Although I wonder how it will fare in the 15-18 age brackets - I'm not sure how realistic it is to have 30 kids still in the program for each of those age levels. By that point we'd have narrowed it down to perhaps a couple of kids for each bracket who might be potential AFL-standard, and kids performing well in other sports at those ages would start to drop out to pursue other paths.

It's also potentially a bit restrictive if we do have to nominate them at 17/18 as per F/S nominations - other codes could be offering contracts but we have to sit on our hands until they reach a certain age.