Originally Posted by
Rowdy#8
There's alot more to the academies and pathways programs that you'll here about from the Age or by listening to Damien Barrett or Eddie.
Let's take Conner Owen-Auburn as a case study. At 13, he was dominating at the St.Clair club. Pre academy era, he most likely would be carried on, being coached by his teammates dad, continuing to dominate lesser talented kids before maybe going on to a prem division club and getting by on natural ability. But, with the GWS academy in place, he had the opportunity to be coached by top level coaches, get expert help with fitness and nutrition programs, and train/play with and against the best kids in the state and continually take his game to new levels. With the benefit of 4 years of top development, he played a bit of seniors last year at Penno as a 17 year old and did very well. TAC cup this year with a chance of being drafted or Rookie listed at the end of the year.
Best case scenario is that he gets taken by an AFL club, gives other kids in the area a role model to aspire to, and one day brings that experience back into the Sydney AFL. Worst case, is that he is overlooked, comes back to Penno and our league has another top line player. Much better than the pre-academy scenario of player potential going to waste.
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