Most supporters of A-League expansion argue that the current system is something of a closed shop which doesn’t give talented younger players the opportunity to progress into the professional ranks of the A-League.
George Katsakis, the coach of NPL club Heidelberg United, speaking midweek on SEN radio commented, “A lot of A-League players are on a merry-go-round from club to club. Not enough opportunity is given to the boys who are excelling at NPL level. That’s something we definitely need to try and push through FFA, FFV and all our federations to see how they can help us push those better players coming through to an A-League gig.”
But the coach of the Dockerty Cup-winning Bergers also admits that there may need to be a rethink of player development at NPL level.
A major focus of the NPL system introduced in 2013 after the Crawford review was to be the opening up of elite player pathways to give younger players the opportunity for senior experience at a higher level.
A player points system was designed to encourage NPL clubs to focus on player development. Katsakis has questioned whether the current NPL system allows both successful youth development and onfield success.
He said, “The youth development is something we discuss regularly and I think, I’m not sure that it’s played its role to the highest degree. A lot of the prominent clubs, your Heidelbergs, South Melbourne, Melbourne Knights and so forth, teams that were involved back in the NSL days, I think we thrive on success and we base ourselves on success. I’m not sure we’ve done [this right] in terms of bringing in the right youth development programs, and not enough youth in our programs, to be quite honest. And that’s always due to the success that both club supporters and members are striving for. So I certainly think the youth developments area is maybe one we need to visit against and see how we can improve.”