Canberra boys: Not good enough?
Canberra has produced a number of Socceroos, A-League players and currently has 4 Canberrans in the Joeys squad.
So when they announced the first Under 13 boys Australian team ever....thirty spots mind you..I felt sure with thousands of kids playing football, Coerver Coaching, and various Academy and Clinics around town surely we'd be able to get one or maybe two players into the squad.
Our kids have never had so much coaching....
But not one made the list of 30....oh well, not all is lost, the local lads can always transfer to AFL, League and Union..where the skill set is less demanding.
Qantas Australian Under 13 Boys Squad Selected for Training Camp
Qantas Australian Under 13 Boys Head Coach, Ante Juric has selected thirty (30) players to participate in a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from 7-10 May 2009.
From this training camp, a final squad of twenty two (22) players, will be selected to represent Australia at the upcoming Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under 13 Boys – Festival of Football which will be held in Sabah, Malaysia from 24 May to 6 June 2009.
Juric, along with Football Federation Australia (FFA) National Technical Director Han Berger, selected the squad from the recent 2009 FFA National Junior Championships in Canberra.
Juric was impressed by the standard of players and is excited about selecting the final squad of players.
“The players at the National Junior Championships had very good technical ability and game sense, in that they were very aware of the positions they were meant to be in.
“During camp, we will focus on intense game play and formation. It will also be important for the boys to get to know each other, as we will have only a limited of time together before the tournament starts.
“For the final 22 that are selected, the opportunity to play at an overseas tournament, like the AFC Festival of Football, is huge in terms of their development and experience,” concluded Juric.
FFA Technical Director Han Berger was also pleased with the process for selecting Australian Football's youngest ever national team.
"I was positively surprised by the skill level of players at the championships.
"The players in the squad have been selected based on their technical ability and potential and not necessarily their physical development as that will happen in due course anyway.
"This is one example of a new National Curriculum that FFA will be introducing over the coming months in regard to identifying and developing talented players," concluded Berger.
-ends-
Qantas Australian Under 13 Boys Football Team
Training Camp
7-10 May 2009, Australian Institute of Sport, Bruce, ACT
Leo Athanasiou (Cockburn City/ WA), Thomas Beadling (Perth SC/ WA), Richard Blanco (Sutherland Sharks/ NSW), Jordan Brown (Monash City JSC/ VIC), Noah Chianese (Blacktown City Demons/ NSW), Daniel De Silva (Stirling Lions/ WA), Jerome Dunphy (Noarlunga/ SA), Vincent Giannini (Sydney Olympic/ NSW), Pasquale Gioffre (ECU Joondalup/ WA), Thomas Hector (Adelaide City/ SA), Benjamin Hombert (Inglewood/ WA), Adrian Lara (Sydney Olympic/ NSW), Anthony Laus (Melbourne Knights/ VIC), Brandon Lundy (Manly United/ NSW), Kevin Ly (Blacktown City Demons/ NSW), Dimitar Mitkov (South Melbourne JFC/ VIC), Jordan Nadalin (Blacktown City Demons/ NSW), Aiden Naughton (North QLD Football/ QLD), Matthew Ntoumenopoulos (ECU Joondalup/ WA), Conor O'Neill (The Gap/ QLD), Reece Papadimitrios (Newcastle Football/ NNSW), Milos Ridesic (South Melbourne JFC/ VIC), Christopher Skull (Birkalla West Torrance/ SA), Lewis Smirlis (South Melbourne JFC/ VIC), Haralambos Stamboulidis (Essendon Royals JSC/ VIC), Jordan Thurtell (Sunshine Coast Football/ QLD), Okan Nabi Tuna (Richmond SC / VIC), Dylan Vandenberg (Wollongong FC/ NSW), Jaiden Walker (South Lismore/ NNSW) and Benjamin Warland (Campbelltown/ SA).
5 comments:
No surprise the ACT has no representation in the Australian U13 Boys squad. None of them were good enough. Sad but true.
Did the Capitol Football Academy have the best U13 boys in the ACT at the Academy - No! Money and selection ( the ACt team was limited to academy players only - no open trials) have a lot to do with it.
It's not surprising, and I agree with the comment that the Canberra boys did not display enough to impress the selectors. However, it's not so much a question of the boys' capabilities, but rather the apathetic approach of Capital Football with regard to the team's preparation, and the coach's approach. The lead up to this National Tournament was a poor, with little training and little attention given to a style of play. Some of the boys COULD have been selected, but were handicapped by an organisation that didn't see fit to prepare them for it.
Last year the ACT PSSA team went to the nationals in Melbourne. They won 5 out of 7 games and finished 4th, had they won their last game against Queensland then they would have finished 1st but unfortunately they had a player red carded in the first few minutes and lost 0-1.
6 months on the bulk of the PSSA team would have been expected to make up the under 13s ACT team and achieve similar results. Unfortunately a couple of the key players were not selected which was baffling. A different coach was in place and his coaching left a lot to be desired - when he showed up. What was worse was that the technical director took many trainings when the coach was away and his coaching was just as poor. There was no structure or game plan in evidence. During the tournament the players were often changed to positions and formations they had never trained for. There was very few practice matches arranged and the ones they did have were of poor standard and hardly ideal preparation for a national championship.
To show what could have been the PSSA team beat Victoria twice last year 1-0 and 3-0. 6 months on basically the same Victorian team finished second and had 7 players selected in the Australian squad. I'm not saying we could have had 7 players selected but if they had received the same well organised coaching and preparation they had last year then a top 3 placing and 3 or 4 Australian reps could have been possible.
Capital Football really let these kids down. I urge the boys to not give up, they have proven themselves in the past and with a better coach and preparation they will be a force at the nationals next year.
I agree with the last two comments very strongly, I was there I saw what happened. The teams coach even got sent off for swearing at the officials after two previous warnings,then TD had to take the team for the last game and he didnt do any better.Ofcourse there was no report about the send off which is a disgrace in itself. If the players swear they are reprimanded but its ok for the coach ffffttt.
how can u expect 13 year old boys to perform when from day to day they were given different formations to play in. First it was 442 then 343 then 433 then back to 442. These are 13 year olds remember and they only ever practist 442 when the coach was there which was not often enough.Im sure with better coaching and preperation the boys would have done much better but capital football let them down. Now its gong to take an extra 6 months to get them where they should be and Heather Reid thinks that everything is rosy and wont do a thing out it, such is the political bs that is going on in capital football regarding the 13 year old boys.
PS all the the coaches from the the older age groups new this was going to happen 3 months out rom the nationals
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