ELITE FOOTBALL

With excitement around the Socceroos’ success in Qatar and Australia’s co-hosting of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™, it is crucial that talented players from all areas of NSW have access to pathway opportunities that can help to develop the next generation of national representatives.

Girls TSP

As another season drew to a close it was not without its challenges. The whole football community had to navigate inclement weather patterns impacting both training and playing environments. It was however still a very successful year with lots of positives, including completing the first full year of the Girls Talent Support Program for 2009/2008 and 2007/2006 born players. The program added another layer to the overall talent identification process, providing opportunities which included more matches for over 180 potentially talented Girls Youth League players.

In addition to the matches which took place during the school term, the program also allowed for one tournament during the April School Holidays. Establishing working relationships with the Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets added to the quality and this will continue into next year.

Four players from the GTSP were selected into the Football NSW State Teams, including two Under 14s and two Under 16s, highlighting the importance of its place as part of the player pathway and providing more match minutes to young talent players.

Boys TSP

Now into its third year, the Boys program was about adding layers to continue to grow and evolve. The introduction of Individual Development Plans (IDP), which were to be completed each term by the players, encouraged raising self-awareness and focus areas for the individuals on their own development and growth.

With this in place, the coaches were able to deliver formal feedback with more objective evidence using video analysis.

The IDPs have become a live document which are stored and edited on an online platform which provides real time detail. In order to provide such detail, the Football NSW technical department have worked to establish relationships with ACU and WSU to provide interns for the video analysis, who then create personalised video clips for each player in the TSP. Video clips are delivered to the players via their IDP at the end of each term.

Overall, the boys TSP completed four terms which in turn provided 16 extra games for each age group. There were also four tournaments which took place in January, April, and July at Valentine Sports Park and one in October in Canberra in collaboration with Capital Football. The TSP has increased links with National Teams Units, with seven players now representing Australia and Football NSW Player Development Manager, Phil Myall, also working as part of the National Teams Unit.

In addition to the games and tournaments, the coaching staff attended Boys Youth League matchdays as part of the talent identification process. Scouting for TSP and state teams, the TSP staff attended five Boys Youth League 1, 2, and 3 games every week during the season. Whilst at the clubs, the TSP coaches also completed 78 matchday assessments which will support FNSW in understanding the landscape and working with Clubs to improve the football experience for all involved.

Country TSP Game Days

As regional football continues to grow, the country TSP has been pivotal in supporting potentially talented players.

The Country TSP teams competed in tournaments held at Valentine Sports Park, in addition to a tournament held in April in Goulburn for Under 14s, which included Capital Football, Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers.

In July, a tournament for Under 14s and 16s girls saw teams from Northern NSW, Capital Football and a variety of Girls Youth League teams take part.

Completing the talent identification process for regional players there were game days held in Goulburn and Young for both boys and girls.

Elite Games

As an extension of the Talent Support Program, Football NSW hosted seven elite games for females across the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 age groups. The boys also hosted seven games for the 2004, 2005, and 2006 age groups.

These games were used as a filtering process to play the ‘best against the best’ within the state and provide vital talent identification opportunities to the National Teams Unit.

In collaboration with Football Australia, the elite games also included GPS reports, Biological Maturation measurements, standing broad jump and player video coding.

State Teams NTC

In September, both the boys and the girls participated in the National Youth Championships at Coffs Harbour, with the Girls also participating in the National Training Centre (NTC) competition in Canberra.

For the girls, a total of 15 NPL/GYL players from eight different clubs were selected into the NSW State Team and NTC squads, with four players from GTSP. An incredibly successful week for the state team girls included the Under 14s Metro team winning the championship with an Under 14s player named Player of the tournament.

The Under 16s also had a player named Goalkeeper of the tournament, while seven of the players from the tournament were selected for the Junior Matildas camp that followed. There were also two players from the tournaments selected for the Young Matildas squad for the Pacific Women’s Four Nations Tournament.

The boys 2008 group had representatives from 14 Boys Youth League Clubs, with 22 of the 34 players from BYL clubs and the other 12 from A-League academies. The 2007 age group had representatives from 13 BYL clubs, with the other 17 from A-League academies. The 2007 White team were crowned National Youth Champions.

The Football NSW country teams were also well represented with four teams in attendance. The boys provided one team in the Under 14s and Under 15s age groups and the girls also had two teams; one in the Under 14s and one in the Under 16s. Regional NSW for the first time also had one country team that participated at the NTC challenge in Canberra.

Football NSW Institute

It was once again another stellar year for the Football NSW Institute program. Fifteen players from the program were named in the Junior Matildas squad that travelled to

Indonesia for the AFF Under 18s tournament where they won in style.

There were also three players named in the Young Matildas squad that travelled to Mexico ahead of the FIFA Youth World Cup in Costa Rica, before being selected to attend the tournament. One additional player was also selected for the Philippines to travel to Indonesia for the AFF tournament.

Four of the six Institute teams made the NPL NSW Grand Finals. Whilst the program is not results driven, it is a demonstration of the progress and development of these players and teams during the season and the great work the coaches have done. There are nine players from the Under 18s (1st Grade) that have progressed into A-League women’s teams this season and one player that has progressed to playing for a college in the United States of America.