1066familyman
Radio User
- Jan 15, 2008
- 15,185
Ok, so the word 'poaching' is like a loaded question, hence why referendums are so dodgy, and it's clear by my use of that word what side of the argument I'm on. But I'm interested in people's experiences and opinions on this.
Anyone with any involvement in kids football (I'm talking grassroots level here, not Academies/development centres at pro clubs) will know of teams who like to 'cherry pick' their players and will, it seems, actively poach players from other clubs. I can fully understand kids wanting to play at a higher level, and so I'm aware there are countless scenarios and not all is as black and white as my title suggests. However, whenever I see or hear of it happening it always makes me feel a mixture of sadness and anger, especially when it's the same old clubs doing the 'poaching'. I wonder where the coaching and the satisfaction of developing players and seeing them grow comes for clubs that just pick kids that are already very good players. And I also just have this romantic notion of kids growing up playing football with their mates from their local area/school and trying to raise their game to beat teams from other areas. In my area alone and in the age group I'm familiar with there are at least a dozen or more good players playing for teams in other towns, and yet if they stayed here and played in the same club then they'd compete with any team from across the county no trouble at all.
Of course, the last sentence above begs the question as to which club in each town would house all the 'best players' when each town has numerous clubs. And wouldn't that be cherry picking in itself anyway? Which leads me onto what I understand to be the Dutch model. Towns have just one or two big clubs that house many teams and have excellent facilties compared to our own (grassroots facilities in this country are shameful for the most part). All kids from that area will play for the big clubs and all abilities can be catered for by allowing movement between the numerous teams at each age group, so the better players aren't stifled by a weak team and the weaker players get to play at a level they can also shine at. This solves the problem (if you perceive it to be one) of players going to/being poached by clubs from outside of their town to play at a higher level.
If you've stuck with my rambling thus far, I'd appreciate your thoughts and feelings on the matter. I know plenty on here are involved in kids football and can make a much more coherent argument in this debate than I've cobbled together here. Thanks.
Anyone with any involvement in kids football (I'm talking grassroots level here, not Academies/development centres at pro clubs) will know of teams who like to 'cherry pick' their players and will, it seems, actively poach players from other clubs. I can fully understand kids wanting to play at a higher level, and so I'm aware there are countless scenarios and not all is as black and white as my title suggests. However, whenever I see or hear of it happening it always makes me feel a mixture of sadness and anger, especially when it's the same old clubs doing the 'poaching'. I wonder where the coaching and the satisfaction of developing players and seeing them grow comes for clubs that just pick kids that are already very good players. And I also just have this romantic notion of kids growing up playing football with their mates from their local area/school and trying to raise their game to beat teams from other areas. In my area alone and in the age group I'm familiar with there are at least a dozen or more good players playing for teams in other towns, and yet if they stayed here and played in the same club then they'd compete with any team from across the county no trouble at all.
Of course, the last sentence above begs the question as to which club in each town would house all the 'best players' when each town has numerous clubs. And wouldn't that be cherry picking in itself anyway? Which leads me onto what I understand to be the Dutch model. Towns have just one or two big clubs that house many teams and have excellent facilties compared to our own (grassroots facilities in this country are shameful for the most part). All kids from that area will play for the big clubs and all abilities can be catered for by allowing movement between the numerous teams at each age group, so the better players aren't stifled by a weak team and the weaker players get to play at a level they can also shine at. This solves the problem (if you perceive it to be one) of players going to/being poached by clubs from outside of their town to play at a higher level.
If you've stuck with my rambling thus far, I'd appreciate your thoughts and feelings on the matter. I know plenty on here are involved in kids football and can make a much more coherent argument in this debate than I've cobbled together here. Thanks.
that was the back four sorted and that was it.
