Australian youth teams face difficult future, predicts coaching guru

Youth development coach Tom Byer predicts Australia’s national youth teams will continue to struggle on the international stage unless real change happens in the country’s development ecosystem.

Joeys

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The Young Matildas have been smashed 9-1 by Korea and 7-0 by Japan in the AFC Under-19 Championship in the past week, while the Joeys were eliminated from the Under-17 World Cup after a 4-0 pasting at the hands of France.

The Olyroos will ramp up qualifying for the Tokyo Games over the next two months, while the Young Socceroos are currently in action in Taiwan.

But Byer, who has worked around the world in youth development, warns that these teams are likely to face more problems unless Australia gets its house in order.

Byer believes Australia needs to focus on the entry level for when boys and girls start playing football, with a concentration on technique, while making sure that parents are engaged and empowered, and that the sport is made afford for all.

“Clearly it doesn’t look too promising, on both the men’s and the women’s youth teams,” he told The World Game.

“It’s not a complete indicator of what happens always, but there is starting to be a trend. These are pretty big blowouts – 4-0, 7-0 – especially on the women’s side, and the women’s side is supposed to be the stronger of the two in Australia.

“It’s pretty similar to the US. I see so many parallels and similar things that are going on in the states and Australia, which coincidentally are the only two professional leagues in the world we no relegation or promotion in them.

“They are two sporting cultures where everything on paper says things should work much better than they do, but they don’t. So you have to sort of scratch your head.

“Two sporting countries too that have basically outsourced their coaches education and curriculum to European nations as well. I’m wondering when the knowledge transfer is going to be enough that both countries can let go of the hands that have been holding them, although it seems Australia has shifted gear and figured that probably they’re not going to import some different style of football.

“On that side it’s a bit more promising with a lot of the reorganization on the technical side in the FFA.”

Participation levels might be rising in Australia, but Byer believes it is not about raw numbers, but common sense and simplicity in producing quality players. Football culture is king, according to the American.

“It’s not like you need to have millions of participants, you need to have certain metrics,” he said.

“Look at Iceland – there’s two things why they are so successful – common sense and simplicity. When you look at some of the things they do and per capita they are the number one country in the world for exporting players to professional clubs.

“How can that be with a population of about 350,00? It’s because they put common sense programs in place and made it very accessible, make it very low-cost.

“The rest of the football world has a lot to learn from some of these minnows who are punching above their weight. 

“If I was at FFA I would focus on the family, focus on the youngest kid, make sure that the football does start and make sure you can create the same kind of environment that the PFA just spent 18 months trying to research.

“The overwhelming message from the PFA is the role that culture plays in football development, that cannot be underestimated. The reality is that I would have a program in place that empowers the hundreds of thousands of little Australian boys and girls aged two, three, four, five and six and ensuring the entry level of the sport is very healthy. 

“So by the time these kids cross over that white line into organized play they already have a head start, a flying start. If you get kids who are technically sound, who are technically geared and component and confident before they even join a team, you will alleviate many of the other problems that pop up in football development because of that. 

“It also costs you next to nothing to do, it’s a knowledge transfer and engaging parents. Every single A-League team should be championing this concept in the community.”

In Australia much of the focus on the production line is aimed at the elite level, such as Skills Acquisition Programs, and organised, competitive football. But Byer believes ignoring the entry level for kids is a huge problem.

“There’s three levels – the entry level, the competition level and the elite level - no one is really focusing on the entry level at all,” he said.

“They just think that little Johnny and little Suzie shows up and somehow they’re going to play like Sam Kerr or Harry Kewell.

“The reality is when you dig below the surface and find out why these players have been so successful, you’re almost always going to find the role that the parent plays and the age at which the child started playing, which is very young.

“The football world has not caught up to what science already knows, and that is that skill acquisition happens at a much earlier age that most suppose.

“If I’m the technical director of the FFA I’ve got a major campaign going on where I’m pitching families of very young children so that our coaches can actually do what they’re intended to do – coach the kids. Not babysit, but coach.” 

Byer has worked in football development in Japan, Indonesia, China, his native United States, and has presented to FFA and Football NSW. Recently the 58-year-old has partnered with Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo to work on development in the Texan city.

Because of the politics encircling football development, Byer advises Australia to start by changing its development system in one area and then build from there.

“There’s so much politics involved in football,” he admitted.

“It’s very difficult to lead any kind of national movement, whether its in the United States or in Australia, because the politics are too exhausting. My advice to people is try and do things in your own community.

“In Australia if you can start in one community, show people proof of a concept, then people seem to jump on the bandwagon when they see things that work. It’s going to take time.”

FFA have been approached for comment.


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6 min read
Published 11 November 2019 11:19am
Updated 11 November 2019 11:29am
By John Davidson

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