Not the point being made. Its a long term project in the extreme. Kids can join the academy at nine. The reality is City are looking for one out of 100's, a tiny % make it to a contract. It is easier to become a GP!
Last Stats I read are that for every 600 kids that attend a pro football academy, just 2 will ever cross the line and play at Pro level.. thats a very small percentage. Cliftonville makes his points well and its hard to argue against, however we did apply for Cat 1 Status and couldn't achieve it due to our league position, the best we could achieve was cat 2, So which comes first the chicken or the egg? Until we achieve at least solid championship status we can't upgrade the academy to any higher than cat 2 status so its a work in progress. I have been involved in local kids football for the last 15 years or so and many prospects at 10 years old are very different people at 17 years old, I have seen so many go through the City academy and fail and looking back nearly every one of them didn't quite have the full package to see them play pro.. its more than just skills and talent, its about desire too. (the thing my own son lacked) There is a lad at the academy now called George Dowling who's grandfather was a good friend of mine.. he's being touted as a prospect, I sincerely hope he can make it through.. but there does seem to be a fundamental issue at Ashton Gate in breaking kids through and I have never seen any sort of explanation from the club why this is so?
Thanks for clearing that one up, most of that was news to me. 2 out of 600 kids is a tiny fraction in anyone's book. I went to school with Ricky Chandler who went on to play for City between 1980-1983 although he was a year or two younger than me. But Ricky didn't make the long term grade and ended up at Gloucester City. He was apparently the Son In Law of Ken Wimshurst.which I wasn't aware of. I also went to school was Craig Clarke who went on to make a couple of first team appearances for Rovers in the late 70's/early 80's, but like Ricky he didn't make the grade even having got that far. These were outstanding footballers at school and at Bristol Boys level so it just goes to show how tough it is, even when you think you've made it at a professional club.
RICKY CHANDLER Born : Bristol d.o.b. 26 September 1961 Position : Forward Source : Apprentice Bristol City 80-83 Appearances 61 Goals 13
Ricky was a former England schoolboy who came through the ranks at Bristol City and had the distinction of being the only remaining players on their books when a financial crisis forced them to release all of their squad in 1981.
To increase the odds of finding the needles in the haystack I would like to see City go heavily down the route of the development centre which is a bridge between kids club football and academies. City have a foot in but could easily broaden their reach. There are Western league clubs that run large kids sections e.g last season's western league winners Melksham Town have 400 kids playing at the club from 5 - 16. Entering into reciprocal coaching arrangements with these clubs could increase contact between City and thousands of potential players. The above also fulfills what should be an intrinsic social element of Bristol City - Live in our region and this club, your club will be there to help train you and offer you the opportunity to be the best you can be.
Personally I think the club ought to be reaching out to South Bristol schools and making appearances/holding training sessions and offering free tickets to kids, who might persuade their parents to go, which further builds the fanbase if they like what they see and enjoy the experience. I get the distinct feeling the club could and should do a lot more in the local community. I know they've done some hospital visits and stuff, but if you make the whole club an attractive proposition for any impressionable youngster then less of them might support Man U or Chelsea and the lifetime support of tomorrow is born.
Working on the Canadian system (and the U.S.) in sport where the major league clubs in most sports have a farm team that plays in a totally separate league that has no connections with the NHL or MLB. When players reach a specific age and are considered too old to compete at the junior league level they enter a draft pool from which the major league squads select their choices and offer them a contract. Once the deal has been signed it is generally the start of their full professional sports career and most likely they will be assigned to the farm team for a year or so before being called up to the major league squad. The farm team is also used as a resource from which you can call a player up from when you have an injured player on the first team roster, plus it is used as a place you can send players who need some attitude adjustment or rehabilitation conditioning after injury. The system works very well, despite my dislike of North American sport, and the reason is that is the preferred choice of the various sporting leagues across the continent. The secondary leagues outside the NHL for instance are the WHL, AHL and others that have no part in the major leagues, other than preparing and developing young talent, hopefully providing future talent for the big leagues. Somewhat complicated I know and in reality I can't see it working in England because the sanity horse left the corral too many years ago but a modified version could work well for the benefit of many clubs in our position. Perhaps all my information is not quite correct but the general idea is sound - and it works.
Cant see any bad news here, its like socialising with mates in a pub, the more pubs you visit the more friends you make.. this can lead to connections and lifelong friendships.. My only worry is the quality of coaches, I have seen way too many for who it is more about them than it is about the kids, this can have a detrimental effect on those same kids long term and just pull the love of the game clean out of them. I have seen it happen too many times.
Not sure about that my youngest is at Leeds uni in medicine, minimum 5 years training,then three in the hospitals etc.8 years before qualified.
