tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2578658460757089715.post2617679656561329846..comments2024-02-01T20:52:24.827+08:00Comments on CEO 的話: The Development of Footballers - Player Pathways 足球運動員的發展 – 球員之路Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12311816601866550472noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2578658460757089715.post-43785739682167393932013-12-16T10:20:44.144+08:002013-12-16T10:20:44.144+08:00Dear David,
Thank you for your interesting comment...Dear David,<br />Thank you for your interesting comments. I have looked at the link you sent me. It certainly seems like an extensive programme. We are looking at changing our youth league structure from 2014/15 so that there are different divisons and a high performance youth league. We are also devising a Club Accreditation scheme to ensure a consistent quality.<br />We also believe that the youth leagues should be about 'player development' rather than 'win at all costs' which is why we introduced 'rolling substitues' this year into our U13 and U14 leagues. It is not easy however to change people's mind sets.<br />Thanks again.<br />Regards<br />MarkAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311816601866550472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2578658460757089715.post-18445229569556699902013-12-16T10:13:56.228+08:002013-12-16T10:13:56.228+08:00Dear Charles,
Thank you for your comments. You mak...Dear Charles,<br />Thank you for your comments. You make a number of excellent points. We fully appreciate how difficult it will be for a young footballer to reach his or her potential given the current football 'infrastructure' in Hong Kong. We need more and better facilities. We need more properly educated coaches. Most importantly we need to find a way in which a young person can combine sport with academia. All of these things are possible but it will require a strategic approach across all stakeholders including players, parents, clubs, schools and higher education. <br />I discuss this at length in our new Strategy - 'Aiming High - Together'. This will be published soon so I hope you will take the time to read it and comment.<br />It is unlikely that football will be desigtnated as an 'elite' sport and be part of the HKSI because the criteria are more difficult for a team sport to achieve, especially a universal sport like football. However we must try and get a similar level of resource so that young players like your son can follow their dreams.<br />I sincerely hope that we can put in place systems and resources so your son can get close to 10,000 hours of practice before he is 18 and that this can be achieved at the same time as he gets academic success. Football is a cognitive sport these days as well as physical and we need intelligent players.<br />Thanks again and good luck to you both.<br />Regards<br />MarkAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311816601866550472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2578658460757089715.post-54240483255124658522013-11-27T05:45:11.539+08:002013-11-27T05:45:11.539+08:00The HKFA needs to take control and organize all of...The HKFA needs to take control and organize all of HK's Youth play-through leagues.<br /><br />Separate Regions further bracketed by tiers: Elite, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Copper, and Recreational Pre-competitive. Each bracket can have multiple tiers (i.e, Silver 2, Silver 3). <br /><br />For example, an area surrounding MK could be Region 5, and a youth team could be playing other clubs in the Region 5 U10Boys Gold2 Spring Play-through league. <br /><br />All clubs would be subject to licensing, which would include coach licensing (min. education requirement) and background checks.<br /><br />As a further illustration, I am a board member of a youth football club in California, United States. My club plays under District 2 Area of California Youth Soccer Association's North region (CYSA-North calnorth.org). CYSA is under the jurisdiction of US Youth Soccer which covers all insurance and liability under their umbrella. US Youth Soccer is answerable to the US Soccer Federation (USA's FA). Teams within our clubs play in various tiers and age groups (U8-U19) of Division 2's Play-through league. Here's a listing of our district's Fall tiers: http://events.gotsport.com/events/default.aspx?EventID=33557<br /><br />One caveat, the play-through leagues must be managed aggressively and with rules and bylaws that foster youth technical development. A recent development in Northern California is the emergence of an alternative (private enterprise) play-through league that places an emphasis on long-term development and coaching education as opposed to the results-oriented style of CYSA. The alternative league (norcalpremier.com) gives free coaching courses in Fiorentina Method as well as organized trips to Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Fiorentina to learn from their youth programs.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14220378449978838966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2578658460757089715.post-83488440441899704032013-11-25T22:48:37.744+08:002013-11-25T22:48:37.744+08:00Hi Bob,
While you are preparing this youth develo...Hi Bob,<br /><br />While you are preparing this youth development plan, I hope you also get a chance to listen to a parent.<br /><br />My kid is ten years old and he has been trained in a local elite soccer club for more than 4 years.<br />He received 3 days training every week. Apart from participating the local tournaments, he had gone outside HK<br />like Europe, Singapore, mainland for 5 times in the past 3 years. I would say, he is a very elite player at his age.<br />Apart from that, he is rather good at academic.<br /><br />His aspiration is to become a professional player outside HK, and also able to be a university graduate.<br /><br />As his dad, I believe there will be a very tough road ahead of him, but I think he has prepared to work hard for this.<br /><br />After reading your article on youth development plan, I have a lot of worries about how this can be achieved.<br /><br />First, who will provide this 10,000 hour "elite training"? This 10,000 hour translates to 2 hours every day, Mon to Sat.<br />My current soccer club provides only 3 x 1.5 = 4.5 hours every week. I doubt whether they have enough coach, pitches and more importantly, the incentive to increase the training hours.<br /><br />Second, even if this 12 hours a week is available, how can the local education system support, or to say the least, accommodate?<br /><br />I am not sure if you know much about the training of young elite players of other sports in HK.<br />e.g. The most elite table tennis player at 10, trained 5 x 2 = 10 hour every week, plus tournament<br />For squash player 3 x 2 = 6 hours, plus weekly tournament<br />Swimmers trained even more.<br /><br />Individual sports can gain support from schools easier, because the players earn reputation for the schools in the<br />inter-school tournaments. Unfortunately, it is not true for team sport like soccer.<br />The public image of soccer player is also not as good as other sport players.<br /><br />Apart from that, when these individual sport elite players turn professional (or half-professional) at the age of around 15 or 16, they got much more support from government or outside. I have never heard of such support for youth soccer players.<br />Look at the HK U15 team who just got a very good result. What level of support they receive if they plan to go<br />professional or semi-professional to receive even more training? <br /><br />I have read through all your blog and I believe you have been doing a very good job paving the path of HK soccer.<br /><br />People in HK like to criticize, but please stay positive and continue with your good job.<br /><br />I do hope that my kid can have his 10,000 elite training, plus his university education dream.<br />Under the current environment, he has to sacrifice either one sooner or later.<br /><br />Regards,<br />charles<br /><br />Charles Choyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02078814516254333103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2578658460757089715.post-54860042090232459572013-11-13T13:43:25.841+08:002013-11-13T13:43:25.841+08:00Dear Sze Yeun Colin Mak,
Thank you for your commen...Dear Sze Yeun Colin Mak,<br />Thank you for your comment. There is nothing earth-shattering or revolutionary in what I'm saying. It is just common sense and best practice. I am presenting my five-year plan to the Football Task Force at the end of this month. Hopefully there will be some buy-in from the main stakeholders at the meeting. Afterwards, I will make the strategy document public so everyone can air their views. If we can generate the support of Hong Kong football fans, I am sure we can start to build up a bit of momentum. The roadblocks need to be pushed to one side.<br />Regards<br />MarkAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311816601866550472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2578658460757089715.post-21373842248185396732013-11-13T13:34:56.714+08:002013-11-13T13:34:56.714+08:00This is an inspirational and visionary sharing of ...This is an inspirational and visionary sharing of football development in Hong Kong. Hope HKFA gains more support from different stakeholders to develop soccer in HK. It is sometimes depressing to see the hurdles in soccer development in Hong Kong and the far from promising future of the professional footballers in HK!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14565910118792481809noreply@blogger.com