To turn the Socceroos into World Cup contenders, we need to start with the junior game
- Written by: Weekend Times
Australia had high hopes of an historic World Cup knockout round win after progressing through the group stage.
However, a painful Round of 32 exit, losing a penalty shootout to Egypt,
raised familiar questions about the state of soccer in Australia.
These conversations generally centre on:
- was the preparation leading up to the World Cup the best it could be?
- were the players well prepared?
- are our coaches good enough?
- is there enough elite talent coming through the system?
To answer them properly, we need to examine some deep, structural problems.
Australian soccer’s big issues
Soccer is the most participated team sport in the country.
It’s obvious, then, that Australia does not have a participation problem. The challenge is converting participation into elite performance.
The world’s most successful soccer nations have developed ecosystems designed to identify, support and nurture talent regardless of geography, socioeconomic status or personal connections.
Although these systems vary, they all maximise talent identification and minimise the likelihood of losing promising players before they reach their potential.
These nations do not simply produce outstanding players. They produce systems that identify, develop and generate exceptional players.
In Australia, many young players face barriers that most young athletes in leading soccer nations do not:
geographic dispersion increases travel demands and costs, and makes early identification difficult, particularly for those in regional and rural areas
the “pay to play” model and high participation fees compared with other countries (where community clubs or professional academies absorb the developmental burden) limits opportunities
pathways between grassroots soccer, talent identification programs, semiprofessional and professional clubs are fragmented and inconsistent
concerns about whether access to elite opportunities are equally available to all talented players, regardless of their location or their families’ financial resources/connections with the game.
Read more: Where do Socceroos come from? Our map reveals Australia’s junior talent hotspots
The dominance of other elite codes – such as Aussie rules footy, rugby league, basketball and cricket – likely also impacts the retention of soccer players, despite such high participation rates.
The “pay to play” model is possibly the most significant barrier for Australian players, particularly if they are talented.
Playing fees for the National Premier League (NPL) – Australian soccer’s third tier and the main league where young prospects are scouted by professional clubs – are typically up to $3,500 for a 15-year-old. This is about seven times more for the same age group in Australian rules football.
In countries such as France and Germany, academy costs are free or significantly cheaper.
What do other countries do better?
Belgium has a population of about 12 million people, compared with Australia’s 27 million. Both countries have high soccer participation rates.
Yet Belgium has consistently produced world-class players and reached the latter stages of major tournaments, including placing third in the 2018 World Cup.
Following poor performances in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Belgium restructured its youth development system and created an ecosystem designed to identify, develop and export elite players.
Australia, in comparison, has developed a soccer participation system, but not a national development system for elite talent.
Similar to Belgium, Morocco has a comparable population to Australia but has historically performed substantially better on the world stage.
Morocco has invested heavily in elite player development, coach education and high-performance infrastructure.
This has included funding and establishing a national centre of excellence that identifies and nurtures talented players to eventually improve the fortunes of the national team.
Australia, in contrast, continues to rely on community clubs, the NPL and a limited number of A-League academies to identify and nurture talent.
Only eight nations have ever won the men’s World Cup. All possess highly developed ecosystems.
However, the countries that are repeatedly competitive on the world stage are not necessarily those with the greatest resources. Rather, they are the countries that are most effective in turning participation into development, and development into performance.
What will the future hold?
With such strong participation numbers in Australia, the question now is whether the system is identifying and developing every talented player who enters it.
To do this, the conversation must continue long after the competition ends. Australia needs to shift the rhetoric from “what went wrong” to “what’s needed to improve our position”?
Football Australia has started this discussion. After the Egypt defeat at the World Cup, Football Australia executive director of football Heather Garriock said the governing body would seek to implement a long-term vision for Australian soccer:
one thing [that’s] missing in Australia [is] a long-term vision for the game.
Australia needs to focus on building a high-performance player development ecosystem. This will require more help from state and federal governments.
Evidence from countries such as Belgium and Morocco suggests sustained success is achieved through long-term, targeted investment rather than crossing your fingers and waiting for the next “golden generation” to arrive.
Wendy M Goff is affiliated with International Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Dance, and Sport.
