Last weekend saw the U9s Premier Club Skill Acquisition Phase (SAP) competition kick off across Northern NSW.
The U9s Premier Club SAP is the start of the new talented player pathway in the Northern NSW region.
The pathway starts with the U9s in 2018 growing to U9s and U10s in 2019; U9s, U10s and U11s in 2020; and U9s, U10s, U11s, and U12s in 2021.
SAP will underpin the youth structures in Premier Clubs to give players the opportunity to play for their club from U9 years of age all the way through to senior football.
NNSWF Technical Advisor, Leo Bertos, said it is great to finally have the competition underway for the year and praised all the clubs who are involved.
“Well done to the hosting clubs for putting on a great day for the players on the weekend,” Bertos said.
“It was nice to see the players able to play their games on their clubs’ premier club ground as well.”
With a significant amount of game time developed into the program, Bertos said it will provide many more opportunities for the players to play and develop.
“Compared to last season, these young players will play a lot more football.”
“They will play 2 games a weekend over 22 rounds which is over 40 games for the season.”
The introduction of the Premier Club U9 SAP follows the recent amendments to the Talented Player Pathway in the Hunter Region and demonstrates NNSWF’s commitment to support the implementation of Football Federation Australia’s Strategic Plan.
In particular in relation to the building of generations of successful National Teams by lifting the technical standard of identified players and coaches throughout Northern NSW and establishing defined and appropriate pathways.
