INTRODUCTION. Whitford Junior Football Club is one of the most respected clubs in junior sport today.

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1 WHITFORD JUNIOR FOOTBALL CLUB THE PATHWAY IS CLEAR 1

2 INTRODUCTION Whitford Junior Football Club is one of the most respected clubs in junior sport today. With an average player group of 800 per year it is also one of the largest football clubs in Australia. In 2008 the Whitford Junior Football Club had also experienced its most successful season ever in open rules. The club was represented in 5 grand finals out of a possible 6 and won 4 grand finals and runner up in another. The success for the club rode on the back of new initiatives that was put in place last year. The first initiative was with the 13s where 3 teams became 2. The club spoke with the coach of the team being split and graded the players. The players were then evenly put into the 2 teams. As a result both 13s teams were extremely competitive and both won their respective grand finals. The next initiative was to develop camaraderie between all the open rules coaches. This was achieved by holding informal meetings a couple of times in the year. This worked very well and as a result it eradicated an us and them feeling from rival teams within the club and gave each coach common ground. They were able to share training drills and as a group it gave everyone a sense of ownership to the direction of the club. The club will continue to expand on its initiatives and has already put one in place for Our 16 s last year had 2 teams with a total of 49 players. We anticipate we will have around 35+ players for this year. Of those we believe 3 or 4 may be regular players for the West Perth Colts which will leave us with around 31 players for the regular season. The Amateurs have 2 Colt sides and we have made arrangements with them to give players the option of playing with one of the colts sides should they be rostered off. This way they are guaranteed a game every week between the 17 s and Amateur Colts. The club wants to develop a plan of direction from Auskick to 17s to ensure that the pathway is clear to all parents, coaches and players. 2

3 WHITFORD JUNIOR FOOTBALL CLUB PATHWAY AUSKICK PP Y3 PLAYED SATURDAY JAGUARS, PANTHERS BOBCATS, TIGERS PUMAS, LIONS CHEETAHS, COUGARS MODIFIDES Y4 Y7 PLAYED SUNDAY JAGUARS, LIONS, TIGERS, BOBCATS OPEN RULES PLAYED SUNDAY WHITE, BLACK, BROWN OPEN RULES 17 s PLAYED SUNDAY WILDCATS WEST PERTH PLAYED SATURDAY COLTS RESERVES LEAGUE WHITFORD AMATEURS PLAYED SATURDAY COLTS RESERVES GRADE 3

4 Whitford Junior Football Club Guidelines The reason Whitford Junior Football Club have initiated club guidelines is to give a clear understanding of how the process works. Often parents, players and coaches are unsure what is expected of them or what the process is when they play football throughout the years. Things that come up regularly for example are. Parents think their 8 year old child is going to be the next AFL star and want to know why West Perth doesn t come down and watch. The process there is West Perth start development squads at the age of 14. So their 8 year old is still 6 years away from going down and having a go. Another one is say an 11 s coach might play his star players in the key positions and the team dominates and wins every game. There is no ladder or premiership in that age group so all the winning means absolutely nothing. Other players drop away because their not getting a fair go and the following year that team is the one that gets split because not enough players returned apart from the stars. Or an open rules coach plays his best player around the ball all season and stars for the team week in and out. The down side there is when that player goes to West Perth development squad and they ask him where he plays, his answer is going to be the same as 100 other players down there around the ball. This now means he is competing against all those other players for the same position. Then the parents and coach can t understand why he got cut. He would have more chance of making the squad if he could answer anywhere! The following will give everyone a clear understanding of the process of what is expected from each age group and establishes a clear pathway for our players from Auskick to 17 s and beyond. 4

5 AUSKICK The Auskick is broken into two stages. Stage 1 st is 5/6 s to 8 s [from Pre-Primary to Year 3] This age group plays at Cook oval every Saturday and competes in an intra club competition. The teams have between 9 to 12 players and are taught the basics of football with the emphasis being on enjoyment and playing with your mates. The coach s role is simply to make it fun for the kids so they are keen to come back the following year. There should be no emphasis on winning. The teams are made up usually by what school the child attends. AUSKICK PATHWAY STEP 1 5 &6 s Years PP 1 FUN BASIC TRAINING This age group are starting football for the first time. It is important to let the parents know that the clubs emphasis this year is to have fun. We will be doing some very basic skill training with the players. Kicking (10 minutes) Marking (10 minutes) handballing (10 minutes). Working from cones and using parents. Team Positions should be as simple as drawing 2 lines between names on the team list to create 3 even groups which will represent the forward, the centre and the backs. Each quarter rotate the groups into the next positions. For this age group, it is really that simple! 5

6 AUSKICK PATHWAY - STEP 2 7 s Year 2 FUN BASIC TRAINING HAND/EYE CO-ORDINATION This age group can expect a bit more training. It is important to let the parents know that the clubs emphasis is to have fun and to develop hand /eye coordination. Kicking (10 minutes) Marking (10 minutes) Handballing (10 minutes) Working from cones/ using parents/ and to each other Again team Positions should be as simple as drawing 2 lines between names on the team list to create 3 even groups which will represent the forward, the centre and the backs. Each quarter rotate the groups into the next positions. For this age group, it is also that simple! 8 s Year 3 FUN BASIC TRAINING HAND/EYE CO-ORDINATION TEAM WORK This age group can expect more variety of training. It is important to let the parents know that the clubs emphasis is to have fun, develop hand/eye coordination and team work. Kicking (10 minutes) Marking (10 minutes) Handballing (10 minutes) Working from cones/using parents/ and to each other. Again team Positions should be as simple as drawing 2 lines between names on the team list to create 3 even groups which will represent the forward, the centre and the backs. Each quarter rotate the groups into the next positions. 6

7 MODIFIDES Stage 2 is 9s to 12s [Modified] After 3 years the players then enter the 2 nd against other clubs. stage and play on Sundays This is where the competition now steps up. The players are taught basic game plans and are taught to develop their skills. As there is no premiership points and no ladder it is paramount that coaches use these next 4 years not to focus on winning but to focus on player development. It is important to encourage and develop opposite sides of the players and to read the play. The players should experience all positions including the bench. Even the less developed kids should experience playing in the centre and in key positions. A lot of these players develop later. In fact it is not uncommon for a player that is a standout in this age group to look like he has lost his edge in later years in the open rules. It is not because he has lost his skill or pace, but simply the other kids have caught up to him. Every team will have 4 or 5 stars, but without the other players, you don t have a team. MODIFIDES PATHWAY - STEP s to 12 s Year s 4 to 7 ENJOYMENT BASIC TRAINING DEVELOP PLAYERS SKILLS TEAM WORK These age groups now commence training 1 or 2 nights a week. There is no pre season training. Training sessions are usually for 1 hour. The players can expect more variety of training. 7

8 It is important to let the parents know that the clubs emphasis is for players to enjoy their football, develop player s skills, and to learn how to play positions. Warm ups (5min) Kicking drills (20 minutes) Marking drills (20 minutes) Handballing drills (15 minutes) Working from cones/using parents/ and to each other. Rotating the players in different positions is the name of the game. All players will experience key positions, and the bench. Now is the time to start learning to use the opposite side of the body and encouraged to use it in the game. A coach must put in the effort to even up the team and plan the positioning of each quarter so the team is still competitive. OPEN RULES Like Auskick, Open Rules is also broken into two stages. Open 13 s 16 s The players are now playing for premiership points and positioning on the ladder. They no longer belong in Panthers, Cougars, and Jaguars etc they are now in Brown White or Black. There is a distinct change to the teams. This is where the club should now balance the teams out to create even teams. The players have now entered into high school and many would have moved into different schools. The players will play together for the next 4 years and if the coaches in the modified years have done a good job, the teams will be more than competitive. 8

9 OPEN RULES PATHWAY - STEP - 4 ENJOYMENT GAME RELATED TRAINING DEVELOP PLAYERS SKILLS TEAM WORK These age groups now commence training 2 nights a week. There is no pre season training for 13 s to 15 s. Pre season training commences with the 16 s. Normally a letter is sent to all previous 15s players regarding pre season and commences at Mullaloo beach mid February. Normal training sessions are usually for 1 to 2 hours. The players can expect more intense training and learning game plans. It is important to let the parents know that the clubs emphasis is for players to enjoy their football, develop player s skills, team work and to learn how to play positions. Warm ups (5min) Kicking drills (20 minutes) Marking drills (20 minutes) Handballing drills (20 minutes) Game plans (30 min) Working with and without cones/using parents/ and each other. Rotating the players in different positions is still the name of the game. It is important to give the quality player s exposure to the less favourable positions including the bench, throughout the games which will give them better opportunities at West Perth. A coach must put in the effort to even up the team and plan the positioning of each quarter so the team is still competitive. Open 17 s This is now the business end of junior football, and again a distinct change happens. They will no longer be in Brown, White or Black. They now move into Whitford Wildcats. Those players that are selected in the West Perth Colts will see very little action with their home club. The club needs to encourage as many players into the 17s as possible. To ensure everyone gets a game it is important to work closely with the Amateurs to allow excess players to flow into the Amateur colt s teams during the year. 9

10 By doing this it creates a pathway for our juniors to enter Amateur football and to feel like there is a continuous link with our club. OPEN RULES PATHWAY - STEP - 5 ENJOYMENT GAME RELATED TRAINING DEVELOP PLAYERS SKILLS TEAM WORK PLAYING POSITIONS Pre season training commences at Mullaloo beach mid February. This age group trains with the Amateur colts during the season. Players are rotated through the colts program. Normal training sessions are usually for 1 to 2 hours. The players can expect more intense training and learning game plans. The game plans are the same as the Amateurs colts. The players will play generally in set positions. It is important to let the parents know that the clubs emphasis is for players to enjoy their football, develop player s skills, team work, learn how to play positions and to make a smooth transition into Amateurs. Warm ups (5min) Kicking drills (20 minutes) Marking drills (20 minutes) Handballing drills (20 minutes) Game plans (30 min) Working with and without cones and utilising skill coaches. Players will be given positions within the team. Focus will be on developing a team game plan and rotating players through the colts program. Should the team make the finals then the best 25 will be selected and the remainder will be available for selection with the colts. 10