TOPIC:

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i noticed the w.a. under 17 squad and where players are tied to
claremont -7
east perth-4
east fremantle-3
peel-2
south fremantle-2
subiaco-3
swan districts-3
west perth-4
perth zero,zip nothing..

A very sad indictment on the club and the WAFC.
We regularly provide players who are AFL drafted yet with the rest talent is very thin on the ground. 
Our u16s (Futures) perform quite well each year but this is not replicated by the numbers of talent we produce in higher grades compared to other clubs. 
We need a thorough review of our involvement and interaction with all clubs and schools within our zones. 
Where are we falling down in our development of young talent?  What aspects of our involvement are we deficient. What plans are needed to turn around this long time problem
We used to be very good at it. Having myself had some involvement in our Junior areas of the 1960s and 70s I can attest to the club having perhaps the best and most fruitful Junior Councils of all. It was not by accident that we won 5 Flags with teams full of local talent.  
Times have changed but in over 40 odd years we have sadly lost our way.
Time to choose the right fork in the road ahead.

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Birdman, thank you for your input.
It's incredulous that our Club does very little.
It continually prattles on about being Community based and the importance of it.
Putting your senior Club aside for a minute, I find it mind boggling that junior Club like South Perth JFC has not seen anyone from the Club for 5-6 years.
If this is the case then we deserve to be at the bottom of the ladder for 40 odd years.
The talent department has a responsibility to know what is coming through and should be engaging with all junior Clubs.
Not sure Directors need to be seen monthly but someone should be seen at least quarterly.
I would prefer someone who knows a bit about football rather than a Director.
There should also be players visiting the junior Clubs for training.
With a list of 35 senior players, it would not be hard to share the workload around.
As far as your senior Club is concerned, yes they should be visited, again by someone who can identify talent.
Not sure about how often, but my immediate priority would be to get the junior support up to scratch first.
Are you aware what Clubs like Subi, Cl, SFFC & EFFC do?
I would love to hear further from you.

as part of our footbal operational division the General Manager of Football & Community has two quite important responsibilities being Community & District Engagement along with being also Talent Manager
We also have the brilliant Stephen Michael Foundation which is doing some great work in country and even more remote regions and it's getting bigger - it's not limited to footy there's cricket & basketball involved 
Heavily family oriented stuff for all people 

I believe Marty Atkins was offered the role as Community Development Offer at Perth but he declined it.

have to rely on your info on that one DD I just couldn't post comment on it to be honest - only thing I recall was one of your lads posting something about an application for the CEO job at Perth and I could be wrong there too 
Our modern day programs might be able to be traced back to 2003 and Brian Ciccotosto when he came out with the focus on growing more of our own backyard for players
 

gtr: it was very clever of Claremont, indeed.

Each Club does have a "District" organisation, which seems to be staffed by WAFC staff.
Perth is part of the Metro Central Regional Development Council.
This includes PFC, EPFC & SDFC.
It appears to me that most of the work is done in schools and junior clubs by this organisation.
However I would have thought the Club should still be visible to those Clubs in their zone.
If we are not engaging as a Club we are making a big mistake.

It would appear to me that while we are not working as hard as we should be it is hard to justify any "help".

Yeah yeah yeah.
You know better.
Pity you don't know how the system works.

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Each Club does have a "District" organisation, which seems to be staffed by WAFC staff.
Perth is part of the Metro Central Regional Development Council.
This includes PFC, EPFC & SDFC.
It appears to me that most of the work is done in schools and junior clubs by this organisation.
However I would have thought the Club should still be visible to those Clubs in their zone.
If we are not engaging as a Club we are making a big mistake.

So exactly what has the WAFC achieved?

Even more broadly can anyone articulate exactly what the WAFC has achieved in terms of the WAFL and clubs' viability?  How and what did the WAFC taking over the colts' competition achieve?

STT I respect your views in this matter and note that you have greater knowledge of the inner workings of the club in respect to  zonal and talent development.
My comments were not intended to demean past and present Club Presidents, CEOs,  Football Managers, and all who are actively involved in all aspects of football development, not only in our Junior Clubs but also in our country zones. I know that they work very hard indeed and some are volunteers and unpaid.
I was trying to draw some comparisons between years gone by and today's situation the club finds itself in and admit circumstances in past and the present era cannot be compared. .Today we have to deal with AFL drafting, changing demographics, changing cultures, challenges from other sporting codes and much more.
The point that I wanted to make is that for too long we have not enjoyed a riches of talent as we had in years gone by and we need to look hard at what we have been doing and search for ways to improve on that work.
Yes, there are outside influences that affect our endeavours but we cannot be lulled into sitting on our hands. we do need to look at ways to improve what we do.
IMHO, there is a problem and we must fix it. . 


 

In regards to the question asked earlier about what do other WAFL clubs do. Outside of the stuff all clubs have done for years like Little games, Junior District days and hosting district finals. 

Claremont invite junior clubs down to play Friday night games at Claremont Oval during the year and are present at junior games throughout the year. 

West Perth have done the same with their juniors and an ammo club I’m aware of. Last year leading into a bye, WP gave their senior players a few nights off and sent them back to their old junior clubs to run training sessions.