David Bray Posted October 20, 2019 Report Share Posted October 20, 2019 Today, Sunday 20th October. FA County Youth Cup - Round 1. Gloucestershire 0 - 3 Bedfordshire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Deacon Posted October 20, 2019 Report Share Posted October 20, 2019 I know every year has a different crop, but going on last season, that result Dave is a bit of a surprise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bray Posted October 21, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2019 23 hours ago, Dave Deacon said: I know every year has a different crop, but going on last season, that result Dave is a bit of a surprise! Dave as you realise every season throws up a new batch of players, a weak squad last season could well be turned on its head this season, Bedfordshire could well be a case in point, and the opposite could well apply in Gloucestershire. And a sobering reminder that this season sees only 28 Counties in competition, this is 6 down on last season and 10 down on the season before that. Having been involved in more seasons than i care to remember this must be the lowest numerically in a very long time, it could be the lowest in the history of the competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheolderIgetthebetterIwas Posted October 21, 2019 Report Share Posted October 21, 2019 Too much organised football at to young an age. By the time they are 16 they have lost interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bray Posted October 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 Whilst the current number of participants entering the FA County Youth up has shown a downward trend the FA Youth Cup commenced this season with 364 Youth Under 18 Club sides taking part. With various exemptions until the first round proper after that the competition is numerically bolstered by the 'big (young) guns' entering the fray, the Liverpool and Man City youngsters etc etc.so numbers wise, no problem there. The FA County Youth Cup sees the ongoing 'tug of war' between club and county for release of the better players on a Saturday, and of course the same players are wanted by College and clubs alike during the week, A case can be made for 'burn out' but that is only part of the overall picture of the pressure these youngsters have to encounter who then loose interest in county rep football and stick with their club sides and a bit of pocket money on a Saturday afternoon. This may not be the case so much in Cornwall but certainly happens 'up country', hence the drop off of Counties in the National Competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheolderIgetthebetterIwas Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 I dont analyse it, just based on what I see. Driving past a 3G pitch last Saturday morning there were 80 odd toddlers playing organised football, not one of them over 3 feet tall, hence toddlers...crazy! Let them kick a ball around in the garden or down the park with their dad, it's called having fun. Not structured...just fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bray Posted October 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 6 hours ago, TheolderIgetthebetterIwas said: I dont analyse it, just based on what I see. Driving past a 3G pitch last Saturday morning there were 80 odd toddlers playing organised football, not one of them over 3 feet tall, hence toddlers...crazy! Let them kick a ball around in the garden or down the park with their dad, it's called having fun. Not structured...just fun. I am sure that lots of toddlers would love to have a kick-about with their Dads, but in this day and age a large percentage of Dads are working on a Saturday, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Matthews Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 Dave it’s not organised in the sense that you’re talking about. It’s called “Turn up and Play”. Essentially kids can rock up and do a few little ball skills for fun to start with and then they just get randomly split up and just have a game of football. It was designed so that kids who don’t want to be part of a team but want to kick a ball round are able to without any pressure to have to commit to a team. If they then would like to join others then they can be signposted to a local club. Its about enjoying playing the game with no parental controls from the sidelines and making new friends whilst doing something other than computer games. They don’t have to come every week, they can come when they like. I completely get where you’re coming from but this is different. TheolderIgetthebetterIwas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Deacon Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 Thanks for clearing that up Tommy. Sounds a good concept. I'm with TheolderIgetthebetterIwas on the issue that there appears too much from an early age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheolderIgetthebetterIwas Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 2 hours ago, Tommy Matthews said: Dave it’s not organised in the sense that you’re talking about. It’s called “Turn up and Play”. Essentially kids can rock up and do a few little ball skills for fun to start with and then they just get randomly split up and just have a game of football. It was designed so that kids who don’t want to be part of a team but want to kick a ball round are able to without any pressure to have to commit to a team. If they then would like to join others then they can be signposted to a local club. Its about enjoying playing the game with no parental controls from the sidelines and making new friends whilst doing something other than computer games. They don’t have to come every week, they can come when they like. I completely get where you’re coming from but this is different. That doesn't sound too bad Tom, get rid of the goals, put down a couple of jumpers at each end...then you're talking. 40 a side like it used to be would be like the old days mate...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Matthews Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 Definitely. There’s a piece written by a guy called John Alpress that you’d love. Just the way we both learned to play! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bray Posted October 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2019 11 hours ago, Tommy Matthews said: Definitely. There’s a piece written by a guy called John Alpress that you’d love. Just the way we both learned to play! Thanks Tommy, good to get a reminder, i was just to start with pointing out the decrease in numbers of the Counties participation in the National County Competition. Hope the trend reverses in the next couple of seasons. Lets not forget that Cornwall has made the Final once and twice been beaten Semi Finalists,. Not bad for a so called small county. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Matthews Posted October 23, 2019 Report Share Posted October 23, 2019 Like I used to tell them, they think we’re a bunch of cow kickers from Cornwall. As long as they believe that then we’ve got the edge we need. There’s been a downward trend now for years and there’s no magic formula to reverse it except try to make the game more fun and engaging that their computer games. Best of luck this season to you all. TheolderIgetthebetterIwas and CRD 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bray Posted November 3, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2019 On 20/10/2019 at 18:35, David Bray said: Today, Sunday 20th October. FA County Youth Cup - Round 1. Gloucestershire 0 - 3 Bedfordshire. Up Date. Middlesex 5 - 2 Berks & Bucks So only Devon remain from this season's South West Counties Under 18 bloc. They entertain Middlesex in Round 2. Date tba. John Mead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bray Posted November 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2019 On 03/11/2019 at 17:53, David Bray said: Up Date. Middlesex 5 - 2 Berks & Bucks So only Devon remain from this season's South West Counties Under 18 bloc. They entertain Middlesex in Round 2. Date tba. Saturday 23rd November. / FA County Youth Cup - Round 2. Devon 7 - 2 Middlesex . Congratulations to our near neighbours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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