A public forum in Sydney last night on the Whole of Football Plan has raised ideas for a Socceroo future driven by Indigenous players and a coaching revolution in grassroots and elite player development.
The public forum which was held at the University of Technology, Sydney, was part of the national consultation to develop a long term plan for Australian football to achieve the aim of being the largest and most popular sport in the nation.
FFA CEO David Gallop headed an expert panel at the forum and commended all the participants who attended in person or joined the virtual forum on social media.
“The football people who came to the forum gave us a great insight to the issues and concerns at the community level,” said Gallop.
“The constant theme was the need to have well-educated coaches and referees to be the leaders and mentors of the next generation. We heard some great ideas about how to improve the skills of coaches and the need to reduce the cost of coach education. All these ideas will go into the mix.”
Fox Sports football analyst Andy Harper joined the expert panel and made a plea for Australian football to embrace Indigenous players.
“We see in league, union and AFL that Indigenous players often have that special something that makes them the match winners and the entertainers,” said Harper.
“Why hasn’t Australian football identified these players for our game? The natural skill and flair we see Jonathan Thurston in league or Adam Goodes in AFL are perfect for football, but we don’t seem to have a development pathway for Indigenous players. It’s time we do something about it. There’s probably a pool of great Socceroo no. 10s waiting to be discovered.”
The next Whole of Football Plan Public Forum will take place in Melbourne tomorrow night (Thursday 4 December) in the Clarendon Auditorium at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre (event starts at 7:30pm) and will feature Fox Sports Football Analyst and Socceroos legend John Aloisi on the expert panel.
Seats are still available and FFA encourages anyone interested in attending to register at www.footballaustralia.com.au/register
