Lets put this correct, apart from a few well organised sides / clubs along the lines of Thatto etc the majority of childrens teams are still living in the dark ages with volunteer coaches who wash their kit themselves, I recently had my boys play at a ground in a cup match that didnt even have sheds to change in and they had to get their kit on under a canopy of a pub
In oz the youth academy set ups are all over with all weather facilites and payed coaches that do the job,
They do not play tag rugby but teach the kids to bang their opposition from day one, anyone with speed is singled out for central academy attention and is fed into the feeder clubs like Balmain etc wether they can play a bit or not..
I visited Brisbane for the world cup last time and asked in a pre letter if i could visit an academy whilst there which was more than met with help in OZ, whilst there I saw a coach sat with a bunch of teenagers peeling the roof off to them, in his statement of half time intent he said " 2nd place is another way of saying your a loser, there is only one team anyone gives a S**T about and thats who wins the title so in this 2nd half I will drag anyone off who does not give 200%"
He finished the match with 13 players and no subs as he stuck to his words..
thats the difference in Oz they do not do the taking part crap its about winning and nothing else, what ever sport the Oz lads play they dont know how to loose....
