Development league proposed for youth
FOOTBALL
FOOTBALL South is proposing a new development league as part of its youth set up.
High standard federationwide leagues at under15 and under17 level were the basis of the proposal, sent out by Football South development officer Danny Ledwith.
That proposal has been sent to clubs for feedback.
The leagues would help fix some of the problems identified from surveys in the current setup.
Those key issues were: lopsided scores, teenagers playing senior football due to lowstandard youth competitions, poor player experiences, no clear pathway and lack of selection to national programmes.
A survey also indicated that 77% of players between 1317 years old would prefer to play in a competitive league among their own age.
Many teenagers were playing in thirdtier or below senior teams, which the proposal said was not appropriate for development.
However, the alternative had been youth grades where games were often onesided.
It was hoped these leagues would offer a better alternative and expose players more regularly to a Southern United Academytype setup.
Teams would have to meet certain criteria in terms of setup in order to ensure the league was played at a high standard.
They would also be required to have 50% of their players from the bottomage group of the grade.
It was also proposed to move the minimum age for senior football up to 17 from 16, with dispensation moving to 16 from 15.
A draft calendar consisted of a 13 game season and three to four Football South camps.
A second option was also presented, the age groups being a year younger and no restriction on how many top or bottomaged players could be chosen.
The proposal has the league possibly beginning next year.