Youth football teams a must

TODAY, I would once again like to re-emphasise the call on football development made by MTC spokesman, Albertus ‘Papso’ Aochamub, during the football awards hosted by the Namibia Premier League (NPL) last Friday.

In his speech, he touched on the importance of development, especially at the youth level.He said what they as football sponsors expect from their partners in the league next season, would be to allow teams to show greater commitment to development at youth level.For Namibian football, that is a crucial area that has been grossly ignored – or rather overlooked – in many ways by our teams at the premiership level.I know of teams especially such as Ramblers, Orlando Pirates and Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW), which presently have youth teams they intend to develop and ultimately feed to their senior teams in the future.In the past, most premier league teams and even lower division sides, had what they called ‘reserve teams’ for their clubs.These reserve teams used to play curtain-raisers (voor wedstryd) ahead of the main game (involving the senior players) each weekend or whenever there are premiership matches.The junior players in the curtain raisers used to compete with the same spirit, determination and hunger like their senior counterparts knowing that their good performance, will land them a spot in the senior team one day.They showed class and some were capable enough to make the first team even with five or six matches in the lower ranks.Those matches also used to show the depth and talent that a respective team has and it provided for some entertainment for the fans, as they waited for the main game to start. It was used as an appetiser for the main game and it never ceased to excite. Now, Aochamub also said that to recognise that the future challenges for the NPL and its parent, Namibia Football Association (NFA) and its partners, they must rekindle the pride in the people’s game from junior levels up to national representation.One of the ways to achieve that is to make it compulsory for premiership teams to each have a youth team (reserve side). Interim NPL chairman, Johnny Doeseb, at the same occasion said youth development still remains a challenge for all stakeholders in the game and not only the NFA.He is right in saying that and it means that the NPL, should at least compel teams to have youth development structures in place to at least bring their part in addressing this challenge. In my opinion, this is achievable. Why? Because most of the NPL teams have young footballers who ardently support the teams and they just need to be organised into playing units. Teams can call for trials and pick their best 30 players or so and provide them a coach, who can take them through their paces after school.The issue of age should also be considered and at the moment, players who should qualify to play at that level should at least be under 17.Although some represent their respective school teams during the week, they can be allowed to train with the senior teams in the afternoons, if possible.I am sure there are many other ways in which these youngsters can be attracted to form teams and surely, the clubs themselves can do that as per their location, needs and selection criteria.The Windhoek-based premiership clubs must be allowed to choose players from all corners of the country, to make their teams more representative. Or at least there should be a rule of only having a certain number of players from a certain region. But those are not major issues as they can be dealt with once the structures for the junior sides are in place.Once that is done, I am sure that the clubs will never go wrong in picking and choosing players from their individual youth teams.The bottom line however is, that as soon as we have premiership clubs with youth teams under their wings, it will be easier for the national selectors at the junior level to make their national team choices.I know the clubs will say it will be a question of money to sustain youth teams, but there is no way that we will achieve the best for our football if we don’t start to take responsibility.The noble men and women who serve on the executive structures of the premiership teams, surely have the knowledge to attract funding for their youth teams, while the league can also offer a bit of assistance. Doeseb in his speech also said: ¨to unlock the real value of football in the country, we must be focused and committed in the way we run its affairs.¨ I stand by that.corry@namibian.com.na