By Travis Parnaby
The state's best junior footballers kicked off their 2009 campaign at induction days for AFL Victoria's Academy program last week.
Both the Under-17 Futures Academy and the Under-18 Academy programs held their first sessions, with Vic Metro players at Victoria Park and Vic Country squad members at Arden St.
The academies are the state's major development pathway for elite talent to reach the AFL, VFL or senior community club football. The pathway includes state representation at the Under-18 national carnival mid-year as well as weekly TAC Cup matches.
AFL Victoria High Performance Manager Anton Grbac said the players involved in the Under-18 Academy were likely to form the nucleus of the Vic Metro and Vic Country teams at this year's national championships.
"The whole purpose of both induction days is to make the players aware of what’s ahead – give them an insight into the staff involved in the programs, the expectations and a bit of a 'getting to know you' with all the other elements," Grbac stated.
“This is the entrée to the rest of the year."
Meanwhile, the Futures Academy complemented the development work done at TAC Cup regional level, Grbac said.
"The Futures Academy involves all the 17 year olds who may have played nationals last year or who have just missed out and we felt were developing quite well," Grbac said.
“It’s also to keep them on notice that they are the sorts of players, who with time, improvement and performance that they would be considered maybe this year for the Under-18 nationals program or maybe next year."
Grbac said these initial sessions were development focused and reinforced what was taught at regional level “so that the penny drops and the players understand all the generic components of the game".
Grbac said there was a "quantam leap" from Under-16 to Under-18 football owing to the company they had previously played against and the level of conditioning required.
“As you get into a bigger pool, the number of players who have your height or abilities increases," Grbac said.
“To be able to increase your versatility as a player is critical in moving along the path. That’s one thing we want to expose them to both at regional level and at state level."
High performance topics covered at the induction sessions included body conditioning, recovery, diet and goal-setting while the players core stability was also assesed.
“They come with a pretty good base but not withstanding that some of these boys need attention in certain areas of their development," Grbac said.
“We actually videotaped alot of the 17 year olds for their kicking and running gait to see how strong their core is and how they execute the most critical skill in the game, kicking."
V.A.R.K testing was also conducted and this allowed coaches to better understand the learning style of his players, Grbac said.
“The V.A.R.K questionnaire gives you in its simplest form an insight into what type of learning a player or individual prefers be it Visual, Auditory, Written or Kinesthetic, which is by experience and feel," he explained.
“One player may not be one type they might be a combination of all four.
“Most sports people are a combination of kinesthetic and visual learners and that helps the coach plan a mode of communication he may send to a player or a group of players."
AFL Victoria Under-18 Academy members will regroup for further state training sessions in February and March while AFL Victoria Under-17 Futures Academy members will play a trial game in April.
Last Modified on 05/02/2009 16:28