Youth Academies at Brisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory have been awarded 2-Star accreditation by Football Federation Australia (FFA).
The three Hyundai A-League Clubs have now joined Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers FC and Central Coast Mariners in obtaining 2-Star status under the new FFA system which is designed to increase the opportunities for young players by providing greater exposure to quality accredited coaches and a challenging football environment.
Their accreditation follows a rigorous application and auditing process to ensure the Clubs have met the 2-Star criteria including full integration into their respective Member Federation National Premier League (NPL) competitions.
FFA is working with the remaining Australian-based Hyundai A-League Clubs and their respective Member Federations to obtain 2-Star status for their club academies within the next two years.
Melbourne City FC and Melbourne Victory are awaiting admission of more youth teams into Victoria’s NPL competitions next season to progress their applications.
FFA National Technical Director, Eric Abrams, said: “After the accreditation of the three NSW based Hyundai A-League Academies in 2017 and their positive introduction in the Football NSW NPL junior competition, other Hyundai A-League Clubs expressed a great desire to create a quality development program meeting the FFA 2-Star Accreditation.
“FFA hopes all nine Australian-based Hyundai A-League Clubs will develop 2-Star Club Academy programs by the end of 2019, which aligns with FFA’s four-year strategic plan wherein clubs are the heart of player development. For the future of Australian football, it is important that every young player identifies themselves with a club.”
Abrams said the accreditation system would also provide NPL clubs with the opportunity to have their academies recognised, initially at a 1-Star level aspiring to further progress to the 2-Star status. Criteria for this accreditation is currently being finalised with the aim of opening an accreditation process for NPL clubs later this year.
FFA’s four-year strategic plan aims to deliver two further programs to increase football contact influencing positive player development:
- FFA High Performance Schools Program; currently established at Westfields Sports High School (Sydney) and FFA is close to finalising a similar program at a school in Melbourne. These programs supplement potentially talented players (year 9-12) playing in a Club Academy (NPL-HAL) with an individualised player profile program.
- FFA and Member Federation Talent Support Programs (U13-U16) provide potentially talented NPL and State League young players a weekly supplementary practical session and/or a game of high quality in a challenging environment.
