For the past couple of years, I usually copy and paste an updated version of last years U16 National Tournament thread starter to kick things off. - Usually this is the NSW team lists from the paper following the July U16 Schools tournament.
Not so this year, but old habits die hard.
It looks like the ARU have decided to cut their support for the National U16 tournament. Correspondence below.
From memory, I recall hearing a figure of $100k funding from ARU to the tournament.
What is that alleged $100k pays for and can it be done cheaper?
NSW JRU state champs run on the smell of an oily rag and they seem to do a fairly reasonable job at it.
Can we organise an alternate G&GR "sponsored" National U16 tournament? Plenty of people in Gaggerland offer frank and fearless advise on what the current mob are doing wrong.
What can be done differently to make the necessary savings to make the Championship still viable?
Airfares have been paid for by ARU. Make the teams raise the funds themselves.
Accommodation, food and medical have been paid for by ARU. Make the teams raise the funds themselves.
Ground Hire? How much would a school like TSS, Kings or Riverview actually charge? = plead poverty.
Referees, referee coaching etc. You need the best so arrange for sponsorship, or have the canteen fund decent referees.
Media Management. I've got one word - Lee Grant.
SJRU Response
So the SJRU (and NSW JRU it seems) response is to continue to do what they have always been doing. State champs in June Long weekend, Sydney vs Country games and a probable NSW JRU selection to take on all comers.
Last year the "all commers" that NSWJRU took on was U15's and U17's vs ACT and SJRU U16 vs ACT.
NSW Schools response
What are NSW Schools going to do about it? Nothing from their webpage. They will probably plough ahead with the U16 tournament at Knox where ISA, CAS, GPS (called Presidents Selection), AICES, Country SChools, and CHS play each other.
There just will not be the annual masonic player trading exercise going on between Schools, Sydney Juniors and Country Juniors as they select their teams for Nationals.
New Opportunities
ARU pulling out their sponsorship of the National U16's, should be seen as an opportunity to revisit the "pathway", and ask some questions such as:
a. Is there a role for any U16 talent development given the JGC focus on U15 and U17?
b. If so what form should it take, and who should run it, when should it be run, and who should be in it?
c. Where do the Shute Shield (and John Dent/Bris Prem) clubs/districts fit in to this on the player development continuum?
d. What role do the Super Rugby and or NRC franchises have in this?
Using the KISS principle, do we move to a NRC based development model where we roll out NRC teams at U16, U18, U20, Opens.
ARU can stay doing the JCG at U15 and U17's although it does seem to be a rather expensive top down development model.
The tradition of The Australian Schoolboy to be replaced with Australian U18 Rugby Team.
The Schoolboys may have a proud "brand" but times change and things move on.
I'm old enough to recall the long standing tradition of most people smoking everywhere in the workplace. As a "never-smoker" I'm glad that times have changed in that regard.
Who would have tought that people would play cricket in coloured clothing. Barefoot on the Lawn Bowling rink?
Where/What is the revised Pathway Strategy?
When Australian Rugby needs to have a measured strategy rolled out with stakeholder involvement from all levels regarding the "pathway", we seem to be getting policy development on the fly using the Federal Politics Thought Bubble Decision Making methodology that is delivering surprises at the last minute to those with most skin to lose in the game.
Finance is driving everything, and to be honest it should. Australian Rugby does not have the cash reserves or fiscal goodwill to spend as it has in the past. Uneconomic and non-productive practices must be terminated until there is money in the coffers to start behaving like a charitable organisation again.
Perhaps this thread should be called "Rugby's Pathway to Gold - How to Fix it", "Rugby's Pathway to Gold - What it should look like", "ARU Pathway - An Alternate version" or some such title.
GROWING THE GAME
Along with the strategy to deal with the elite (The Pathway), where is the strategy to grow the game, to get more players genuinely playing, not just attending a fan day?
What is the strategy to get everyone in Australian Rugby working off the same sheet of music that will spread the gospel of Heavensgame across this wide open brown land of ours, to convert the sports heathens from the dark side towards the light that is the game played in Heaven.
The laws of probability dictate that the more numbers you have involved, the greater the chances there are of unveiling organic talent. It is cheaper as well.
Rugby and Rugby Culture is too good to be limited to the affluent leafy suburbs of the Eastern Seaboard of Australia.
How is the centre going to help the grass roots volunteers and teachers get rugby (back) into the CHS system, the CCC system, and the AICES and other non-aligned Private school systems.
Does anyone think that a cashed up NRL and AFL are going to stop trying to storm the ramparts of Qld GPS, AAGPS, ISA, and CAS systems?
The ARU To Do List
What are (or should be) the top three things on the ARU and Australian Rugby To Do list?
1. Get more money
2. Get more people playing Rugby
3. Get a clear and unambigious pathway from Under 6's to Wallabies, with offramps along the way for those who just want to play the game for fun (that is most of us, by the way).
4. Win Bill and the Bled, (and the IRB 7's, Jnr RWC, Bingham Trophy, World 7's [boys and girls versions], Commonwealth and Olympic 7's Gold, TRC and SupeRugby).
FTA coverage will help achieve 1 and 2.
********************
The Correspondence so far:
The ARU decision and the SJRU response have caused some discussion across multiple threads.
Perhaps we can corral all comments on "the Pathway" for U16's and the ARU decision in this thread.
Not so this year, but old habits die hard.
It looks like the ARU have decided to cut their support for the National U16 tournament. Correspondence below.
From memory, I recall hearing a figure of $100k funding from ARU to the tournament.
What is that alleged $100k pays for and can it be done cheaper?
NSW JRU state champs run on the smell of an oily rag and they seem to do a fairly reasonable job at it.
Can we organise an alternate G&GR "sponsored" National U16 tournament? Plenty of people in Gaggerland offer frank and fearless advise on what the current mob are doing wrong.
What can be done differently to make the necessary savings to make the Championship still viable?
Airfares have been paid for by ARU. Make the teams raise the funds themselves.
Accommodation, food and medical have been paid for by ARU. Make the teams raise the funds themselves.
Ground Hire? How much would a school like TSS, Kings or Riverview actually charge? = plead poverty.
Referees, referee coaching etc. You need the best so arrange for sponsorship, or have the canteen fund decent referees.
Media Management. I've got one word - Lee Grant.
SJRU Response
So the SJRU (and NSW JRU it seems) response is to continue to do what they have always been doing. State champs in June Long weekend, Sydney vs Country games and a probable NSW JRU selection to take on all comers.
Last year the "all commers" that NSWJRU took on was U15's and U17's vs ACT and SJRU U16 vs ACT.
NSW Schools response
What are NSW Schools going to do about it? Nothing from their webpage. They will probably plough ahead with the U16 tournament at Knox where ISA, CAS, GPS (called Presidents Selection), AICES, Country SChools, and CHS play each other.
There just will not be the annual masonic player trading exercise going on between Schools, Sydney Juniors and Country Juniors as they select their teams for Nationals.
New Opportunities
ARU pulling out their sponsorship of the National U16's, should be seen as an opportunity to revisit the "pathway", and ask some questions such as:
a. Is there a role for any U16 talent development given the JGC focus on U15 and U17?
b. If so what form should it take, and who should run it, when should it be run, and who should be in it?
c. Where do the Shute Shield (and John Dent/Bris Prem) clubs/districts fit in to this on the player development continuum?
d. What role do the Super Rugby and or NRC franchises have in this?
Using the KISS principle, do we move to a NRC based development model where we roll out NRC teams at U16, U18, U20, Opens.
ARU can stay doing the JCG at U15 and U17's although it does seem to be a rather expensive top down development model.
The tradition of The Australian Schoolboy to be replaced with Australian U18 Rugby Team.
The Schoolboys may have a proud "brand" but times change and things move on.
I'm old enough to recall the long standing tradition of most people smoking everywhere in the workplace. As a "never-smoker" I'm glad that times have changed in that regard.
Who would have tought that people would play cricket in coloured clothing. Barefoot on the Lawn Bowling rink?
Where/What is the revised Pathway Strategy?
When Australian Rugby needs to have a measured strategy rolled out with stakeholder involvement from all levels regarding the "pathway", we seem to be getting policy development on the fly using the Federal Politics Thought Bubble Decision Making methodology that is delivering surprises at the last minute to those with most skin to lose in the game.
Finance is driving everything, and to be honest it should. Australian Rugby does not have the cash reserves or fiscal goodwill to spend as it has in the past. Uneconomic and non-productive practices must be terminated until there is money in the coffers to start behaving like a charitable organisation again.
Perhaps this thread should be called "Rugby's Pathway to Gold - How to Fix it", "Rugby's Pathway to Gold - What it should look like", "ARU Pathway - An Alternate version" or some such title.
GROWING THE GAME
Along with the strategy to deal with the elite (The Pathway), where is the strategy to grow the game, to get more players genuinely playing, not just attending a fan day?
What is the strategy to get everyone in Australian Rugby working off the same sheet of music that will spread the gospel of Heavensgame across this wide open brown land of ours, to convert the sports heathens from the dark side towards the light that is the game played in Heaven.
The laws of probability dictate that the more numbers you have involved, the greater the chances there are of unveiling organic talent. It is cheaper as well.
Rugby and Rugby Culture is too good to be limited to the affluent leafy suburbs of the Eastern Seaboard of Australia.
How is the centre going to help the grass roots volunteers and teachers get rugby (back) into the CHS system, the CCC system, and the AICES and other non-aligned Private school systems.
Does anyone think that a cashed up NRL and AFL are going to stop trying to storm the ramparts of Qld GPS, AAGPS, ISA, and CAS systems?
The ARU To Do List
What are (or should be) the top three things on the ARU and Australian Rugby To Do list?
1. Get more money
2. Get more people playing Rugby
3. Get a clear and unambigious pathway from Under 6's to Wallabies, with offramps along the way for those who just want to play the game for fun (that is most of us, by the way).
4. Win Bill and the Bled, (and the IRB 7's, Jnr RWC, Bingham Trophy, World 7's [boys and girls versions], Commonwealth and Olympic 7's Gold, TRC and SupeRugby).
FTA coverage will help achieve 1 and 2.
********************
The Correspondence so far:
The ARU decision and the SJRU response have caused some discussion across multiple threads.
Perhaps we can corral all comments on "the Pathway" for U16's and the ARU decision in this thread.
