http://m.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/battle-of-science-rages-on-as-dees-gap-bid-revealed-20120313-1uyix.html - Caroline Wilson; the Age.

http://m.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/battle-of-science-rages-on-as-dees-gap-bid-revealed-20120313-1uyix.html - Caroline Wilson; the Age.

Neeld, Misson and Craig ... scary.

I understand where they are coming from but a 19 year old doing uni part time is hardly going to compromise the mission here.

Have a chat to the boys and their parents and tell them your thoughts but don't mandate a gap year, because in no way would it be a gap year.

Neeld and Craig hardly strike me as people who would oppose tertiary education. After all, Neeld is a former school teacher.

That article seems only to put the case against their proposal. I would like to know the methodology underlying the proposal - I'm sure it's not as irresponsible as The Age/AFL characterised it as in that article/their response to it.

Some things more important than football guys.

I understand where they are coming from but a 19 year old doing uni part time is hardly going to compromise the mission here.

Have a chat to the boys and their parents and tell them your thoughts but don't mandate a gap year, because in no way would it be a gap year.

Schwab clarified it this morning, it was only discussed, not a proposal as such. They recognise the importance of education.

Wilson...

They're footballers, theyre not holding off a degree in Medicine/Law

Having a good grasp of the 'rigours' of Australian tertiary education myself...it is laughable to suggest that the workload of a part-time student, in the majority of the courses that our footballers enrol in, is too great.

Given Schwab's statement, I doubt this was (hope this was not) much more than a thought bubble in a brain-storming session.

It is interesting to think about this in relation to much of the, frankly embarrassing, discussion surrounding hard-to-deal-with players this week. It is difficult enough moving to a new city as an 18 yr old and starting a life. For those who have the opportunity, surely just the process of attending a form of education will allow these players an opportunity to diversify their week just a tad, and meet new people. If you're a young kid coming from interstate it is possible, if not probable, that in 12 months your only friends may be connected to, or one degree separated from the football club. Seeing the same people all week only adds to boredom etc. etc.

Some kids fresh out of school would do well with a gap year. Clarifies their minds somewhat. Whether it should be taken over by fitness experts pushing their bodies into unknown territory is another issue.

It also emerged yesterday that the players' association was so concerned about high-performance experts at some clubs overruling club doctors that it looked at including a clause to prevent such occurrences in the recently completed collective bargaining agreement.

...

Sport science expert Dave Missen joined the Demons from St Kilda last year, and Melbourne also recruited former Adelaide coach and high-performance guru Neil Craig. Those appointments coincided with the departure of doctor Andrew Gaff.

You don't say, Caroline ...

I understand where they are coming from but a 19 year old doing uni part time is hardly going to compromise the mission here.

Have a chat to the boys and their parents and tell them your thoughts but don't mandate a gap year, because in no way would it be a gap year.

Agreed, But truly committed young players will see this as a way of proving their commitment & love for being an AFL player. You do whats necessary. Take a year off from study, to train & rest, OK...

Some kids will study & some kids will still not know yet what the want to study.

Therefore some will benefit from a gap year.

Wilson has written some good pieces lately.

This one is a beat up.

Gap years should be advocated on a case by case basis. My son was born on Grand Final day and took on University witout a gap year and did very well. My daughter, precocious little thing that she was, was born on the first day of the season. She took a gap year, with my full support, and also did very well at University.

I can actually see the advantages in this being introduced, and think the AFL are looking at the short term view rather than too far in to the future.

As most agree, a new draftee comes to the Club, generally at the end of Year 12, which means they are around that 17/18 year old mark. Within a matter of moments from when their name gets called out on draft night, they immediately become a full time footballer. From teh second they leave school, thy are thrown in to the "rigours" of being a full time employee - something that a lot of ex-students in their situation can find difficult to adjust to.

In the first 12 months of their "employment" at an AFL club, they are taught a lot of employability skills that probably aren't taught at univeristy and school for that matter. Things like time management, understanding and respecting the chain of command, punctuality, these sort of things in the workforce have so much more importnace, and in turn consequence, if they are not adhered to. At uni, if you're late for a lecture or a tutorial, your boss (aka lecturer) couldn't give a toss.

To have a fresh, 18 year old enter the full time workforce for the first time in their lives and expect that they will be able to juggle both a full time job, which let's face it, is probably as rigourous as most trades, as well as participate in part time study in that timeframe, is putting extra pressure on them.

For what it's worth, I am a strong believer that after their "gap year", that ALL players should be invovled in some tertiary or univeristy studies. A standard part time Uni degree takes around 8 years to complete, and the average football career doesn't last anywhere near that long. Having programs in place to make sure that players leave the game in a better situation than what they entered it should be a prioirty for all clubs of all professional and semi-professional sporting codes.

It was interesting D King's take on the whole beat up. He felt that someone else has an agenda with the "information" being revealed. He didnt definitely say who or whether it came from someone inside the Club or someone who had been let go with all the new FD staff coming on board. Did anyone else hear his comment. My impression was that someone is troublemaking. Can anyone else confirm that.

It was interesting D King's take on the whole beat up. He felt that someone else has an agenda with the "information" being revealed. He didnt definitely say who or whether it came from someone inside the Club or someone who had been let go with all the new FD staff coming on board. Did anyone else hear his comment. My impression was that someone is troublemaking. Can anyone else confirm that.

See old55's snippet of the article. Could King have been alluding to that ?

Our players should enrol in the second semester by the time this starts our year is usually over. Some could say our players have had a 4 year gap from playing football

It was interesting D King's take on the whole beat up. He felt that someone else has an agenda with the "information" being revealed. He didnt definitely say who or whether it came from someone inside the Club or someone who had been let go with all the new FD staff coming on board. Did anyone else hear his comment. My impression was that someone is troublemaking. Can anyone else confirm that.

LS - why did King think that someone would be trouble making? It is a very valid concept that the Club is looking at. As I said above, Vlad and the other faceless men aren't looking at the whole situation. Have a listen to who is having input to the suggestion - ex-school teachers. They would know more about a young adults learning ability than most. I also like to think that this is my area of specialty (it's an area I'm actually trained in), and providing the Club have things in place in regards to assisting the players in their 2nd year, etc, then I think it is an idea that shouldn't be dismissed from a woeful article written by a nothing.

A Caro beat up.

There are obvious challenges for 17 - 19 year old players coming in to an elite sporting environment: training loads, physical development, skill development, learning game plan, diet, social limitations, media skills etc.

The Gap Year concept is obviously a plan to assist in that transition.

From what I've read on melbournefc.com.au and elsewhere most of our young players are studying so Caro can hardly accuse the club of not doing enough in this area.

The Gap Year plan allows them to focus on their transition into the elite sporting environment and only delays commencement of post school study/training by a year.

Interesting to note that Caro's article is not open to comments.

.........The Gap Year plan allows them to focus on their transition into the elite sporting environment and only delays commencement of post school study/training by a year.

Interesting to note that Caro's article is not open to comments.

...........and a part-time year at that

It was interesting D King's take on the whole beat up. He felt that someone else has an agenda with the "information" being revealed. He didnt definitely say who or whether it came from someone inside the Club or someone who had been let go with all the new FD staff coming on board. Did anyone else hear his comment. My impression was that someone is troublemaking. Can anyone else confirm that.

She has a direct quote from someone inside the AFL in the article. I would have thought this was an AFL driven thing. Seems to fit in with all the talk around at the moment of reducing the influence of conditioning and football development staff. The last line of her article is typical of Caro's style to throw in some historical content so something can be read into it that actually isn't there!

See old55's snippet of the article. Could King have been alluding to that ?

Cameron did say that they had talked to the Players Association about the concept. Hmmm. Football is far too machiavellian for me.

Another area where the NFL has it over the AFL. They don't get recruiter til after college.

As an educator I have no problem with the gap year. Actually i think it's an advantage because it does allow you to taste the real world, ie get a job, and have some fun without the pressure of uni.

Now in the case of footballers they have enough to learn In their first year so I still have no problem with it. As for it only being part time, well, first year out a player has enough to chew on anyway.

Case by case basis is of course the go, but in general I'm in favour. Wooo

Andrew Gaff or Andrew Daff?