June 21,
2004
For next
season, even the Prime League & COE could not be spared & face a
possible revamp as FAS start to look at the problems plaguing it.
The
problems are certainly plentiful from lack of good pitches, money problems,
lack of facilities, and lack of medical assistance at games to no seating for
parents as examples
It is well
known with the S-league team & Prime league team training in the stadium,
COE have to look for their own pitches to train & this is a major problem
in land-sacred
Youth
coaches lambaste the fact that schools which have good field are unwilling to
lend their field to use so COE teams often have to make do with what they have.
FAS have
been looking to artificial pitches as the solution to this problem but installing
them would need SSC help & the 2 of them are discussing the topic at the
moment.
For many
clubs there is shocking lack of medical assistance at COE games as if a player
gets injury, there is almost nothing to help him.
This
shocked some parents as they feared if their children are seriously injured,
any delay would be fatal to them.
However the
most major problem is always the money problem as the $60000 amount given to
them by FAS is barely enough to cover any costs incurred by the clubs.
As examples
clubs said the amounts of money spend on stamps for their youth players
transportation already take up the full amounts & as a result there are
many youth coaches who have not gotten any bonuses or raises for the past
several years.
To this problem,
FAS felt the amount is a subsidy so clubs should not expect FAS to foot
everything but admitted more money may need to be given so the COE are
better-run & better-equipped. Therefore there are suggestions some of the
clubs COE which are not effective be closed down so that those funds can be
made available to those that are in better shape.
FAS feel it
may be a wise move but they need to look closely at it first for at the moment
4 clubs not in the S-league are dependable on the Prime league squad as a door
back to the S-league & any decisions would affect them badly.