What is ridiculous is that Mavericks are in the district comp and therefore all clubs have to play there. I can't think of another competition anywhere that has anything like this crazy arrangement of a country club partaking in a city comp.
Consequently, Mt Barker continues to enjoy the benefits of both country and metro status because of leadership dimensia.
Maybe Southern, Bearcats and Centrals should be deemed country under the present system.

Im not feeling the love for Mav's this week.

Southern do have some country players from willunga and Victor. Whats your point?

So do south so whats your point?

The Mavs are hardly setting the local comp on fire.

Let them eat cake!

Make your minds up. Someone complains because it is too close to be called country and then the next complain about having to drive there for District comps???

Qualifying for Country teams is based on where you live not which club you play for. There are a lot of "Country" players from other district clubs.
A few of the old district clubs are quite happy to lure players from Mavs by offering them very very cheap subs, by claiming they are from country areas.

They are are metro club only when it suits them.

If you lived at Starplex - you'd be classified Metro, same as Morphett Vale. If you live at Mavs Stadium (whatever it's called) you'd be classified Country. Hence the stigma.

Agrees, Mt barker needs re-zoned metro as its farsical to be considered country.

Could it be time to introduce two more clubs to the district comp?

One out north (gawler, barossa valley) and one out Victor way to cater for country kids playing in the district comp. Combine this with the Mavs an we would have all corners of the state covered. SA country seems like a pretty switched on organisation. This would be an easy way for country kids to get a district game and have training venues that they might actually be able to get too mid week.

Only trouble is that a couple of teams would have to make way for them.

Is it worth a thought? Has this idea been brought up before?

Never work, Sturt would lose three quarters of its teams!

Yes its a good idea but saying SAC is switched on lost me.

(#123898) - elaborate.

So true this is what is so frustrating to the "true" home grown kids that they get put aside for the Country kids

Or frustrating for you as a parent anonymous that your child isn't good enough.

This forum has had several previous lifes - so let's come clean. Exactly why should country basketballers be denied the opportunity to play basketball at the highest level available in this state? And please - no, 'cause they get picked over my little Johnnie or Sally'. Make it a valid argument for the good of basketball, not whingey parents upset because their kid is not living their dream.

because the metro players commit to the teams and attend all trainings, then the country players (who dont' train) come in and take their court time.

But they do train, and they train very hard by themselves and in their ITC squads. Plus they travel hours by car, even by plane to games and trainings when they can. They commit to the team just as much (in some cases even more) than the metro kids!

I hear the violins playing away. Get over it travel so far, its your choice so stop whining about it.

#939. The word "their" is interesting - they "take their court time" - you earn court time, you don't own it. Basketballers at district level are generally all committed to their sport and distance should not be the factor which denies a good player the chance to play at the highest level possible in their age group. You can be fairly certain that a country kid is training at basketball during the week - they will probably be at their local ITC training one night a week, they will also be expected to play for their local comp, most will jog several km's a week and then travel to be a part of their district competition. There commitment is real. So....Make it a valid argument for the good of basketball, not whingey parents upset because their kid is not living their (parent's) dream.

(#123917)Still the old "us against them"

There are any number of posters on this site (and this thread) having a go at "metro" people for dearing to mention that some country kids get preference over city kids.

The fact is some country kids do get a good ride in at least 2 major clubs in Adelaide.

No question that some of the kids have heaps of talent & potential and would make it in their own right in district; however some of the country kids are getting a walk up start at some clubs;yeah i can hear the indignant howls of protest already.

Why is this happening? Coaches owe country kids nothing. They can take them in, use them up, and turn their backs on them with out having to bump into them around the club all the time. When you have a country coach at a district club, the situation gets even worse. Two kids, same potential, same skill level... yet the country kid gets the nod; why? Self interest. The kid is in the SA country squad, so of course they will get the nod over the city kid.

Sour grapes? Yeah, you can say that. Its time for a change in how the comp is run. With country / metro kids, their has to be a better way than is happening at the moment.

P.S. my child is still in the mix for a state squad place for their age group so please, no "your kid isnt as good as their kid" crap. The summer season just gone put that one to rest, big time.

The word "their" is interesting - they "take their court time" - you earn court time, you don't own it.

- It wasn't a mistake. Don't you earn it by committing to Sunday and mid-week trainings?

(#123917)you missed my point neptune boy. Lets have 3 clubs in the district comp that cater for Country kids only, North, East and south. (and I dont mean sturt & f/ville)

Two clubs to move on out of the comp (I think its on the cards anyway)and bring in two new ones so that all three country zones are covered. Why wont it work?

who would run these teams, where would they be based, is there enough country talent in these areas to support the teams?

Say a player in unhappy with the south (country) coach, can they move to central? If not, we're losing players, if so, wer're back at the status quo.

Lots of holes.

Yeah, a lot of holes. I would expect that SA country would be a logical choice to run a club like that.

A current team will fold within the next two years, unless they merge with another club (and I cant see that happening)

I think the idea has some merits, but I dont have all the answers. If I did, Id be running the show I guess. Just a thought.

There a a few reasons country player numbers should be restricted to perhaps no more than two per club.
For a start you would be developing metro kids that miss out when super clubs like sturt try to stitch up junior premierships by having up to 5 or 6 country kids in a team. Under present rules that means 5 or 6 metro kids lanquish in div 2 and don't receive the development that clubs like sturt brag about. They counter with statements their squads train together and they rotate a lot in summer but in general the bottom line is while we have one Div 1 team per club metro kids will suffer and remain under developed.
Forestville have two state country coaches and this in itself creates perceptions about selections when similar ability kids might be overlooked in favour of country recruits who may be being groomed for country state.
Country kids have distinct advantages in accessing trips with two teams selected to tour for Albury in all age groups , country cup carnivals etc and country designated areas that are country in name only. The much vaunted crap about travel is only true for the dedicated few that travel vast distances not the Mt barker and the like group that enjoy the best of both worlds.
Im a strong advocate of zoning country areas so that country players are more fairly allocated. Critics of this, cite 'wanting to play together', 'car pooling' etc as reasons against it. In reality sturt would kick up the most because it has a network of teachers and boarding schools providing an effective recruiting base plus sundry close association with country clubs.
So its not country players who are the problem but the number of country players and the failure of BSA to nominate areas for clubs to develop and interact with. In a climate of poaching, some rules would help clarify the situation.

Soory , should read two per team.

"In reality sturt would kick up the most because it has a network of teachers and boarding schools providing an effective recruiting base plus sundry close association with country clubs."

So Sturt should cease all contacts with the outside world. Any club could gain the contacts that Sturt has obtained. You need to get out there though and make them.

No more making contacts and no more networking sturt...... bad sturt bad sturt

Give me a break

As far as I know Eastern are not a club for country kids only, but metro kids can play there. They are a district club after all. If you are unhappy with your clubs decision regarding placement of country players, stop whining about it, you have the option to move elsewhere.

Time for SA Country & SA Metro coaches to "extract" themselves out of the district comp.

Here here, lets turn all post's into a Sturt bashing I'll be in that. They deserve that!

Any one who thinks they will become a better player , playing div 2 in any club has fallen victim to the spiel that club offers parents as a sop.
You get better playing at the highest level, not just practising with them.
I support the stronger clubs having two div 1 teams but few clubs will support it as the lower ranked clubs would be losing to the top clubs second teams.
Allowing 5 or 6 country players in one team is not helping develop metro kids and until changes are made , I will continue to oppose more than 2 country kids per team and advocate both metro and country zoning.
Super clubs kill competition and BSA and BA are in a unique position at the genesis of their tenure to institute changes that could benefit basketball but we won't get them because of vested interests.

(#124292)Thank you. The old "playing div 2 here is better for your development than going to team X and playing div 1" has been used by coaches at the 2 big clubs for a few years now. This is insurance against you moving & the country kid's parents getting sick of the travel.

Play the highest level you can against the best quality opposition you can.

It tok my family, sadly, a season and a half to work that one out. We will be moving next year.

Good riddance!

Your whingy attitude will really be missed by whichever club you are leaving.

#347
Harsh words on a person's decision which suggests theres more than smoke in the posts above.

Whingy parents stick around nd complain. These guys are acting so more power to them.

Booga,

One of your better posts! I'm interested to know why people think that happens.

"Whingy parents stick around nd complain. These guys are acting so more power to them. "

They are sticking around and complaining!! If they had any guts, they'd leave now. There's nothing stopping them, it's not too late to join another club for this season. Oh wait, they may not get their precious div 1 oppurtunity straight away....

Not harsh words at all. I don't think anyone wants anonymous whingers at their club - no matter where they are on the "totem pole".

Good riddance.

Booga, Booga , Booga because they are given more opportunities and travel enormous distances like from Mt Barker and like environments which is so taxing!
#525, Aren't you whinging now?
#474, How was it going to help moving from a big four club to another a big four club?
Kids need to go to lower ranked clubs and play against the so called big four, thats competition.

Booga, in some cases the country kids have inferior coaches to metro and in some cases country coaches have followed kids thru the age levels.
Take a look at country results over the past and you will see excellent country girls teams' let down badly by the coaching staff, the results speak for themselves but the same coaches who underachieve are just moved side ways , downways and up etc and new blood is never encouraged.