NTC-What's going on?

[Brun06]

I don't believe the NTC program in the prairies is very effective. It is very tough for players born 85 to improve and raise their level when they are forced to play with players born 89. Over 20 players have quit over the past year. It doesn't make sense. On top of that it discourages the older players to maintain their level and overtime their game falls apart as I have seen with a number of players quiting because loss of interest. But those who want to quit so they won't lose their standard are discouraged to do so because they are threatened that they won't be considered to be selected on national tours.

Another thing is the selection of players. I have to admit that it is not incredibly bad but it is still somewhat poor. Just last month I saw a player who didn't even make the provincial team come into the center. The quality of the player is awful. I couldn't think of any reasons for his presence. And there is numerous other players with the same case and also other cases where there are players who should be there but aren't. Alot of these problems is lack of scouting. I would expect a good level of scouting having 5 to 6 coaches just in the edmonton hub. But really I haven't seen one coach at either provincials, major games, or any other big competition.

Really, I don't see the Prairies center going anywhere. I mean a young player comes in and develops well because of the older players but the older players lose their game while doing so. So as the young player grows to be one of the older players, he helps a new young player to develop but loses his game while doing so. It will just be a never ending cycle of waste of talent.

There's a great need for some reforms. I would suggest for players to be split up into 2 training groups, the senior ntc and the junior ntc. For example in the senior ntc, could comprise of 85,86,87. The top 8 players in the province for each age group would be included but only those whose level is high enough would be ntc players (let's say the top 3), the remaining 5 players would be called trainees where they are being considered to be ntc's but not quite there yet. So in total, there would be 24 players in the senior ntc but only 9 would be NTC's while the others would be trainees. The number of trainees could be reduced to raise the level of play (eg. 3 ntc's and only 3 trainees so you would have the top 6 in the province). With this kinda of system, it ensures a wide scale of players analysis and scouting by preventing the present case of poor player selection. It also maintains each age groups play level having trainees of their same age which challenge the ntc's of that age group more then if they were to play against a far younger NTC. Example: A 85 NTC is better off being challenged by a 85 trainee then by 89 NTC.

This system would not have a difference in the budget as only NTC's would attend the scouting weekend, only NTC's would get fitness training benefits, and only NTC's would get training attire. While all these benefits would give incentive for the trainees to become NTC's.

What are your thoughts on the NTC program or especifically on the Prairies...

[Guest Ed]

Sorry brun06. Wrong forum. If you have something to post about kits and such, go ahead.

Seriously, I have heard similar complaints specifically about the Prairies NTC. It raises some interesting questions. How is it handled in other regions? Do they have a lot more players at each age level or do they also have to train together?? Anybody??

[aussoccerfan]

How do players get selected to NTC'S ?

[Brun06]

Well usually there's alot of additions and releases when the ntc season starts over again, which is around september for the Prairies but occasional releases and additions are done after scouting weekends.