cracka wrote:Down the Hill wrote:cracka wrote:Dutchy wrote:Was a bit surprised u15's in the HFL still use a synthetic undersized ball, has this always been the case?
Yep. Its purely a cost issue. IMO that age should be using the leather ball.
Cost issue? Several Hills Clubs would have spent $40,000 plus on player payments in recent years and will spend the limit under the new rules yet can't "afford" to pay the difference for a maximum of 2 leather size 4 Match balls compared to synthetic balls. If the reason was the wet and muddy conditions encountered in the Hills FL coupled with the early start time for U15 then fair enough, but if it is truly a cost issue then the clubs and the HFL must be kidding themselves.
Sorry, forgot about the wet muddy ground argument, which was also mentioned. This was about 4 years ago when it was discussed so my memory of it isn't the best. The cost issue argument came from clubs in div 2 who were struggling for junior numbers.
Those kids need to use a undersized ball as they are still under sized. To suggest they use a larger heavier ball is in my opinion rather silly. The smaller synthetic ball allows them to develop proper ball handling skills as opposed to struggling to manage what the men use