I'm a dad of a 12 yo lad who is slowly progressing through the bottom ages of district cricket, albeit through development squads.
He is an average kid in an average grade - and I'm not being defamatory about either, just saying he's not a star by all means. But what I've seen by way of tryouts and development squads makes me think that the top level is suffering because of the junior system underneath.
To be honest, I don't thing there is any 'development' at all. He is in a development squad and what I have seen is the coaches say "good shot" in the nets but nothing about technique, nothing about poor shot selection, nothing about building innings, nothing about partnerships, nothing about putting pressure on the bat by bowling consecutive maiden overs. Maybe that will come as he progresses. I don' t know. All I know is that when I speak to other district clubs at the same age group, all the parents say the same thing, it's very ordinarily managed. At our club, there is a disconnect between the development squad and the coaches at the next level. So when my son was selected at the next level, there wasn't any consideration for his batting position, fielding position, bowling position.
So, in summary, SACA need to install a policy/guideline about how the coaches need to 'coach' as a group. We as parents sit back and look at the juniors and then look at how SACA perform and marry the two up. It's disgracefully organised and shows through the grades right up to SACA level.
I should say that opposition clubs have called out a couple of clubs that have been exemplary in their organisation but unfortunately this isn't the norm.
I should add, before my son started trying out for district, i was of the same mind, that teams need to merge. Now, I'm not so sure that will fix anything.
Having been involved in coaching at the local level up in the hills i find this seriously concerning. Your son would get better coaching at nearly any of the junior clubs in the local league in the Adelaide Hills.
FWIW my vote for the mergers was as follows:
Southern/Glenelg - However base the club at Noarlunga and align them closely with the South Adelaide Panthers. That way everyone can benefit from the facilities. You cant lose the largest population and their access to cricket. There are incredibly strong cricket clubs in the southern area and if southern was allowed to die than that would be a real shame.
University/Prospect - Uni shouldnt be in the District system at all. They contribute nothing to junior cricket in the state and if they dont merge should piss off to turf.
Woodville/Port - similar siutation to Southern in that Port struggle for quality in almost every grade except the a grade. Merging port and woodville makes sense geographically.
In the end none of this will happen because too many clubs arent looking out for whats best for cricket in this state and only think of themselves.