The Price of Entry. I love this phrase. It fits for anything you really have to try for , if you really want to achieve and is the key nugget of wisdom from my chat with Junior Matildas Coach, Mike Cooper for the latest episode of Red Card For Mummy.
There's a price of entry for all players if you want to be good. If you want to be elite, the price is higher. Who knows, when you get in, you may come home with a door prize.
So as Australia celebrates her soccer gene as the World Cup kicks off and our Instagram reels are swamped by gyrating Ugandan Kids, Tim Payne and Norwegian Vikings pulling imaginary oars, I can't help but reflect on the effort it takes to get there. To a World Cup , that is. For players. For parents. For Everyone. The Price of Entry.
Nothing in the world of football is certain, except that everyone is just one ACL injury away from wanting an exercise bike for Christmas.
But there are some things in sport that are true. On the point of that ACL. It mightn’t be that, but you will get injured. You will have to do the rehab. That’s if you want to make a comeback. An injury is not a shame or an aberration or an unexpected shock. It is the part of the price of entry. As is forgoing social life, getting up at sparrows fart, and eating so many bananas you would swing from the trees if your arms weren't so sore from gym.
One would normally expect this to apply to Ronaldo or Neymar or Sam Kerr or Mary Fowler or any of the superstars who have hairstyles the kids drag us to the hairdresser to copy. But this could be your life too. Whether you have hopes and dreams for yourself, or your kid has found themselves on an elite pathway and it’s your role to facilitate each step without really knowing where it's all heading.
You may be paying your own price of entry, for them. Like learning to work from your car. or forgetting your partner's name.
This episode of Red Card For Mummy was recorded in Suzhou China, at the Under 17 Women’s Asia Cup. Coach Mike Cooper is the custodian of Junior Matildas in the Matildas pillar of Junior, Young under 23 women and senior Matildas squads. Via this Asia Cup, Mike will take the Junior Matildas to their first ever Under 17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco this November. The Joeys will play the Men’s under 17 World Cup in Qatar in November. The Big Matildas take on the world in Brazil, next year. Tell everyone.
Mike takes us inside the Junior Matildas Asia Cup camp. Here, they grow players for the future. Joe Montemurro is all over it, as he would be. The investment is for him. Everything here is to prepare the girls for the next step in their Matildas journey. If any of them make the cut.
So who are these coaches moulding the next generation of footballing youth, in a country still establishing its football culture as a potent force? For those of us who didn’t grow up with the game, how does it work? What does it take? and most importantly, what's the strategy?
This podcast is the first in a series from Red card For Mummy about growing champions, from grassroots to the globe Insiders will tell you what’s going on. The do's and the don'ts. The universal truths. So beware. Difficult truths may arise.
Bottom line, it's about mindset. The mindset of the players, the officials, the coaches the families. When you have to stare effort in the face. When consistency begs for a sickie, when resilience is so hard you can barely spell it. It gets hard for everyone, but the experience is beyond contemplation.
Join me for Red card For Mummy and Junior Matildas Coach Mike Cooper. If you've ever wanted to be better, it could be the price of entry.