Football is played at all levels, from beginners all the way to FIFA World Cups for men and women.
For players looking to advance, and for their families, sometimes the many different program names and competition names can seem like an impenetrable mystery – it is hard to know where you can get to and how.
For that reason, we have mapped out the different programs and levels for the male and female talented player development pathways below so that people have some idea where they can go.
ESFA participates in the Football NSW Skill Acquisition Program (SAP), which is part of the talented pathway for players aged between 9-12 years of age for boys and 10-13 years of age for girls.
The ESFA program is the only designated pathway program in the Eastern Suburbs aligned with Sydney FC Academy.
Through our relationship with Sydney FC, players from our program are scouted each year to represent Sydney FC with their Youth League Academy and soon to be their female academy.
Furthermore, our relationship with other Youth League clubs (U13 and older age groups) in the Metro East area ensures our players who graduate from the program are given the best opportunity to play at the highest level.
For male players, ESFA runs SAP – below are listed the other clubs based in the Eastern Suburbs and the competitions they are in:
– Hakoah Sydney City East: National Premier League Men’s 2, National Premier League Youth 2
– Sydney University: National Premier League Men’s 3, National Premier League Youth 3
– Dunbar Rovers NPL: National Premier League Men’s 3, National Premier League Youth 3
– UNSW FC: National Premier Leagues Men’s 4, National Premier League Youth 3
For female players, ESFA runs SAP and Girls’ SAP (U10-U13). Below are listed the other clubs based in the Eastern Suburbs and the competitions they are in:
– Sydney University: National Premier League Women’s 1
– UNSW FC: National Premier League Women’s 2
We hope this takes away a little bit of the mystery and enables players and their families to have a better idea of where they are placed within the football development pathway.