When 16-year-old midfielder Isaac Bates smacked home a sensational opening goal in Melville's Chatham Cup win over Fencibles United, Melville coach Jarrod Young had every reason to be delighted beyond the obvious matchday benefits.

It marked the second time in two weeks that youthful products of the Melville United Football Academy had made their mark at first team level in eye-catching fashion, following on from Matt d'Hotman's (pictured above) equally stunning late goal against Manurewa in the northern league.

And for Young, who doubles as academy director, these strikes vividly underline the dividends Melville are reaping at first team level from the year-round academy programme which is now working towards the conclusion of its seventh season.

But there is also a tangible benefit to the players, with an increasing number of them getting an opportunity to put themselves in the shop window and show what they are capable of at top level. Many have taken their chances to press the case for ongoing selection.

Under national league (and thus northern league) regulations at least 10 per cent of available playing minutes from each team, calculated across the season, must be afforded to U-20 players.

In a snapshot of the northern league taken on June 3, Melville led the field in terms of minutes given to U20 players, with 5189 minutes, 1570 ahead of their nearest challenger (Auckland's Bay Olympic). This figure represented 48.98 per cent of the team's total player minutes.

This continued Melville's track record of previous seasons in not just running youth programmes, but also giving the players within them a chance to prove themselves at senior level.

Former or current male Melville academy players getting men's first team game time (with Melville)  this season have been Bates, d'Hotman, Keagan Thompson, Campbell Brown, Jerson Lagos, Dylan Williams, Lucca Lim, and Ethan Richards.

Meanwhile Melville Premier Women lead the W-League competition by seven points with a perfect record and two games in hand with a team based largely around female youth academy products, and an objective of qualifying for northern league competition next season. 

"It means a lot to have players who have come through our academy programme showing their ability," Young said.

"It is very satisfying. We give players a shot, but they have to prove themselves. There is no free ride.

"And it is also a reminder that Sam Wilkinson did the right thing with his vision to start the academy back in late 2016."

Young entered the scene in January this year, at the recommendation of Wilkinson. At the time he said he couldn't expect to provide a better coaching service than the vastly experienced Wilkinson, but could certainly work harder to improve the academy's organisation, administration and overall culture and he is also pleased with outcomes on this front.

"There is a good feel to things. Every week the players from the 14s to the 17s watch each other's matches and also support the first team."

Melville have a roll of 180 academy members this year, split nearly evenly between boys and girls, fielding U12, U14, U15 and U17 teams in regional boys leagues this season and U13, U14, U16 and U18 teams in girls leagues.

It is a major logistical challenge to run so many "travelling" teams in so many leagues and Melville are the biggest club outside of Auckland to do so. In a broad performance measure which is averaged across all northern regional youth teams, Melville sit third out of all clubs.

A new addition to academy work this year has been player development sessions which focus on personal identity, self-awareness and personal growth. Sessions are led by first team player Erik Panzer, who has a degree in psychology, and specialises in mental skills coaching.

In weekly sessions Panzer has been exploring individual values and what makes them important to players, character strengths and challenges, personal reflection and even breathing training. 

His input has added an extra dimension to the academy programme, with the value of these sessions transcending sport and challenging participants to think about their personal values in life in general.

Young said he would like to add 11-year-olds to the programme next year, though there were limits to how big the programme could grow.

"We need to keep quality over quantity and need the best coaches to match the philosophy so can't get too big."

Meanwhile the Melville's academy's broader benefit to the code was illustrated when three of its former members - Manaia Elliott, Charlotte Eagle and Ella McMillan - represented New Zealand with distinction at the 2023 Oceania U-19 Championships in Papua New Guinea. (While  all three are now with Wellington Phoenix, their previous development was in the Melville United Football Academy.)

Elliott captained the team throughout the tournament, scoring three goals, two of which came in the final.

McMillan was a solid rock in the centre of defence the entire tournament playing in every game, as the team did not concede a goal. And goalkeeper Eagle played in two matches, keeping a clean sheet in both.

From boys' academy ranks, this year d'Hotman has played for New Zealand U-17s while Bates has been a New Zealand Schoolboys rep.

As to who might emerge as the next generation of stars from the academy, the Melville website put Young on the spot to name-drop a few up-and-comers off the top of his head.First name off the tongue was Milad Alamshah, a 13-year-old who is technically miles above his age and has played for Melville U17s.

Also nominated were centre midfielder Finn Bell, striker Asher Clark and winger Butros Beqain from the Melville 15s. And Noah Billman, Tomas Blackhall and Paapa Bosu from the 14s.

"Honestly, these are just some - I could give you a list of 15 players I can see making first team."

On the female side Young said the important thing this year was for the women's first team to win the league and gain regional league status so the club could offer a more complete pathway, rather than see the best players inevitably shift to other clubs to pursue their development.

On that front, Melville Premier Women cantered to a 20-0 home win (Ashurst Park) over Otumoetai in the W-League, to be seven points clear at the top of the table with two games in hand, ahead of facing second-placed Waikato Unicol at Jansen park at 1pm on Sunday.

This is believed to be a record win for Melville women.

Seventeen-year-old Shion Hwang led the way with six goals, 14-year-old Laura Bennett got five, Michaela Clark three, Marie O'Neill and 16-year-old Stevie-Lee Tiller two apiece, while 16-year-old Rylee Mardon and player-coach Tarena Ranui completed the scoring.

# Young said trainings for the next Melville academy intake for most grades will commence from Tuesday October 10. However trials for the new U-11 intake and U-12 boys and new girls will be more time-intensive and require more assessment with more details to be released in September.

Article added: Tuesday 11 July 2023