Australian Institute of Sport Football (Soccer) Program
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The Australian Institute of Sport Football (Soccer) program is run by the Australian Institute of Sport, in Canberra, for Australian youth footballers. The AIS runs this program for both men and women: the men's program was one of the eight founding sports of the AIS in 1981, with the women's program being added in 1998.
The AIS football program is funded by the Australian Federal Government, through the Australian Sports Commission. In 2005-2006 this funding amounted to $1.115 million Australian dollars. [1]. Currently, 20 students per year are selected for an initial period of 12 months training and study, with the additional option of a second year. The men's program is residential, while the women's is training camp-based. Students are generally 15-17 years old when selected and the only compulsory requirement is that they have current, or pending, Australian citizenship.
The stated aim of the men's program is to "identify and develop players for the national under-20 youth team and to develop coaches through the Scholarship Coaching scheme" [2], whilst the women's program was originally an Olympic Athlete Program initiative. The men's program has previously entered a team in the New South Wales Premier League competition (in 2005), and will play in the Victorian Premier League in 2007 [3].
Following the decision of several football graduates to represent other countries at a senior national level (primarily Croatia), the AIS implemented contracts whereby the cost of the scholarship will have to be repaid by any graduate that goes on to play football representing a different country (i.e. not Australia) [4]. This only applies to international representative competition; it is taken for granted that many players will play their club football in Europe.
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[edit] Past Players
N.B. This is not an exhaustive list.
All Australian internationals unless otherwise noted. Dates indicate years of study at AIS. Club teams current as of 2006.
- John Aloisi (1992-1993) - Deportivo Alavés
- Mark Bresciano (1997) - Palermo
- Brett Emerton (1995-1996) - Blackburn Rovers
- Ivan Ergic - FC Basel and Serbia
- Frank Farina - Australian international, ex-manager of the Australian national team and current manager of Queensland Roar.
- Hayden Foxe (1994) - Leeds United
- Vince Grella (1996-1997) - Parma
- Josh Kennedy - 1. FC Nurnberg
- Lucas Neill (1994-1995) - West Ham United
- Ljubo Milicevic - Melbourne Victory
- Craig Moore (1992-1993) - Newcastle United
- Mark Milligan - Sydney FC
- Kevin Muscat - Melbourne Victory
- Anthony Seric - Panathinaikos and Croatia
- Josip Simunic - Hertha Berlin and Croatia
- Josip Skoko - (1992-1993) Wigan Athletic
- Mile Sterjovski - FC Basel
- Mark Viduka (1992-1993) - Middlesbrough
- Luke Wilkshire - FC Twente
- Ned Zelic - Helmond Sport
[edit] 2007 Scholarship Holders
The AIS will enter a team into the Victorian Premier League for the 2007 season. This will allow regular week in week out competitive matches for the young scholarship holders.
The AIS Website appears to be out of date but the known scholarship holders for 2007 (ie Those players that have appeared for the AIS in a VPL game) are :
| Number | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Redmayne (Gk) |
| 2 | Sebastian Ryall |
| 3 | Ante Cicak |
| 4 | Luke Devere |
| 5 | Daniel Mullen |
| 6 | James Holland |
| 7 | Matthew Harper |
| 8 | Milos Lujic |
| 9 | James Brown |
| 10 | Jason Naidovski |
| 11 | Matthew Mullen |
| 12 | Matthew Theodore |
| 13 | Laurence Braude |
| 14 | Dane Milovanovic |
| 15 | Jerrad Tyson (Gk) |
| 16 | Bonel Obradovic |
| 17 | Isaka Cernak |
| 18 | Tahj Minniecon |
| 19 | Richard Greer |
[edit] Trivia
Of the 23 players selected in the Australian squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, 12 (or 52%) were former AIS football scholarship holders. These players were; John Aloisi, Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Josh Kennedy, Mark Milligan, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Josip Skoko, Mile Sterjovski, Mark Viduka and Luke Wilkshire. [5]
A further 3 AIS graduates represented non-Australian nations at the 2006 World Cup; Anthony Seric and Josip Simunic represented Croatia, while Ivan Ergic represented Serbia & Montenegro in its final competition before splitting into separate teams.
[edit] External links
- Australian Institute of Sport - Football (soccer) Official Site at the AIS.
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