Albury City coach Ricky Piltz calls for AWFA and Murray United to work closer together

Ricky Piltz, coach of Albury City's senior men's team, knows something has to change in order to limit the losses off the back of two COVID-ravaged years.

Self-interest at club level may need to be set aside for the long-term good of the game.

"COVID has brought clubs within AWFA closer together and more willing to support each other," Piltz said.

"If we can get that same relationship with Murray United and form a closer bond with them, that's going to help us as well.

"If we can use COVID as a platform to unify everybody and build the sport as a whole, that's the best thing which can come out of the whole situation.

"If Murray United have got five teams with 15 kids in each squad, you're looking at 75 kids.

"There were a couple of clubs in AWFA this year that had maybe one junior team.

"We need to unify a little bit and back a certain pathway because having two pathways at the moment with limited kids is hurting everybody.

"There's just not enough kids so we need to get in a position where we can attract more kids back to the sport."

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While the best players at Murray United may get picked up by A-League clubs, the absence of a senior NPL program in the region means plenty will head back to AWFA when they reach adulthood.

"It's a sacrifice now for benefit later," Piltz said.

"If a kid's good enough to go down to Murray United, I'll back them every day of the week to go and do it.

"They're going to get great training, come up against the best kids in the state, have that pathway open to them and if you, as a club, turn around and back that kid and support that kid, when that pathway finishes, you might be getting a kid back to your club who's going to be a much better player for it.

"Yes, you might have an under-14 team that's not quite as strong because you've lost your best player but hopefully that kid comes back and creates a stronger senior team because of his or her experiences.

"I can see it from both sides.

"I don't want to be the under-14s coach who loses his star player but I had Obi Eze this year who's come to our club after doing the Murray United program for four or five years and he had a fantastic year so I can see the benefits there.

"We've got a couple of kids from Albury City who are playing at Murray United and we're all for it.

"We're backing them, we invited them to our training when Murray United shut down so they could still enjoy football and I think that's you've got to do."

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