By David Gold
August 19 – Australia’s youngsters are travelling to Bolivia to get used to playing at altitude before they start their World Cup qualifying campaign next month.
Twenty under-17 players are among the group travelling to South America as part of an Altitude Research tour.
Bolivia is renowned for being difficult to play in because of the high altitude of the national stadium (pictured above), which gives away teams an added difficulty to cope with.
The tour is being funded by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Victoria University and Qatar’s Aspire Academy.
The players departed on Wednesday (August 15), ahead of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) under-16 championship, which is being held by Iran in September.
Australia (pictured below) face Iraq, Oman and Thailand in that tournament, with the four teams who reach the semi-finals automatically qualifying for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates next year.
The tour to Bolivia will see the Australians play five local teams.
The team’s head coach Alistair Edwards believes it will be a great help to his squad.
“This trip will deliver outstanding opportunities for the travelling group of 20 players and coaching staff; to be immersed in the South American football culture for three weeks will be of great benefit for everyone,” he said.
“It’s a first for all of the players and we will all learn a great deal from this experience to add to the contrasting football styles we have already encountered.
“I have been a staunch advocate of Australian academia and our world renowned sport scientists to become more involved in Australian football.
“It’s quite significant that this expertise has for the first time targeted football for research, I hope that this is the first step of many whereby we can partner with such expertise to assist us in our quest of becoming a world leader in football as well as sport science.”
The AIS’s acting director Phil Borgeaud added: “This tour is a great opportunity for the Joeys to prepare for their World Cup qualification campaign but it is also a critical research tour for the AIS in the field of altitude training, particularly as to its utility for team sport preparation.
“This partnership between the AIS, Victoria University and Aspire, along with the Australian Football Federation [FFA] is crucial to giving the Australian athletes and teams the best possible support in their quest for international success.”
The FFA has also announced a new initiative to select and prepare match officials for elite competitions such as the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-league.
Called the Possibles and Probables Candidates programme, the aim is to ensure referees are adequately prepared.
The FFA Referees Department will also visit each club’s coaching staff, players and administrators to ensure a clear and open line of communication between players, coaches and officials.
“The Hyundai A-league and Westfield W-League are Australia’s flagship competitions and demand dedication, commitment and professionalism from its match officials,” said FFA director of referees Mark Shield (pictured above).
“We have been working to ensure referees skills are in line with the games professional development in this country.”
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