A good junior player has no incentive to step up to senior football if he is going to sit on the bench. The A League goes some way to bridge this gap, but it would be good if players could step back down to junior football more easily, or even play at both levels until they have played a certain number of games for example.
The gaa is a good model for this. At Club level, the best players are nominated senior players and cannot play in the reserve leagues. The best club players play for their county. The best county players don't play for their clubs during the summer months (this varies from county to county). For First Division sides, a similar model could be devised, which would result in the local eL club being a representative club for the city/town/region. Players would be honoured to play for them rather than faced with a decision that could leave them with no football for a season - in this case many decide to stick to junior football. What if instead a player can still play for his junior club unless he has played, say 10, eLoI games? It would create a link rather than a conflict between junior clubs and LoI clubs. I'm not saying I have all the answers, but some lateral thinking might come up with a system that could work.
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