Collaboration is the value that Iceland embodied to complete its decade long footballing journey from also-ran to Euro 2016 qualifiers. For such a small country, it seems that everyone involved in the sport has played a role in making a difference, starting with the fans.

If a country of just 329,000 people can beat the 3rd place team at the last FIFA World Cup twice in the last 6 months why can’t New Zealand do much better?

The Gold Mine Effect describes how high performance athletes are being developed around the world. Author Danish sporting anthropologist, Rasmus Ankersen, travels around the globe trying to understand the plethora of talent in various locations.  The focus of his study includes Brazilian footballers, Kenyan distance runners, Jamaican sprinters and South Korean golfers.

“He’s not big enough” has to be one of the most dangerous statements a coach can make when evaluating a young player.

“The paradox of excellence, is that it is built upon the foundation of necessary failure.”  This theme, from Matthew Syed’s Bounce, is core to talent development but is it a central theme across our junior footballing environment here in New Zealand?

“Surely the secret of Lionel Messi is, as footballing philosopher Jorge Valdano argues, that he is the perfect synthesis of the Barcelona academy and old fashioned Argentine street football.”