Special Feature: More young Blacktown talent coming through

Jenner was always ready to help the attack, setting up one goal and unlucky with another effort that was well saved by the Lions ?keeper in a display that wasn?t so much planned as much as the opportunity presented itself in this game and he made sure to exploit it at every opportunity.
?Tonight I was given the opportunity more so than it being in the game plan but I always give 100% and that?s just the way it turned out on the pitch,? he modestly says.
?I?ve recently just turned eighteen and started with Blacktown as a junior and have come through the system apart from last season which I spent at Sydney United and now I?m back at the club I started with so I am a Blacktown lad I suppose,? he states.
The raw talent is there for all to see but under a collective of coach?s he is maturing rapidly into a very competent and dangerous overlapping fullback but as ever he has his sights set higher of course: ?If an A-League club came knocking I would obviously be very interested but all you can do is concentrate on your game and see where it takes you but I would relish the chance in the next year or two to give that a go of course.
?I would be happy to go to any A-League side if they were prepared to give a younger gut an opportunity and a run in the team so you get a chance to hopefully prove you can play at that level.
?The same could be said if an overseas club were looking and that is something anyone would be silly not to consider but like I said I am only just 18-years old so hopefully I have plenty of time to fulfil those ambitions as now might not be the best time to go even if the opportunity came along.?
The lad shows sense beyond his tender years and the Blacktown set-up has helped him, and others, without as much recognition as some clubs, the A-league Grand Final had four former Blacktown juniors on the field after all, so what is the secret to the prodigious production line?
?We have different coaches who teach us different styles and aspects of football and all are well qualified and the main thing is that if we show promise they are prepared to give us a chance and that?s good for confidence and helps you to train harder to become better.
?They have always show great belief in the young ones and given them a decent chance to prove themselves and we, hopefully, make the most of them.?
With no real ?honours? to speak of on the international scene it is easy to see there is a burning ambition within the kid to put it right before the boots are hung up: ?It has always been my dream to represent Australia since I was a little kid and that is definitely one of my main aims.
?I can?t put into words how proud I would be to represent my country and it goes without saying I will do everything possible to achieve that goal.?
There were one or two A-League coach?s in the crowd at this game so who knows who they were looking at but without doubt the first-half performance, especially, of Adam Jenner cannot have failed to impress so perhaps he could be jetting off for an A-League trial in the near future?
Small steps at first but each one gets you nearer the destination and should Jenner continue to impress there is no reason he wouldn?t be gracing the nations TV screens sooner rather than later but full credit to the Blacktown youth set-up and the philosophy of the club in bringing on yet another lad and giving him his chance as credit must be given where it?s due.
It goes to show why the NSW Premier League is considered the stand out competition below the A-League and should the clubs keep the production line of promising youths coming through it bodes well for the future, not only for the NSWPL but Australian football in general and as the weeks pass we?ll talk to more of the young talent coming through.
-By Micky Brock