We’re responsible for the next gen’: why Adelaide put future talent in hands of a club legend
Marcelo Carrusca’s academy has been so well regarded that the children of Adelaide United players and coaches attend it.
Some words sit happily together, and having “Adelaide United” and “Carrusca” back in the same sentence feels like the resumption of an important link in the culture of Australian football.
A few weeks ago, without huge fanfare, one of the Isuzu UTE A-League’s most elegant midfielders – 12th on the list of appearances for Adelaide and its fourth highest goalscorer – returned to the club four years after he retired, coming in as the head of United’s new Junior Development Program.
It’s absolutely not an appointment made on sentiment, for all the positivity engendered by clubs across the league bringing in former players to pivotal off-field roles.
For nearly a decade Carrusca has been running a highly regarded academy for children aged 5-13, and senior figures at United know exactly how good it has been because their own children went through it – including those of both Carl Veart and Adrian Stenta, United’s head coaches, the son of veteran midfielder Isias, and the children of one former club president.