Firstly, there does seem a lot of bitterness from the OP, if you are that unhappy with Norwood, leave and go to another club.
In respect to the points made, parents are going to have to coach teams, especially the lower divs, there's not an endless supply of coaches out there, often they are a better option than a young immature kid that aren't up to it. Years ago when I first started I was a premier league player but was expected to start with a lower div, in my case div 5, serve my apprenticeship and work my way up which I did to div 1. It seems these days anything div 3 and below are beneath new coaches and they expect immediately to coach at a higher level without first paying their dues. With that however I and other coaches were given a lot of support from the coaching director or JDO in developing, recent experience from what I've seen is that there may be one coach the coaches session per year and then it's work it out yourself. Div 1 coaches have their own teams to sort out, it should be the coaching director that should organise more clinics and attend trainings to help out less experienced coaches as well as attending games. From what I've seen they only seem to go to div 1 games and their primary aim is to try and poach players from other teams, but then again that's only my observation. Most of the bigger clubs have full time directors so they should be helping out teams with the greater need, div 1 teams basically run themselves so shouldn't need most of the attention unless there is a problem.
Probably one of the most discussed issues on this forum is whether it's better to have a kid play at a stronger club in a lower division or leave to go to another club and play higher. It seems most are more focused on winning division 2 or 3 when they have a realistic chance of playing div 1 at a smaller club. Each to their own, but often the families are brainwashed that they won't win a game if they move, but if they don't try they'll finish their playing career in social when they could have had a chance to improve playing against a higher level opponent and maybe receive better development. But clubs seem to selfishly gauge success by how many premierships they win instead of kids personal development. I've had strong squads before and I've told especially second years that it may be in their best interests to look elsewhere to play div 1, didn't want to lose most because they were great kids but in order for them to get better I'd rather lose them and have them succeed, the ones that did leave and play higher always appreciated the honesty and later on some returned to the club with greater experience and actually went past players they were previously behind.
As for uniform prices, that's an entirely different subject, not sure how that can be resolved, maybe speak to consumer affairs, that's a club decision and again, if not happy go elsewhere. Rumour I've heard about fees at Norwood was the increase was due to the Arc costing a lot more than originally expected. Bit of a joke when it was supposed to deliver a 5 court stadium but only have 2 due to getting courts the wrong size. So the publicised fact about Norwood finally finding a home is false, division 1 and 2 have, the rest of still homeless, in fact I don't even think most can even train there.
In closing, if people aren't happy with their current club, either in regards to fees, uniforms or opportunities, especially at the big 3,they should look elsewhere. I know my club are looking for greater depth at the higher end, some kids that are playing div 3 or even lower elsewhere would have a legitimate chance to make div 1 if not at least 2s. So instead of the rich getting richer, hopefully the talent is distributed evenly which will only mean a stronger local competition. Vote with your feet instead if venting here and still staying at the same club because nothing will change then, if the committees see a large amount of kids transferring they may take notice, until then it will remain the status quo and no amount of complaining will help. Won't tell you what club and age group I do but would love some new blood in to challenge the big clubs, and fees are a hell of a lot cheaper than Norwood's.
