For players turning 8 and 9 in 2026 - please read below
This season, U8 and U9 players will move into our 5-a-side Hub at Halswell Domain, played on Saturday mornings - Time (TBA).
Each team will be made up of 7–8 players, with:
- 1 Goalkeeper
- 4 players on the field at a time
These changes are part of the updated national guidelines for football development at these ages. You can read more about these changes here:
Whole of Football overview: https://www.nzfootball.co.nz/community/whole-of-football-2.0/overview
New U8/U9 Game Day Format: https://www.sporty.co.nz/asset/downloadasset?id=8efb475a-a218-41a8-8ae0-b210a51437a7
How You Can Help for 2026?
As we plan ahead, we ask caregivers, parents, and this year's Fun Football helpers to consider supporting next season. To run the programme successfully, we will need:
- Coaches for each team
- Managers for each team
- Volunteers to help on the day
Please take some time to read the Whole of Football resources to understand the reasons behind these changes and see the support available for clubs and volunteers.
If you are in any position next year to volunteer your time - this could be as a coach, manager, referee, pitch coordinator etc anything in this space! Please please do let us know via the expression of interest link: https://forms.gle/UUXLMeJrfBrBdLTm6
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