Some of our youngest members are introduced to football through ‘Fun Football’ – part of New Zealand Football’s Junior Framework. The players learn new skills in a fun and friendly environment, taking part in weekly sessions that provide wide-ranging benefits:
- Social & Emotional – lots of interaction, enjoyment
- Technical & Tactical – lots of touches, 1v1s, attacking & defending
- Physical – develop Functional Movement Patterns, more active
- Mental – lots of opportunities for success and for decision making
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Fun Football - 8th grade Mixed (Boys and Girls) and 8/9/10/11th grade Girls
- Game Day - Fridays: 5v5 with Goalkeepers in 4x2 medium goals
- 8th Grade Mixed - 4:30-5:25pm
- 8/9/10/11th Grade Girls - 5:35-6:30pm
- Mixed/Girls teams - Boys will play in mixed teams (may include boys and girls). Girls can play in Mixed or Girls teams.
- Players per team - maximum of 7 players.
- Training - This is optional for teams but most usually choose to train 1x per week. We will place teams alongside other teams of similar age on their preferred training day so teams/coaches can train together.
- First Game Day: 1 May 2026
- Final Game Day: 4 September 2026
- No Games on the following holiday 2026 dates: 29 May, 10 July
- Grade Coordinators:
- 8-11th Grade Girls Hub Coordinator - Polly Taylor - girlshub@wsafc.org.nz
- 8th Grade Coordinator – Fiona Hepburn - coordinator2018@wsafc.org.nz
- 9th Grade Coordinator – Cathryn Barber - coordinator2017@wsafc.org.nz
- 10th Grade Coordinator – Polly Taylor - coordinator2016@wsafc.org.nz
- 11th Grade Coordinator – Claire Turner - coordinator2015@wsafc.org.nz
- Grading is strictly based on the year of birth: 2018 – 8th Grade
- Optional extra weekly programmes - running each term
- Skill Centre (Boys and Girls) - https://wsafc.org.nz/skill-centreandnbspprogrammes
- Fantails (Girls only) - https://wsafc.org.nz/milo-fantails-hub
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Fun Football Game Day - Fridays
All teams will play 5v5 games including Goalkeepers in the medium sized (4x2m) goals. We will run the weekly Friday sessions (see below) matching up teams for 3x15 minute games after their warm up activity. The weekly allocation of pitches will be made available on our website and App. Each team will need 1-2 coaches on the pitch with their team. The hooter is sounded to signal the start/end of each activity/game.
TEAMS
Maximum of 7 players per team is preferred with 5 players on field for games at any one time.
PITCH
Games are played in areas of 1/8th of a full sized field with 4m x 2m goals at each end
TIMINGS
4:30 Warm up activity then get ready for 1st game
4:36 Game 1
4:51 Drink and get ready for 2nd game
4:53 Game 2
5:08 Drink and get ready for 3rd game
5:10 Game 3
5:25 Final Hooter
OR
5:35 Warm up activity then get ready for 1st game
5:41 Game 1
5:56 Drink and get ready for 2nd game
5:58 Game 2
6:13 Drink and get ready for 3rd game
6:15 Game 3
6:30 Final Hooter
RULES
- Players are encouraged to enjoy being in possession of the ball; the focus is on having fun and participation
- Goal kicks and corners are introduced. For goal kicks, encourage opposition players to retreat back into their own half to allow the team in possession to pass the ball out to begin their attack.
- When a goal is scored, encourage the scoring team to retreat to their own half and allow the conceding team to restart from their goal - again passing the ball out
- Allow pass-ins (rather than throw-ins) when the ball goes out at the side of the pitch
- Coaches should try to ensure games are relatively evenly matched. If one team has more players than the opposition then the coaches can monitor the game and balance the teams as fairly as possible by sharing players. Coaches may add one player onto the field if one team is dominating the game.
- Team coaches will be on the field to encourage players and their positive behaviours. Coaches should encourage all players to perform different skills and roles within the team
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Registrations and Teams
Registrations typically open early January through to early March. At the close of registrations, the grade coordinator will put the teams together based on requests as indicated on the registration form (they do their best, nothing is guaranteed). If you have a few friends wanting to play together, they will all have to indicate this on their registration. Click here to register.
Once all registrations are sorted into teams, the coordinator will email out team details (typically early March). Each team will require a volunteer coach, assistant coach, and manager. It is at the team's discretion if they want to practice during the week or not. Teams will be given the option to secure turf space for training if they require it.
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Parents and Supporters
All supporters should watch games from behind the fence or on the balcony and provide encouragement to all players.
