2025 Premier Youth Leagues

[Aegon]

.

[mic22]

Well, hi everyone.
After 4 years in JDL and a change of club, my son is ready to embark in the PYL journey.

My advice to him (and myself): train and play hard, listen to the coach, stay away from the politics and the BS.

So, good luck...

It's going to be a great feeling, not having to pretend everyone is not keeping the score :lol:

[WOW2.0]

Score is one thing, but development is more important

[Addios]

stay away from the politics and the BS
Not a chance.

The comp format is better than ever though. 1 full round and 2 rounds with 3 divs is great.

[sapdad]

The comp format is better than ever though. 1 full round and 2 rounds with 3 divs is great.

I agree and well done to the people who pushed for it and the Federation for listening to them.Does anyone know if the 2nd half of Div A will carry over points again like before?With a fairer 2nd half to the season I wonder if they will reset everyone or keep the current set up.Am I also right in thinking there will be no byes this year?Havent heard any clubs are without teams and have been told Wallsend will field all youth teams again.If so thats also a big tick to everyone involved.

[Taffy]

I agree and well done to the people who pushed for it and the Federation for listening to them.Does anyone know if the 2nd half of Div A will carry over points again like before?With a fairer 2nd half to the season I wonder if they will reset everyone or keep the current set up.Am I also right in thinking there will be no byes this year?Havent heard any clubs are without teams and have been told Wallsend will field all youth teams again.If so thats also a big tick to everyone involved.

Points in DivA to remain with DivB and DivC to reset as normal. Depending on the age group there will be no byes, understand Wallsend have 4 teams and Belswans struggling to fill their 16s. NIAS have all 5 teams this year as well.

Good to see that all five youth grades will continue in this format as well.

[sapdad]

Points in DivA to remain with DivB and DivC to reset as normal. Depending on the age group there will be no byes, understand Wallsend have 4 teams and Belswans struggling to fill their 16s. NIAS have all 5 teams this year as well.

Good to see that all five youth grades will continue in this format as well.

cheers for the info.

[Izzy]

North Coast have had a lot of turnover for 2025 with poor numbers turning up to the U16 and U18 trials. Several decent players are returning to local senior football or have moved to Sydney to play NPL. Looks like cost and the dreaded bus trip to Newcastle every 2nd week has finally caught up with them. Can't blame them.

[The Hacker]

Points in DivA to remain with DivB and DivC to reset as normal. Depending on the age group there will be no byes, understand Wallsend have 4 teams and Belswans struggling to fill their 16s. NIAS have all 5 teams this year as well.

Good to see that all five youth grades will continue in this format as well.

What age are Wallsend struggling with

[Taffy]

Well technically all of them but they have enough to fill 4 teams, they could do with a couple extras in all ages

[Taffy]

Heard a rumour that the draft draw is out, anyone seen it or able to show a copy?

[Hunter403]

Yeah, I know the pre season trials draw is out but I don't have a copy. I know who my boys face.

[sapdad]

Yeah, I know the pre season trials draw is out but I don't have a copy. I know who my boys face.

Are these the games that are starting the first week of Feb?

[Hunter403]

believe so

[matjpacker]

The draws are with the clubs currently, we have to have our feedback to NNSWF early this week coming.

There are some games scheduled for Friday 31st, with most games occurring on Sunday 2nd.

Hopefully we get the public version by the end of the week!

[Jim]

The draws are with the clubs currently, we have to have our feedback to NNSWF early this week coming.

There are some games scheduled for Friday 31st, with most games occurring on Sunday 2nd.

Hopefully we get the public version by the end of the week!

Any night games on offer? Jan feb March is still quite warm.

[matjpacker]

Any night games on offer? Jan feb March is still quite warm.

There are some Friday nights in there currently, however, there will be changes as I know 2 clubs who have been given Friday night games but have no access to their grounds due to sharing with other sports. No doubt those will have to change at a minimum.

[Taffy]

Any night games on offer? Jan feb March is still quite warm.

I've since been told that all 16s and 18s to be played at night time for the pre-season cup which plays across all of February with the other age groups to start earlier on the weekend

[matjpacker]

I've since been told that all 16s and 18s to be played at night time for the pre-season cup which plays across all of February with the other age groups to start earlier on the weekend

Yep, thats what NNSWF have proposed, and it makes sense when you start the competition in the height of summer, but with a couple of clubs not having access to their facilities on Friday nights, there will most likely be changes to the draw.

[Taffy]

Just play away or on Saturday night instead.

[WOW2.0]

The lighting is so poor at some of the grounds, not sure how practical it is to play night games especially with some teams having quite "dark" kit.

Watching Charlestown play at Allan Davis at night is almost impossible...I don't know how the kids manage to see themselves out there when they have to play a game there

[Taffy]

The lighting is so poor at some of the grounds, not sure how practical it is to play night games especially with some teams having quite "dark" kit.

Watching Charlestown play at Allan Davis at night is almost impossible...I don't know how the kids manage to see themselves out there when they have to play a game there

Aren't all playing grounds (for competition games not friendlies) at the same grounds as their 1st grade plays? Don't they have to meet lighting requirements to be in the NPL?

[ForeverRed]

The lighting is so poor at some of the grounds, not sure how practical it is to play night games especially with some teams having quite "dark" kit.

Watching Charlestown play at Allan Davis at night is almost impossible...I don't know how the kids manage to see themselves out there when they have to play a game there
It?s kids football, not that big of a deal, I?m sure it won?t bother the kids, let it be mum & dad

[WOW2.0]

It?s kids football, not that big of a deal, I?m sure it won?t bother the kids, let it be mum & dad

As youth football now has pro/rel it is more important now than little disadvantages were previously...their eye sight might be better than mine though

It's their player welfare though too TBH

[WOW2.0]

Aren't all playing grounds (for competition games not friendlies) at the same grounds as their 1st grade plays? Don't they have to meet lighting requirements to be in the NPL?

I can't speak for every club, but they do hold competition games at both Allen Davis and Lisle Carr for the youth teams

I don't know of any specific lighting requirements for NPL...but, as a sometimes spectator it is hard to follow the game there at night...and not sure it would be any easier for the kids trying to spot a team mate in a dark colour (even the Azzurri blue is hard to pick out)

Just my opinion of course :)

[Dreamtime Yowie]

I can't speak for every club, but they do hold competition games at both Allen Davis and Lisle Carr for the youth teams

I don't know of any specific lighting requirements for NPL...but, as a sometimes spectator it is hard to follow the game there at night...and not sure it would be any easier for the kids trying to spot a team mate in a dark colour (even the Azzurri blue is hard to pick out)

Just my opinion of course :)

Don?t stress too much just ask all the parents that are recording their kids on their mobile phones to turn the light on:sigh:. Imagine being that obsessed with social media that you have to record all your child?s games on your phones so you can post it online and chase some likes. Relax people and enjoy the game and stop putting unnecessary pressure on the poor kid who will only probably quit the game by under 18s because daddy or mummy tried to make him an internet sensation at age 12.
Don?t most clubs have those green cameras now anyway recording? Enjoy the games whilst they are young and get off your bloody phones, I see it too often parents trying to catch a move or goal so they quickly upload it.
But yeah use the lights on phone if you need better lighting :woo:

[KITZ]

Don?t stress too much just ask all the parents that are recording their kids on their mobile phones to turn the light on:sigh:. Imagine being that obsessed with social media that you have to record all your child?s games on your phones so you can post it online and chase some likes. Relax people and enjoy the game and stop putting unnecessary pressure on the poor kid who will only probably quit the game by under 18s because daddy or mummy tried to make him an internet sensation at age 12.
Don?t most clubs have those green cameras now anyway recording? Enjoy the games whilst they are young and get off your bloody phones, I see it too often parents trying to catch a move or goal so they quickly upload it.
But yeah use the lights on phone if you need better lighting :woo:

way to take the conversation completely out of context. Parents pay a lot of money for their kids to play - playing at night with decent lights isn't a big ask.

Hopefully they get some night games on - it's a decent way to avoid the heat that's for sure.

[WOW2.0]

Don?t stress too much just ask all the parents that are recording their kids on their mobile phones to turn the light on:sigh:. Imagine being that obsessed with social media that you have to record all your child?s games on your phones so you can post it online and chase some likes. Relax people and enjoy the game and stop putting unnecessary pressure on the poor kid who will only probably quit the game by under 18s because daddy or mummy tried to make him an internet sensation at age 12.
Don?t most clubs have those green cameras now anyway recording? Enjoy the games whilst they are young and get off your bloody phones, I see it too often parents trying to catch a move or goal so they quickly upload it.
But yeah use the lights on phone if you need better lighting :woo:

Lol
I'm not talking about for camera's obviously :P

We must be out of the trend, my son doesn't have a social media platform for his football...maybe that's the true key to success though :P

[Grubby-081]

The big issue with lighting for clubs is that it is something’s hat the club must have funding to have bulbs changed or update lights to newer systems. The council owns the asset but it on the club to fix. Cost of that is quite high.

In regards to Allen Davis Field, the ovals board wants to fix it he lighting but at $250-$500 a fitting it is very expensive over 6 towers. The ovals board also needs to look at other factors like drainag, surface remediation etc. the only way to fix is via a grant and unfortunately they are not always successful in gaining.

Charlestown only play Youth games at ADO if Lisle Carr is too wet and games need to be played. It has some of the best drainage around and can handle a small amount of extra rain. From memory we have only played 3 night games there last season.

[KITZ]

The big issue with lighting for clubs is that it is something’s hat the club must have funding to have bulbs changed or update lights to newer systems. The council owns the asset but it on the club to fix. Cost of that is quite high.

In regards to Allen Davis Field, the ovals board wants to fix it he lighting but at $250-$500 a fitting it is very expensive over 6 towers. The ovals board also needs to look at other factors like drainag, surface remediation etc. the only way to fix is via a grant and unfortunately they are not always successful in gaining.

Charlestown only play Youth games at ADO if Lisle Carr is too wet and games need to be played. It has some of the best drainage around and can handle a small amount of extra rain. From memory we have only played 3 night games there last season.

The ground is dirt by mid season which is a bigger issue re player injury.

[Grubby-081]

The ground is dirt by mid season which is a bigger issue re player injury.

Not sure which ground your referring to there. ADO looks bare but has decent grass coverage. The grass just turns brown.

[sapdad]

Im sure whatever facilities the kids get to play on they will do just fine.

[KITZ]

Im sure whatever facilities the kids get to play on they will do just fine.

Should ask the kids (and young people) what they think. It doesn't happen near enough in football, assumptions are always made by the adults around and most of the young players are pretty smart footballers and know what's important to them.

[Taffy]

I have been told that Dudley will be allowed a few players who are registered to conference league that can be drawn to reserve grade in NL1 if short. This is only for 1 year and only because the federation refused them an u18 next year. I?m guessing they will nominate the player at the start of the year

Are Dudley looking at putting in PYL for 2026? Assuming they don't get relegated

[sapdad]

Should ask the kids (and young people) what they think. It doesn't happen near enough in football, assumptions are always made by the adults around and most of the young players are pretty smart footballers and know what's important to them.

Not going to get into a pissing comp but Ive been involved as a parent and coach since the first year of JDL back in the day.Ive seen plenty of kids and any Newcastle footballer thinking that the lights make more than 1% difference in their football is delusional.We have really good facilities in this city and of course some grounds could be better but thinking it makes a difference at this level is a bit much.If a kid is playing in Div C on a Div C pitch then maybe hes just a Div C player.Sticking them on Jack Mac or Darling Street itsnt going to turn them into Messi.

[The Hacker]

Are Dudley looking at putting in PYL for 2026? Assuming they don't get relegated

The wheels would have to fall off to be relegated I would say. If they ever want to play for more than 5th place they will need to add them. The team that is relegated do they lose PYL or they would add another club

[Taffy]

The team that is relegated do they lose PYL or they would add another club

The whole reason for decoupling is so they don't lose them and the teams continue. It's a similar reason why U18s must stay in PYL, unless you make all zone league teams have an U18s as well.

[WOW2.0]

I went to ADO last night for a kick...greenest I've ever seen it...but it's also now been marked up for Rugby Union (which was a surprise)

The opposite field (can never remember its name) has always been for Rugby Union and is always green, all year long...has ADO been given to the Rugby players?

[Grubby-081]

I went to ADO last night for a kick...greenest I've ever seen it...but it's also now been marked up for Rugby Union (which was a surprise)

The opposite field (can never remember its name) has always been for Rugby Union and is always green, all year long...has ADO been given to the Rugby players?

No ADO hasn?t been allocated to rugby. The
Markings that you see are for the summer Oztag comp that runs over the 4 fields through summer.

All 4 fields will be closed in the next week for January while remediation works are carried out over the complex.

[Hunter403]

Northern has posted JDL fees on their website.
Amazing.
[https://www.northernnswfootball.com.au/competitions/junior-development-league?fbclid=IwY2xjawHHVh9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHUcYIF FpFk1o83QxqYrIuG1SUcAJDERiDwTR56Fz4qmPYtfDTdEKeMmZ Aw_aem_PMVv2Ra_dFZk39C_tz8WZA

[WOW2.0]

Northern has posted JDL fees on their website.
Amazing.
[https://www.northernnswfootball.com.au/competitions/junior-development-league?fbclid=IwY2xjawHHVh9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHUcYIF FpFk1o83QxqYrIuG1SUcAJDERiDwTR56Fz4qmPYtfDTdEKeMmZ Aw_aem_PMVv2Ra_dFZk39C_tz8WZA

Took me a while to find it...but wow, what a variation in prices :-O
(Also, not many met the requirements for gold status, did they)

Club Name JDL Status JDL Fee for 2025
Lambton Jaffas Gold $1,705

Cooks Hill United Gold
U9 & U10: $1229.75 and U11 & U12: $1251.75

Valentine Gold U9 & U10: $1598 and U11 & U12: $1622

Belmont Swansea United Silver $1,375

Broadmeadow Magic Silver
$1,550

Central Coast United Silver
$2,354

Edgeworth Silver
$1,880

Lake Macquarie City Silver $1,490.50

Singleton Strikers Silver U9, U10 & U11: $535 and U12: $557

South Cardiff Silver $1,150

Adamstown Rosebud Bronze $1,350

Charlestown Azzuri Bronze $1,300

Kahibah Bronze $959

Maitland Bronze $1,650

New Lambton Bronze
U9 & U10: $1,550 and U11 & U12: $1,572

Newcastle Olympic Bronze
$1,495

Northern Inland Rangers Bronze $1,300

Toronto Awaba Bronze
$1,182.75

West Wallsend Bronze $900

Weston Workers Bronze New Players: $1511 and Existing Players: $1256

Wallsend Bronze (TBC) $900

[Taffy]

Surprised CCU didn't attain Gold. Big variation in prices seems you need at least $900-$1200 got to wonder what those charging signifcantly more are doing with it

Of course are those down towards the $900 not including their uniform kit and you put on an extra $200.

[prawnhead]

Surprised CCU didn't attain Gold. Big variation in prices seems you need at least $900-$1200 got to wonder what those charging signifcantly more are doing with it

Of course are those down towards the $900 not including their uniform kit and you put on an extra $200.

What does gold, silver and bronze mean?

[Hunter403]

What does gold, silver and bronze mean?
It means you filled in some paperwork that makes it look like you do a better job. In reality, it means very little.

[Hunter403]

Surprised CCU didn't attain Gold. Big variation in prices seems you need at least $900-$1200 got to wonder what those charging signifcantly more are doing with it

Of course are those down towards the $900 not including their uniform kit and you put on an extra $200.

Wrong on your second point. I can confirm that the club that I am involved with is in the $900s and includes everything. I am also aware that one in the mid $1000s excludes clothes.
The fees submitted were supposed to be the full price and from what I have heard, nearly all clubs complied.

[Taffy]

What does gold, silver and bronze mean?

Certain requirements must be met, certainly more than just filling in some forms that Bronze makes out to be

Full criteria here

https://issuu.com/northernnswfootball/docs/jdl_review_document_-_final

[Taffy]

Wrong on your second point. I can confirm that the club that I am involved with is in the $900s and includes everything.

Was a question rather than a statement of fact.


I am also aware that one in the mid $1000s excludes clothes.
The fees submitted were supposed to be the full price and from what I have heard, nearly all clubs complied.

Which one?

[Hunter403]

Was a question rather than a statement of fact.



Which one?

No worries. There was no ?
As to which one...let's leave it at a current NPL club

[Taffy]

As to which one...let's leave it at a current NPL club

Doesn't surprise me

[Barry Dawson]

These $$$ are misleading - a number of clubs then add on the $$$ associated with clothing and apparel etc. this is sometimes upwards of $350

[WOW2.0]

Gold status let's a club have 2 JDL teams doesn't it...compared to the other levels

[Taffy]

Gold status let's a club have 2 JDL teams doesn't it...compared to the other levels

That's correct, except for this transition year where Bronze and Silver are allowed 2 if they had 2 in 2024

[Izzy]

Draw just released on Squadi. No night games.

[sapdad]

Certain requirements must be met, certainly more than just filling in some forms that Bronze makes out to be

Full criteria here

https://issuu.com/northernnswfootball/docs/jdl_review_document_-_final

Good on the clubs that qualified for gold status.It will be interesting to see if that drives parents and kids to them.Having said that,theres more than a few bronze clubs that I would be more than happy to have my child at after seeing the way they coach their kids over the past few years.

[northern_swan]

When a club that has “silver” status is still looking for multiple coaches the criteria isn’t worth the fancy pamphlet it’s printed on.

[matjpacker]

When a club that has “silver” status is still looking for multiple coaches the criteria isn’t worth the fancy pamphlet it’s printed on.

Glad someone else noticed that too! Very frustrating when some clubs are clear and transparent, and others say they are yet demonstrate the opposite.

[matjpacker]

Draw just released on Squadi. No night games.

In the preseason cup, our (NLFC) 16 and 18 boys have night games in rounds 1 and 3.

6:15pm kickoff for 16s, with 18s kicking off at 7:30pm.

[Taffy]

When a club that has “silver” status is still looking for multiple coaches the criteria isn’t worth the fancy pamphlet it’s printed on.

What club is advertising for coaches?

[Barry Dawson]

Not sure how that works - to get beyond Bronze, I thought you had to have all coaches locked in for 2025 at the time of submission in October.

[Taffy]

Not sure how that works - to get beyond Bronze, I thought you had to have all coaches locked in for 2025 at the time of submission in October.

You do, what happens when a coach comes in late November and says, "sorry my job has shifted me to Afternoon shift so I can no longer coach"? Now the club was correct in what they said, and should be given some leeway to correct, but should only give them a couple months and then downgrade them.

You actually need coaches for Bronze as well.

[Largesse]

You do, what happens when a coach comes in late November and says, "sorry my job has shifted me to Afternoon shift so I can no longer coach"? Now the club was correct in what they said, and should be given some leeway to correct, but should only give them a couple months and then downgrade them.

You actually need coaches for Bronze as well.
Looking forward to seeing assessment of coaching, player welfare and communication with players playing a role in grading of grading of clubs into the future. A desktop system of grading is a good starting point but not a true reflection of programs and coaches.

[sapdad]

Looking forward to seeing assessment of coaching, player welfare and communication with players playing a role in grading of grading of clubs into the future. A desktop system of grading is a good starting point but not a true reflection of programs and coaches.

In year 1 of JDL clubs were required to do 1 session per week out at the facility so the NNSW coaches could assess them and see they were following the curriculum.I thought it worked well and was of great value to a lot of coaches (plenty of other coaches didnt enjoy the feedback). By year 2 they relaxed the requirements and teams went about once a month.It didnt take long after that for certain clubs to stop going as they thought they had better systems in place (quality TD's and coaches).Once the size of the program kept getting bigger (more clubs/more age groups) it made it near impossible for NNSW to keep on top of what was happening.I assume this new system is more about clubs doing what they can at the front end to get as many coaches qualified for the roles and hopefully not need NNSW over their shoulders.Its obviously not perfect but points for trying.Instead of requiring everyone to have a C licence to get the highest status,maybe NNSW can run coaching seminars once a month or so for anyone keen on improving to sit down with them and work through stuff (similar to what they do with referees).Even take their individual teams out to the facility for a run through.Its clear theres not one strict way to get the best out of all this but as long as they are trying things its hard to argue with them.

[Largesse]

In year 1 of JDL clubs were required to do 1 session per week out at the facility so the NNSW coaches could assess them and see they were following the curriculum.I thought it worked well and was of great value to a lot of coaches (plenty of other coaches didnt enjoy the feedback). By year 2 they relaxed the requirements and teams went about once a month.It didnt take long after that for certain clubs to stop going as they thought they had better systems in place (quality TD's and coaches).Once the size of the program kept getting bigger (more clubs/more age groups) it made it near impossible for NNSW to keep on top of what was happening.I assume this new system is more about clubs doing what they can at the front end to get as many coaches qualified for the roles and hopefully not need NNSW over their shoulders.Its obviously not perfect but points for trying.Instead of requiring everyone to have a C licence to get the highest status,maybe NNSW can run coaching seminars once a month or so for anyone keen on improving to sit down with them and work through stuff (similar to what they do with referees).Even take their individual teams out to the facility for a run through.Its clear theres not one strict way to get the best out of all this but as long as they are trying things its hard to argue with them.

Support from NNSW would be good, and with assessment against standards of actual coaching, not just licenses on paper would help with compliance.

There are a couple of silver clubs who are obviously well ticketed but from what I've seen and heard, not the best environment for development, compared to some Bronze rated.

I look forward to seeing it further develop.

[The Hacker]

What club is advertising for coaches?

No one answered this one.

[Eastwest]

In year 1 of JDL clubs were required to do 1 session per week out at the facility so the NNSW coaches could assess them and see they were following the curriculum.I thought it worked well and was of great value to a lot of coaches (plenty of other coaches didnt enjoy the feedback). By year 2 they relaxed the requirements and teams went about once a month.It didnt take long after that for certain clubs to stop going as they thought they had better systems in place (quality TD's and coaches).Once the size of the program kept getting bigger (more clubs/more age groups) it made it near impossible for NNSW to keep on top of what was happening.I assume this new system is more about clubs doing what they can at the front end to get as many coaches qualified for the roles and hopefully not need NNSW over their shoulders.Its obviously not perfect but points for trying.Instead of requiring everyone to have a C licence to get the highest status,maybe NNSW can run coaching seminars once a month or so for anyone keen on improving to sit down with them and work through stuff (similar to what they do with referees).Even take their individual teams out to the facility for a run through.Its clear theres not one strict way to get the best out of all this but as long as they are trying things its hard to argue with them.

Fair enough. NNSW are lazy. When it got too hard they threw it all in pretty quick. The C License should never be over $200. The only people to benefit from cheap coaching tickets are females who get could "scholarship" C license for free. Everyone else a can get fked apparently. It should be free for all current jdl/npl coaches. BTW The license does nothing to make a person a good coach.

Coaching kids is much different from coaching teens and adults. I havent seen many who can coach kids well over the last 20 years including JDL. Not the coaches fault, its just a specialty area. Those who work with kids on a daily basis seem to get the best out of the 8 to 13s. From 15s onwards i see many ex-players, from a higher level, do very well as coaches. Technically, Thailand is the most recent country to go past us. Are we getting it right? Not a chance.

[Taffy]

No one answered this one.

Nope and I couldn't find on any socials any of the silver clubs advertising for coaches. I did see a bronze club advertising, however, that was for PYL not JDL.

[sapdad]

Fair enough. NNSW are lazy. When it got too hard they threw it all in pretty quick.

Coaching kids is much different from coaching teens and adults.I havent seen many who can coach kids well over the last 20 years including JDL.Not the coaches fault, its just a specialty area.Those who work with kids on a daily basis seem to get the best out of the 8 to 13s. From 15s onwards i see many ex-players, from a higher level, do very well as coaches.

I agree with pretty much everything you said here.I would love to see the C licence be a little more accessible for coaches.Your point about the difference between JDL and youth/seniors is spot on.Its no conincidence that a lot of the better JDL coaches Ive encountered over my time have been school teachers and people with more management skills vs straight up soccer knowledge.Getting the best out of people and developing them is a massive skill that is all too often looked past.

[northern_swan]

Nope and I couldn't find on any socials any of the silver clubs advertising for coaches. I did see a bronze club advertising, however, that was for PYL not JDL.

The club I am aware of are internally advertising. I'm sure they don't want to let Northern know that the embellished their application. Especially after they sooked it up when they were graded as bronze & got upgraded.

[Taffy]

Is it the club that Northern always give special treatment to?

[WOW2.0]

In year 1 of JDL clubs were required to do 1 session per week out at the facility so the NNSW coaches could assess them and see they were following the curriculum.I thought it worked well and was of great value to a lot of coaches (plenty of other coaches didnt enjoy the feedback). By year 2 they relaxed the requirements and teams went about once a month.It didnt take long after that for certain clubs to stop going as they thought they had better systems in place (quality TD's and coaches).Once the size of the program kept getting bigger (more clubs/more age groups) it made it near impossible for NNSW to keep on top of what was happening.I assume this new system is more about clubs doing what they can at the front end to get as many coaches qualified for the roles and hopefully not need NNSW over their shoulders.Its obviously not perfect but points for trying.Instead of requiring everyone to have a C licence to get the highest status,maybe NNSW can run coaching seminars once a month or so for anyone keen on improving to sit down with them and work through stuff (similar to what they do with referees).Even take their individual teams out to the facility for a run through.Its clear theres not one strict way to get the best out of all this but as long as they are trying things its hard to argue with them.

From what I understand, they already have to do so many points worth of engagements with northern to maintain their licence level

Agree with whoever said it shouldn't cost more than $200...football is far too expensive and surely this expensive paywall keeps lots of people out who might make great coaches

[Dreamtime Yowie]

The club I am aware of are internally advertising. I'm sure they don't want to let Northern know that the embellished their application. Especially after they sooked it up when they were graded as bronze & got upgraded.

Edgeworth and Olympic? I know Olympic lost a few in the JDL space recently.

[sapdad]

From what I understand, they already have to do so many points worth of engagements with northern to maintain their licence level


Thanks for the info.

[AVB]

Is it the club that Northern always give special treatment to?

Id guess clubs these days pay for coaches to.do the courses. Considering the commitment required from them during a longer and longer season I think that's bare minimum.

Also worth noting C License used to be ~$1500 and 4 or 5 weekends. Now it's <$1000 and 2 weekends + online pre work. So FA/NNSW are doing something to make it more accessible

[northern_swan]

Edgeworth and Olympic? I know Olympic lost a few in the JDL space recently.

Olympic are fine
Edit: to my knowledge

[Taffy]

Olympic are also still rated as a bronze club so can't have been them who complained and then got pushed to silver.

[TopCorner]

Id guess clubs these days pay for coaches to.do the courses. Considering the commitment required from them during a longer and longer season I think that's bare minimum.

Also worth noting C License used to be ~$1500 and 4 or 5 weekends. Now it's <$1000 and 2 weekends + online pre work. So FA/NNSW are doing something to make it more accessible

Some clubs contribute to coaching course registrations - often in the form of a percentage being refunded to the coach each year by the club each post qualification e.g. 33% each year over three years. My hunch is most don’t.

Id love to hear of any clubs paying for licences because they aren?t cheap and if you can’t
tick any inclusion boxes then its on you

[AVB]

Some clubs contribute to coaching course registrations - often in the form of a percentage being refunded to the coach each year by the club each post qualification e.g. 33% each year over three years. My hunch is most don?t.

Id love to hear of any clubs paying for licences because they aren?t cheap and if you can?t
tick any inclusion boxes then its on you

I know from first hand experience that at Cooks Hill they cover cost of all coaches qualifications in full as soon as the qualification is awarded.

[ForeverRed]

I know from first hand experience that at Cooks Hill they cover cost of all coaches qualifications in full as soon as the qualification is awarded.
Then the coach leaves and the clubs out of pocket,

[onlooker]

Some clubs contribute to coaching course registrations - often in the form of a percentage being refunded to the coach each year by the club each post qualification e.g. 33% each year over three years. My hunch is most don’t.

Id love to hear of any clubs paying for licences because they aren?t cheap and if you can’t
tick any inclusion boxes then its on you

Maitland FC covered my C Licence and it was like you said a percentage over a certain amount of years, if I left before the agreed upon years then i didn?t get the remaining money paid. They also covered my first level of GK coaching and any other courses they feel or recommend we do. I pay for any extras that I want to do or need to do to get my hours up to keep my licence.

[TopCorner]

Maitland FC covered my C Licence and it was like you said a percentage over a certain amount of years, if I left before the agreed upon years then i didn?t get the remaining money paid. They also covered my first level of GK coaching and any other courses they feel or recommend we do. I pay for any extras that I want to do or need to do to get my hours up to keep my licence.

Great stuff well done

Maitland
Cooks Hill
Valentine

[Eastwest]

Good to see the local comp kicking off at around the same time as the NSWNPL. Makes for a decent season length wise.

[Taffy]

Believe it is only one less game than in Sydney. But we play longer games, so overall probably more game time.

[WOW2.0]

Believe it is only one less game than in Sydney. But we play longer games, so overall probably more game time.
The season, or with cup games and organised trials...does FNSW have those same extras? Curious

[Taffy]

The season, or with cup games and organised trials...does FNSW have those same extras? Curious

29 competition games compared to 30 competition games in Sydney.

Different clubs will have different numbers of trials so difficult to say if you want to compare/

[Aegon]

The season, or with cup games and organised trials...does FNSW have those same extras? Curious

FNSW NPL clubs probably play 5-10 trials before the season. So 35-40 games + 1-3 finals games if the individual teams make it.

[Taffy]

FNSW NPL clubs probably play 5-10 trials before the season. So 35-40 games + 1-3 finals games if the individual teams make it.

Yes clearly not counting trials since some like my nephews' team have played 6 so far while others have played less. And not counting finals as not all teams will make it.

[Trigger]

NSWPYL only has 2 finals games. Straight knockouts.
NNSW PYL also plays quite a few trail games & plus a lot of opportunity to move between age grades during the season.
Probably should give some credit to Northern making something happen.

[Addios]

Preseason kicks off tonight.

[Hunter403]

Preseason kicks off tonight.
Weather permitting

[KITZ]

Weather permitting

Good luck for the season peeps, hopefully the coaches keep their **** together and the kids all have a good time, because at the end of the day this comp is about and for them!

[Hunter403]

weather already involved: Toronto v Kahibah is off

[The Magician]

weather already involved: Toronto v Kahibah is off

So is Jaffas vs Magic at Edden

[sapdad]

Seems like the season ahead has a few changes for referees.The zero tolerance policy has been tightened even further so hopefully the clubs have made it clear to players/parents and coaches that there will be even less leeway given.There has also been some interesting changes around cards for handball/'tactical' fouls and DOCGSO situations.All I can say is if coaches and parents want to mouth off at least know the rules the referees have been forced to implement.It is no longer the way it was back in your day.Hope everyone has a great season ahead.

[Taffy]

Seems like the season ahead has a few changes for referees.The zero tolerance policy has been tightened even further so hopefully the clubs have made it clear to players/parents and coaches that there will be even less leeway given.There has also been some interesting changes around cards for handball/'tactical' fouls and DOCGSO situations.All I can say is if coaches and parents want to mouth off at least know the rules the referees have been forced to implement.It is no longer the way it was back in your day.Hope everyone has a great season ahead.

Hopefully Northern communicate these changes.

[sapdad]

Hopefully Northern communicate these changes.

I agree.I didnt get a chance to ask my son if they were FIFA/FFA or NNSW rules.I assumed that all punishment rules are always FIFA directed.I dont really like the idea of 14 year old refs having to explain new rules to coaches pre-game either.The more communication the better.

[outsider]

Hopefully Northern communicate these changes.

Clubs can go onto IFAB website which has the full 230 pages of Laws of the Game and also changes to the Law.
One would hope that Northern will do something though.

[homersimpson]

NNSWF should be spoonfeeding Laws of the Game at the annual Coaching Conference where the coaches earn CPD for attending.
Missed opportunity.
I'm more than happy to be told they are doing this.

[Eastwest]

It is no longer the way it was back in your day.

yeah. Time & culture has moved on. All I want from the ref is consistency and I'm not really seeing it in youth level yet.

[sapdad]

All I want from the ref is consistency and I'm not really seeing it in youth level yet.

Watching games these past few years Ive come to realise the only model of consistency most parents and coaches are happy with is consistently giving their team every decision.Parents and other adults are allowed to go do the course and officiate games as well.Whether we like it or not,we (parents/coaches) are one of the main reasons kids stop wanting to do it,so until we get better its tough to expect 14 year olds to keep us all happy.It will be interesting to see how many 1st year refs signed up this season and how many of last years big group stayed for another year.I did hear that a club did end up getting docked points under the zero tolerance policy which I didnt remember hearing about during last season.

[sapdad]

And Im not criticizing your post Eastwest,I agree there have been some issues with refs at all levels.As Ive mentioned before my boys ref so am always going to be more sympathetic than most as I see the back end of it as well as the effort they put in to do the best they can.Mine have not had too many dramas but the stories they hear around the traps regarding the behavior of adults in leadership positions is pretty sad to be honest.

[Taffy]

I did hear that a club did end up getting docked points under the zero tolerance policy which I didnt remember hearing about during last season.

I don't think any club did, the only one that came close was West Wallsend 1st grade but because both ref abuse cards came in the same game Northern changed their rules and said they have to be in different games.

[GO AWAY]

Even though trials in youth. What happened to Wallsend today shouldn?t happen. Them poor kids will not play at all if that happens.

[samcan]

Watching games these past few years Ive come to realise the only model of consistency most parents and coaches are happy with is consistently giving their team every decision.Parents and other adults are allowed to go do the course and officiate games as well.Whether we like it or not,we (parents/coaches) are one of the main reasons kids stop wanting to do it,so until we get better its tough to expect 14 year olds to keep us all happy.It will be interesting to see how many 1st year refs signed up this season and how many of last years big group stayed for another year.I did hear that a club did end up getting docked points under the zero tolerance policy which I didnt remember hearing about during last season.

Ill weigh in here.
Standard defensive comment from a parent who has a kid that coaches. Lets not confuse poor adult behaviour with inconsistent poor ref behaviour.
One is usually and antecedent to the other. You have had words at a ref before, different now is it? We have started changing poor adult behaviour & removing them which is great. Its embarrassing when coaches are crying over a throwin decision among many other situations. No tolerance should continue until we rid all abuse.

But back to the other problem your trying to defend. Not once have you accepted that many refs are poor and its not due to anything else apart from not being experienced and assertive enough.
Now I've played & reffed a bit and I've seen too many refs put into positions where they aren't competent. There was a young girl trying to ref a Jets boys game & that game should have been stopped due to incompetence. Sorry Lefties get a tissue if the truth is getting heavy.
The association is the biggest problem here. If we could have the kids reffing younger ages for longer, then they can work their way up until theyre ready to rule the game competently & consistently. These kids will be top refs soon enough if they are put into situations they can handle for longer. If we are short of refs at the NPL level then clubs must supply an adult. Will there still be some mistakes & bias? Sometimes.

[The Hacker]

Even though trials in youth. What happened to Wallsend today shouldn?t happen. Them poor kids will not play at all if that happens.

Care to elaborate

[Bremsstrahlung]

Ill weigh in here.
Standard defensive comment from a parent who has a kid that coaches. Lets not confuse poor adult behaviour with inconsistent poor ref behaviour.
One is usually and antecedent to the other. You have had words at a ref before, different now is it? We have started changing poor adult behaviour & removing them which is great. Its embarrassing when coaches are crying over a throwin decision among many other situations. No tolerance should continue until we rid all abuse.

But back to the other problem your trying to defend. Not once have you accepted that many refs are poor and its not due to anything else apart from not being experienced and assertive enough.
Now I've played & reffed a bit and I've seen too many refs put into positions where they aren't competent. There was a young girl trying to ref a Jets boys game & that game should have been stopped due to incompetence. Sorry Lefties get a tissue if the truth is getting heavy.
The association is the biggest problem here. If we could have the kids reffing younger ages for longer, then they can work their way up until theyre ready to rule the game competently & consistently. These kids will be top refs soon enough if they are put into situations they can handle for longer. If we are short of refs at the NPL level then clubs must supply an adult. Will there still be some mistakes & bias? Sometimes.

Referee is a thankless task.

But our sport is atrociously disrespectful to them, all the way from EPL, to A League, to locally. The games we watch on TV and see 10 players crowding the ref makes people think they too can behave like that. Same goes for diving and feigning contact etc. not to mention a large part of the game is designed to ?deceive? the referee, claiming corner kicks or throw ins when it?s clearly not etc.

Watch a game of NRL, Rugby, AFL, Netball?there is next to no dissent. Captains speak to the referee respectfully.

It?s like applying for a job. You have no experience, but you can?t get experience without getting the job.

In general there are not enough referees. Therefore the talent pool is smaller and they need to put referees out of their depth - compounding the issue. Why is it so unattractive? Because not many people want to be abused on the regular. You don?t go to maccas as yell at the 14 year old that forgot to remove the gherkin from your burger. You don?t harrass the kid stacking shelves and tell them they are doing it wrong.

Players make mistakes every game. It?s quickly forgotten and forgiven. Could you imagine if the ref was able to offer their feedback to a game? ?What do you call that shit?? ?Goals are over there? ?you?re a joke?. Why is the reverse acceptable?


The referees are not perfect, they are learning. The same as the players are learning and not perfect.

That said, there needs to be feedback and some accountability, how else will referees improve. I?m not sure on how it all works these days, but having a senior referee that can offer support and advice would be welcomed. Idk how it would work to buddy ref the game. Have a ?supervisor? without a whistle on the field with the referee talking them through things. (Maybe not at this level, but maybe in the first year games).

[Taffy]

Care to elaborate

A few teams lost by quite some large margins, it's going to be a rough year for them hopefully the coaching staff can continue to improve their performances and their morale.

[Taffy]

You don?t go to maccas as yell at the 14 year old that forgot to remove the gherkin from your burger.

I'll just point out you do see the same cumstains doing this as well.

[sapdad]

Ill weigh in here.
Standard defensive comment from a parent who has a kid that coaches. Lets not confuse poor adult behaviour with inconsistent poor ref behaviour.
One is usually and antecedent to the other. You have had words at a ref before, different now is it? We have started changing poor adult behaviour & removing them which is great. Its embarrassing when coaches are crying over a throwin decision among many other situations. No tolerance should continue until we rid all abuse.

But back to the other problem your trying to defend. Not once have you accepted that many refs are poor and its not due to anything else apart from not being experienced and assertive enough.
Now I've played & reffed a bit and I've seen too many refs put into positions where they aren't competent. There was a young girl trying to ref a Jets boys game & that game should have been stopped due to incompetence. Sorry Lefties get a tissue if the truth is getting heavy.
The association is the biggest problem here. If we could have the kids reffing younger ages for longer, then they can work their way up until theyre ready to rule the game competently & consistently. These kids will be top refs soon enough if they are put into situations they can handle for longer. If we are short of refs at the NPL level then clubs must supply an adult. Will there still be some mistakes & bias? Sometimes.


No need to assume you can just ask me.My boys ref and play at NPL level.Ive never coached at boys NPL level or coached my kids.I am pro ref and have had more talks with parents on the sidelines about their behavior than I've ever had with refs in the middle doing their job.I have also spelled out the main reason why there are not enough refs (let alone experienced refs).They give it a go,they cop crap from people who have no right to abuse them and they leave because its not worth it.Your idea of highly experienced refs mentoring you refs is of course great but there arent any around to do it.All the pie in the sky wish list solutions are great,but the fact is most on here dont have a clue about how the program works and dont care to find out.Its just easier to critisise.Ive never said the refs are perfect (pretty sure one of my last posts about this issue says exactly that) but as was pointed out,neither are players/coaches or parents but only one group ever cops the abuse.Its unfair and any attempt to defend it is pathetic.So we can keep the same standards for parents and coaches and let them carry on however they want if they feel like their young superstar is being cheated out of a win because of the shit ref,or we can try and change some stuff to try and improve the experience for everyone.All I can say is that the refereeing situation is going to be the same for at least another year so if its all too much I can only advise parents and players to either step away from the sport to avoid the heartache or get yourself down to Speers Point,do the course and help out.

[sapdad]

If we are short of refs at the NPL level then clubs must supply an adult. Will there still be some mistakes & bias? Sometimes.

Ok,I hope it doesn't look like I'm attacking you for your opinion with my last post because I honestly get the frustration and see the ref mistakes but here is where I dont understand some people.You dont want inexperienced refs at games because they get things wrong but youre happy with an inexperienced ref at a game and happy for them to make mistakes because they are an adult?This is some seriously bad judgement and you only had to be around for the double header last year to see how this all worked out.Adults in thongs,no whistles,no uniform,no idea of the rules/positioning or procedures and you think thats ok because they are old and played the game 20 years ago.The only reason there wasnt a bigger blow up is because a)1/2 the crowd didnt yell because the ref was one of theirs and b) the crowd were generally even more cowardly to yell abuse at an adult.What a joke that all was.Sorry mate but this is a really bad idea.

[sapdad]

I'll just point out you do see the same cumstains doing this as well.

100%.Its a people problem.Idiots out there feel way too comfortable nowadays being ****wits to kids trying their best.They are the problem and need to be held accountable in all walks of life where this happens.

[sapdad]

I?m not sure on how it all works these days, but having a senior referee that can offer support and advice would be welcomed. Idk how it would work to buddy ref the game.

The last two years at least there has been a program put out looking for ex-referees/players and coaches (or generally anyone with a knowledge and love of the game) to mentor and support young refs on weekends.The more people that get involved in this program the better it will be.

[Izzy]

30-0 in the U14s and 16-0 in the U15s vs Lake Macquarie. Ridiculous and poor form from the LM coaches IMHO. Once it gets to double figures, throw out the anchor and mix it up (2 touch only etc).

[Box2Box]

NNSW should never had made Wallsends pre season games against any of the Div 1 clubs. What does anyone get out of those matches on the weekend. The first rounf of matches saw Div 1 v Div 1 mainly and Div 2 v Div 2 and score were reasonable and most teams would have got something out of it. Round 2 saw Div 1 play Div 2 teams and those top Div 1 teams are way too good for those lower Div 2 teams which will be Div 3 once we split mid way through the year.

[KITZ]

30-0 in the U14s and 16-0 in the U15s vs Lake Macquarie. Ridiculous and poor form from the LM coaches IMHO. Once it gets to double figures, throw out the anchor and mix it up (2 touch only etc).

Absolutely not, lakes should not change what they are doing, it was only a few years ago lakes were on the other end of double digits and since I was there I can tell you NO other club changed the rules for them - there was at least one game we had to continue without a goalkeeper because of the poor form of kicking him in the head after the whistle had gone, and there was no holding back then from said club.

What Wallsend should take away from this is that 4 years ago this was the position that lakes were in and now they have 13s coming through and playing in Div 1 grand finals.

While I am all for modesty in situations like this and not celebrating like wild animals when scorelines get out of hand I will also not forget how many players thought they had the right to tell my kid that he didn't deserve to play NPL because he was playing at lakes - most of the players who thought they were better and acted as such are no longer playing football 4 years later.

Should they have been put against lakes? that was probably an oversight in a club trying to rebuild. If everyone provides feedback to northern then maybe it can be looked at for next time around. But to insinuate lakes should behave differently then any other club would is ridiculous.

[sapdad]

None of this is Lakes fault.I also dont mind for one trial game a club playing against a stronger club.Its shown in results that some lower clubs are competing very well against teams above them so one week of blowouts shouldnt scrap the whole idea.Things can always be done better but its not the end of the world.

[Taffy]

Absolutely not, lakes should not change what they are doing, it was only a few years ago lakes were on the other end of double digits and since I was there I can tell you NO other club changed the rules for them - there was at least one game we had to continue without a goalkeeper because of the poor form of kicking him in the head after the whistle had gone, and there was no holding back then from said club.

No one said change the rules, they said Lakes coaches could change something to give their players a challenge. And I saw it once when a team was beating Lakes and the team decided to go to 10 players last 20 minutes.


What Wallsend should take away from this is that 4 years ago this was the position that lakes were in and now they have 13s coming through and playing in Div 1 grand finals.

This is not a bad point.

[Izzy]

No one is suggesting to 'change the rules', just a bit of humility and character from the coaches. Just because Lakes were on the end of some awful behavior/scorelines in the past doesn't mean that they should just follow suit. This is where positive lessons can be exhibited to the kids.

[Taffy]

None of this is Lakes fault.I also dont mind for one trial game a club playing against a stronger club.Its shown in results that some lower clubs are competing very well against teams above them so one week of blowouts shouldnt scrap the whole idea.Things can always be done better but its not the end of the world.

Most likely random, the whole idea is Champions League style format, so Lakes and Wallsend was just random pick.

Nothing wrong with the whole idea just bad luck on the draw for Wallsend. I'd note some Div C teams have beaten Div 1 teams in this comp so far as well.

[samcan]

NNSW should never had made Wallsends pre season games against any of the Div 1 clubs. What does anyone get out of those matches on the weekend. The first rounf of matches saw Div 1 v Div 1 mainly and Div 2 v Div 2 and score were reasonable and most teams would have got something out of it. Round 2 saw Div 1 play Div 2 teams and those top Div 1 teams are way too good for those lower Div 2 teams which will be Div 3 once we split mid way through the year.

Agree. Some of these clubs are way out of there depth and cant compete thus rendering the "trial" game a waste of time.

Maybe a solution is where clubs should be able to nominate whether they want to play div 1 clubs or not.

Makes fixtures a little tricky but 30-0 is a waste of time on all sides.

[Hunter403]

I think these games and what you get from them depends on the attitude you take into them. For my part, the team I coach, have been told that the results here are not important. These are just training runs. We are trying to establish the way we want to play and we learn from doing something right as well as something wrong. We've had a washout and a draw. This week we will play a strong div 1 club. To me, this is a defence training exercise. Whatever the score is, we will learn from it and the score will be as meaningful as the score in a training drill.
Some teams / clubs take this preseason stuff as being important to win. My team just see it as extra training.
If I was leading by a cricket score, I'd give my team rules to make it more difficult, however each to their own.

[Hunter403]

Absolutely not, lakes should not change what they are doing, it was only a few years ago lakes were on the other end of double digits and since I was there I can tell you NO other club changed the rules for them - there was at least one game we had to continue without a goalkeeper because of the poor form of kicking him in the head after the whistle had gone, and there was no holding back then from said club.

What Wallsend should take away from this is that 4 years ago this was the position that lakes were in and now they have 13s coming through and playing in Div 1 grand finals.

While I am all for modesty in situations like this and not celebrating like wild animals when scorelines get out of hand I will also not forget how many players thought they had the right to tell my kid that he didn't deserve to play NPL because he was playing at lakes - most of the players who thought they were better and acted as such are no longer playing football 4 years later.

Should they have been put against lakes? that was probably an oversight in a club trying to rebuild. If everyone provides feedback to northern then maybe it can be looked at for next time around. But to insinuate lakes should behave differently then any other club would is ridiculous.

Ah, we got hurt so it's now our turn to dish out the hurt.

[sapdad]

Just one more thing on these terrible refs some of you are encountering.A good percentage of the time there are assessors at each game (especially with the younger referees).The refs then receive a report detailing decisions,game management,punctuality.One of the earlier reports my son got back in the day commented on his boots werent clean enough and paid attention to the angle on how he raised his flag as an assistant thats how much detail they went into.Maybe all these retired referees that think they can do a good job should apply to actually be assessors and help bring the next crop through.NNSW to their credit is doing their best,maybe some of the big mouths out there in the crowd can be more useful than calling them shit.Just a thought.Anyway I'll see you all back here later on when the inevitable abusive reply comes through.

[sapdad]

One occaision doesnt make it a standard. I'd take a reasonable club ref.

But lets get the asocciations to do their job first before we point fingers at each other. They should be trying better ways to improve this. They have done some and some arent working.

Thank you,and thats the point I'm trying to make.For every bad young ref story theres a bad old ref story.NNSW are in charge and are trying to improve things every year.I just want people to lay off the young refs and let them do their best and to be honest the majority or coaches/parents and players do exactly that.

[Justafootballdad]

I also heard that 13s was 18-0 win for Lakes over Wallsend. I did hear to that Wallsend had an 11 year old play for them in both 13s and 14s games. Didn't come off the field in either game. If true I'm not sure coaching will be the issue, just purely team doesn't have enough good players.

[Box2Box]

Not sure what happened in 15s game Buds v Edgy but that was 16-0 to edgy. Buds only lost 2-0 to southy the week before and Edgy beat Valo 4-2. Players missing for the Buds or simply a gulf in class?.

[Taffy]

Not sure what happened in 15s game Buds v Edgy but that was 16-0 to edgy. Buds only lost 2-0 to southy the week before and Edgy beat Valo 4-2. Players missing for the Buds or simply a gulf in class?.

The coach has gone around handpicking to get the best players in the region onto his team and from what I hear refused to allow the best 1-2 to go up into the 16s because they were yet to have a full team. So wouldn't surprise me if it was a combination of both missing Buds players and a gulf.

[The Hacker]

The coach has gone around handpicking to get the best players in the region onto his team and from what I hear refused to allow the best 1-2 to go up into the 16s because they were yet to have a full team. So wouldn't surprise me if it was a combination of both missing Buds players and a gulf.

2 players aren?t changing 16-0 much

[Largesse]

2 players aren?t changing 16-0 much

Surely a product of decoupling? That buds team was very good in 12s and solid in 13s including winning div 2 after being in top half before the split. But every year 3 or 4 players, arguably their best, leave to play for a Div 1 team. The result? Blowouts and scrambling to fill teams as best as possible from who is available. They'll probably build across the year, get some results, then lose their best, again.

[Taffy]

Surely a product of decoupling?

I mean this sort of stuff was happening before decoupling anyway.

[samcan]

The coach has gone around handpicking to get the best players in the region onto his team and from what I hear refused to allow the best 1-2 to go up into the 16s because they were yet to have a full team. So wouldn't surprise me if it was a combination of both missing Buds players and a gulf.

Yeah that didnt happen. Where did you get that from? 1 or 2 from community, 1 from powerhouse Weston, another from Belswans academy.
Think someone set you up.
Adamstown lost 1 of their best players to New lambton. NL have recruited well from "lower" clubs as well.

Buds need big changes to fix this.

[sapdad]

What a yawnfest, move on

I agree,besides,the problem has now been fixed it seems.Well done to everyone for a lively debate.Looking forward to no crying about refs this season now that we have all the answers.Back to the football.

[Game_over]

I spoke to a parent from the buds team, they only had 9 U15s available due to injury and illness, they have lost a number of the better players over the last 2 years to Div1 teams

[Izzy]

North Coast has lost their technical director (Greg Brown - ex Matildas coach) and numbers are considerably down this year, especially in the older age groups. I suspect the impressive results they had last year will not be repeated this year. It is amazing how many talented kids give it away when the reach the U15/U16 level. 10 hour return bus trips every second week doesn't help with retention rates.

[Taffy]

Happens in Newcastle a bit too, kids get jobs, girlfriends/boyfriends, other interests, prefer to focus on school and all of a sudden they just want to kick around with their mates.

[Justafootballdad]

I spoke to a parent from the buds team, they only had 9 U15s available due to injury and illness, they have lost a number of the better players over the last 2 years to Div1 teams
A lot of this is down to the random draw putting strong teams against the not so strong. My mates son plays in the Adamstown team and his son told him that at training Thursday night before they played Edgeworth. Some players said they were just going to pull out sick or injured. Not the right attitude but it's what happens when these results are a given

[WOW2.0]

North Coast has lost their technical director (Greg Brown - ex Matildas coach) and numbers are considerably down this year, especially in the older age groups. I suspect the impressive results they had last year will not be repeated this year. It is amazing how many talented kids give it away when the reach the U15/U16 level. 10 hour return bus trips every second week doesn't help with retention rates.

I don't know how, or why they do it TBH
I don't even like going up there once a year!

Curious on this ref question, SAPDAD mentioned $50 (for the day I assume)...is that all they get?

If so, maybe some give it away because they simply found better weekend jobs, for more money.

[WOW2.0]

Happens in Newcastle a bit too, kids get jobs, girlfriends/boyfriends, other interests, prefer to focus on school and all of a sudden they just want to kick around with their mates.

There is a documentary on YouTube about the German development system, one interesting stat it showed was that of those who make it to the Bundesliga, very few received any specialist/academy training before they were aged 16/17 (despite them having their own versions of SAP/JDL from 5 or so)

I think it's hard for those teenagers who have been on the path for a long time, and sacrificed a lot, boredom, pressure, other interests...perhaps a realisation for many that it was dad's (or mum's) dream more than theirs...all contributing factors.

Link to the German documentary: https://youtu.be/3beI0f8G-3A?si=rnaEV9okCSdZKq7t

[Bremsstrahlung]

A lot of this is down to the random draw putting strong teams against the not so strong. My mates son plays in the Adamstown team and his son told him that at training Thursday night before they played Edgeworth. Some players said they were just going to pull out sick or injured. Not the right attitude but it's what happens when these results are a given

Obviously anecdotal evidence here, but that’s a poor attitude imo. Coaches/parents should be helping develop a better outlook for these kids. Nobody likes losing - but it’s how you build to the game. If you’ve got kids not wanting to play, that’s a red flag for me. Part of this program should be to instill some discipline, professionalism and a positive attitude.

I can understand dropping your heads mid game when it’s obviously not going to plan - but to essentially give up before you even start is a sad state of affairs.

[Bremsstrahlung]

I don't know how, or why they do it TBH
I don't even like going up there once a year!

Curious on this ref question, SAPDAD mentioned $50 (for the day I assume)...is that all they get?

If so, maybe some give it away because they simply found better weekend jobs, for more money.

$46-80 to referee PYL (half to be assistant). Perhaps somebody could offer more insight, but I’d almost imagine they would split the 5 games into 2 groups rotate so most refs get 1 x centre, 2 x AR.

Assuming 3 games - best outcome if you centre the 18s game and assistant for the 2 prior - $150. (11:45 -5:15 - 5.5 hours $27/hr)

Worst case you’re the junior and ref the 13s - $104 (8:30-1:30 - 5 hours - $20/hr).

Very rough estimates….

2024 NNSW referee fees.
https://www.northernnswfootball.com.au/sites/nnswf/files/2024-03/2024%20Premier%20Referee%20Fees%20-%20Competition%20Matches.pdf

[sapdad]

$46-80 to referee PYL (half to be assistant). Perhaps somebody could offer more insight, but I?d almost imagine they would split the 5 games into 2 groups rotate so most refs get 1 x centre, 2 x AR.

Assuming 3 games - best outcome if you centre the 18s game and assistant for the 2 prior - $150. (11:45 -5:15 - 5.5 hours $27/hr)

Worst case you?re the junior and ref the 13s - $104 (8:30-1:30 - 5 hours - $20/hr).

Very rough estimates?.

2024 NNSW referee fees.
https://www.northernnswfootball.com.au/sites/nnswf/files/2024-03/2024%20Premier%20Referee%20Fees%20-%20Competition%20Matches.pdf

Yes your numbers are pretty spot on.The older the age group you get the money goes up incrementally.You get about half of a centre fee to run lines so if a kid does 1 centre and 2 lines its usually $100-$150 a day.That money is also tax free at all ages (not that any 14 year olds are going over the tax free threashold)but its probably one of the better paying weekend jobs young kids can get.Then you need to factor in ages (they dont want kids reffing teams they play against) so ideally you get a 14 yr old doing 13's,15 doing 14's etc.Problems arise when the lack of 17/18/19 year old refs means that older age groups get either younger refs centering games or no refs at all.Most weekends my sons will get 3 games but there has also been days when late notice cancellations see them get asked to head up to Weston or out to Edgy for one game.A lot of kids wont see the value in it and not bother.

[sapdad]

I did hear that they are opening up the referee pool for NPL refs over the age of 16 to start doing ZPL matches.Im sure it used to be a separate pool so by combining them it should get more refs at those ages and above more experience.I dont know what the refereeing situation has been like in ZPL but I certainly noticed the interpretations are a lot different to NPL when I watch.It will be good for refs to see another style of game.

[sapdad]

And now back to the football before we end up 'there' again.On the Adamstown situation,they lost a whole team 2 years ago and had to play one grade short.I know everyone likes to blame the big clubs for poaching their best players but maybe theres more to it.

[Retired01]

And now back to the football before we end up 'there' again.On the Adamstown situation,they lost a whole team 2 years ago and had to play one grade short.I know everyone likes to blame the big clubs for poaching their best players but maybe theres more to it.

Yes there is a bigger underlying problem and it is that there are too many clubs allowed to have JYL and JDL teams. All NNSW has done is take off the community shirt and give them an NPL shirt and there are not enough kids and also not enough coaches, then jack the prices up from $250 @ community to $1250 to play NPL and pretend the competition is better which was proven by all the lopsided scores on the weekend.

[Taffy]

Yes there is a bigger underlying problem and it is that there are too many clubs allowed to have JYL and JDL teams. All NNSW has done is take off the community shirt and give them an NPL shirt and there are not enough kids and also not enough coaches, then jack the prices up from $250 @ community to $1250 to play NPL and pretend the competition is better which was proven by all the lopsided scores on the weekend.

A couple lopsided scores in one weekend proves nothing.

If you look at the stats from the number of lopsided scores during the NPL and NL1 boys days to PYL boys days has dramatically dropped

[Taffy]

I do agree with your JDL point though and from 2026 it is going to be worse when they start allowing community clubs to have JDL teams

[Eastwest]

Yes there is a bigger underlying problem and it is that there are too many clubs allowed to have JYL and JDL teams. All NNSW has done is take off the community shirt and give them an NPL shirt and there are not enough kids and also not enough coaches, then jack the prices up from $250 @ community to $1250 to play NPL and pretend the competition is better which was proven by all the lopsided scores on the weekend.

There are plenty of decent coaches. Its just that many arent willing to put up with dodgy club politics so let it go.
You should know how it goes in many clubs.

[Eastwest]

Yes your numbers are pretty spot on.The older the age group you get the money goes up incrementally.You get about half of a centre fee to run lines so if a kid does 1 centre and 2 lines its usually $100-$150 a day.That money is also tax free at all ages (not that any 14 year olds are going over the tax free threashold)but its probably one of the better paying weekend jobs young kids can get.Then you need to factor in ages (they dont want kids reffing teams they play against) so ideally you get a 14 yr old doing 13's,15 doing 14's etc.Problems arise when the lack of 17/18/19 year old refs means that older age groups get either younger refs centering games or no refs at all.Most weekends my sons will get 3 games but there has also been days when late notice cancellations see them get asked to head up to Weston or out to Edgy for one game.A lot of kids wont see the value in it and not bother.

No kid should be reffing at or above their age for mine. My opinion.

A 16/17 yo reffing ZL is setting up for failure. Just facts.

[JustMe]

Curious as to the final cup games. Makes sense now.
13 14 15 16 18 T
N Coast 6 6 9 9 9 39
Edgewor 7 9 9 6 6 37
Valentine 7 6 6 9 9 37
Olympic 6 7 9 9 4 35
Broadm 7 7 7 7 7 35
Lambton 7 7 7 7 4 32
Maitland 9 7 4 4 7 31
Lake Mac 9 9 6 3 3 30
mid coast 6 6 6 4 0 22
weston 3 3 3 4 9 22
southy 4 6 4 4 4 22
New Lamb 6 6 1 1 6 20
Belswans 6 4 4 2 4 20
charlest 3 4 4 4 4 19
cookers 0 0 6 6 6 18
cessnock 3 1 4 6 3 17
Adamst 4 3 1 0 6 14
Inland 3 3 4 4 0 14
West Walls 3 3 3 0 3 12
Toronto 4 4 1 1 1 11
kahibah 1 1 2 2 2 8
singo 0 0 1 0 3 4
wallsend 0 0 0 na 3 3
thornton 0 1 0 0 0 1

[Hunter403]

Washouts skewed this table. Makes for some interesting fourth round match ups

[Izzy]

Surprise surprise North Coast have to travel to Newcastle again after finishing first. What happened to this NNSW? Over promise, under deliver as usual.

1874

[Taffy]

Surprise surprise North Coast have to travel to Newcastle again after finishing first. What happened to this NNSW? Over promise, under deliver as usual.

1874

To be fair, this weekend isn't a group stage match, it's the final.

[Izzy]

Dude, really? 2 of the 3 'group' games away, top of the table, and now away again. I get it, many Hunter peeps don't want the regional teams in PYL, but if you are going to take our fees etc., make it fair.

[Taffy]

Dude, really? 2 of the 3 'group' games away, top of the table, and now away again. I get it, many Hunter peeps don't want the regional teams in PYL, but if you are going to take our fees etc., make it fair.

Well there are no groups either, I get it though, no reason they couldn't have kept all 3 games in Coffs like they did under the old PYL Pre-Season Cup format.

But isn't the OzTag State Championships being held in the complex this weekend? Might be why they can't play there this weekend.

[Izzy]

It is (OzTag), but plenty of quality club pitches are available. A couple of seasons ago North Coast played a pre season cup round at a community pitch. Both the playing clubs were happy with the standard provided, and the community club was happy as they made a few extra bucks from the canteen.

[WOW2.0]

Dude, really? 2 of the 3 'group' games away, top of the table, and now away again. I get it, many Hunter peeps don't want the regional teams in PYL, but if you are going to take our fees etc., make it fair.

I will give an unpopular opinion, but, they shouldn't take your money, AND they shouldn't expect anyone to go travel 4 hours each way for a game...you, or those in Newcastle

Fatigue might one day cause a catastrophic outcome due to this unnecessary setup.

[sapdad]

I certainly dont mind going up there once a season when the draw comes out and have heaps of notice its a great trip away for the players and good bonding.But it was not fair on Edgeworth and Adamstown asking them to organise 100+ people on a couple of days notice and NNSW should have seen something like this coming.I dont envy North Coast and NIAS having to travel down every 2nd week either but there really is no other option if they want to play in this program.I heard the North Coast (the club) were ok with coming down and if thats the case good on them.Maybe next year NNSW should just let the regional teams organise their own pre-season trials to avoid this type of situation.

[Izzy]

But it was not fair on Edgeworth and Adamstown asking them to organise 100+ people on a couple of days notice and NNSW should have seen something like this coming.

Interesting comment this one, but it is ok for the NC parents to do the same? There just needs to be some leadership from NNSW here. What about meeting halfway (Taree?) and playing there or something similar? There is just this expectation that NC will suck it up.

I agree re your point excluding regional teams from the pre-season cup.

[Dreamtime Yowie]

If nnsw don?t reschedule the washouts how can this even be called a pre season cup. Edgy and Valo got looked after in the draw also with only having to play 1 NPL youth club and 2 low tier. Poor old Olympic,Magic, NL,Jaffa?s having to play 2 top tier and 1 low tier. With the amount of teams in the competition this could have been more even so don?t tell me this is meant to be some pre season ?cup?. So edgy and NC are playing in a final in 13s or 14s (NC) that neither team even made the top 5. Crap format in my opinion.

[sapdad]

Interesting comment this one, but it is ok for the NC parents to do the same? There just needs to be some leadership from NNSW here. What about meeting halfway (Taree?) and playing there or something similar? There is just this expectation that NC will suck it up.

I agree re your point excluding regional teams from the pre-season cup.

I dont think its ok for the NC parents either.But as I said I was told NC (club) were ok to travel this weekend and are way better organised on short notice.

[sapdad]

If nnsw don?t reschedule the washouts how can this even be called a pre season cup. Edgy and Valo got looked after in the draw also with only having to play 1 NPL youth club and 2 low tier. Poor old Olympic,Magic, NL,Jaffa?s having to play 2 top tier and 1 low tier. With the amount of teams in the competition this could have been more even so don?t tell me this is meant to be some pre season ?cup?. So edgy and NC are playing in a final in 13s or 14s (NC) that neither team even made the top 5. Crap format in my opinion.

Personally I want my boys playing an equal opposition in the trial games.They got nothing out of playing a club that were ranked a fair bit below them.If you gave any serious coaches a chance to play 4 strong trials or 3 easy ones so they qualify to win a tin cup then I think you'll work out where the problems are in youth football in this city.I agree the draw was certainly favourable to some clubs though but there is no perfect solution there.

[Dreamtime Yowie]

Personally I want my boys playing an equal opposition in the trial games.They got nothing out of playing a club that were ranked a fair bit below them.If you gave any serious coaches a chance to play 4 strong trials or 3 easy ones so they qualify to win a tin cup then I think you'll work out where the problems are in youth football in this city.I agree the draw was certainly favourable to some clubs though but there is no perfect solution there.

Yeah that would have been much better and i know some clubs had better trials lined up and had to cancel them for this. Keep them in same grade at least. Scores of 15 plus 0 is not helping anyone.Half the trials didn’t even have refs and some dangerous play going on in some games i seen.

[Addios]

If nnsw don?t reschedule the washouts how can this even be called a pre season cup. Edgy and Valo got looked after in the draw also with only having to play 1 NPL youth club and 2 low tier. Poor old Olympic,Magic, NL,Jaffa?s having to play 2 top tier and 1 low tier. With the amount of teams in the competition this could have been more even so don?t tell me this is meant to be some pre season ?cup?. So edgy and NC are playing in a final in 13s or 14s (NC) that neither team even made the top 5. Crap format in my opinion.

:lol::lol: no one neednt shed too many tears over this practice "comp". I'd rather 3 difficult games and lose all 3-1.

If anything i'd like to see top 2 from each age play.

[Izzy]

If nnsw don?t reschedule the washouts how can this even be called a pre season cup. Edgy and Valo got looked after in the draw also with only having to play 1 NPL youth club and 2 low tier. Poor old Olympic,Magic, NL,Jaffa?s having to play 2 top tier and 1 low tier. With the amount of teams in the competition this could have been more even so don?t tell me this is meant to be some pre season ?cup?. So edgy and NC are playing in a final in 13s or 14s (NC) that neither team even made the top 5. Crap format in my opinion.

What?!? North Coast played 2 top tier (Lake Mac and Mid Coast).

[Hunter403]

Dude, really? 2 of the 3 'group' games away, top of the table, and now away again. I get it, many Hunter peeps don't want the regional teams in PYL, but if you are going to take our fees etc., make it fair.

NNSW Footballis now controlled by the member federations. Got a complaint: take to your local federation.

[Thefoolwhofollows]

Just some perspective from an Edgeworth parent.

We will be travelling to Coffs twice this year already as we?re drawn away in the first half of the comp. So this would mean three trips, and this one would?ve been at very short notice and would?ve probably meant most players either travelled in both directions on game day or wouldn?t have gone.

Agree with your point re leadership from Northern and probably having the contingency of meeting half way organised before it comes to this, or removing regional teams from the preseason cup, which most of us aren?t too worried about anyway.

Just for my clarity do NC have buses subsidised or paid for by Northern to attend away games?

If so then reciprocating this for Newcastle based clubs travelling north, especially at short notice, might also remove some of these barriers

[Dreamtime Yowie]

What?!? North Coast played 2 top tier (Lake Mac and Mid Coast).

I never said they didn?t I just mentioned edgy and valo didn?t. Wouldn?t call MC top tier, didn?t they get relegated last year. Anyway not the point. I agree top 2 in ages should have played if there is a ?cup? on offer. But hey what do we know.

[Hunter403]

If nnsw don?t reschedule the washouts how can this even be called a pre season cup. Edgy and Valo got looked after in the draw also with only having to play 1 NPL youth club and 2 low tier. Poor old Olympic,Magic, NL,Jaffa?s having to play 2 top tier and 1 low tier. With the amount of teams in the competition this could have been more even so don?t tell me this is meant to be some pre season ?cup?. So edgy and NC are playing in a final in 13s or 14s (NC) that neither team even made the top 5. Crap format in my opinion.

Call it a cup if you like, but the reality, they are just trial games. No one will care who won it. Just look at it as a game. Player a stronger team and work on defence. Play a weaker team and work on attack.

[Izzy]

Just some perspective from an Edgeworth parent.

We will be travelling to Coffs twice this year already as we?re drawn away in the first half of the comp. So this would mean three trips, and this one would?ve been at very short notice and would?ve probably meant most players either travelled in both directions on game day or wouldn?t have gone.

Agree with your point re leadership from Northern and probably having the contingency of meeting half way organised before it comes to this, or removing regional teams from the preseason cup, which most of us aren?t too worried about anyway.

Just for my clarity do NC have buses subsidised or paid for by Northern to attend away games?

If so then reciprocating this for Newcastle based clubs travelling north, especially at short notice, might also remove some of these barriers

No, the cost of the bus is covered by the fees charged to parents by NCF. To note however, a bus is NOT provided for pre season cup games or PYL finals.

[Izzy]

I never said they didn?t I just mentioned edgy and valo didn?t. Wouldn?t call MC top tier, didn?t they get relegated last year. Anyway not the point. I agree top 2 in ages should have played if there is a ?cup? on offer. But hey what do we know.

No, you mentioned 'poor old Olympic, Magic, NL, Jaffas'. Everyone played a DIV A, DIV B and DIV C team. Olympic played Cooks Hill as their Div B team, who also got relegated. Magic played NL (relegated), and Jaffas played Weston (relegated). Stop moving the goalposts to fit your narrative.

I agree though, the pre season cup doesn't really work, especially for regional teams. The top 2 in each age group is a better idea, but highly skewed by the toughness of your draw.

[Taffy]

Interesting comment this one, but it is ok for the NC parents to do the same? There just needs to be some leadership from NNSW here. What about meeting halfway (Taree?) and playing there or something similar? There is just this expectation that NC will suck it up.

Do you know for certain that the club wasn't informed that this weekend would be in Newcastle?

The draw for the first three rounds came out in December.


I agree re your point excluding regional teams from the pre-season cup.

Wonder what the clubs would think about this.

[Taffy]

Edgy and Valo got looked after in the draw also with only having to play 1 NPL youth club and 2 low tier.

Everyone played a League A, League B, and League C club. I'll assume the draw was done at random. Lakes got the newest club (if picked on purpose why were they missed from your list?)



Poor old Olympic,Magic, NL,Jaffa?s having to play 2 top tier and 1 low tier.

Wrong again, each club played a team from each of the three tiers.



With the amount of teams in the competition this could have been more even

Every team had a 1 in 7 chance of getting the bottom team each of the three tiers. Until it was taken out so hardly some uneven thing.


So edgy and NC are playing in a final in 13s or 14s (NC) that neither team even made the top 5. Crap format in my opinion.


Club Championship like always

[Dreamtime Yowie]

They may have gotten relegated but I wouldn’t call NL a bottom club and didn’t cooks hill just get a Gold license over some of the fancy clubs? They will hold their own along with weston. If it’s club championship then end it now and give it to NC. So how do they decide who wins it this week? Best of the 5 games or do they give every age a trophy in that age?

[Taffy]

They may have gotten relegated but I wouldn’t call NL a bottom club

They are a League B club.


and didn’t cooks hill just get a Gold license over some of the fancy clubs?

Not sure what JDL 2025 has to do with PYL 2025.



If it’s club championship then end it now and give it to NC. So how do they decide who wins it this week? Best of the 5 games or do they give every age a trophy in that age?

Did your son's team finish top 2 and your now really upset about a pre-season cup?

[JustMe]

Did your son's team finish top 2 and your now really upset about a pre-season cup?

Thats the winner.

Plenty on here who havent matured yet and winning is still a big deal. More from certain clubs. Newy in general has that problem.

[JustMe]

I will give an unpopular opinion, but, they shouldn't take your money, AND they shouldn't expect anyone to go travel 4 hours each way for a game...you, or those in Newcastle

Fatigue might one day cause a catastrophic outcome due to this unnecessary setup.

Fair call and works both ways.

I once asked some very good 16s NC players what they intend to do with their skills of academy football, travel and dedication.

Answer - just play for our local towns or clubs. Pretty disappointing for mine but i suppose those who could go higher would have been selected by those in the know.

[Izzy]

Fair call and works both ways.

I once asked some very good 16s NC players what they intend to do with their skills of academy football, travel and dedication.

Answer - just play for our local towns or clubs. Pretty disappointing for mine but i suppose those who could go higher would have been selected by those in the know.

Quite a few NC kids get 'offers' to play for the senior Newcastle NPL teams, Jets or Sydney NPL teams. Some certainly do take it up, but not many. One of our U16s last year made the U17 Joey's and has moved to the CCM for this season. It is such a commitment to leave family and your hometown and follow a dream, and most parents realise that it is a huge step from being really good in Coffs/PYL to making it even semi professionally. The biggest issue with local community youth football in a town like Coffs if that there is normally only 1 division in each age group, so the abilities are stark. Most of the kids around here that play PYL just enjoy the extra level of competition and playing alongside decent players week in and week out. The synthetic pitches helps too. Even the 5:30am bus trips every second week doesn't seem to dampen their commitment surprisingly. Not many seem to leave the program, especially in the younger age groups.

[WOW2.0]

Fair call and works both ways.

I once asked some very good 16s NC players what they intend to do with their skills of academy football, travel and dedication.

Answer - just play for our local towns or clubs. Pretty disappointing for mine but i suppose those who could go higher would have been selected by those in the know.

Yes it does work both way...northern should relieve us all of it

At the end of the day, some kids we all find really talented will have their desire dry up...as I pointed to before, in the Bundesliga, most players that make it never had any specialised coaching until they were 16-17.

Makes you wonder about the poison that is over coaching, really.

There is always the possibility that those "in the know", aren't that much in the know after all too (which can tie into the dried up passion...if some of them genuinely even had it in the first place)

[Addios]

Makes you wonder about the poison that is over coaching, really.
There is always the possibility that those "in the know", aren't that much in the know after all too (which can tie into the dried up passion...if some of them genuinely even had it in the first place)

"Over coaching", maybe. Kids will drop out when theyre ready regardless as well.
Ive found clubs will have coaches with the biggest voice or ego first. Doesn equate to best coaches being in house. Again some are v good others v average.

Ive coached played for years. Clubs knock back offeres to coach and then you still see someone doing the same team who has no idea & then the kids are struggling.

I wont help anyone anymore. Many clubs are too inhouse/arrogant.

[WOW2.0]

"Over coaching", maybe. Kids will drop out when theyre ready regardless as well.
Ive found clubs will have coaches with the biggest voice or ego first. Doesn equate to best coaches being in house. Again some are v good others v average.

Ive coached played for years. Clubs knock back offeres to coach and then you still see someone doing the same team who has no idea & then the kids are struggling.

I wont help anyone anymore. Many clubs are too inhouse/arrogant.

Over coaching as in "joysticking", not letting them try things, to develop, yelling at kids to do "X", even when that thing "X" is clearly the wrong choice

[Izzy]

Yes it does work both way...northern should relieve us all of it

At the end of the day, some kids we all find really talented will have their desire dry up...as I pointed to before, in the Bundesliga, most players that make it never had any specialised coaching until they were 16-17.

Makes you wonder about the poison that is over coaching, really.

There is always the possibility that those "in the know", aren't that much in the know after all too (which can tie into the dried up passion...if some of them genuinely even had it in the first place)

Relieve? I'm assuming you are referring to cutting NCF, Mid Coast and NIAS from the PYL program? The regional clubs are part of the NNSW community and pay the same registration fees to NNSW as Hunter kids do, so I find it pretty bloody arrogant to get rid of them because you don't want a car trip to Taree or Coffs a couple of times a season.

[WOW2.0]

Relieve? I'm assuming you are referring to cutting NCF, Mid Coast and NIAS from the PYL program? The regional clubs are part of the NNSW community and pay the same registration fees to NNSW as Hunter kids do, so I find it pretty bloody arrogant to get rid of them because you don't want a car trip to Taree or Coffs a couple of times a season.

So is Tweed Heads, should they by in the Newcastle youth NPL 🤷 away day to Byron Bay.

There needs to be a reasonable expectation of proximity for participation (I don't believe an 8-10hour round trip fits within that expectation)

You'll notice FNSW doesn't include Albury/Woodonga in their Sydney comp simply because they are part of the federation...they just administer a local competition for those guys, why can't Coffs have this? 🤷

[JustMe]

Relieve? I'm assuming you are referring to cutting NCF, Mid Coast and NIAS from the PYL program? The regional clubs are part of the NNSW community and pay the same registration fees to NNSW as Hunter kids do, so I find it pretty bloody arrogant to get rid of them because you don't want a car trip to Taree or Coffs a couple of times a season.

No way.

I fully support ALL NNSW areas in this comp. Evidence shows that the level displayed is more than worthy & adds to the comp.

NNSW just needs to get the travel & schedule to best fit. Safety is paramount but travel cannot made shorter unless the fantasy Vfast train comes through within the week.

[WOW2.0]

No way.

I fully support ALL NNSW areas in this comp. Evidence shows that the level displayed is more than worthy & adds to the comp.

NNSW just needs to get the travel & schedule to best fit. Safety is paramount but travel cannot made shorter unless the fantasy Vfast train comes through within the week.
Travel cannot be made shorter, so therefore, they should have their own local competition 🤷

They produced quality players before being in the local NPL, they can still produce quality players not in the local NPL..
And without introducing the risks associated with fatigue, poor weather and road conditions, etc

[Taffy]

Relieve? I'm assuming you are referring to cutting NCF, Mid Coast and NIAS from the PYL program? The regional clubs are part of the NNSW community and pay the same registration fees to NNSW as Hunter kids do, so I find it pretty bloody arrogant to get rid of them because you don't want a car trip to Taree or Coffs a couple of times a season.

Wouldn't worry too much about one person's opinion who clearly aren't even aware that teams outside of Sydney (and in one case outside of Football NSW), compete and clearly don't care about improving football in the region.

[Taffy]

I wouldn't mind a trip to Byron, good weekend away.

[WOW2.0]

Wouldn't worry too much about one person's opinion who clearly aren't even aware that teams outside of Sydney (and in one case outside of Football NSW), compete and clearly don't care about improving football in the region.

Sydney's Youth NPL 1 has a team in Wollongong (1hr 18mins from central Sydney). Newcastle is 2hrs away from central Sydney...hardly comparable to the 8-10 hour round trip we're taking about for Coffs Harbour

You are right though, I have no ability to reverse the silly approach that is in place

As for developing footballers, it's unsurprising that in the past we had more success transitioning footballers to higher levels than we have today constantly chasing the next shiny change

[Taffy]

If you're taking 5 hours to drive to Coffs, then you're one of those drivers that goes 15 under and holds everyone else up.

Logan Shambrook would not be at the Mariners or in the Joeys today if it wasn't for the current set up.

[WOW2.0]

If you're taking 5 hours to drive to Coffs, then you're one of those drivers that goes 15 under and holds everyone else up.

Logan Shambrook would not be at the Mariners or in the Joeys today if it wasn't for the current set up.

Coffs had players who represented Australia, and at Joey level too, and as young professional footballers, before Logan and before this change...so debatable what role being in the Newcastle comp for, I guess two years, had toward this outcome

There are quite a lot of players locally who come up from Gosford, hence the 10 hours

[Taffy]

Perhaps they could play in their local competition.

[WOW2.0]

Perhaps they could play in their local competition.

Especially true for Coffs Harbour...glad we came to a consensus :)

[Taffy]

Indeed so I expect you to be pulling out your children from any PYL teams and registering them in the local competition, while those of us who aren't aren't going to complain about something we have voluntarily joined can continue on our merry way.

[WOW2.0]

Indeed so I expect you to be pulling out your children from any PYL teams and registering them in the local competition, while those of us who aren't aren't going to complain about something we have voluntarily joined can continue on our merry way.

Problem in your logic is that Newcastle's NPL competition is my local competition...nice try though

[Taffy]

Problem in your logic is that Newcastle's NPL competition is my local competition...nice try though

That's where you're wrong champ, the local competition is the interdistrict competition that is managed by Newcastle Football, Macquarie Football and Hunter Valley Football.

[northern_swan]

NNSW just needs to get the travel & schedule to best fit. Safety is paramount but travel cannot made shorter unless the fantasy Vfast train comes through within the week.

This is important. Many cases over the last two seasons where games have been scheduled in Coffs on weekends where big events are on up there, leading to no accommodation being available, or in peak holiday times where a 3 night minimum stay is required. Nnswf need to liaise with Coffs tourism & other sports when completing their draw. It?s a simple fix.

[WOW2.0]

That's where you're wrong champ, the local competition is the interdistrict competition that is managed by Newcastle Football, Macquarie Football and Hunter Valley Football.

See, now we're moving away from that consensus we just had...that will never do

Pre requisite for inclusion in Newcastle's youth NPL, should be having a Snr team in the Newcastle's NPL competition...if they don't expect seniors to make the trip, they shouldn't expect juniors too

[ForeverRed]

See, now we're moving away from that consensus we just had...that will never do

Pre requisite for inclusion in Newcastle's youth NPL, should be having a Snr team in the Newcastle's NPL competition...if they don't expect seniors to make the trip, they shouldn't expect juniors too
This happened many years ago, a complete waste of time, their seniors were useless

[Reds Forever]

Have the referees all lost their squadi passwords? Hardly any results entered after games today.

[JustMe]

How stupid are the fixtures. We all know March is as hot a as a nuns. But the twats at NNSW? persist in putting on midday games.

Jaffas Edgeworth 1sts was at a terrible time. Couldve played at 7pm but nah.

[Hunter403]

Have the referees all lost their squadi passwords? Hardly any results entered after games today.

Only 3 div 1 and 1 div 2 fixture on Saturday and I know that the 15, 16 & 18s were called off in div 2 because of the heat.
Maybe you have jumped on this a bit early.
There are also a number of fixtures with no referees (bet that's only in div 2), so getting results entered will take time.

[JustMe]

There are also a number of fixtures with no referees (bet that's only in div 2).
So they reffed themselves? Probably had a better game.

[Taffy]

See, now we're moving away from that consensus we just had...that will never do

No the consensus was you go play in your local competition if you don't like driving. Your local competition is the interdistrict one. If you're not happy with that, then put up and shut up

[Taffy]

Have the referees all lost their squadi passwords? Hardly any results entered after games today.

Issue with the new PlayFootball program and being able to get the refs transferred to Squadi I heard.

[WOW2.0]

No the consensus was you go play in your local competition if you don't like driving. Your local competition is the interdistrict one. If you're not happy with that, then put up and shut up

But I am in my local competition...as much as you don't like to acknowledge that 🤷

[WOW2.0]

I'm aware...huge numbers drop off, or decide just to play their local competition

So why are we bothering to go to this huge inconvenience (for them and us) to develop young footballers there, when they generally won't continue in senior football at that same level

That kid who has that "scholarship" contract with Mariners, he moved there right?...he's not travelling from Coffs to Gosford 5 times a week...I imagine his family moved him around 2 years ago

[Taffy]

But I am in my local competition...as much as you don't like to acknowledge that ��

If you're in the interdistrcit comp (your local comp) already then not sure why you're complaining. If you're in the PYL, then you're in Northern's comp which covers shock, horror, Northern NSW.

[Izzy]

Nope, he played the entire season for the NCF U16s last year and moved to CCM early this year.

Huge inconvenience? Get a grip man. It is a 4 hour each way drive for you once or twice a YEAR. I spoke to a few BM parents at the games last weekend and the majority I spoke to didn't seem to mind too much. Most made a weekend of it staying overnight and doing a few things. Northern_swan made a good point earlier about the scheduling of games during big events. If this happens, I would suggest looking a bit further south around Urunga/Nambucca/Scotts Head, which are all around 25-40 mins away.

Now that NCF has established itself as a competitive team across the ages, I thought it would be preferable for them to remain rather than having more blow out scores in Div A?

[sapdad]

Nope, he played the entire season for the NCF U16s last year and moved to CCM early this year.

Huge inconvenience? Get a grip man. It is a 4 hour each way drive for you once or twice a YEAR. I spoke to a few BM parents at the games last weekend and the majority I spoke to didn't seem to mind too much. Most made a weekend of it staying overnight and doing a few things. Northern_swan made a good point earlier about the scheduling of games during big events. If this happens, I would suggest looking a bit further south around Urunga/Nambucca/Scotts Head, which are all around 25-40 mins away.

Now that NCF has established itself as a competitive team across the ages, I thought it would be preferable for them to remain rather than having more blow out scores in Div A?

I havent met many people in all my years who have a problem with going up there once a year especially when they have a few months notice to organise.I can understand both clubs feeling hard done by when asked to travel on short notice.I also suspect plenty of parents dont enjoy going all the way up there to lose and would be much happier with the travel if NC wasnt so good.I hope they continue in the program and hope NNSW help all clubs as much as possible with travel and scheduling.

[JustMe]

I would like to add that I saw some decent referring on the weekend in youth. Although not always correct they got most of the important decisions right for both teams.
Not asking for anymore than that. BTW all were slightly older that the boys that were playing. It does work.

[Hunter403]

There were no refs for our club last weekend and none scheduled again this weekend.

[Thomas477]

There were no refs for our club last weekend and none scheduled again this weekend.

Did you have to dust off the old whistle? ;)

[JustMe]

There were no refs for our club last weekend and none scheduled again this weekend.

Who reffed?

[Hunter403]

A home club official. One of the youth coaches, i believe. I applaud him for putting his hand up and he did a pretty good job, but the simple fact is that situation is far from ideal.
If we are short of referees then they need to be shared as equally as possible amongst all clubs in both divisions.

[Hunter403]

Did you have to dust off the old whistle? ;)

Thankfully no. Refereeing is not my gig.

[sapdad]

A home club official. One of the youth coaches, i believe. I applaud him for putting his hand up and he did a pretty good job, but the simple fact is that situation is far from ideal.
If we are short of referees then they need to be shared as equally as possible amongst all clubs in both divisions.

From what Ive been told there wasnt a huge influx of new referees this year and last years big group have few that are ready to step up from JDL to NPL.Theres also been a lot of chatter amongst the group about the failure of clubs to take action against players and coaches who have gone so far as to level death threats against young refs online.My lads know about it and theres no way Ill let them take appointments at the club involved if they ever get put on there.Just FYI Hunter Im pretty sure I know which club you are at and its not yours so lack of numbers should be the only reason you arent getting them.My boys have been out at your club since day 1 and never had an issue (but some night games can always get a bit rowdy!!).Hoping its not too far off a few more 2nd year refs being ready to take on NPL jobs but until then there doesnt seem to be much anyone can do.

[Gman]

A home club official. One of the youth coaches, i believe. I applaud him for putting his hand up and he did a pretty good job, but the simple fact is that situation is far from ideal.
If we are short of referees then they need to be shared as equally as possible amongst all clubs in both divisions.
Just an observation, but that is the probably one of the biggest differences I have noticed moving from PYLB in 2024 to NPL in Sydney this year. Heaps of refs, my son is 14s and the refs have been much older refs as well. Always 3 officials for games as they do two age groups and 3 new officials take over. I know it?s a bigger pool of refs but it?s light years ahead of NNSWF.

[JustMe]

A home club official. One of the youth coaches, i believe. I applaud him for putting his hand up and he did a pretty good job, but the simple fact is that situation is far from ideal.
If we are short of referees then they need to be shared as equally as possible amongst all clubs in both divisions.

Agree. Share the load. It was mentioned a while back that a clubman ref is better than a young kid thrown in before they're ready. That still applies.

[Thomas477]

Just an observation, but that is the probably one of the biggest differences I have noticed moving from PYLB in 2024 to NPL in Sydney this year. Heaps of refs, my son is 14s and the refs have been much older refs as well. Always 3 officials for games as they do two age groups and 3 new officials take over. I know it?s a bigger pool of refs but it?s light years ahead of NNSWF.

You also have a population that is ten times the size of ours.

Fact remains that in a smaller area like ours, we need to do a lot more to keep refs, and that starts with everyone involved in the sport not acting like twats if refs make mistakes, which they will.


A home club official. One of the youth coaches, i believe. I applaud him for putting his hand up and he did a pretty good job, but the simple fact is that situation is far from ideal.
If we are short of referees then they need to be shared as equally as possible amongst all clubs in both divisions.

As far as I’m aware, northern will not appoint junior refs by themselves on PYL without assistants, see example of old mate above, whereas in community they’re more willing to, for obvious reasons. You also can’t draw from community as those refs simply don’t want to do northern games, and those games have just as much right to refs. And unfortunately, from my experience, northern will also appoint from the top down, so if you’re in ZL3 or Div 2, you’re much less likely to see refs than ZPL or Div 1.

[sapdad]

As far as I?m aware, northern will not appoint junior refs by themselves on PYL without assistants, see example of old mate above, whereas in community they?re more willing to, for obvious reasons. You also can?t draw from community as those refs simply don?t want to do northern games, and those games have just as much right to refs.

Not sure what your definition of a junior ref is but the preferred option is for a referee to be minimum 1 year older than the division they are centering.Across 3 games they get 1 x centre and 2 x lines with seniority being applied to whoever does the older age groups.My lads have certainly reffed NPL games without assistants and by the time they get to 16/17 they are considered good/experienced enough to ref any age group.Again my lads have done older ages when they have been called upon in an emergency and have done games in the same division of which they play.Its not preferred by NNSW but if its that or nothing they trust the referees to do a good job.Community refs are from a different pool so they cant cross over even if they wanted to.I wish they were combined but thats a different issue and those kids have every right to get officials I agree.Word is there has already been one lengthy suspension handed out to a player for abuse this season lets hope the referee isnt one of the ones who gives up if he has to go through that more often.

[JustMe]

Not sure what your definition of a junior ref is but the preferred option is for a referee to be minimum 1 year older than the division they are centering. Across 3 games they get 1 x centre and 2 x lines with seniority being applied to whoever does the older age groups.My lads have certainly reffed NPL games without assistants and by the time they get to 16/17 they are considered good/experienced enough to ref any age group.Again my lads have done older ages when they have been called upon in an emergency and have done games in the same division of which they play.Its not preferred by NNSW but if its that or nothing they trust the referees to do a good job.Community refs are from a different pool so they cant cross over even if they wanted to.I wish they were combined but thats a different issue and those kids have every right to get officials I agree.Word is there has already been one lengthy suspension handed out to a player for abuse this season lets hope the referee isnt one of the ones who gives up if he has to go through that more often.

Being slightly older is a big help when reffing in youth. ive seen young lads do well in community & usually they play at that higher level.

Being 16 and reffing men doesn't mean its good. It should only happen if theyre really ready and proven at youth older.
Only a few lads that age could do a GOOD job in that adult space.

We need a culture like cricket where theres no disrespect.

[sapdad]

Being slightly older is a big help when reffing in youth. ive seen young lads do well in community & usually they play at that higher level.

Being 16 and reffing men doesn't mean its good. It should only happen if theyre really ready and proven at youth older.
Only a few lads that age could do a GOOD job in that adult space.

We need a culture like cricket where theres no disrespect.

Sorry I didnt make myself clear.The best 16/17 yr olds are ok to ref any youth age group.There arent any kids that age anywhere near centering seniors.They are given opportunites to run lines in ressies or do 4th official duties in seniors but I agree those ages doing mens is a bit young.It is why they have opened up ZPL opportunites for 16 and above this season.As long as they are experienced they may get lines and centres in 3rds but they would have to go through NPL youth then onto ZPL before getting any shot at centering seniors.The cricket culture is a great standard to aim for and NNSW arent messing around handing out the suspensions already so hopefully some lessons are learned and behaviors change amongst a few out there.

[KITZ]

A home club official. One of the youth coaches, i believe. I applaud him for putting his hand up and he did a pretty good job, but the simple fact is that situation is far from ideal.
If we are short of referees then they need to be shared as equally as possible amongst all clubs in both divisions.

The best ref's will ref the best competition, development for the ref's is no different to players - Theres a pathway for them to aleague etc. They move out of JDL once they are old enough to ref the older age groups, and if they are old enough they will move out of JDL as soon as they get sign off from the assessor.

You can't centre a senior game till you are 18 and I don't think it matters how good you are. You can't do your level 3 prac for your ref course until your are 18, even if you've done the theory part.

Just think of referees in the same way you think of players and you'll understand why and how they are assigned to games.

[northern_swan]

From what Ive been told there wasnt a huge influx of new referees this year and last years big group have few that are ready to step up from JDL to NPL.Theres also been a lot of chatter amongst the group about the failure of clubs to take action against players and coaches who have gone so far as to level death threats against young refs online. My lads know about it and theres no way Ill let them take appointments at the club involved if they ever get put on there.Just FYI Hunter Im pretty sure I know which club you are at and its not yours so lack of numbers should be the only reason you arent getting them.My boys have been out at your club since day 1 and never had an issue (but some night games can always get a bit rowdy!!).Hoping its not too far off a few more 2nd year refs being ready to take on NPL jobs but until then there doesnt seem to be much anyone can do.

Those threats should be taken to the police.
Northern would also be within their remit to ban those responsible via their code of conduct. Responsible governance would take the matter out of the clubs hands.

[sapdad]

Those threats should be taken to the police.
Northern would also be within their remit to ban those responsible via their code of conduct. Responsible governance would take the matter out of the clubs hands.

My youngest knows the referee involved.His parents have gone to the association and the police.The kid who made the threats is still playing and from what he said theres every chance the referee (who also plays NPL)will have to play against him at some stage this year.I dont know the ins and outs of it all but its pretty disgraceful if NNSW and the club are ok with all this.

[Thomas477]

Not sure what your definition of a junior ref is but the preferred option is for a referee to be minimum 1 year older than the division they are centering.Across 3 games they get 1 x centre and 2 x lines with seniority being applied to whoever does the older age groups.My lads have certainly reffed NPL games without assistants and by the time they get to 16/17 they are considered good/experienced enough to ref any age group.Again my lads have done older ages when they have been called upon in an emergency and have done games in the same division of which they play.Its not preferred by NNSW but if its that or nothing they trust the referees to do a good job.Community refs are from a different pool so they cant cross over even if they wanted to.I wish they were combined but thats a different issue and those kids have every right to get officials I agree.Word is there has already been one lengthy suspension handed out to a player for abuse this season lets hope the referee isnt one of the ones who gives up if he has to go through that more often.

Mate, I spent 6 years with northern, doing everything above JDL/sap, I know how the seniority on the day works and how northern operates. I meant junior as in the broader term of anyone under 18 years, I.e. the ones with the orange armbands.

My point is that northern has a real dislike of appointing anyone under 18 to games by themselves, which in effect means you need 3 refs, while zone can get away with 2 for a day, given they're generally adults. Which is different to community where they might appoint 1 ref to do 12 and 13s for instance, or appoint them around their own playing schedule, ie a centre before and a line after theirs on an older age.

Northern will also generally try to fill from the top down, taking into account referee experience levels, but always ensuring that npl and nl1 seniors are filled.

Community ref pool needs to stay away from northern games as the expectation is too different, only exception would be adult refs willing to help out on zone league when community has a break. But that needs to be opt in.

[mic22]

Any thoughts on clubs letting go most of their players after 4 years of JDL, just to play a bunch of "selected" U12s in their U13 PYL?

[sapdad]

Any thoughts on clubs letting go most of their players after 4 years of JDL, just to play a bunch of "selected" U12s in their U13 PYL?

Nothing out of the ordinary in this day and age.Whether right or wrong the best thing the kids who got cut can do is trial wherever they can and do their best.If a kid has done the right things through JDL they will always have a spot in NPL youth somewhere.It might be an ego hit to the kids and parents that their kid got cut but its jut one of lifes lessons.

[sapdad]

I wouldnt be shocked if New Lambton stay in the top 8 for the 2nd half of the year.

[Taffy]

Any thoughts on clubs letting go most of their players after 4 years of JDL, just to play a bunch of "selected" U12s in their U13 PYL?

Out of a team of 12 you might have to let got 2 or 3 who just don't make the cut. So a club that has two teams should whittle down to about 18, take off a couple that go to Jets and you have 16 maybe 15 players who should be good enough. If you have to then drop half of them and look for players elsewhere, then the club should be looking at their JDL program and getting in better TDs and coaches.

Though parents should take note of this, if a club is happy to drop most of their players because they think someone better is coming along, then 1) the club can't be that good at developing players and 2) don't expect to be at the club long because it is clear they will happily drop you.

[Taffy]

I wouldnt be shocked if New Lambton stay in the top 8 for the 2nd half of the year.

Go do a Lakes? Their youth go really well while their 1st grade gets relegated.

[sapdad]

Though parents should take note of this, if a club is happy to drop most of their players because they think someone better is coming along, then 1) the club can't be that good at developing players and 2) don't expect to be at the club long because it is clear they will happily drop you.

Wise words.

[WOW2.0]

You also have a population that is ten times the size of ours.



It's true, but they also have 3 tiers of PYL with many many more teams than our comp 16 teams each, a full girls line up too, etc...so they also have a higher demand

Rather then looking at our shortcomings and deciding it's because we're small...maybe there's something we could learn from them and the way they do things

[mic22]

Nothing out of the ordinary in this day and age.Whether right or wrong the best thing the kids who got cut can do is trial wherever they can and do their best.If a kid has done the right things through JDL they will always have a spot in NPL youth somewhere.It might be an ego hit to the kids and parents that their kid got cut but its jut one of lifes lessons.


Out of a team of 12 you might have to let got 2 or 3 who just don't make the cut. So a club that has two teams should whittle down to about 18, take off a couple that go to Jets and you have 16 maybe 15 players who should be good enough. If you have to then drop half of them and look for players elsewhere, then the club should be looking at their JDL program and getting in better TDs and coaches.

Though parents should take note of this, if a club is happy to drop most of their players because they think someone better is coming along, then 1) the club can't be that good at developing players and 2) don't expect to be at the club long because it is clear they will happily drop you.

I fully agree with both of you

What I question is the strategy of making wild cuts to a group of kids, after developing them for 4 years, and just before they get a chance of showing what they are capable of on the full field.

I think playing 9 a side on a half sized pitch, or full size 11 a side are almost 2 different games, and it's very short sighted to let players go based on their performance on the 9 a side game (especially when such players performed very well throughout the whole JDL experience). Btw, I'm not talking about my son. I was shocked to learn the names of players that didn't make the cut at our former club. Then I saw the names of some U12s "promoted" to play up in PYL this year... and it made me even happier not to be at that club anymore. They developed players well, but something else was definitely off.

[Addios]

Nothing out of the ordinary in this day and age.Whether right or wrong the best thing the kids who got cut can do is trial wherever they can and do their best.If a kid has done the right things through JDL they will always have a spot in NPL youth somewhere.It might be an ego hit to the kids and parents that their kid got cut but its jut one of lifes lessons.

Everyone is temporary in the NPL space. Players who arent getting what they want leave, some that are connected get a shirt despite ability, clubs will take the newest best player and drop another.

Like at work, make yourself indispensable. But most importantly be in a team that you enjoy.

[Addios]

They developed players well, but something else was definitely off.

That part is called politics & opinions. Every club has it.

[Grubby-081]

In regards to the JDL comments. Personally I feel that there needs to be a rule that clubs must follow stating that you must make your PYL sides up from a percentage of your JDL system for the 13?s. Or what is point of having JDL.

We were fortunate when majority left for what they consider greener pastures. Our 13?s this year are an extremely talented bunch of players. They keep growing as players and a team. Yes it takes time to gel but when players want something like this bunch that?s when the magic happens.

This has been the case for a few years with a certain club poaching players from the club I am at going from JDL into youth .

Fortunately we have quality coaches and new players coming in to the club that want to play football and play for the club. For this I am grateful and excited for the year ahead watching them succeed.

All this has done is made a mockery of the new JDL leveled system.

[finzee]

All this has done is made a mockery of the new JDL leveled system.

I guess for clubs developing "their own" yes. But for developing more & better players sooner it has somewhat helped. The high fees are still a sham for mine.

[WOW2.0]

Well done to the clubs who re-arranged matches to suit the hot weather. It maximises the chances of getting games played.



It should be easy...but I know last weekend our club tried to move the game to the opponents ground on the following day, but this was squashed due to lack of referee availability, apparently.

Interesting I googled this wet bulb thing, apparently it has known flaws and is not overly accurate (a system that was developed for military training in the US in the 1950s)
Publication with the flaws noted
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17765661/

[mic22]

I'm new to Squadi: I can only speak for the U13, but some games are not updated even after weeks, some results are inaccurate, most team rosters and goal scorers are missing.
Is it normal for this platform?
Is there any way to contribute and try to make it better?

[mic22]

In regards to the JDL comments. Personally I feel that there needs to be a rule that clubs must follow stating that you must make your PYL sides up from a percentage of your JDL system for the 13?s. Or what is point of having JDL.

We were fortunate when majority left for what they consider greener pastures. Our 13?s this year are an extremely talented bunch of players. They keep growing as players and a team. Yes it takes time to gel but when players want something like this bunch that?s when the magic happens.

This has been the case for a few years with a certain club poaching players from the club I am at going from JDL into youth .

Fortunately we have quality coaches and new players coming in to the club that want to play football and play for the club. For this I am grateful and excited for the year ahead watching them succeed.

All this has done is made a mockery of the new JDL leveled system.

I don't know if it can ever be a rule: it should just be common sense.

But I guess some TDs want to feel like they're in the EPL... or maybe they just want to see "some" kids playing one year up ;)

[ForeverRed]

It should be easy...but I know last weekend our club tried to move the game to the opponents ground on the following day, but this was squashed due to lack of referee availability, apparently.

Interesting I googled this wet bulb thing, apparently it has known flaws and is not overly accurate (a system that was developed for military training in the US in the 1950s)
Publication with the flaws noted
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17765661/
Common sense should prevail regardless

[WOW2.0]

I'm new to Squadi: I can only speak for the U13, but some games are not updated even after weeks, some results are inaccurate, most team rosters and goal scorers are missing.
Is it normal for this platform?
Is there any way to contribute and try to make it better?

I find the APP pretty poor in general, but it's only as good as the people doing the data entry

I know from experience keeping my own table going, they could update all results from PYL with supporting notes in an hour and a bit Monday morning if they really wanted to

[WOW2.0]

Common sense should prevail regardless

I'm just suggesting that, by this information, maybe they are a bit premature in calling off some of these games

Quarter time drink breaks should make most of these games pretty manageable

[sapdad]

I'm new to Squadi: I can only speak for the U13, but some games are not updated even after weeks, some results are inaccurate, most team rosters and goal scorers are missing.
Is it normal for this platform?
Is there any way to contribute and try to make it better?

Im pretty sure the issue is that a lot of referees arent yet registered on the 'new' Play Football platform (or are registered and it hasnt confirmed).They cannot log into their app to update results in real time if their registration isnt active.Any referees that cant log in have to submit paper sheets which can have all manner of issues.If the Play football platform didnt have the issues it has had registering players/officials and referees we would not have the delay.It was really good last year and refs were updating details in most games at halftime and fulltime with all 3 logging it.Why they changed the platform from last years system I dont understand.

[northern_swan]

Im pretty sure the issue is that a lot of referees arent yet registered on the 'new' Play Football platform (or are registered and it hasnt confirmed).They cannot log into their app to update results in real time if their registration isnt active.Any referees that cant log in have to submit paper sheets which can have all manner of issues.If the Play football platform didnt have the issues it has had registering players/officials and referees we would not have the delay.It was really good last year and refs were updating details in most games at halftime and fulltime with all 3 logging it.Why they changed the platform from last years system I dont understand.

It was changed because the FA allowed a mass data breach by not having rego information properly secured, so they had to start again

[mic22]

Im pretty sure the issue is that a lot of referees arent yet registered on the 'new' Play Football platform (or are registered and it hasnt confirmed).They cannot log into their app to update results in real time if their registration isnt active.Any referees that cant log in have to submit paper sheets which can have all manner of issues.If the Play football platform didnt have the issues it has had registering players/officials and referees we would not have the delay.It was really good last year and refs were updating details in most games at halftime and fulltime with all 3 logging it.Why they changed the platform from last years system I dont understand.

So, only referees can upload?
What happens if results or data are not correct, or not uploaded altogether?

Shouldn't the clubs have a designated official with access to the platform?

[Jardelsimage]

So, only referees can upload?
What happens if results or data are not correct, or not uploaded altogether?

Shouldn't the clubs have a designated official with access to the platform?

clubs admins can do it also

[sapdad]

So, only referees can upload?
What happens if results or data are not correct, or not uploaded altogether?

Shouldn't the clubs have a designated official with access to the platform?

I'll stand corrected but at NPL youth level I'm sure last year only match officials could upload results.This is why they were kept up to date at halftime and fulltime when all 3 match officials could verify all scores/cards and goal scorers.Club admins have access to the system to upload team sheets pre-game but Im sure once results were posted even referees couldnt edit them.Any disputes had to be done through NNSW.This season may be different because of the rego issues.I certainly dont like the idea of a club admin having any unwarranted input to the appointed officials in the event of any disputes on game day.No club people should be near any officials when results are being posted.

[outsider]

So, only referees can upload?
What happens if results or data are not correct, or not uploaded altogether?

Shouldn't the clubs have a designated official with access to the platform?

Many referees can not access Squadi either-registrations have not been confirmed by FA since January which means can not be uploaded to squadi-not sure how many teams are using paper team sheets which means that results have to be phoned in

[mic22]

Thanks to everyone for the clarifications.

I can see 2 errors in my U13 team results, in the first 3 rounds.
Many other games and team sheets missing

[Izzy]

Early days I know, but here is the latest Div 1 championship table sorted by points per round (PPR). Good to see Lake Macquarie and New Lambton doing well. North Coast and Broadmeadow are the biggest movers downwards compared to last year.

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