Below is a brief explanation of what to expect when your child is playing Junior football at Rodney District Sports. At the right of this page is the NRF Junior Handbook which we suggest you download and refer to. It explains the philosophy's and approach to football in 2025, and will help you enjoy what your young player is achieving.

From 9 - 12 years, games are held on smaller fields using smaller goals. Teams start at 7 per side (Grades 9 & 10), progressing to 9 per side (Grades 11 & 12). The focus is on the structure of the game, rules and positional play concepts.

These grades play games "home and away". Roughly half of the games will be at our home ground (Metro Park in Millwater), and the remainder at another football club in the northern area.

Training/coaching sessions are usually held during the week, after school/evenings. The exact day/time of training will be decided by the team coach and this will be communicated to the players before the season begins. These are usually approximately 1 - 1.5 hour sessions.

Fees:

For 9 - 12 year olds, a full season of Junior grade football will be $90, which includes the use of an RDS uniform (shirt and shorts).

Note: Purple RDS socks are optional and can be purchased on a Saturday morning during our First Kicks/Fun Football (8:30 -9:45am) from the portacabin office at Metro Park. The socks are $15 per pair.

Dates:

Registrations will open on the RDS website early January 2025, and close in March 2025. We will take registrations thereafter only if we have any teams that need additional numbers.

Please register as soon as possible. This will help us get those teams registered into their appropriate NRF grades. Early registration also helps us fulfil any preferences and/or friend requests you have.

The season start date is 5th April 2025 and fixtures can be found here.

Girls Teams:

Following the upturn in interest due to the Womens World Cup held in NZ in 2023, we have seen greater numbers of girls wanting to try football as a winter activity. We offer girls the option to choose whether they would prefer to play in a mixed team, or an all girls team. This can be selected upon registration.

Coaching/Supervising:

We need volunteers to take each team that is playing this season.

For Junior grades, one or more coaches and one manager is ideal. These roles can be shared by parents to get around commitments that may prevent the full-time attendance of the coach/manager, provided these volunteers co-ordinate this.

The teams play either 7 or 9-a-side games so 10 players per team (7-a-side) and 12 players per team (9-a-side) are ideal team numbers to ensure adequate substitution is available each week.

These teams are permitted "rolling substitutes", and every team coach appreciates help from a parent(s) who will manage the substitutions to ensure every player gets equal opportunity on the field each week.

Mid Week Practice:

Each team will need to have at least one mid-week practice session. The first priority of every coach is to identify which afternoon/evening their team will train and advise our RDS Co-ordinator, so that field space can be allocated at Metro Park for the desired time slot. We make every effort to accommodate all coaches, but in the event of field congestion, we will advise as soon as possible. 

Saturday Games:

Saturday games for Juniors will be in the "Harbour Region" which has Devonport, Greenhithe and Warkworth as the boundaries. 

There are no "leagues" as such for grades 9-12 under the NRF. These age groups are considered to be continuing to learn the game, with the focus firmly on skill improvement, rather than game results. During early season games, notice is taken by the NRF, of uneven results, and some adjustments made in the draws for the remainder of the season.

Sideline Etiquette:

Teams will no doubt, encounter games against other clubs, when sideline, or refereeing behaviour suggests a Premier Division contest is under way. This is "old school" mentality, which NZ Football is working to change. As an affiliated club, RDS wants to play its part in changing sideline and on field behaviour's, remembering that the game is for the enjoyment of the players/children. Spreading the message is always a great start, and something that we are actively fostering.

Field Setting Up/Packing Down:

For home games at Metro Park, those teams that are playing at 9am are expected to arrive early enough to set up the field they are playing on (goal nets, corner flags, side line cones and retreating line disks).

The teams that are last to play on each field that day, are expected to pack down this equipment and put it in the allocated storage.

It is suggested that teams arrive for their game a minimum of 30 minutes early to warm up.

For more information, head over to the right hand side of this page and download the information sheet.