FIRST KICKS WINTER SEASON 2025

Welcome to the First Kicks programme for 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade players at Northern Rovers Football Club.

Grades in football are determined by the year of birth.

For the 2025 winter season, 4th Grade is for kids born in 2021, 5th Grade is born 2020, 6th Grade is born 2019, 7th Grade is born 2018, and 8th Grade is born 2017.

Note for naming age groups in football, 7th Grade for example is the same as G7, Under-7, or U7. So you may see the grade called different things but the number remains the same.

Generally speaking our 4th and 5th grade players are combined into the same teams as the playing level between the two ages tends to be very similar.

All our 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 year olds, boys and girls are placed in a programme called First Kicks.  Players will be placed in teams by friendship groups/schools within their age grade. They have a training session for 50 mins once a week where they participate in fun skill sessions, and mini games.

Each First Kicks player has one training per week, and one game per week. Trainings are fixed as per the schedule below and games will only be played on Friday evenings for 2025 season, we will not be offering Saturday morning games as an option. We will make team allocations based on friendship groups/ schools within their age grade. So if your child wants to play with a specific friend group, please specify the childs name when registering. 

First Kicks Trainings

Your child will attend First Kicks training once a week. These training sessions will be overseen by a Northern Rovers coach and will be run by our older players at a series of skills stations. The training schedule depends on your child grade and is as follows:

Grade 4 / Grade 5 – Monday – Becroft Park – 4:15-5:05pm

Grade 6 – Monday – Becroft Park – 4:15-5:05pm

Grade 7 – Monday – Becroft Park – 5:15 - 6:05pm

Grade 8 – Monday – Becroft Park – 5:15-6:05pm

First Kicks Games

Your child will play First Kicks games once per week on Friday night at McFetridge Park.  They play against teams from within their grade.  Each team rotates around playing 10 minute games against the other teams in the grade. The philosophy behind the programme is to increase the number of touches a child has on the ball and to develop skills for later on. There are no substitutions in the games, every player spends the entire time playing.

These games will be overseen by a Northern Rovers coach and we will be looking for parents to referee the games that are played (full training is provided and it’s a lot of fun!). The Games Schedule is either one of the two options below:

Friday night

Grades 4, 5, 6 Friday night games - McFetridge Park - 5:15 - 6:05 pm

Grades 7, 8 Friday night games - McFetridge Park - 6:15 - 7:05 pm

Start Dates

The season begins Monday 31st March with registrations open from 6th January 2025. Trainings will commence on this date and games start Friday 4th April 2025. The first Friday game will be a chance to meet your team mates, meet the Northern Rovers coaches who are running the First Kicks programme, receive your playing shirt, and play a few warm up games to start the season!

Season Dates

Trainings and games run from Monday 31st March till Friday 29th August 2025 .  There are no trainings or games during the school holidays. 

Registrations 

All First Kicks players (new and returning) will need to register for the 2025 season.  The cost for the 2025 Northern Rovers FC First kicks programme is $195 (approx. $5.15 per session)

We can accept all children who register during Term 1. Once the season has started, however, we can only take new enrolments if there is space in the teams. Once you have registered, we will be in touch towards the middle or end of Term 1 to sort out teams and coaches.

Playing Gear

Northern Rovers will supply all First Kicks players with a playing shirt that will need to be returned at the end of the season. First Kicks players will need to provide their own Boots, Shinpads, Black Socks, Black Shorts. These can be purchased locally, or online from our Lotto supplier HERE