Miniroos Saturday Skills Program
FOOTBALL Federation Australia has announced a new name for small sided football called Miniroos, aimed at youngsters looking to start playing the game.
Miniroos is designed to introduce boys and girls, aged between four and 11, to a smaller version of football that allows them to have fun, learn new skills and make lifelong friends.
Matildas defender, Melbourne Victory W-League captain and Miniroos ambassador Steph Catley says the program gives kids a chance to embrace the beautiful game at a young age.
“Miniroos lets kids get involved in football in a fun filled environment where players get more touches on the ball,” Catley said.
“This is because of the smaller number of players, and it provides more opportunity for players to develop their technical skills.”
Miniroos is played on a smaller pitch, has less players on each team, and no results are recorded so there is less of an emphasis on competition, but rather to develop players’ skills.
There are also no goalkeepers in Miniroos up until the U8 age group, but this will only aid players’ development said Catley.
“Goalkeeper is such a specialist position, and players tend to develop in this role at a later age,” she said.
“In the young age groups, keepers can also be uninvolved for large periods of the game, and that means they might not feel a part of the team.”
Catley said this change helps bring Australia’s youngsters in line with some of the world’s best.
“Many of the larger football nations in the world such as England, Holland, Germany, and France play with modified versions of the game because to the many benefits that it provides.”
WHFC is excited to bring this new football program to you.
In 2014, the club will be running a Saturday program for childeren aged up to Under 7. Older children aged Under 8 to Under 11 will play on Sundays against other clubs in the Miniroos program.
Players will be divided up into teams and remain in these teams for the year to help them develop their teamwork abilities.
The basic format will be as follows. The children play on one-eighth size pitches in teams of 4 (no goalkeeper). The first 30-45 minutes of the session will be a warm up/drills/fun game based program, followed by 30-45 minutes of small sided games. We feel this is best format for children, as it introduces that training is part of every sporting pursuit. We will make these opening sessions as FUN as possible and will keep the theme of FUN going into the games.
All our drills are sourced from our football syllabus, which is in accordance with the FFA National Curriculum. Our games are predominantly intra-club but we do attend and host a number of games against other clubs.
So please come along and join the Football Revolution!
WHERE: Elder Street Reserve, Cnr. Elder Street and Delta Road, Watsonia
MELWAYS: Map 20 - G5
WHEN: Saturday mornings in April (Date TBC) until mid September
SESSION TIME: 10 am to 11.30 am (Exact times to be confirmed)
COST (Saturday Program): $170 – includes equipment, hire of facilities, FFA fees and presentation day
All you need to provide is a pair of boots and a pair of shin pads, shorts/tracksuit, shirt/wet weather top.
Further information on the Small Sided Football program can be found at the FFV Miniroos page
Matilda defender and Melbourne Victory captain Steph Catley is excited about the potential that Miniroos has for grassroots football.
Revision 3: Last Updated 6 February 2014
