U5 to U7 “Class” of 2011
At Eltham Redbacks FC we appreciate that the future of our club starts with the earliest age groups and we have invested heavily in developing a strong football program for our juniors.
Small Sided Football is played up to age group U11 (children turning 11 during the calendar year). Full pitch games are played from U12 and above. The objective of small sided football is to maximise the involvement of children in the game and thus promote enjoyment & skill development. Games are played on Sunday (usually early) with a home & away fixture. There is no official “ladder” as the emphasis is on player development and not on winning.
At ERFC we have placed exacting standards on all our coaches. Every coach is appropriately qualified (FFA Junior licence for U11 to U8 and FFA Grassroots licence for U7 to U5) and their development is closely monitored by our technical director Murray Ovans and his assistants.
Under 11 & Under 10
At this mixed age group teams of 9 children(8 + goalie) play on a half pitch with modified goals. A home & away competition is played on Sunday morning and results are tabulated and displayed on the FFA website. There are two divisions in this age group – Kangaroos & Joeys. In 2011 ERFC fielded multiple Kangaroo & Joey teams (including a girls team in a separate girls competition)each with a squad size of 12. Training is conducted on one or two evenings each week.
Under 9 & Under 8
At this mixed age group teams of 7 children(6 + goalie) play on a quarter pitch with modified goals. A home & away competition is played on Sunday morning but results are not tabulated. There are two divisions in this age group – Kangaroos & Joeys. In 2011 ERFC fielded multiple Kangaroo & Joey teams (including a girls team in a separate girls competition) each with a squad size of 10. Training was conducted on one evening each week.
Under 7 to Under 5
Children in this age group are catered for at Eltham Redbacks by our Saturday SSG (small sided games) program. The program runs from 10am to 11am every Saturday. The children play on one-eighth size pitches in teams of 4 (no goalie). Our program consisted of 30min of drills followed by a 30min games (4v4). 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.
