No – all our coaches are volunteers, mostly parents. We expect all our coaches to follow the FFA coaching curriculum and have a qualified coaching director to assist.  ESFA offers free coaching courses to all registered coaches and we encourage all our coaches to take advantage of the FFA courses on offer.

From 8s to 12s upwards ESFA allocate teams into pools of 6/8 teams, with input from the clubs.  They regrade in a 5 week cycle with the philosophy that no team is too dominant or too weak in their respective pool. So if a team wins all their games in that cycle they will be moved up into a higher pool and likewise a team that loses all their games drops down. The objective is to have each team playing teams of similar ability by the last phase of the season.

For all age groups 13+ (including all age mens and womens), teams are graded at the beginning of season as per club nomination. ESFA have a look at competitions after 4 rounds and if there is a clear indication of a team performing too well, or not up to grade they are in, then they will be re-graded accordingly.

Whilst ESFA grade at team level we also soft grade one (maybe two) teams at each age group.  We believe it is beneficial that players of stronger ability play together as it takes the dominant players into one squad and allows other players to develop. The “soft” component is that it is not compulsory and if the child prefers to play with their friends then they can.  We will only grade a team if we feel we have sufficient quality within the age group to justify, at minimum, a 10 player squad.

We believe players should play in their own age group rather than play up an age. While we allow 5 year olds to play in 6s, we don’t encourage players younger than 5 before the season starts, to play.

A player must turn their age group's age in the same calendar year as the season is played.

                                                               i.      To play U11 in season 2029 they must turn 11 between 1 Jan 2029 and 31st Dec 2029

                                                             ii.      To Play U7 in season 2025 they must turn 7 between 1 Jan 2025 and 31st Dec 2025

Check out our volunteers page below:

Volunteers

• All players are given a training ball.

• U8’s upwards have a shirt for the season, returned by the team manager at the end of the season. U6s and U7s keep their shirts.

• Shorts and socks can be purchased from the canteen.