First Kicks is Northern Rovers' introductory football programme for children aged 4 to 7, designed to give young players their first experience of the beautiful game in a fun, friendly, and pressure-free environment.
The programme is delivered under New Zealand Football's Whole of Football 2.0 (WOF 2.0) framework, which is all about giving junior footballers more touches on the ball, building their confidence, and growing a life-long love for football.
Rather than focusing on competition or results, First Kicks puts skill development and enjoyment front and centre, with small-sided 3v3 games on compact fields that keep every player involved and active throughout the session. Whether your child is kicking a ball for the first time or has been playing in the backyard for years, First Kicks is the perfect place to start their football journey with us.
First Kicks Format
The new WOF2.0 format introduced by NZ Football will feature 3v3 games on a 20m x 15m field. At Northern Rovers FC, this is how your Friday night will run:
Arrive at McFetridge Park in time for a 6 pm start. We ask all players to be signed in by 5.55 pm at the latest.
Visit the sign-in desk
Sign in and receive your field allocation to go to.
Head to your designated field with your coach.
15min training session, you will enter into a 15 minute skill’s based session with a total of 6 on each field.
Drinks break, following the training session, there will be time for a quick drink before we enter the games
Games will be x3 10-minute halves with a 2min drinks break
At the conclusion of games, we ask parents to assist the coaches in packing balls, cones, bibs, field markers and numbers into the designated bins and to help carry back mini goals to be stacked under the main deck.
Once all packed away its time for a drink and hot chips while we have our nightly prize giving upstairs in the club.
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