2026 Season Info & Key Dates
Welcome to the 2026 Winter Season! We are super excited about the season ahead and are pleased to announce that season registrations are now open and we invite all Mini Bays, Junior, Youth and Senior players to register and join a team for the 2026 winter season.
Key Dates
- 05 Jan: 2026 winter season registrations OPEN
- 14 Feb: #1 Club Registration & Family Day at Bay City Park
- 01 Mar: #2 Club Registration & Family Day at Bay City Park
- 01 Mar: Last chance to register with the Early Bird Fees
- 08 Mar: Talent Development Programme Leagues season starts
- 16 Mar: 2026 Winter Season registrations CLOSE
- 21 Mar: Men's First Team Northern League Season starts
- 28 Mar: Women's First Team League One Season starts
- 11 Apr: Senior Community Season starts
- 02 May: Mini Bays, Junior, & Youth Community Season starts
- 30 Aug or 06 Sep: Community season ends - Mini Bays, Junior, Youth, & Senior
Registrations close on Monday 16 March to allow our grade convenors time to finalise teams, coaches and team managers. To avoid any disappointment of missing out on a team, please ensure registrations are submitted on time.
How to Register
Registration is completed through our Friendly Manager registration system. You can find the buttons to register at the bottom of our registration page: https://ecbafc.nz/register
- If you're new to our club (a big welcome), you will need to create a login and select the relevant grade / programme
- If you're a current / past member (great to have you back), please use the "re-register / add" option at the bottom of your Friendly Manager profile.
You can register multiple children under one login. PLEASE NOTE: Player's age must be entered before teams are displayed in the 'choose team' section.
2026 Season Fees
Our club is committed to making football accessible to as many people as possible and we continue to work hard to keep fees as low as possible. This season we are offering an Early Bird Registration Fee and from 02 March, fees will revert to the 2026 rates.
- Mini Bays (Grades 5-8) - Early Bird $210 - 2026 Fees $230
- Juniors (Grades 9-12) - Early Bird $255 - 2026 Fees $275
- Youth (Grades 13-19) - Early Bird $255 - 2026 Fees $275
- Senior University Student (20+) - Early Bird $300 - 2026 Fees $320
- Seniors (Grades 20+) - Early Bird $350 - 2026 Fees $370
For Junior and Youth players, age groups are based on your child's age on their birth date in 2026 (i.e. turning 12 in 2026, they will be in the 12th grade).
Financial Assistance
Our club understands that we have members and people in our community who are finding times tough with increasing costs or changing circumstances. Our club is about community and inclusivity and we aim to ensure cost is not an inhibitor for players, so if cost is a barrier, please reach out to our Operations Manager Duane Sommerville for a confidential chat regarding payment plans and the Wayne Edgeler Fund. Duane’s email is: admin@ecbafc.co.nz
More info about our teams and how to get help
We have teams for all ages and abilities. Our website has all the info you need on each grade such as selection process, training options and key dates. Head to the ‘Our Teams’ tab on top of our website.
We also have convenors for each grade that are here to answer any questions that you may have and their contact details are at the bottom of each grade page.
Here is the process before the season kicks off…
- Registrations Close (16 March)
- Convenor and ECB Coaching Team finalise team selections (w/e 03 April)
- Convenor will let you know which team you have been selected for (w/e 17 April)
- Team Manager will contact you and set up team comms channel (eg TeamReach, Whats App) & let you know of team training details
- Community Season Starts (11 April and 02 May)
We also have a number of programmes that we run each term that provide additional training or a chance to play more football. These are run on a term by term basis and all the info can be found in our ‘Programmes' Tab of our website. Our Term 1 Programmes start w/c 09 February.
We aim to keep our website up to date with all the latest info, dates, session times etc so always head to our website first for any info about our teams and programmes. If you have further questions, feel free to email our grade convenors.
See you at the club!
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone back at the club, on the field, and on the sidelines! We’re also looking forward to welcoming all of our new members to our fantastic club community.
Go the Mighty Bays!!
