2023 Year in Review
To our fantastic football players, parents, partners, volunteers, and supporters, the ECBAFC Board would like to thank you all for your commitment, support and passion for our game and club throughout 2023. It has been a successful year for our club, and we can be proud of having sustained momentum for the year, leading into 2024.
Best wishes for the summer holidays and New Year! Enjoy this time to reconnect with friends and family – and stay safe if you are out on the water and roads. We look forward to seeing you back in 2024.
2023 year in review
Our club membership grown to over 1500 playing football under the Bays banner. After a strong return to a full season in 2022, it has been great seeing so many people continuing to enjoy playing (and supporting) the game of football.
Going into 2024, we look forward to continuing to growing membership through offering innovative programmes, an inclusive community that is open to players of all ages and levels. We look forward to driving participation following the legacy of the FIFA Women's World Cup arriving on our shores in 2023, alongside a more active social calendar at Bay City Park.
Finally, an enormous thank you to our convenors, volunteers, coaches, supporters, and players; and a special thank you to Football Development Manager Callum Simmonds, Football Development Officers Mingi So, Grace O'Donoghue, and Faiz Syed, and development coaches Thomson Nkoy, Daewook Kim and Adam Frisby.
Behind the scenes of our successful club is a proud Bays man, and Operations Manager, Duane Sommerville. This year, we also welcomed Gail Hanekom to assist with operations, with a specific focus on women’s and girl’s football at ECB. Thank you both for all you do for our club community.
Term 4 events
Term 4 saw the start of summer football at Bay City Park, with a lively atmosphere every Thursday evening. Our ECB under 17s were able to bring silverware home following a memorable win at the national under 17s tournament, following another successful annual tour to Wellington to play against the Wellington Phoenix and Ole Football Academy. Our Talent Development Programme groups commenced their 2024 year with friendly games and training. Finally, we've been working on a talent development initiative for girls with Hibiscus Coast, which we are looking forward to progressing in 2024.
2024 news
Former FIFA Women’s World Cup Champions, the United States team, selected Bay City Park as its training base for the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. It is an exciting time for women’s football in New Zealand and our club was thrilled to be hosting the current number one team for the global football event.
For 2024, we will be able to enjoy the legacy that this event has provided. We are looking forward making use of our tremendous new home facilities for the full 2024 season. To follow the story of the USA team at the 2023 FIFA WWC (and catch a glimpse of Bay City Park in action), “Under Pressure: The U.S. Women's World Cup Team” is now available on Netflix.
Junior Football Structure
For 2024, we will be improving the experience for players aged 9-12 again by developing the training structure and providing better access to licensed coaches of different levels. This will be achieved by providing licensed coaching to 11 and 12s team hubs twice per week, and licensed coaching to all 9s and 10s once per week, in addition to our normal skill hub (9-12) offerings. These improvements will be led by our returning Football Development Manager Milan Elie, who will manage a team of coaches working across the grades, providing greater choice and access to our members.
ECB lunchtime football is running in local primary schools in term 1, so make sure you keep an eye out for updates and information from your local school and at https://ecbafc.nz/school-lunchtime-football
We are also launching a January Holiday Programme, details here: https://ecbafc.nz/school-holiday-camps
Milan will hold a series of parent / coaches nights for junior football in early February to introduce the 2024 season.
Girls Talent Development Programme (TDP)
East Coast Bays and Hibiscus Coast AFC are collaborating to provide improved training for youth girls, with the aim of providing a pathway for talented local youth players. In Term 4, we were able to hold a launch night covering the 2024 season, you can keep track of developments here: https://ecbafc.nz/ecb-girls-talent-development
Coaching
In 2024, we are delighted to have secured fantastic coaches to support and deliver our programmes, whilst growing our inclusive community at East Coast Bays. We are equally proud to have one of the most qualified and experienced teams of coaches in New Zealand. With most of our 2023 coaching team remaining at ECB, we are excited to announce the return of Milan Elie as Football Development Manager: Junior Development
Term 1 2024
Here are the key dates leading up to the start of the 2024 winter season. We still have some dates to add in early 2024 for coach education, community teams and football festivals prior to the 2024 season kick-off.
2024 term 1 registrations open via https://ecbafc.nz/register
Dec 20th: ECB admin shutdown
Jan 11th: Senior summer football restarts
Jan 16th: ECB admin restart
Jan 22nd-24th: ECB January Holiday Programme
Jan 26th: Winter 2024 registrations open + Term 1 training schedule released
Feb 7th: Men's NRFL and ECB Talent Development Programme restart
Feb 9th: Girls Friday Fantails start
Feb 11th: Women's Preseason start
Feb 12th-16th: 9-12s coaches and parent evenings
Feb 15th: Junior Summer Football restart @ Albany Football Hub
Feb 16th: ECB AGM
Feb 18th: Junior Game Hubs start
Feb 19th: Summer Mini Bays, Junior and Youth Skill Hubs, School lunchtime football start
Feb 20th: Girls TDP start
March 12th: Junior training for winter teams start
March 23rd: NRFL season start
April 15th-17th: School Holiday Programme
April 22nd -24th: School Holiday Programme
April 27th: Community season begins
For more information on key dates for next season please refer to the NRF website.