Mini Bays (Grades 5 - 8)
Our Mini Bays programme is often the first experiences with club football. Therefore, we strive to provide a safe, enjoyable football experience for our future stars, providing them with a technical base and inspiring a love for the beautiful game!
Our programme of over 200 kids is able to be run thanks to the support of our Mini Bays Partner New World Long Bay.
Game Day
Mini Bays game days are on Saturday mornings between 8am and 10am and are an intra-club based programme led by volunteer game day facilitators. Each game day will consist of 3 x 15-minute games. This year’s program will see some changes around rules of the game, for example, a power-play where the team removes a player if they are winning by more than 3 goals (this changes a challenging point for all players to support their development on game day). Also, the defending team will drop to halfway on a restart to encourage playing from the back.
- Grades 5-6 and Grade 7 play 8am till 9am each Saturday
- Grade 8 play 9am till 10am each Saturday
>> Check out some of the action below and in our Mini Bays Gallery
Training
We will be continuing the same format in 2025 as we implemented in the 2024 Season for the First Kicks Grades 4/5/6 and Fun Football Grades, 7 and 8 training program. Players will receive a dedicated training night and a weekly game to better support the development and enjoyment of our young players.
The training day will have a designed curriculum centred on our “FUNdamentals - ball mastery, movement competency and love for the game! This station rotation style training session will be split into skill games and mini-games to create a fun development based football experience.
The teams will be coached by either qualified, experienced coaches or passionate and skilled volunteers wanting to begin or continue their coaching journey for the benefit of the players and coaches.
Key Information - DATES & TIMES for 2025
"2025 Training Days and Times will be confirmed in March 2025"
The Club is not able to allocate fields, days, and times until we receive
our Winter Allocations from the Council. The Winter Season has a
proposed start date of the 5th of April. This is yet to be confirmed.
Games Location - TBC
Game Day (3 x 15 minute games):
- Grades 5-6: Saturday 8.00-9.00am
- Grade 7: Saturday 8.00-9.00am
- Grade 8: Saturday 9.00-10.00am
Draws are distributed to coaches/ managers every Wednesday evening.
Training Location - TBC
Training starts TBC
Training slots TBC:
What grade is my child?
Grade 5: born Jan 1, 2020 - Dec 31, 2020 inclusive
Grade 6: born Jan 1, 2019 - Dec 31, 2019 inclusive
Grade 7: born Jan 1, 2018 - Dec 31, 2018 inclusive
Grade 8: born Jan 1, 2017 - Dec 31, 2017 inclusive
What uniform is required?
Players will be provided with an ECB playing shirt that needs to be returned at the end of the season.
Register
If you are keen to join one of our Mini Bays teams, you can register here.
Contact
If you have any questions, get in contact with our Mini Bays Convenor, Nicola Lynch niklynch26@gmail.com or Mini Bays lead programme coach, Adam Frisby adam@ecbafc.co.nz
