When are coaching courses held?
NSFA Community Coaching course are held primarily are the beginning of the season between February – April. Courses also take place towards the end of the season.
Which coaching course do I attend?
The Community Coaching course stream has FOUR courses on offer, which are all age appropriate based on the development phase you are coaching. Please see below;
| Age Groups | Player Development Phase | Coaching course |
| Under 6 – 8 | Discovery Phase | ALDI MiniRoos Certificate |
| Under 9 – 13 | Skill Training Phase | Skill Training Certificate |
| Under 14+ | Game Training Phase | Game Training Certificate |
If you have 2-3 years coaching experience and wish to further your coaching knowledge you should consider attending an AFC/FFA C-licence course. Please contact Jake Stephenson (jake.stephenson@nsfa.asn.au) for more information.
Are there minimum requirements for coaching a team?
Some age group divisions have a minimum accreditation level for coaches, please see details below. However Northern Suburbs Football encourage all coaches, managers and parents to attend their age appropriate course.
Under 8 – 11 Division 1 coaches must hold a current Skill Training Certificate.
Diamond League – All Diamond League coaches must hold a current Skill Training Certificate and/or Game Training Certificate
Under 12 – 18 Super League (Division 1) coaches must hold a current Game Training Certificate
Does NSFA offer coach development opportunities?
Northern Suburbs Football launched the ‘Inspire’ coaching program to support community coaches in 2017. Inspire is an online platform to provide support, discussion, resources and session plans to community coaches within the Northern Suburbs Football Association.
Northern Suburbs Football offer coach mentoring opportunities to community coaches whereby FFA qualified coach educators will observe your session, providing assistance, tips and support in your club environment. Please contact Jake Stephenson (jake.stephenson@nsfa.asn.au).
What size ball do age groups use?
Under 6 – 9 – Size 3 football
Under 10 – 13 – Size 4 football
Under 14+ – Size 5 football
Where do I find practice exercises and activities?
As part of the Northern Suburbs Football coaching support program ‘Inspire’ you can receive weekly sessions to deliver for your community team. All sessions are tailored to community coaching, offering many different activities and levels of progression depending on your players ability. Sign up as a member of the Inspire program for further information.
Football Federation Australia’s National Curriculum provides community coaches with a season worth of session plans for all development phases. To view sessions please visit the PlayFootball resources centre.
What equipment do I need to coach community football?
A part from begin organised, having a positive attitude and enjoying every session with enthusiasm to match your players, you will require the following equipment to deliver a session that is enjoyable for the players and yourself.
- Cones – 3 sets of 10 cones, of different colours
- Bibs – 2 sets of different colour bibs. Depending on your age group have enough bibs to form teams
- Balls – In a perfect world every player has a ball! If this cannot be achieved aim to have one ball per two players.
- Wristwatch – Organisation and time management are key
- Luxury items:
- Poles – To use as goals on grass fields
- Pop-up goals