Capital Football and College Sport Wellington are pleased to provide stakeholders with an update on further progressions with youth competitions. With the “home” college in Premier and Premier reserve grades now able to choose whether to play fixtures on a Friday evening or Saturday morning, a number of First XI colleges will play their fixtures on Friday evenings in 2023.

The move comes following ongoing work between Capital Football and College Sport Wellington to further progress the recommendations of the Youth Football Review carried out in 2019 and the NZF Secondary School Aged Review released in 2022. 66% of premier grade college teams have indicated that they would like to play their fixtures on Friday’s this season. By playing on Friday’s, colleges are enabling students the opportunity to also play club football on the weekend if they wish. A large number of students indicated via the two reviews carried out, a desire to be able to do so.

Capital Football Federation Development Manager, Steeve Sharpe commented “this is a positive step in the right direction, and we would like to thank College Sport Wellington for their work in this space, but also the colleges themselves for their willingness to be flexible. Ultimately, we believe that alongside the correct player welfare measures in place, this will enable better outcomes for students who have a desire to represent both their club and college.”

College Sport Wellington Executive Director, Bryan Dickinson said “the option of moving to Friday nights for our Premier and Premier Reserve teams is a positive step forward, giving the students and their schools more playing options. Combined with a significant increase in the number of secondary school football teams this year, we’re looking forward to a really positive season.”

Although the move is recognised as a step forward, there is continued work to do to in this area to facilitate youth pathways which meet participant needs. This is only going to happen through continued dialogue between clubs and colleges and a desire to keep the participant at the centre of any decisions made on the game.

Capital Football would like to recognise the willingness of College Sport Wellington to engage proactively and the contribution of the Youth Advisory Group in this area. There will be updates and further consultation with stakeholders as we continue to work through the recommendations of both reviews (available here).