Gunnedah plays Optus Small-Sided Football

What a great and exciting day we all had on the first day of our small sided games. I say we as everyone left with a smile on their face.

What a great and exciting day we all had on the first day of our small sided games. I say we as everyone left with a smile on their face. The children, both new and others who have been registered in past years all experienced more time with the ball and some children got their first goal ever. Seasoned parents were very pleased with the new system as their child got to actually touch the ball which for some quiet players didn-t always happen.

New parents to soccer said they were happy with what their child got out of the first day and that the quiet children got in and had a go as they couldn-t stand back and be unnoticed.

A number of parents also commented that they felt the children would learn more from playing football in the Small-Sided formats as the children had more time with the ball, less other choldren, smaller fields with not so much running. We loved it because we could see what good this system will bring. It was great to see so many kids playing all at same time and all active in the game.

We played two 20 minute games each for the 5/6 years & 7/8 years which played at 11:00am for 5/6 and 12:00 for 7/8 years. Our kids have been organised into teams for the year to keep them happy in the new environment with a friend they know.

The first game is in a draw for organisation and the second game is determined by leaders. So they are always kept moving and they never know who they will play in the second game. Our games are now run on a hooter system and we are using our trainee referees and older players to be Game Leaders. We are encouraging these young kids to assist by bringing in a reward system.

Our referee numbers are low so those young trainee refs we are using for small sided are often needed for older games. Our small sided parents were so happy with the new system and because no great pressure was placed on the leaders a lot have already volunteered to help.

The idea of the commitment to being a coach scared a lot of parents. Having no goalie raised a lot of eyebrows but after the games parents said that the kids were not under individual pressure to keep the ball out and to not let their team down. Even thought the kids always swapped being goalies they would look like you had offered to throw them off a cliff - sheer panic.

Change is always hard on country people but with the benefits and enjoyment that the new system has brought this won-t be one that won-t succeed.