NEFC GRADING POLICY
Normanhurst Eagles Football Club (the Club) values strong family ties and provides opportunities for its members to play and develop their football skills in a competitive and supportive team environment and underpinned by fair play and sportsmanship principles. The Club strives to ensure that all players are treated fairly in a team-friendly environment. Grading is used by the Club to allocate players to appropriate teams and is designed to maximise each player’s enjoyment of football by providing an appropriate level of competitive and/or social football.
Players in the Under 6 and 7 age groups are not graded individually. These players are allocated to teams based on schools attended and friendships requests, subject to overall team number limitations.
Parents of Under 8 players may elect to have their child graded individually for the top team(s). Under 8 players not selected for the top team(s) and all other Under 8 players will be allocated to teams based on schools attended and friendships etc.
Players in Under 9 to Under 17 will be individually graded where there are sufficient numbers of players in that Age Group to form two or more teams.
The ExecutiveCommittee, upon considering experience, friendships, family and/or individual request, will allocate players in the Under 18-21, All Age and Over 35 Age Groups to teams. All players are required to play in their correct Age Group, except where the Executive Committee deems that a player playing in a higher Age Group is in the Club’s interest.
Players in the Under 6 and 7 age groups are not graded individually. These players are allocated to teams based on schools attended and friendships requests, subject to overall team number limitations.
Parents of Under 8 players may elect to have their child graded individually for the top team(s). Under 8 players not selected for the top team(s) and all other Under 8 players will be allocated to teams based on schools attended and friendships etc.
Players in Under 9 to Under 17 will be individually graded where there are sufficient numbers of players in that Age Group to form two or more teams.
The ExecutiveCommittee, upon considering experience, friendships, family and/or individual request, will allocate players in the Under 18-21, All Age and Over 35 Age Groups to teams. All players are required to play in their correct Age Group, except where the Executive Committee deems that a player playing in a higher Age Group is in the Club’s interest.
Click here for a downloadable version of our grading policy.
GRADING DAY INFORMATION
- Players must be registered in order to be graded.
- Players should attend the grading days for the age that they wish to play in.
- Please ensure you arrive 15 minutes prior to your timeslot and make sure you have a water bottle and sunscreen applied. Shin pads and trainers only to be worn (No Football boots).
- Each age-group will have multiple graders who have been sourced from age groups other than that of their own child and are experienced coaches, or are Kano coaches. The graders will not be coaching any children during the session and will be concentrating on assessing the children correctly. Coaches comments and feedback from 2020 will be taken into consideration as part of the grading process.
- U8: The U8 competition is not graded in the NWSF competition, however each year we provide for one U8 Blue Side to play against similarly skilled sides in the competition. U8 players can try out for our Blue team, however grading for U8 players is not compulsory. A team will only be placed in this competition if there are enough players to make a competitive side.
- For further information and the NEFC Grading Policy about how players are allocated to graded teams see here.
U8 BLUE
The U8 competition is not formally graded in the NWSF competition, however each year we provide for one U8 Blue Side to play against similarly skilled sides in the competition. Where U6-8 teams typically play in the Northern Division of the association, the U8 Blue team would play against teams from across all divisions of the association (Southern, Central and Northern).
The standard of the U8 Blue competition is very high and the club may not elect to submit a team into the competition every year. It is a large step from an ungraded U7 competition (4 players, small field) and the U8 competition (7 players per side, significantly larger field) and so we take the number of skilled players available into account.
We utilise criteria recommended by the association to determine if the players have the necessary skill level to be competitive. These criteria include:
It should be stressed that just because a Blue team may not be played in U8 that a Divsion 1 side may not be formed in the U9 competition. NEFC hope that our development program and training style is able to develop players that can compete in the U8 Blue competition with an aim to grade a team at this level on a regular basis.
The standard of the U8 Blue competition is very high and the club may not elect to submit a team into the competition every year. It is a large step from an ungraded U7 competition (4 players, small field) and the U8 competition (7 players per side, significantly larger field) and so we take the number of skilled players available into account.
We utilise criteria recommended by the association to determine if the players have the necessary skill level to be competitive. These criteria include:
- Players run to the ball and aggressively compete for the ball once there
- Players run off the ball with speed and understanding and mostly know what to do defensively
- Players can dribble and control the ball to free space at pace
- Players understand how to combine with their team mates in passing combinations with fluency
- Players mostly can shoot with power and accuracy
- Players can take on a player and beat them effectively
- May have multiple dominant players in the team
It should be stressed that just because a Blue team may not be played in U8 that a Divsion 1 side may not be formed in the U9 competition. NEFC hope that our development program and training style is able to develop players that can compete in the U8 Blue competition with an aim to grade a team at this level on a regular basis.
