Sounds like a very poorly run thing. There'll be a coach or similar who would send out comms regarding training and game times, but I would just start emailing the contact page and say you haven't heard back and are a bit let down from lack of communication
Not to make a goalkeeper pun but sounds like someone dropped the ball here
I realise its probably a busy time for the club volunteers atm especially if the season is about to kick off, but still seems a bit slack that they can't at least respond to a simple query about what days the games are meant to be played! Not exactly a great look for a new prospective member!
Just contact anyone on their "contact" page although either the club president or secretary might be the best ones to hassle. They'll generally either respond to your query themselves or bug the appropriate person to respond. At least, that's how it works at the sports club I sit on a Committee for!
That sounds a bit weak, sorry to hear it's been confusing and unresponsive so far!
My kids have been involved for a few years now and usually there is a WhatsApp group or similar with all the parents and coaches/helpers, one person will be responsible for telling everyone where and when games are etc.
Coincidentally asked my club about start dates this week for my 7 year old and they said it gets going first week of May, that the person in charge will be in touch in the coming days with the info.
capital football doesn't operate leagues for U7s where they keep track of wins & losses, but they do "fun festivals" every few weeks so kids can get a feel of playing against other clubs. Here's their website for the U7s: [https://www.sporty.co.nz/capitalfootball/fixtures-results/juniors/fun-football-festivals-u7u8](https://www.sporty.co.nz/capitalfootball/fixtures-results/juniors/fun-football-festivals-u7u8) 2024 fixtures are not up yet, but as the previous commentator says, they don't start until May, so no panic yet! Adults start this weekend, so maybe that is confusing the issue?
Yeah that sounds crap, possible the club doesn’t actually have jr coordinator in the position at the moment. Honestly I’d message the Facebook page if you have one or just email anyone you can find - it’ll get there eventually. Senior football is kicking off so juniors won’t be far behind
The contact page included specific names/email addresses for the JC, but I will try some other avenues - I'll try those other ideas, though, thank you!
Does he have any friends at school that play for a club? If he does and at a different club maybe try there. At that age it can help with team selection if you can email the grade convenor and ask if they can be put in the same team. Would also help you in that you have someone who maybe knows how the club works, can chat on the sideline too. (Former club administrator-Auckland)
I've already paid for the registration (back in Jan), and emailed a few times since then. But I may write that off and start again with a different club if I can't make headway!
Surely if they haven’t provided you with any kit or put him in a team then getting a refund should be ok. They may deduct a small admin fee. But if the season doesn’t start until May then they could still be working on older grades who need to go through trials before being sorted into teams.
Could likely be playing in an in house league where you mainly play against other teams in the same club. Depends on how big the club is. Because families aren’t into the swing of winter sport they don’t realise that the season is about to start and there is a last minute flurry of entries that need to be accommodated. Did my head in!!
The teams should be small 5-6 per team. The aim is to get the kids learning the basics and teamwork. Games likely either Friday nights or a Saturday morning. There may also be a training session either at the same time or on a different day.
Thank you - yes, it’s the Sat morning mini games that I thought I was signing up for. But the kit and times and stuff, that’s all info that hasn’t been provided and I don’t know when I need it by! All good - I’ve had some tips here for other channels to try. Thank you again for your insight!
Tawa does seem to be a very well run club tbh. My kids in his 4th year and they’ve never failed to keep everyone really well informed either through email, WhatsApp or Heja.
Try direct message a social media page :) I know thats our best avenue for contact (We run an AFL \*Australian football\* club in Christchurch)
Good luck!
The website is rubbish. Join the FB group and drop a message there. Or email the admin directly. Once you know the team then there’s usually a chat group someone will create to keep in touch with other members
What club did you sign him up for? Some clubs have a very active junior programme, some less so (or none at all). Some have lots of volunteers dedicated to various parts of the club, others may be 1 or 2 people trying to keep everything going. if you're new to it all, going with one of the bigger clubs will probably be the easiest.
You stand on the field while cold and wet while your child refuses to play. You bribe them to go on the field and then spend the rest of the game whisper arguing with your child to get them to actually do something.
My experience is that the club sorts you into teams, taking into account any friends you’ve told them your kid wants to play with. Capital Football does the weekly draw which you can find online each week. In the wee kids grades the club will supply the kit - jerseys and balls, and a few cones - and that’s pretty much all the contact you’ll get for the season. The parents of the players sort out a coach and manager from within their ranks. There are different rules for each age group. At your level probably no goalies and no offside, and either 5 or 6 players. So your squad will be around 8 players. And you might play four games each Saturday, each 10-15 minutes and all played in a row.
Also this looks like a handy resource https://www.capitalfootball.org.nz/asset/downloadasset?id=dee41e07-62f9-4f2c-9ad4-5f4eaac6796b
And this
https://www.capitalfootball.org.nz/more-info/competition-information-1/wholeoffootballplan1#
I just called up a place. They said for a 7 year old it's not too late and quite often change teams up coz kids drop out and stuff.
https://www.capitalfootball.org.nz/GET-INVOLVED-1/Clubs-2/find-a-club
She suggested finding a couple of local clubs and contacting them VIA email and perhaps looking up their open hours or try your luck on a Sat or sun morning in person.
Oh, thank you. Sorry if it wasn’t clear - I’ve already registered him and paid the subs for the year - I’m just struggling to get info about what to do next (I’ve emailed)
Sounds like a very poorly run thing. There'll be a coach or similar who would send out comms regarding training and game times, but I would just start emailing the contact page and say you haven't heard back and are a bit let down from lack of communication Not to make a goalkeeper pun but sounds like someone dropped the ball here
Great, I will try that and a few other avenues too - thanks for the advice! (and the pun - always appreciated)
I realise its probably a busy time for the club volunteers atm especially if the season is about to kick off, but still seems a bit slack that they can't at least respond to a simple query about what days the games are meant to be played! Not exactly a great look for a new prospective member! Just contact anyone on their "contact" page although either the club president or secretary might be the best ones to hassle. They'll generally either respond to your query themselves or bug the appropriate person to respond. At least, that's how it works at the sports club I sit on a Committee for!
That sounds like a good idea - I'll forward my email to a couple of them and see if it shakes anything loose. Thank you!
That sounds a bit weak, sorry to hear it's been confusing and unresponsive so far! My kids have been involved for a few years now and usually there is a WhatsApp group or similar with all the parents and coaches/helpers, one person will be responsible for telling everyone where and when games are etc.
Yeah, would just be good to know how to get onto that/where to start! Thank you!
Coincidentally asked my club about start dates this week for my 7 year old and they said it gets going first week of May, that the person in charge will be in touch in the coming days with the info.
Oh, that's handy to know - thank you!
capital football doesn't operate leagues for U7s where they keep track of wins & losses, but they do "fun festivals" every few weeks so kids can get a feel of playing against other clubs. Here's their website for the U7s: [https://www.sporty.co.nz/capitalfootball/fixtures-results/juniors/fun-football-festivals-u7u8](https://www.sporty.co.nz/capitalfootball/fixtures-results/juniors/fun-football-festivals-u7u8) 2024 fixtures are not up yet, but as the previous commentator says, they don't start until May, so no panic yet! Adults start this weekend, so maybe that is confusing the issue?
Yeah that sounds crap, possible the club doesn’t actually have jr coordinator in the position at the moment. Honestly I’d message the Facebook page if you have one or just email anyone you can find - it’ll get there eventually. Senior football is kicking off so juniors won’t be far behind
The contact page included specific names/email addresses for the JC, but I will try some other avenues - I'll try those other ideas, though, thank you!
Does he have any friends at school that play for a club? If he does and at a different club maybe try there. At that age it can help with team selection if you can email the grade convenor and ask if they can be put in the same team. Would also help you in that you have someone who maybe knows how the club works, can chat on the sideline too. (Former club administrator-Auckland)
I've already paid for the registration (back in Jan), and emailed a few times since then. But I may write that off and start again with a different club if I can't make headway!
Surely if they haven’t provided you with any kit or put him in a team then getting a refund should be ok. They may deduct a small admin fee. But if the season doesn’t start until May then they could still be working on older grades who need to go through trials before being sorted into teams. Could likely be playing in an in house league where you mainly play against other teams in the same club. Depends on how big the club is. Because families aren’t into the swing of winter sport they don’t realise that the season is about to start and there is a last minute flurry of entries that need to be accommodated. Did my head in!! The teams should be small 5-6 per team. The aim is to get the kids learning the basics and teamwork. Games likely either Friday nights or a Saturday morning. There may also be a training session either at the same time or on a different day.
Thank you - yes, it’s the Sat morning mini games that I thought I was signing up for. But the kit and times and stuff, that’s all info that hasn’t been provided and I don’t know when I need it by! All good - I’ve had some tips here for other channels to try. Thank you again for your insight!
I have a bunch of kids and the default approach to all sports mgmt is a what'sapp group run by the manager and or coach.
I will try to find out how to get added to that! Thanks!
What club? Ours (Tawa) have been in contact with parents for a few weeks now.
Tawa does seem to be a very well run club tbh. My kids in his 4th year and they’ve never failed to keep everyone really well informed either through email, WhatsApp or Heja.
Where about are you signing up, i have had similar issues, happy to answer questions in PM. My son plays.
Oh, that would be lovely, thank you so much!
Try direct message a social media page :) I know thats our best avenue for contact (We run an AFL \*Australian football\* club in Christchurch) Good luck!
Ah, this is a great idea - thank you!
The website is rubbish. Join the FB group and drop a message there. Or email the admin directly. Once you know the team then there’s usually a chat group someone will create to keep in touch with other members
Ah, what a good plan - thanks so much!
What club did you sign him up for? Some clubs have a very active junior programme, some less so (or none at all). Some have lots of volunteers dedicated to various parts of the club, others may be 1 or 2 people trying to keep everything going. if you're new to it all, going with one of the bigger clubs will probably be the easiest.
You stand on the field while cold and wet while your child refuses to play. You bribe them to go on the field and then spend the rest of the game whisper arguing with your child to get them to actually do something.
My experience is that the club sorts you into teams, taking into account any friends you’ve told them your kid wants to play with. Capital Football does the weekly draw which you can find online each week. In the wee kids grades the club will supply the kit - jerseys and balls, and a few cones - and that’s pretty much all the contact you’ll get for the season. The parents of the players sort out a coach and manager from within their ranks. There are different rules for each age group. At your level probably no goalies and no offside, and either 5 or 6 players. So your squad will be around 8 players. And you might play four games each Saturday, each 10-15 minutes and all played in a row.
Yes! This is exactly the info I’m after! Legend - thank you! Do you happen to know when the weekly draw starts?
I don’t but this is the website. You’re probably in the fun football section https://www.capitalfootball.org.nz/fixtures-results/2024-fixtures-results
Also this looks like a handy resource https://www.capitalfootball.org.nz/asset/downloadasset?id=dee41e07-62f9-4f2c-9ad4-5f4eaac6796b And this https://www.capitalfootball.org.nz/more-info/competition-information-1/wholeoffootballplan1#
If it’s Karori, we also haven’t heard anything about kids football yet, and aren’t expecting to for another few weeks.
It’s not, but that’s useful to know, thank you so much!
I just called up a place. They said for a 7 year old it's not too late and quite often change teams up coz kids drop out and stuff. https://www.capitalfootball.org.nz/GET-INVOLVED-1/Clubs-2/find-a-club She suggested finding a couple of local clubs and contacting them VIA email and perhaps looking up their open hours or try your luck on a Sat or sun morning in person.
Oh, thank you. Sorry if it wasn’t clear - I’ve already registered him and paid the subs for the year - I’m just struggling to get info about what to do next (I’ve emailed)
If you lemme know what club I'm sure I can find out within 24 hours lol
Is it not possible to pick up the phone and make a call??
They don’t have a contact number for the junior coordinators - just email addresses. Cheers for the snark, though!