Ōmokoroa FC – MINIS

Minis is about giving your child a great first experience of football.

All Minis Football sessions run Saturday mornings from 8:30am to 9:30am at the Ōmokoroa Sports Grounds on Western Ave. We are based on the lower fields nearest to Western Ave (behind the library).

The 2026 season runs through school term time:

• Term 2: Saturday 2 May – Saturday 4 July.
  No football on the King’s Birthday long weekend (Saturday 31 May).
• Two-week break for school holidays (12 and 19 July – no football).
• Term 3: Saturday 26 July – Saturday 29 August.

Weather cancellations are posted on our Minis Facebook page before 8am each Saturday. Please follow the page to stay up to date with news and photos throughout the season.

What Happens at a session

Each session runs for one hour and follows NZ Football’s First Kicks programme – built specifically for little legs and big enthusiasm:

• 30 minutes of skill games and drills: dribbling, passing, shooting and more, all kept fun and fast-moving so nobody loses interest.
• 30 minutes of match play within their grade: the bit the kids absolutely live for.

We want them to leave each Saturday with a smile, a few new skills, and an eagerness to come back next week. Having the girls play together in their own teams has worked really well in previous seasons, so we’ll be doing the same again in 2026.

Grades

Minis Grades are based on the age your child turns this calendar year:

• Grade 5 – for kids turning 5 at some point this year. (4 year olds are welcome as long as they are turning 5 this year)
• Grade 6 – for kids turning 6 at some point this year
• Grade 7 – for kids turning 7 at some point this year

What Your Child Needs

• Football boots – moulded plastic studs work perfectly; velcro fastenings are great at this age
• Shin pads
• Football socks
• A club shirt – loaned to every registered player for the season at no cost

If you’d like the full ŌFC kit (not required for Minis), shorts and socks can be purchased through Friendly Manager. Boots and shin pads are available from stores like Rebel Sport, Smith Sports Shoes, or The Warehouse.

Coaches and Volunteers

ŌFC Minis is entirely volunteer-led, and it genuinely wouldn’t happen without the support of our parent community. The programme is coordinated by Paul, backed by a crew of volunteer coaches who show up every Saturday to make it special.

We run Minis in set teams with at least one dedicated coach per team, which helps build real team spirit and means coaches get to properly know their players over the course of the season.

No football background needed – just enthusiasm and a good sense of fun. We provide session plans for every week so you’re never left wondering what to do. Coaching is one of the most rewarding ways to get involved in your community, and a great way to get to know the families around you in Ōmokoroa.

If you’re keen to help – even as a backup or fill-in – we’d love to hear from you.

Registration

Ready to sign up? Register online via Friendly Manager (https://omokoroafc.co.nz/register).

If you have any questions or want to find out more about coaching, email us at operations@omokoroafc.co.nz

New Zealand Football has updated its national player development framework, known as Whole of Football 2.0, which rolls out across all clubs from 2026. For Minis – the First Kicks age group – the changes are all about getting more out of every single session.

What’s changing for First Kicks?

The big shift is smaller teams and more game time. Rather than a cluster of kids chasing one ball around a big field, every child gets real involvement from the first whistle to the last. NZ Football’s research found that players going through the updated pathway accumulate over 3,800 more touches of the ball across their development journey – and more touches means faster improvement and a lot more fun.

For our Minis, this means:

• 3v3 match format – small teams where every player is constantly part of the action.
• More touches, more fun – less time hovering on the edge of the game, more time actually playing it.
• No goalkeepers at this age – small goals keep the focus on movement, skill and enjoyment rather than positions.
• Age-appropriate from the ground up – the First Kicks programme is designed for 4–7 year olds, meeting them exactly where they are and building confidence alongside ability.

WaiBOP Football is supporting clubs across our region to roll out these changes. Full details on the Whole of Football 2.0 framework are available on the WaiBOP Football website.