Frequently Asked Questions
This area is designed to provide answers to frequently asked questions. If you don’t find the question and answer you’re looking for in the list below, please feel free to look for a relevant NSJSA contact who may be able to assist you.
Our FAQs are grouped under the headings listed below. You can click on any of the headings to take you to that particular group of FAQs, and then click on the FAQ to view its answer or, alternatively, just scroll down to read through all the FAQs and their answers.
Game Information
My son/daughter is interested in playing football and I’d like to find out more…
Insurance?
Support?
General football questions
- What time, and where is, my football game?
- How do I get to the ground?
- It’s raining! What do I do?
- How do I find out more about the rules of football?
My son/daughter is interested in playing soccer and I’d like to find out more…
- Why should I register my son/daughter in football?
- When do they play?
- How old do you have to be to start football?
- Do young children play on a large field?
- Do many girls play football?
- How much does it cost?
- What size ball should I buy for home use?
- Is there a club near me?
- Is my child covered by insurance?
- My child has been injured whilst playing football. What should I do?
- I would not mind helping out at a club; what’s involved?
- I would like to find out more about being a coach.
- I’m interested in sponsoring a football club.
Small Sided Football?
- What is Small Sided Football?
- What can Small Sided Football give to children?
- What can Small Sided Football offer parents?
Answers to FAQs:
Click here to view the Rosters page.
Back to Top
Click here to view the Grounds page.
Back to Top
Click here to view info about cancellations.
Back to Top
Small Sided Football (Under 6s – Under 11s) are on the small sided football website in the parent section.
Generally the FIFA laws of the game apply to Under 12 games, with only slight modification. The modified rules are posted on this website.
Competitive rules (FIFA Laws of the Game) can be viewed at the FIFA website.
Back to Top
Participation in a team sport has long been recognised as playing an important role in the development of a child’s character. It teaches the child responsibility and discipline, and helps to develop a child’s concentration span. Team sport widens a child’s range of friends and provides a healthy outdoor activity which leads to increased fitness and development of gross motor skills.
Football is basically a simple game and is easy to learn. It is truly a team game in which the size of the player has little relevance. Football, although classed as a contact sport, does not have the type of injuries other football codes have.
We believe football to be a safe, easy-to-learn, fun team sport. Millions of people play football around the world, making it truly the “World Game”. Join up and find out why so many people LOVE Football!
Back to Top
Sign-on is usually at the start of each school year, although new players can sign on at a club at any time. The season usually runs between the Easter school holidays and the September school holidays, with a mid-season break over the June school holidays. Generally, children under 11 years of age play on Saturdays, and the Under 12s play on Friday evenings, under lights or Satruday mornings.
Back to Top
The youngest players must turn 6 years of age during their first year of playing.
Back to Top
No, children aged 5 to 10 years play a small version of football, called Small Sided Football, on a small field. The rules have been modified to give the kids more fun and more time on the ball.
The the number of players, size of the ball and size of the ball are changed as the players grow, starting with 4 players at U6 and progressing to 9 players for under 11 and 11 players for Under 12.
Back to Top
Yes, girls play football with our association. All clubs have girls and boys in mixed teams, and some clubs offer all-girl teams. These girls may play in a separate competition to the usual competition. The association also provides a separate development program for girls from under 9.
Back to Top
Each club charges different registration fees (see the contact page for contact details of a club near you). Part of this fee is paid to the Association for ground hire, Football Federation membership and insurance.
The association is committed to keeping its part of registration fees as low as possible to ensure football in the northern suburbs is affordable for all kids of primary school age.
Clubs require players to purchase socks and shorts in club colours. Players must also have shin guards and their own water bottles.
Back to Top
There are three different sizes of footballs, as different age groups use different sized balls to give them the best chance of developing skills:
-
- Under 6 to Under 9 use a size 3 ball
- Under 10 to Under 12 use a size 4 ball
- Youth (except for Under 13s, who also use a size 4 ball), and adults use a size 5 ball.
Yes there are 12 junior football clubs in the northern suburbs of Hobart. Click here to find a contact.
Back to Top
Yes, the Association, through Football Federation Tasmania, has modest insurance included in your child’s registration fee, which you pay at your club at sign-on. This insurance is effective immediately when you register your child. Players are only covered by the association insurance whilst they are training, playing fixtures or playing games approved by the association.
Back to Top
If the player is registered with one of our member clubs and was injured playing or training, you should contact the Football Federation Tasmania to discuss the insurance cover and to arrange to make a claim.
Back to Top
There are many jobs at a football club that can occupy small or large amounts of your time; from helping keep the fields in order, to working from home on your computer. Contact the Club Secretary at a club near you, and tell them how much time you’re prepared to donate and what your interests are.
Volunteers are most welcome in our football community, so find out what you can do to help us bring the World Game to the kids of the northern suburbs.
Back to Top
At the start of each season the association organises an Introduction to Coaching course. Football Federation Tasmania runs other coaching courses throughout the year and details are available on their website.
A number of resources are available for coaches on the internet, and one of these which will assist you develop individual player skills is the Active Factor Top Shots site.
Back to Top
Football clubs hold the greatest junior registrations of any sport in Hobart’s northern suburbs and therefore the greatest numbers of parents, who visit these clubs on a weekly basis.
Sponsorships can range from small (such as fence signs & junior team sponsorships) to large club sponsorship packages. Ring your local football club for further information.
Back to Top
Football Federation Australia has developed a modified game of football for children 5-11 years old, called Small Sided Football. SSF is a smaller version of football on smaller fields with fewer players, fewer rules and modified equipment. As a result, there are more chances for players to touch the ball and a lot more fun.
The aim of SSF is to give young girls and boys the maximum opportunity to participate in football, the world’s most popular sport.
SSF is kids football, and as long as you are turning 6 years old this year you can start football now.
SSF is divided into six age groups:
-
- Under 6s, Under 7s play four a side with no goal keepers on a very reduced pitch;
- Under 8s and Under 9s play 7 a side on a about a quarter size field; and
- Under 10s and Under 11s play nine a side, on about half an adult-sized field.
In SSF there are no premiership points. This is one of the most important aspects of SSF as this moves the emphasis from winning to learning and having fun.
SSF encourages the frequent interchange of players so that all players get equal time on the field. Coaches are encouraged to rotate players so that they do not think of themselves as defenders, forwards or goalkeepers but as Football players.
SSF helps young players develop the skills needed for all positions and players can later make a decision about which position they enjoy the most. More information onSmall Sided Football?
Back to Top
SSF helps develop active children, as it lets them exercise in a fun and safe environment. There is little chance of injury in SSF as players must wear shin pads to protect themselves, and referees ensure fair play.
SSF is about young girls and boys playing together, making friends, having fun and learning the benefits of team participation and team sport.
It’s the way football is meant to be played… just for fun!
Back to Top
SSF games are played between local teams, so there is less travel and less expense. All we really ask of parents is your support and positive encouragement of the SSF spirit; an emphasis on fun and participation rather than on winning!
However, parents can of course become involved as referees, coaches or managers of SSF teams. There is no obligation on parents as SSF clubs are set up and ‘ready to roll’. If you want to be involved in your children’s sporting activities, there is always a place for parents on the team of enthusiatic volunteers.
Back to Top
Over 3000 years ago, ancient Chinese communities were juggling a ball with their feet in a performance where they displayed their skill by mastering difficult tricks. The ancient Chinese also played two different styles of games similar to modern soccer, with two teams and six goals. Kemari is a Japanese ceremonial football game derived from these ancient Chinese games.
The ancient Greeks and Romans used football games to sharpen warriors for battle. Roman games such as Harpastum or Paganica, which had elements of running and kicking with the ball, spread throughout Europe with the Roman armies. Football games were held to celebrate a victory.
Eventually a version of the Roman game came to Britain. It stayed a very violent game for 1,500 years, where mobs of villagers would ferociously kick and shove one another in an effort to win. This game had virtually no rules and the mob might play right through the middle of a town. Oliver Cromwell, who eventually became The Lord Protector of Great Britian, played football at Cambridge University in the early 1600s.
It was not till the 1800s, in Britain, that rules started to emerge. In the early 19th Century an upsurge in education saw many young boys at private schools. These boys wanted to play a version of village football at their schools. Teachers devised their own sets of rules to make the game less violent. As the boys from different schools went on to university and still wanted to play, they needed to have a universal set of rules. In 1815 Eton College formed the first set of rules for football. In this game you could kick the ball or pick it up with your hands, like in rugby.
In 1848 several universities met at Trinity College, Cambridge, to standardise the rules. These rules were known as the Cambridge rules. In 1856 Sheffield in England formed the first football (soccer) club in the world. In 1863 the Football Association was formed in London. A set of 14 laws was agreed and our modern game of football is based on those rules. By 1870, English seamen and British emigrants had spread the modern game to Europe and to South America.
In 1900 football was played for the first time in an Olympic games. In 1916 the first South American championships between countries was held in Uruguay, and Uruguay won. The South Americans played the game differently to their European counterparts with emphasis less on strength and more on skill. In 1923 over 200,000 people jammed into Wembley Stadium to see the final of the English FA Cup between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United.
The game was, for many years, called ‘soccer’ in Australia, but these days we are reclaiming our rightful claim to the term football. The word ‘soccer’ is thought to be a derivative of the word ‘association’ as the game was known as “Association Football” in the years after the Second World War.
Back to Top
On the 23rd May 1904, the Federation of International Football Associations, FIFA, was formed in Paris, and the Frenchman Robert Guerin was FIFA’s first President. FIFA only consisted of European associations until 1909. In 1910 South Africa joined, followed by Argentina and Chile in 1912, and the USA in 1913.
The First World War in 1914 interrupted the international growth of the federation. In 1921 the third President of FIFA, Jules Rimet, made it his life task to establish FIFA as a force and by the end of his reign in 1954, FIFA had eighty-five national federations as members. Jules Rimet and his Executive were impressed by the Olympic games and they were determined to initiate a world national football championship. In 1928 the FIFA Congress voted to stage the first World Cup.
Back to Top
The current World Cup is solid 18-carat gold and stands 36cm tall. The cup is contested every four years. Uruguay, South America, was selected to stage the first World Cup because Uruguay was a strong footballing nation, winning the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Games. Uruguay was also selected because the country was to celebrate its 100th year and Uruguay had large budgets set aside for their celebrations.
In 1930 the first World Cup, or Copa Mondial, was won by Uruguay from a field of 13 nations. FIFA steadily grew as the success of the World Cup spread throughout the world. However, as this was FIFA’s only source of income, the federation became heavily reliant on the World Cup.
In 1974 the new President of FIFA, Dr. Joao Havenlange, focused on expanding FIFA’s revenue streams. During his term he transformed the federation to a truly global entity. Today under the current FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter from Sweden, the federation has 204 National affiliates making football the World Game.
A world Cup for Women is now played in the year following the Men’s World Cup.
The Senior Men’s Australian team (the Sooceroos) have made the World Cup Finals three times – 1974, 2006 and 2010 in South Africa. The the Socceroos drew a game in 1974, but then had to wait 32 years before making the finals again and in 2006 they progressed to the Round of 16.
For the latest news on the socceroos click below
https://www.socceroos.com.au/socceroos-news
The Senior Women’s team (the Matilda’s) have recently qualified for the 2011 World Cup, by way of progressing to the final of the Asian Confederations Cup. Go the Matilda’s!
For the latest news on the Matildas, click here