Football Queensland announce reformed junior NPL competition

Image via footballqueensland.com.au

Last Friday, Football Queensland announced that there junior NPL competition would be reformed from 2020 and beyond.

The reformed system would integrate grading to ensure teams would play against opposition of a similar caliber. This is clearly aimed at achieving a higher level of fairness and equality in the junior system.

Soccer is not the only sport in which some teams are unfairly pitted against sides much stronger than themselves. It happens frequently in cricket, Australian rules football and basketball.

It’s great to see Football QLD taking necessary action to make positive change and to retain juniors in the sport for longer.

The full press release can be found below:

Following the decoupling of the National Premier League (NPL) Queensland and the Football Queensland Premier League junior competitions and recently announced changes to the naming convention, Football Queensland (FQ) in conjunction with the Technical Working Group has developed a framework and model to appropriately determine the ranking of NPL junior clubs from 1-24.

A comprehensive technical audit has been completed by FQ across the 24 NPL and FQPL clubs. The Technical Working Group developed a number of models and ultimately proposed a hybrid grading model based on the FQ club technical audit score in a weighted formula alongside the total 2019 league points.

The ongoing refinement of the model will consider other agreed data sets that reflect the clubs’ focus on junior player development, and the audit scores will continue to change in the coming weeks as the working group completes its recommendations.

The recommended competition format has been designed based on the guiding principles of ‘like vs like’, ‘best vs best’ and ‘for the good of the game’.

It is intended for FQ to administer the league through a structured pool competition across three distinct phases throughout the season.

The Technical Working Group recommended that clubs ranked 1-6, in addition to the Brisbane Roar 2 Star Academy, should be ring-fenced to compete against each other in the first phase of the competition, in keeping with the proposed direction of the FFA Academy Star Rating system.

The remaining clubs will be allocated across three remaining pools according to their ranked position.

All clubs will participate in the proposed three phases of the league: pre-season, competition and tournament.

  • The pre-season phase of 7 rounds will be used to further validate the hybrid grading model. At the conclusion of this phase two pools of 12 will be formed (NPL Academy and NPL Development) in preparation of the ‘competition’ phase of the season.
  • In the 11 round ‘competition’ phase, the NPL Academy will consist of clubs ranked 1-12 plus the Brisbane Roar Academy, and NPL Development will consist of clubs ranked 13-24 plus the QAS Girls.
  • The ‘tournament’ phase will see competitive matches played with clubs split into four pools based on the principles of ‘best v best’ and ‘like v like’. The pools will then play for the Queensland Cup, Gold, Silver and Bronze Plates respectively.

Further information on the hybrid grading model, league structure and NPL reforms will be announced in the coming weeks.

Details of the Technical Working Group’s deliberations can be found in the minutes of the meetings, which have been released weekly and are available online via https://footballqueensland.com.au/technical-working-group/

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More than 220 coaches attend Football South Australia’s second NOVA Youth Club Championship workshop

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Image Credit: FQ

Football South Australia drew more than 220 coaches to its second NOVA Youth Club Championship Coaches Workshop in late May, underlining the scale of engagement clubs are generating through the state’s restructured youth competition framework.

The online session was facilitated by Football SA Technical Director Michael Cooper, who also serves as Junior Matildas Head Coach. Cooper shared observations from the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup and Australia’s qualification for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, giving club-level coaches a window into the demands and standards of elite international football.

The presenter line-up extended that international lens further. Lachlan Tosh and Cristiano Dos Santos spoke to their experiences in national tournament environments, while legendary Australian coach Tom Sermanni addressed the fundamentals of youth coaching. Colin Sanctuary from the University of Newcastle examined coaching language and its direct influence on player learning.

Themes running across the session included the primacy of long-term player development over short-term results, with presenters consistently emphasising technique, ball mastery, individual improvement, and decision-making under pressure. Coaches were encouraged to expose players to varied styles of play, facilitate practice outside organised training, and help young players retain possession longer in match conditions.

Post-session feedback pointed to strong practical value, with coaches singling out clear communication, relationship-building, and age-appropriate feedback as key takeaways.

The workshop series sits within the broader transition from the Youth Premier League to the Club Championship model, which ties coaching participation to championship points for clubs and CPD credits toward individual coaching diplomas. Six workshops are scheduled across the season, with four still to come.

Premier League backs grassroots football in Singapore

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Image credit: Premier League

The NEXTGEN coach programme saw past legends and current coaches unite to deliver an activity intent on supporting grassroots football through high quality and inclusive coaching.

 

Creating new leaders

To reach the top in elite football requires tactical education, personal guidance and consistent support throughout the development journey.

Coaches therefore take on a great deal of responsibility for players seeking a top-flight dream.

Yet even for those who never make it to the top, there is always one coach who stands out. Not necessarily for the silverware achieved or results on the pitch, but for the way they helped build a person off the pitch to play better on it.

The Premier League’s NEXTGEN Coach programme in Singapore aims to equip coaches with the skills and knowledge to do exactly that: creating welcoming environments which nurture confidence and a love for the game.

“This will hugely benefit local coaches, providing them with expert training and skills that will cascade into the communities they coach in,” said Premier League Director of Community, Nick Perchard, via media release.

“After opening the League’s first international office in Singapore more than seven years ago, we are now building on our commitment to the country with a structured coach development programme.”

 

What does the programme include?

The programme initially saw Premier League coaches deliver training sessions to coaches from StarHub – the League’s broadcast partner in Singapore who engage with local community football.

Furthermore, the training was consolidated through stakeholder engagement events and talks from 150 students at the Institute of Technical Education about their careers in the game.

In total, the programme saw 30 coaches take part – all from diverse backgrounds selected by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to maximise community reach and positively impact as many young individuals as possible.

“Youth development is a key priority for FAS, and it starts at the grassroots level,” explained FAS General Secretary, Badri Ghent via media release.

“Coaches play a central role in shaping not just how young players learn the game, but how they experience it, building confidence, character and a lifelong connection to football.”

Through high quality programmes like NEXTGEN, grassroots football can grow to ensure future coaches and players are confident in themselves and their future roles in the game.

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