Northern Suburbs Junior Soccer Association

And that is a wrap on season 2026
To all of our players congratulations on your commitment, effort and sportsmanship throughout the season. Every training session, every game, every win, every tough loss and every moment of improvement has contributed to making this a successful season.
To our coaches and team managers, thank you for the countless hours you have given to our players. Your patience, knowledge, encouragement and leadership make such a difference. You are not only developing soccer players; you are helping develop confident, respectful and resilient young people.
To our volunteers, committee members and match-day helpers, thank you. Much of what you do happens behind the scenes, but without you, our games simply could not happen.
And to all of our parents, families and supporters thank you for the early mornings, the long drives, the sideline encouragement and everything you do to help our players participate and enjoy the game. Your support is a huge part of our association. Thank you again to Eastern Region Junior Soccer Association for welcoming out under 11s and 12s into their association and giving our teams some new faces to play.
This season has had its challenges, as every season does, but it has also given us plenty to be proud of. We have seen players improve, teams come together, friendships grow and, most importantly, people enjoying the beautiful game of soccer.
While trophies and results are wonderful, they are only one part of what makes a successful season. Success is also seeing a player gain confidence, a team support each other, a young player score their first goal, or simply watching everyone walk off the field with a smile.
As we close out the season, I hope everyone takes a moment to appreciate what we have achieved together. Our association is built on community, and every player, coach, parent, volunteer and supporter plays a part in that community.
Thank you all for being part of our soccer association. We look forward to seeing you all back on the field next season.

A few photos from our Gala Day at the beautiful Tynwald park , we would also like to thank Gus Leighton Music for donating his time on Saturday and providing all of us all with a great vibe.

Hi guys this is the roster for this Saturday at Tynwald for those that have byes please check this as your games are not on dribl

Player safety and historical last few round reflections. An important read.

At ERJSA, we are proud of our environment and culture. We think it’s one of the best in the state of any sport. The reason for this comes down to our philosophy and the things we do. We monitor our grounds, and we follow up on reports, breaches, and incidents.

We can’t always get back to people to inform them of specific action taken for several reasons, the biggest being privacy. So today we want to provide you with some insight to reassure you that follow-up does occur.

Why are we making this type of post right now?

Well 2026 has been a great season, but as we head into our final rounds, past experience has taught us that we often see two things in particular become more frequent at this time of the year:

--> a heightened sense of emotion; and
--> a lower level of vigilance monitoring children.

More specifically:

-->Players (or other children) hanging from, sitting on, standing in, tilting, or otherwise interfering with goals. Even small goals when tipped over can cause serious injuries. Larger goals like those at Edgeworth, Wentworth Park, and Cambridge can cause something altogether more serious or terminal. They are not designed as playground equipment. Coaches and parents are required to at all times (whether play is on or not) remain vigilant to ensure children stay away from goals.

-->A coach being away, resulting in a team turning up to a game without an appropriately registered and informed responsible person. Coaches should always contact their club if they are going to be away for assistance so games can still proceed.

-->Players, having played against each other a few times during the season, carrying an unfriendly rivalry into a new game. Sledging and bad language is an immediate cause to bench a player in our region; it is not tolerated.

-->Parents and guests creeping too close to sidelines, or worse, entering the field of play during a game. A parent or guest should never enter the field of play unless called over by the game leader or their coach.

-->People become involved in matters that are not their responsibility or refuse to follow simple directions given by coaches or region representatives.

-->one last example, increased near misses being reported in car parks, and/or damage to property. We can’t help but think every near miss brings us closer to an actual tragedy. Please make sure to keep your children close and drive carefully and slowly around our venues.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, and thankfully, these types of reports are few and far between. 2026 has been a fantastic season, but it is important to reflect at times to ensure that we all remain vigilant of our collective responsibilities.

When an incident does occur, what type of action(s) can a coach, club, or region take?

Games can be temporarily halted or cancelled; players can be sent off to rectify an issue, or for the rest of a game; a player, parent, or group could be requested to leave the area; bans applied for future matches; immediate deregistration of a player; and/or registration declined in future years.

In the case of a serious event, police will be called with follow-up action taken to ensure the safety of our players, spectators, and volunteers.

There are also mandatory reporting requirements under the child safety provisions. Often parents don’t know or realise that violent or abusive behaviour in front of children can be enough to trigger this reporting requirement.

Remember, each and every weekend, all those who enter an ERJSA hired venue are guests. ERJSA representatives have the right to refuse entry to or remove those; who are not part of our competition, refuse to follow our directions, our code of conduct, and/or our policies and procedures.

Clubs and the region are all aligned in the thought process that to create a safe environment, it might mean that a child, or group of children become unable to play because of their behaviour or actions; or the behaviour or actions of those that brought them to the game or are there to watch them play.

When a region representative makes themselves known to you, any request should be followed without question. It will always be reasonable and in line with our terms and conditions that have already been agreed to in the registration process.

This all sounds a bit serious, and we don’t apologise for that, however putting all of the above aside, our region is a group of volunteers, all with varying levels of experience. Therefore we always do our best to start with gentle reminders and the provision of further education as our first option. Occasionally a formal warning is required.

While nothing is ever perfect; we are very proud of how our clubs work together to resolve issues. We have a track record of creating excellent participation-based environments that have a great atmosphere.

It is credit to all of those who help make this happen.

So if you have ever wondered or worried about issues being followed up, we hope this provides you with a greater degree of certainty and comfort.

We have also been excited this year to have the Northern Suburbs Junior Soccer Association as part of our competition structure in two age groups. NSJSA share the information that we publish along with our philosophy. We look forward to working with these wonderful clubs for the rest of 2026 and hopefully into 2027.

REMINDERS

🚭 Smoking & Va**ng

Smoking and va**ng are not permitted within 20 meters of the playing fields.

🐕 Dogs

Dogs are not allowed at any of our grounds. If you bring a dog, you will be asked to remove it.

⚠️ Player & Spectator Safety

Please stay at least 1 meter (preferably 2 meters) back from the sidelines at all times. This is for everyone’s safety, and you will be asked to move if needed.

🦵 Shin Pads

Shin pads must be worn under socks. Any player without shin pads will be asked to leave the field until they are properly equipped.

Our ground managers and NSJSA delegates will be present throughout the season to help monitor game day, you will find us in high vis vests any issues or concerns on the day please come to us.

Wet weather policy.

Our grounds are checked at 730 am each game day, if we are having to cancel a round due to safety issues this will be posted on here no later than 8 am. It is a winter sport and we will play in the rain if grounds are safe.

While enjoying a rare Saturday off today, I received a number of complaints, and sadly a lot of the complaints were not about the children's behaviour.

We ALL must follow the NSJSA code of conduct, whether you are a player, coach or spectator

The NSJSA will not accept bad behaviour you will be asked to leave the grounds and if this behaviour persists it could see you banned from all future NSJSA games/ grounds.

Below I have attached an email received from a new coach, I think it's something that we all need to take a few minutes to read.

These kids are not playing the world cup, they are there for fun and bad behaviour from their adults isn't fun for anybody.

I wasn't sure whether to send this email, but I felt it would be useful to share my thoughts as both a coach and a parent. I don't want to make a complaint or ask that anything be said to the other team. I simply wanted to share a concern that has stayed with me since today's match.

I completely understand that football is a contact sport. Bumps, tackles and accidental knocks are all part of the game, and many of them are unavoidable. However, today was the first time since becoming a coach that I left a match feeling both powerless and frustrated. At several points during the game, the level of physical contact seemed far greater than I would expect at this age group.

One of our players left the field injured after a heavy collision. While injuries can unfortunately happen in any sport, what affected me most was seeing repeated acts of unnecessary physical play being celebrated from the sidelines. This made me stop and reflect.

As both a parent and a coach, I kept asking myself one question: when do we stop putting ourselves in someone else's shoes? Before we are coaches, supporters or spectators, we are adults who are responsible for helping children to grow. Many of us are also parents. When a child is hurt, it shouldn't matter which team they play for. I believe we should all feel empathy and genuine concern for the child's wellbeing.

Since becoming a coach, I have always believed that the purpose of this competition is to provide a safe environment in which children can have fun, learn, build confidence, and develop a love for the game. Winning should never be more important than helping children to become respectful, resilient and caring individuals.

For this reason, I am not writing to ask anyone to speak with the opposing team's coach or to raise this as a complaint. My hope is simply that, as a club, we continue to reinforce the values we want to teach our juniors.

Playing with intensity should never mean playing to hurt someone. Intensity should always be balanced with respect, self-control, empathy and consideration for your opponent. These are the values we hope our children take with them every time they step onto the pitch.

Children learn far more from what they see adults do than from what they hear adults say. As coaches, parents and spectators, we have a shared responsibility to model that it is possible to compete fiercely while still showing kindness, respect and care for others.

I'm sure none of us would ever want to see a child leave the field injured. That's why I believe it's worth continuing to remind ourselves—and our young players—that the purpose of football at this age is not simply to compete, but to grow.

Perhaps the greatest lesson we can teach is that our biggest opponent is never the team wearing a different jersey. Our greatest challenge is helping these boys and girls become not only better footballers, but better people.

Kind regards,

ALL GAMES CANCELLED.
The council have closed Weily for this weekend due to all the rain, so all games will be cancelled. Under 11s and 12s that are travelling to Cambridge at this stage your games are going ahead.
See you all in 2 weeks at Brighton Storm Soccer Club

A very big welcome to the Eastern Region Junior Soccer Association teams joining us for their first time this year.
Just a quick note ALL under 12 games tomorrow at Weily are on ground one.

Welcome back for round 3, this week we will be at Weily Park. Below is the map.

We would also like to extend a very big welcome to the BGH BREAKERS who are a brand new club joining us this year with an under 10 and under 6 team, please show them respect as they learn the ropes.

🚭 Smoking & Va**ng

Smoking and va**ng are not permitted within 20 meters of the playing fields.

🐕 Dogs

Dogs are not allowed at any of our grounds. If you bring a dog, you will be asked to remove it.

⚠️ Player & Spectator Safety

Please stay at least 1 meter (preferably 2 meters) back from the sidelines at all times. This is for everyone’s safety, and you will be asked to move if needed.

🦵 Shin Pads

Shin pads must be worn under socks. Any player without shin pads will be asked to leave the field until they are properly equipped.

Our ground managers and NSJSA delegates will be present throughout the season to help monitor game day, you will find us in high vis vests any issues or concerns on the day please come to us.

Wet weather policy.

Our grounds are checked at 730 am each game day, if we are having to cancel a round due to safety issues this will be posted on here no later than 8 am. It is a winter sport and we will play in the rain if grounds are safe.

WEBINAR
SAFEGUARDING FOR COMMUNITY CLUBS

Join us for our first Safeguarding for Community Clubs webinar of 2026!

Teaming up with Sports Integrity Australia, learn how to promote safety and wellbeing within your club and get guidance regarding child safe compliance and best practices.

Date: May 6, 2026
Time: 7:00 PM (AEST)
Microsoft Teams

fd06768f-8022-4c8a-84b3-6de11a0ec1d2@09e2e794-ece8-4941-9fa6-dc07aff214f4" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/fd06768f-8022-4c8a-84b3-6de11a0ec1d2@09e2e794-ece8-4941-9fa6-dc07aff214f4


CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

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