WaiBOP Football will no longer publish the results and league tables for all junior football up until, and including, 12 years of age.

This is in line with the NZ Football recommendations and follows what is already in place in other Federations across the country. This also falls in line with the Sport NZ ‘Keep Up With the Play’ campaign announced recently in which four of New Zealand’s major sports, including NZ Football, have signed up too.

The NZF Whole of Football Plan was created to engage more junior players in the game and provide positive experiences of enjoyment and development. International research comprehensively indicated that this would grow the game through increased player retention, lead to more contact time and therefore opportunities to develop players of a higher quality.

If we wish to grow the game and raise the standard of players, its key that we create an environment that is based on enjoyment, development AND wanting to win. Our player-centred approach has been developed to build competition as players get older. This dismisses the notion that there is such a thing as non-competitive football.  

In every children’s match, even at First Kicks, the two teams want to try their best to win! However, the most important aspect is the nature of the environment we put those children in and the focus at a junior age concentrates more on development. We are attempting to ensure that children remain competitive but there is minimised adult-led, over emphasis on winning. This has been shown to lead to unnecessary pressure on players, punishments for losing and negative impact on player enjoyment.

Teams will still compete and know if they have won or lost. Players will know who has scored the goals – but there will be no points ladder. In the car ride home after the game, junior players will have moved on from the game of football – we are hoping that not publishing results/ladders can encourage the adults to do the same.