WOF (Whole of Football)
Welcome to Whole of Football!
If you are new to WOF Welcome and welcome back to our returning families
To make our season run smoothly there needs to be a coach and a manager for each grade and for WOF to work successfully we rely solely on parent involvement and support. This includes set up, trainings, games and our ever popular sausage sizzle.
The 2024 season starts on Tuesday 30th April.
Trainings are on Tuesday's between 3.30-4.30pm (only grades 5-8)
Games are on Saturday's between 8.30am-9.30am
Training and games will be weekly during term 2 and term 3 but won't take place during school holidays.
All sessions will be at the club (Baysport, Waipapa) on pitches 1 & 2.
Also if you know of any families who might be keen to join in for this season do encourage them to sign up, the more the merrier. Please note that the emphasis for children at these ages is game time and to have FUN. No scores are kept and limited rules. Please support the club and your child by always considering this.
If you have any queries don't hesitate to get in contact.
Brooke Williams
WOF Coordinator
Here's some additional information regarding our WOF program
WOF (Whole of Football) Programme 2024 - Grades 4-8
WOF stands for “Whole of Football” and is for children turning 4 through 8 in the year the season is played. All of our training sessions and games are played at the Baysport Waipapa fields. We have 2 full sized pitches here and each grade plays in a set area. Trainings are on a Tuesday afternoon from 3:30 to 4:30pm and game days are Saturdays from 8:30 to 9:30am.
* Grade 4 - note that grade 4 does not do Tuesday trainings – instead on game day half of the time is spent doing drills and the 2nd half is games. Parent involvement 1-on-1 for each child is required at this grade also.
When it rains or when the pitches are not playable the sessions sometimes need to be cancelled. The club will send an email to all members and also post on the club Facebook page when this happens at the earlist opportunity. Tuesday cancellations will be made by 12pm and Saturday cancellations will be made by 7.30am at the latest. We ask that parents do not send messages either via email or Facebook before these times as our club volunteers will be working behind the scenes to determine if the pitches can remain open or not.
All paid players will be given a T-shirt at the start of the season for training and game days. Children can wear any shorts/pants they like and any colour socks. Shin pads and closed toe footwear are compulsory. Second hand boots are sometimes posted on our FB page for purchase/sometimes free, the local op shops also often have a selection available or there is Rebel Sport or Stirling Sports shops aswell. Games are quite small at this age with Grade 4 playing 2 on 2, Grades 5&6 playing 3 on 3 and Grades 7&8 usually playing 4 on 4. There are no fixed teams for training or games, it depends on who is present each week and will usually be shuffled to ensure balance across players/teams.The only rule we to stick to is no deliberate hands. If a ball goes out of the field of play parents are encouraged just to gently kick it back in and keep the play going. We do not do throw-ins or worry about which team kicked it out. As Grade 7 and 8 develop more skills, the kick in from the ground by the other team can be implemented if it's deemed that the lplayers are ready for this. We also don’t have goalkeepers in place, so if a child is standing in goal, encourage them to move out.
Parent/Caregiver Expectations
● Actively participate in running training drills (chosen by Coach/Coordinator)
● Ref games each weekend (i.e. keep the ball in play and encourage all children to play, a whistle is definitely not needed!)
● Help set up and pack down fields and drills
● Be supportive and encouraging, be fair, if you see a child being left out, support them to get involved
● Do one sausage sizzle morning in the season
All our coaches/coordinators and managers are volunteers, so the success of your child’s football season is dependent on you, as parents/caregivers, chipping in to help
Coach/Coordinator Role Description:
The Coach/Coordinator role is to decide on the drills to be held each week and set up the field before each training session based on the drills to be done. The Coach/Coordinator should nominate a parent to run each drill, and then float around each drill providing tips, coaching and support to the players.
On game days the Coach/Coordinator sets up each morning and assigns parents to ref each game. They should then be able to float between games to watch all players progress, check teams are balanced, and provide pointers and support to children who are struggling. You do not have to be a football expert or know all the rules for these ages.
Your focus is on arranging the drills each week, putting children into teams so that teams are balanced, supporting parents to run the drills and coaching the kids where you can – mostly through encouragement. New Coaches are always welcome, we all start somewhere.
Grade Manager Role Description:
This role primarily helps to maintain contact/communication within the grade. Coordinate the player of the day awards each week (alongside the coach/coordinator) and keep track of who has had one (we try to share them around equally). Support the Coach/Coordinator to involve parents/caregivers helping to run drills, ref games. Send reminders to your parents when it is their turn on the sausage sizzle. Arrange a parent/caregiver to wash the bibs as needed.