There’s nothing quite like representative football to stir emotions as the end of the season gives way to the official trials period and those young players who have not secured a position for 2026 are put through the ringer in the hope of securing another year of top flight football in their region. Football NSW mandates a trial period, where clubs are expected to hold their open trials, and this year it falls on Sunday 12th October. Multiple clubs all holding trials on the same day, players being ferried around different suburban fields to try and convince a technical director or an overwhelmed coach that they are more worthy of a punt than the other forty kids on show. It’s a stressful time for everyone.
To the uninitiated, that seems fair. Those players who shine on the day, which is often the first blistering hot day of spring, will naturally be the ones who are offered a position for the upcoming season on the spot. Credit cards will be debited hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, as players and parents are given little or no option but to accept the position there and then. The fear of missing out is powerful. Alternatively, depending on the make-up of the existing squad and the positions that a coach is hoping to fill, your aspiring Lionel Messi will be asked to come back and train a few days later in a smaller group setting where the more gifted players can play together and the coaches can run their eye over a smaller group up-close and in game situations.
By now though, any parent with their finger remotely near the pulse would understand that not every player at the trials is actually trialling. In fact, the majority of the squad will be already complete; those who have secured a place via retention from the season just finished or those who have been brought in from another club will be asked not to wear club colours. There may even be only one or two places in the squad yet to fill, and in some cases, the trial will be purely a box-ticking exercise as there are no places left for next year at all. On top of that, with clubs encouraged to retain players more than ever by the Football NSW Club Standards and Benchmarking framework, we could see almost a closed shop when it comes to trials at some clubs.
Those parents who are trying to get their young ones into the Youth Leagues space from club football need to prepare themselves for an emotional rollercoaster. Young Mary Fowler may make it to the promised land of the National Premier Leagues, but they may be consigned to a season on the sidelines, with oversized squads making it hard even to get onto the bench ahead of the young superstars from the age below on match day. Of course, they will benefit from intensive training, but at the cost of missing out on scoring a hat-trick every weekend back at their old club with their mates. The most agonising age group is the Under 16s. On completing that season, the maths just don’t add up. Half of the Under 18s will be sticking around for a second season, and half of the Under 16s will be cut adrift, left to find themselves another club, or go back to grassroots football, sometimes after an eight-year representative football career. At least the Girls Youth League now has Under 18s, as the step up from Under 16s to Under 20s was definitely sink or swim.
Keeping up with the opportunities is a task too. The majestically named Facebook group “Australia Soccer-Football Trials / Tournaments / Gala Days & Friendly Games” is a must-visit at this time of year, not only for the raft of Anonymous posters who contribute comedy gold straight from the sidelines. Without having the names and numbers of every technical director and coach, this is a very good resource for finding out when trials are happening and which teams are looking for players. As a parent who has completed the journey through the NPL youth system with various outcomes, I wish everyone success in the trials period. We’ve had agonising waits for retention, we’ve had weeks of training before being offered a spot and we’ve even missed out altogether, only for the footballing gods to point us in the right direction. And remember, loyalty counts for nothing. Whether you like it or not, being let go can be a blessing in disguise, and that word resilience is not to be sniffed at – imagine saying goodbye to friends you’ve spent four days a week with for the past nine months.
We all know that the youth football system is broken in Australia. It has good people, but it’s all about money, when it should all be about quality – the NPL system is a shop window of sorts, and you pay for your place in that window, although the shop may not have any customers. There’s no point in complaining about it, you just have to try your best to get the best outcome for your child. If your young one does not live and breathe football, you are potentially wasting your time, and the one training per week and a game on the weekend may be the best place for them to develop their love and appreciation of the game.
The advent of the non-affiliated academy programs, who are now forming leagues of their own, is an interesting proposition, but parents will need to have even deeper pockets. We’ve all seen footage of the Futboltec Under 11s playing beautiful passing football, and the upcoming Sydney Premier League concept is almost like the A-League, in that the established Sydney clubs are being trumped by new franchises. It will be interesting to watch on as this gets underway at the end of the year.
October is set to be a pivotal month for a huge number of aspiring footballers. Parents will be doing their utmost to achieve the best result for their children and they will be doing so in an environment that is not necessarily a level playing field. Whatever the outcome, once your young one has moved past the Under 18s and they have their driving licence, the journey is over anyway. Remember that. Make sure you did the best for your family, make sure you have realistic expectations and don’t deem a season in grassroots football in 2026 as a failure – it’s a stepping stone to the next adventure and is potentially fostering a love of football, ensuring the game stays in your family for generations to come.
