Frequently asked questions

Typically, about a quarter of our under 6s are aged 4 at the start of the year. A child turning 5 this year is not necessarily out of place; it depends on the child. Players are graded on ability not age, there is a tendency for younger players to be placed in lower graded U6 teams and for those players returning to U6 for a second year to be placed in higher teams. Football Federation of Australia sets a minimum age requirement, your child must be turning 5 in the year of their registration.

After this, most choose to play in an all-girls/women competition (played Sundays). Some choose to remain in the boy’s competition or play both. Also, some girls who would normally play in the U10s mixed competition choose to move across to the U12 girls’ team early.

Registrations open from Mid-January

- Grading is scheduled over 2 weeks of February U8-U18 age groups (not already selected players)- Teams created first week in March U6-Over 45's age groups

- Draw prepared by NSFA 3rd or 4th week of March

- Training Commences mid-March

- First game is normally the first week in April (season runs until the end of August

If you register after  teams have been formed ( normally  by early March)  then any late registrations can only be accommodated provided these teams have vacancies.

Each age group has a minimum and maximum team size, at times the number of registrations in a particular age group will be such that it is not possible to accommodate all players. For age groups U6 to U12 and adult teams we have many players, so this is normally never an issue. If we experience problems with the U14-U18 age groups, we try to assist to contact the clubs in the adjoining suburbs and hopefully arrange for players to be offered a place in either a club- combination or with those other clubs.

REGISTRATION FEES REFUND POLICY

A full refund is available on registration fees (less credit card fees 3%) until 3 days after the Team or squad Announcements.

After Team / squad Announcements the refund is 50% and then reduces further by 10% a week from then. 

After 5 weeks NO refund is available. 

The club endeavours to make the Team / squad Announcements in person on a pre-defined date each year. However, the club reserves the right to make the announcements via email or via posting to the website.

For some age groups, the club may choose to make draft team announcements while the team composition is being assessed.

The Fees Refund policy also applies if the team announcement is "Draft".

Individual requests for exceptions to this policy may be presented to the Committee with supporting argument documentation. However, it remains the discretion of the committee whether that exception is upheld and what the appropriate refund might be.

DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FEES REFUND POLICY

Once the invitation has been accepted a 40% non refundable deposit (exempt is accepting an invite to North Tigers the 40% will be refunded).

Acceptance of the invitation is understood to be for a squad within the age group and team announcements are made in March 2026

Ful deposit is due by 15th December 2025

After the 31 December 2025 no refund is available.

No. We cannot let a player take the field without insurance and our policy is such that coverage is extended only to those who have a valid registration. If you choose not to continue after grading, you can receive a full refund less 3%. (Excludes active kids voucher until we are directed to pay to another sporting organisation

Yes. The third and subsequent registration from any one family receives a 10% rebate on the total registration fee. The discount is only applicable if payment is made in full by 25th February. Also, if you are experiencing difficulties paying, please contact either our president or registrar.

We know have two payment methods via credit card or a programmed payment option.

Registration fees make up almost all of our income.  You can see a breakdown of our expenditure over recent years in our \"about us\" section of the web site. The majority of our expenditure goes to the Northern Suburbs football Association (NSFA). They, in turn, spend the majority of their funds on ground hire, insurance and referees.

Yes, the player details are kept secure on a system that has been in use for many years. Payment details are not accessible to the club, when registering you are passed to a \"gateway\" that takes payment and provides confirmation to the club that you have paid. We do not keep any information so this is why any refund provided cant be made by credit card only a bank transfer.

The grading process has its challenges in any club. The Committee has taken the view that a primary emphasis on “play with friends” places the committee in the position of having to resolve non-football issues when forming teams during the pre-season.

Under 6-7 Players will not be graded individually. Players will be placed in teams based on schools attended, friendships etc, subject to overall team number limitations.

Under 8-11 All players will be graded in order to select the top 2 teams. U8-11 players not selected for the top 2 teams will be placed in teams based on schools attended, friendships, previous team etc, subject to overall team number limitations.

Under 12-18s Once we have selected our super league teams, players will be graded. Placing players with friends is also taken into consideration.

Games are played at our home grounds in St Ives and at the home grounds of our opposition e.g. Asquith, Turramurra 

U6-U18 will have games scheduled for between 8:30 and 12:30 Saturday morning.

Men’s teams play Saturday afternoons with the occasional Sunday afternoon games.

Girls’ teams play on Sunday mornings.

Women’s teams play Sunday afternoon.

Our All-Ability program players, play Saturday afternoon at Toolang

Training time is arranged at the convenience of the coach. As these people are volunteers, we fit in training around when they are available. The only way to be certain when training will be is to volunteer to coach, then you get to choose your starting time. 

U6 -U7s train Wednesday afternoon at St Ives Showground for 3/4 hour between 4pm - 6pm

U8-U11 train Wednesday afternoon at St Ives Showground for 1 hour between 4pm - 6:30pm

U12- U16s train Wednesday evenings at St Ives showground for 1 hours 6pm to 7:30pm

Adult teams train Wednesday's 7:30-9:00 at Warrimoo or St Ives Showground.

The season normally runs for 18 weeks starting in the first week of April. Adult games run each weekend, children do not normally have games on weekends in the middle of school holidays.
For U6-U11 at the end of the season there is a series of \"Gala Days\" where teams participate in a combination round-robin. Each team plays at least 2 and as many as 3 half-length games. After the season and gala days are completed, the club has a trophy day. 

For U12 and above there are semifinals and finals for those teams in the top 4

All competitions are normally finished prior to September

A player can potentially register in a higher age group (maximum 2 years), however, the team they are selected for will be limited by their ability and any vacancy within that team. 

Decisions to allow a child to play in a higher ager group will be made by the committee in consultation with the parents, the player and the coach. 

Only U12 and above have published tables of results and standings. 

For U6 to U11 the NSFA publishes individual match results, but does not rank teams against each other. This means each team is able to see its own results but has no idea of which division they are in. 

Each age group has a number of divisions, prior to the start of the season St Ives Football club nominates the number of teams in each age group it expects to field and a division for them to play in. NSFA may adjust this nomination to ensure even sized divisions. Once the season starts, junior teams are reviewed several times during the year and moved either up or down a division if their results show them to be out of place.

6 = Under 6 years of age as of the 31st December the year prior to the season starting

12 = Under 12 women's/girls, 

AA = mixed all age (18-34), 

M35 = Men’s >Over 35,

All Ability = special needs program