Junior soccer still growing

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32565, 26 March 1971, Page 24

Junior soccer still growing

Although the , final figures will not be known for at least a fortnight, the present indications are that there will be another 30 teams more than last year playing in the Canterbury junior soccer competitions this season.

"We estimate a total of 4000 boys between the ages of seven to 16 will be playing. The spectacular growth of junior soccer, season after season, and which has been going on for the last 10 years, shows no sign of abating,” the the publicity officer of the Junior Football Asociation (Mr I. Steer) said yesterday. “The problem of getting

enough grounds of good condition is becoming increasingly difficult, and this season, to overcome it, more matches will have to be played on Saturday afternoons.” NEW GRADING This season, a new grading system will be used. The old twelfth grade will be known as under 8 years, the eleventh, under 9, tenth, under 10, ninth, under 11, eighth, under 12, seventh, under 13, sixth, under 14, fifth, under 15 and fourth, under 17. The birth date qualification is taken from January 1. “This will bring us into line with the systems used in the rest of the country,” said Mr Steer. “It will not prevent the outstanding boy playing in a higher age group.” ■' ■ < - : ■

Another innovation this year is that the competitions, due to start on April 17, will open with the first round of knock-out. Also," clubs will now have to supply one referee for every five teams they enter in the junior competitions. The selector-coaches for the South Island tournaments will be Messrs Steer (under 12), E. Brownlee (under 14) and J. Verweij (under 16). Other coaches are Messrs G. McPherson (under 11) and J. Salter (under 15). An appointment has yet to be made for the under 13s.

The venues for the South Island tournaments are Marlborough or Canterbury (under 12), Dunedin (under 14), and Invercargill (under 16). . Although the official open-

i ing day will be April 17, the , Rangers club has arranged ! a spectacular pipe-opener for : juniors at Cuthberts Green, I Cowles Stadium, on Sunday, • April 4. 1 The club has invited the ■ six higheset-placed clubs in the final ladders of last seai son’s section I competitions I in the under 10, 11, 12, 13 , and 14 -groups. This will en- . tail 36 teams from 11 differ•ent clubs. Each team will ■ have five matches. • Games will be of 20 min- ■ utes duration, playing one ’ way only. A trophy, given by a coach of the Ranger junior i section, Mr H. McDonald, will - be awarded to the club whose teams gain the higheset averI age in points a team, providing it has at least two en- • trants in the tournament.