Youth Football in our Region

Delivering Youth Football

The aim of youth football at Northern Region Football (NRF) is to provide high-quality, inclusive, and enjoyable football experiences that cater to the diverse needs and aspirations of rangatahi (youth). NRF aims to create balanced and equitable competitions that enhance player development, foster a love for the game, and ensure fair opportunities for all. Through effective communication, optimised competition structures, and accessible pathways, NRF supports young players, clubs, and communities in building a strong foundation for football participation and long-term engagement in the sport.

Dynamic Grading System

Youth games kick off between 10.00am and 3.00pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

In all grades there is a grading period of about 5 weeks before teams are divided into divisions designed to provide the highest amount of competitive games. During the grading period, fluid fixtures are used. This means that results from the previous weekend(s) will help us determine new fixtures for the future weekends to help us continue to assess each teams competition level during the grading period.

Cancellation Process

On occasion, fixtures will need to be cancelled where there has been inclement weather that means fields are either unable to be played on or fields would be severely damaged if they were played on. It is important to double-check the NRF website and our social media on Friday night/Saturday morning, for any venue/field/time changes.

Youth Girls

Auckland Competitions

  • 15G ​​​​​​​(11v11 35min halves)
    • 14-16 years old
  • 17G (11v11 45min halves)
    • ​​​​​​​16-18 years old, with dispensation available for 19 year olds

This aims to provide a more balanced competition and improve the quality of match experiences. 

  • Moving away from single age bands and towards Girls 15 and Girls 17 will help increase the number of teams in each age group.  When there are more teams in the competition, it is more likely that any one individual team will be able to find other teams that are at the same level as they are. creating deeper tiers and promoting healthy competition. 
  • Future Vision: The long-term plan is to move towards offering competitions on both Saturday and Sunday; and also moving towards single-age bands. Both of these rely on having large enough teams numbers to sustain a competition where each individual team is likely to play competitive even matches throughout the season.

Northland Competitions

In 2026 NRF is offering a Youth Girls league in Northland for players aged between 14-19 years old. This competition is a vital piece of the NRF girls-only pathway that connects juniors to senior football.

Youth Mixed

Auckland Competitions

NRF offers Youth Community Mixed competitions on both Saturday and Sunday in Auckland for the following age groups:

  • U13 Mixed (11v11 30min halves)
  • U14 Mixed (11v11 35min halves)
  • U15 Mixed (11v11 40min halves)
  • U17 Mixed (11v11 45min halves)


Northland Competitions

In Northland, Youth Mixed competitions are offered on Saturday for the following age groups:

  • U13 Mixed (9v9 30min halves)
  • U14 Mixed (11v11 35min halves)
  • U15 Mixed (11v11 40min halves)
  • U17 Mixed​​​​​​​ (11v11 45min halves)