FootballSSG - Sydney's favourite small sided soccer football competition

Sydney’s fastest growing sport and favourite spring/summer small-sided football competition

Playing 5-a-side or 6-a-side soccer football is a brilliant way to keep fit and have fun

By playing FootballSSG you will notice the difference in your playing ability when the next Manly Warringah soccer season comes around

Enjoy your soccer football more - play Manly Warringah's favourite summer soccer/summer football competitions - play FootballSSG Small Sided Games

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Play small sided football (aka futsal, five a side soccer football or six a side soccer football) in Sydney's favourite competition

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FootballSSG competitions are held at Pittwater Rat Park, North Narrabeen and Brookvale Oval, Brookvale

FootballSSG are Manly Warringah summer soccer competitions run mid-week, on your choice of Tuesday or Thursday afternoons and evenings

We created the FootballSSG to aid in the ongoing growth and development of the game of football, and in particular, to aid in the natural development of player’s technical skills

The basics of FootballSSG and futsal are very similar. Most of the rules are similar including: the size of the field; the non-contact nature of play; and the length of the matches. The key and fundamental difference between FootballSSG and futsal is that we play on turf and use a turf ball (like you would use in your full-sized-field winter competition). This is because we want our players to improve their technical football skills, something we feel is best done using the ball and the surface they will experience in their regular winter competition.

You might just want to have fun. You might want to improve or enhance your fitness. All of these are valid reasons to play FootballSSG, Manly Warringah summer soccer.

The key and fundamental difference between FootballSSG and futsal is that we play on turf and use a turf ball (like you would use in your full-sized-field winter competition)

FootballSSG aids in the ongoing growth and development of the game of football, and in particular, aids in the natural development of player’s technical skills

Small sided football helps to improve technical skills such as ball control, short passing and dribbling. And it helps to improve tactical skills such as using space, passing and moving and playing a through ball.

Site updated November 15, 2024

Welcome to Sydney's favourite and fastest growing small sided football competitions

For the most up to date competition information, including WET WEATHER information ...

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The best summer football competitions - Football SSG "Small Sided Games"

Spring Season Competition Information For All Age Groups

The Spring Season will commence in September and conclude in December (definitely before school breaks up, date ultimately determined by weather). Matches are played during the September/October school holidays.

Matches for all age groups consist of two halves of 18 minutes each, with a 2 minute break for half-time and 7 minutes between matches.

The official time keeper starts and finishes play in all matches. Teams must be on the field on time as the match will commence on time. Matches are adjudicated by an official referee whose decision is final and binding.

Teams will be provided playing uniforms consisting of jerseys, shorts and socks for each registered player. These uniforms become the property of the individual players.

Each team’s playing jerseys are designed to be easily differentiated from each other teams, such that there will be no need for alternate strips or training bibs to be worn by any team. For this reason, it is a rule that players must wear their allocated playing jersey whenever competing.

It is intended that all competitions will have either six, eight or ten teams. Where sufficient teams register for a given age group, teams will be graded based on the information provided at the time of registration with the aim of ensuring individual competitions are as fair as possible.

Each team is required to have a coach or manager to perform substitutions during the match and also to be the primary point of contact for all correspondence from FootballSSG. The team’s coach or manager must supply an email address for correspondence from FootballSSG.

Sydney’s fastest growing and
favourite small-sided football competition

- 760 players in 2008 (our first year)
- Over 4,500 players in 2017
That’s 35% growth, year on year!

- Boys, Girls, Men’s & Ladies’ competitions
- All age groups from Under 6 to Over 35
We’re the best, because we’re the most fun!

Real comments from the Boy's Under 14
	The whole organisation and running of the competition was excellent. This is our 2nd year playing and I know all of the boys have said they will be playing again next year. Thanks for such a great season. So well organised. You've done a brilliant job. Thanks again.

Real comments from the Ladies' Over 35
	This was my first season not just watching the kids play SSG, but getting to enjoy SSG myself. I had a fantastic time. Communication, refs, fields etc were all wonderful. I have been recommending to friends that they consider playing SSG next season.

Real comments from the Ladies' Over 35
	Thank you so much for organising this. It was the highlight of my week.

Real comments from the Girl's Under 12
	My daughter has been involved in SSG for three seasons, starting as an 8 year old. In the three years I have coached the feedback I receive from both players and parents is that they like SSG because it is high scoring and there are many more opportunities to improve your skills as you have so many touches of the ball. We'd play it all year round if the option was there!

Real comments from the Men's All Age
	Very happy with the quality of the fields, refs, and even most the other players! We came last in our comp with style, the most important thing is we had fun doing it.

Real comments from the Men's Over 35
	I've played in four different summer comps but SSG is the first to always start on time, have a ground that can cope with heavy rain, and offer longer game times.

Real comments from the Mixed Under 8
	This was an extremely well organised competition. The kids loved every minute of it. It appealed to them because they played in a real stadium, with refs, real goals, etc. It just made them feel part of a real competition.

Real comments from the Mixed Under 8
	Excellent. Really well run, and glad there is a comp like this on the Beaches. This is a competition that offers a good development platform for kids, as well as a fun and focussed addition to the weekly calendar.

Real comments from the Ladies' Over 35
	Very well organised competition on an excellent playing surface. I will certainly be introducing my two kids to the event when they are old enough to participate.

Real comments from the Men's Over 35
	I was very pleased with the no-contact ruling as this tends to stop any nastiness from creeping into the games. It is so much more enjoyable when the game feels fair and is played in good spirit. The referees did a fantastic job. Rat Park is a great venue. The surface is fantastic to play on (even in the wet) and the field management / rotation was very well done.

Real comments from the Boy's Under 14
	Love the format, love the game length and a playing at Rat park is awesome. Great casual, competitive soccer, played in the right spirit. I'll be playing next year for sure.

Real comments from the Boy's Under 10

It was a pleasure to be involved with Football SSG again this year. This was the 3rd season my son has played with you, and I think it improves every year. Everything is so efficient and organised - from your regular communication, to the uniforms and games. From a managers point of view, it is so easy to be involved. One thing I noticed this year was the fact that parents were allowed on the sidelines (in previous years parents have had to watch from outside the fence). This was fabulous and made the game much more exciting and fun for both the parents and the kids. The boys had a fabulous season and on the last game were asking how long before they could start playing again!

Real comments from the Girl's Under 14
	Football SSG was the best fun ever!

Real comments from the Ladies' All Age
	Excellent organisation, great timing, great venue - can't add anything apart from it's a fantastic comp and we thoroughly enjoy it.

Real comments from the Boy's Under 17
	Our team and their parents were very happy with the whole season - again! We had one new member to the team and his parents were really impressed with easy it was - turn up and play - the others have become used to that! A good season and all keen to come back and play next year.

Real comments from the Men's All Age
	A very good experience - year after year!!

Real comments from the Girl's Under 12
	Absolutely unreal. All the girls loved it, the parents loved it. After years and years of summer and winter football and this is the absolute best football experience we have all had. Great standard, really good for the skills.

Real comments from the Ladies' All Age
	Extremely well run and organised and fun. I got a great team of girls who I'd never played with before and we had a really good time. Loved the emphasis of maximum game play.

Real comments from the Boy's Under 14

A brilliant well organised competition for all ages, boys and girls. I coached a team and the boys called me today to continue playing as they are still hungry for football. This will be a great start for next season as they will be playing U/13s, whom I coach, this would not have happened had it not been for Football SSG, all the local football clubs will benefit from what you are doing, thank you so much see you next year.

Real comments from the Mixed Under 7

Huge THANK YOU to FootballSSG team, it has been a lot of fun and a breath of fresh air how smoothly it is all run. Seems to be the right balance, not over-controlled or over-regulated, just the key areas are regulated just enough. The properly trained refs, fairly administered rules, regulated start and end times on the day, management of the draw and tally, the uniforms all provided clarity and predictability for the kids. Within this environment then with great grounds, the slightly bigger fields, slightly longer games, goalies and right number of players on the field, the kids really seemed to flourish and get a lot more out of the game they love. And they had fun making some new friends along the way.

Real comments from the Mixed Under 9
	I have nothing but praise to say about how well you have organised this competition for our kids. How informed we have always been and as you said how fun it has been.

Real comments from the Ladies' Over 35

This has been our first year playing the Tuesday evening summer comp and on behalf of our team the Runaways I just wanted to say that it has undoubtedly been the best comp we've ever played (and believe me we've tried them all!) From the lighting to the grounds and best of all the professionalism of the refs, it has been an absolute pleasure to play each week. We will definitely be back next year.

Real comments from the Mixed Under 6
	Thanks for such a great season. Joe loved it and looked forward to it each week. So well organised. You've done a brilliant job. Thanks again.

Real comments from the Boy's Under 10
	This was a great competition and I had lots of fun. I will definitely do it again next year.

Matches will be governed by the FootballSSG Playing Rules. All players are required to compete with good sportsmanship and in the spirit of the game. In all competitions it is possible for players to receive yellow or red cards, suspensions and even expulsion from the competition. Teams are also required to abide by the player restriction rules, listed below, which are designed to ensure fair competition between all teams.

Competitions are being organised for the following fields/days/ages/times:

Monday - Curl Curl
Age Group	Likely Kick Off Time *
Mixed Under 6	430pm
Mixed Under 7	430pm
Mixed Under 8	430pm or 515pm
Mixed Under 9	515pm
Girl’s Under 6/7	430pm
Girl’s Under 8/9	515pm
Girl’s Under 10	515pm or 600pm
Girl’s Under 12	600pm
Girl’s Under 14	645pm
Girl’s Under 17	730pm
Boy’s Under 10	600pm
Boy’s Under 12	600pm or 645pm
Boy’s Under 14	645pm
Boy’s Under 17	730pm
Ladies’ Over 35	730pm or 815pm
Men’s Over 35	730pm or 815pm

* “Likely” kick off time is what we expect and plan for, but we never really know how many teams will register in the different age groups. Registrations are accepted on a first-come basi and we schedule the younger age groups to play before the older ones. Therefore, these times may change (for example if we get a lot more or a lot less Under 6 teams than we expect, that will have a knock-on effect to the timing of all games through the afternoon and evening) but it is highly unlikely that any change would be more than one time slot.

Tuesday - Warriewood
Age Group	Likely Kick Off Time *
Mixed Under 6	430pm
Mixed Under 8	515pm
Boy’s Under 10	600pm or 645pm
Boy’s Under 17	645pm, 730pm or 815pm
Men’s Under 21	730pm or 815pm
Men’s Open Age	730pm or 815pm


Wednesday - Warriewood
Age Group	Likely Kick Off Time *
Mixed Under 7	430pm
Mixed Under 9	515pm
Boy’s Under 12	600pm
Boy’s Under 14	645pm
Ladies’ Open Age	730pm or 815pm
Mixed Open Age	730pm or 815pm
Ladies’ Over 35	730pm or 815pm


Thursday - Warriewood
Age Group	Likely Kick Off Time *
Girl’s Under 6/7	430pm
Girl’s Under 8/9	430pm
Girl’s Under 10	515pm
Girl’s Under 12	600pm
Girl’s Under 14	645pm
Girl’s Under 17	730pm
Ladies’ Under 20	815pm

All teams must consist of at least eight registered players.

A player’s age group is determined by their age on 31st December in the year of the competition.

Age on 31st December

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18 - 34
35 +

Player eligible for age group
U6	U7	U8	U9	U10	U12	U14	U17	Open	Over 35

Y	Y
Y	Y	Y
	Y	Y	Y
		Y	Y
			Y	Y
				Y	Y
					Y
					Y	Y
						Y
						Y	Y
							Y
							Y	Y
							Y	Y
								Y
								Y	Y

Quick Summary of Competition-Specific Player Restriction Rules

The intent with these restrictions is to ensure that competitions are fair and even and that all teams have the opportunity to be competitive. We may choose to make exceptions or to adjust to these rules to ensure the intent is met. For the most current and comprehensive rules for all competitions (including age-based rules) read the FootballSSG Playing Rules.

Mixed Under 6 - Mixed Under 9		- Age-based player restrictions apply to these competitions (as above) - Teams can be comprised of all boys, all girls or any combination thereof

Under 10 - Under 17 (and Girl’s Under 7 and Under 9)		- Age-based player restrictions apply to these competitions (as above) - Girl’s competitions are restricted to girls-only - Girls are permitted to play in Boy’s competitions (with the understanding that they will be playing almost exclusively with and against the boys) but cannot play in the position of goal keeper - Each team may have a maximum of two representative players only

Mixed Gender Open Age		- Age-based player restrictions apply to these competitions (as above) - Each team must have a minimum of three players of each gender - Each team may have a maximum of two representative players only - Each team must have at least two female players participating in the game at all times - Female players cannot play in the position of goal keeper - *this is a social competition in which rough play will not be tolerated at all*

Men’s Open Age Division A		- Age and gender-based player restrictions apply to these competitions (as above) - Each team may have a maximum of two representative players only - All other players must have last played Division 1 or higher (eg U18-1, AL1, PL, etc)

Men’s Open Age Division B		- Age and gender-based player restrictions apply to these competitions (as above) - No representative players allowed - Each team may have a maximum of two AL1 or PL players only

Men’s Over 35 Division A		- Age and gender-based player restrictions apply to these competitions (as above) - All players must be aged not less than 35 years on 1 January in the year of the competition - No representative players allowed - Each team may have a maximum of one AL1 or PL players only

Men’s Over 35 Division B		- Age and gender-based player restrictions apply to these competitions (as above) - All players must be aged not less than 35 years on 1 January in the year of the competition - No representative, PL, AL1 or AL2 players allowed

Ladies’ Open Age Division A		- Age and gender-based player restrictions apply to these competitions (as above) - Each team may have a maximum of two representative players only - All other players must have last played Division 1 (eg U18-1, AL1, PL) or AL2

Ladies’ Open Age Division B		- Age and gender-based player restrictions apply to these competitions (as above) - No representative players allowed

Ladies’ Over 35		- Age and gender-based player restrictions apply to these competition (as above) - All players must be aged not less than 35 years on 1 January in the year of the competition