Junior Development Pathway

The Club will continue to provide opportunities for players to further develop their footballing ability and will move towards meeting the training requirements stipulated by NZ Football and the Northern Region Football for its teams to qualify to play in the highest youth grades.

The Junior Development Programme (JDP) will be for players that are selected in the Red teams for Under 9 - 12 grades for both boys and girls along with selected players from the Black teams. For the coming season the boys U12 Black team will also be included in the JDP.

Players involved in the programme will train three times per week with one extra training session that will be additional to the two team training sessions. The programme will operate in Terms 2, 3 and 4 throughout the year.

In Term 1 the Club will run a Pre-season module for selected players. The Club recognises that some players will have commitments to other sports during Terms 1 and 4 therefore the programmes during these Terms are optional and are charged separately. 

During Terms 2 and 3 the Club expects players from the Red Teams to attend JDP and as such the cost of the programme during Terms 2 and 3 is incorporated in the Talent Development Fee (see below). Selected players from the Black Teams will be invited to join the programme for these Terms and will be charged accordingly if they accept the invitation.

 
The programme will be delivered by the club’s paid coaching staff and overseen by the club’s Director of Football, Fred de Jong, the Director of Coaching, Ryan Shiffman, and our Football Development Managers, Ben Fletcher and Hollie Leona.
 
Junior Talent Fee

Players in the Club’s Red Teams, the highest teams in each of the Junior grades will be charged a one-off Talent Fee at the commencement of each season.

The Talent Fee covers a number of items that either provide benefits for players in
the Red teams or incur additional cost for the club. These include:

• A paid experienced coach for the season
• Junior Development Programme sessions offered for Terms 2 and 3 
• Additional training sessions (i.e. all Red Teams train a minimum of twice a week)
• Access to the turf for training 
• Club Jackets, Ellerslie branded shorts and playing shirt (subject to correct size availability)
• Increased player levies and competition fees by Northern Region Football for some competitions

The Junior Talent  Fee for 2026 will be as follows:

Grades (U9 – U12 Boys) - $250
Grades (U10 - U13 Girls) - $250

For any Enquiries please contact

Boys - fdm@ellersliefootball.org.nz (Ben Fletcher)
Girls - girlsfdm@ellersliefootball.org.nz (Hollie Leona)