Guidelines For Developing Players
Understanding how players grow and develop through play and sport along with long term athlete development (LTAD) can be a challenging process when considering players individual stages of physical, emotional, tactical and psychological development all alongside their participation in the sports they enjoy to play. Keeping in mind that our kids/players all develop at different rates and may experience aspects of “adolescent awkwardness” during periods of rapid growth, considerations around the amount of all sports, including football, played throughout these different ages and stages needs to be well considered, catered for and managed appropriately. In order to help parents, coaches and players understand the development process better and highlight critical developmental phases and stages in a players lifecycle with suggested hours of formal sports participation, plus the LTAD model, we have created the below ‘Player Development Guidelines’.
The player development guidelines table will highlight the changing developmental stages throughout a players journey in line with suggested total hours of all formal sports involvement, plus New Zealand Football’s Whole of Football Plan (WOFP) within this framework, overlayed with the healthy continuation of other sports a player wishes to participate in and in line with Sport New Zealand’s Balance is Better campaign, taking into consideration relevant stages for all ages.
How to use the Player Development Guidelines table
Scroll through the table with your mouse checking against the players age and gender you are exploring to highlight guidelines specific to this population group. Also try clicking on the below “Show Growth Velocity Curve” button to see the average male and female growth curve overlayed onto these guidelines. Understand what guidelines are recommended for the population group and their phase of growth and development. It is important to keep in mind that this curve is reflective of an “average” growth rate which may vary from individual to individual depending on whether they mature early or later.
Please select an age and sex to filter the information in the table below, highlighting relevant data. You can also click on an age and/or sex within the table to change the options.
Viewing data for: year old
Chronological Age | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21+ | |
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LTD Stage - Males | Active Start | Fundamentals | Learn to Train | Training to Train | Training to Compete | Training to Win | |||||||||||||||
LTD Stage - Females | Active Start | Fundamentals | Learn to Train | Training to Train | Training to Compete | Training to Win | |||||||||||||||
General Sport | Purpose | Physical Literacy | Participation or Performance | ||||||||||||||||||
Sports | Range of sports and activities | Football/Futsal 1-2x Other Social Sports |
Football/Futsal Specialisation | ||||||||||||||||||
Total Hours Per Week (All Organised Sport, including P.E in schools. Not including unstructured "Free Play") |
Up to 6 hours | Up to 7-8 hours | Up to 9-10 hours | Up to 11-12 hours | Up to 13-15 hours | Up to 16 hours | Up to 17 hours | ||||||||||||||
Alternative sports, recreation & training | 5h hours of active play max | 6x hours alternative sports / recreation max | 8x hours alternative sports / recreation max | 8x hours alternative sports / recreation max | 5x hours alternative sports / recreation max, 2x hours pre-rehab / re-hab | Alternative training including S&C, re-hab, mental / life skills, etc | Alternative training including S&C, re-hab, mental / life skills, etc | ||||||||||||||
Football Framework | New Zealand Football Training Programme | N/A | FIRST KICKS 1. Fundamentals |
FUN FOOTBALL / FUTSAL 2. Playful Technical Training |
MINI FOOTBALL / FUTSAL 3. Football/Futsal specific basic training |
YOUTH 4. Learning to shape the player of the future |
YOUTH 5. Preparation for highest performance |
SENIOR 6. Perfecting best performance 7. Stabilising best performance |
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Football/Futsal Specific (Recommended maximum Football/Futsal sessions) |
1 1x First Kicks Game Day (45mins Football/Futsal max) |
2(1+1) 1x training day 1x Game Day (1.5 Football/Futsal hours max) |
2(1+1) 1x Training / Skill Centre session 1x Game Day (2 Football/Futsal hours max) |
3(2+1) 2x Training / Skill Centre session 1x Game Day (3-4 Football/Futsal hours max) |
4(3+1) 3x Football/Futsal trainings plus game (or 2 trainings plus 2 games) (8 hours Football/Futsal max) |
5(4+1) 4x Football/Futsal trainings plus game (or 3 trainings plus 2 games) (10 hours Football/Futsal max) |
6(5+1) 5x Football/Futsal trainings plus game (11.5 hours Football/Futsal max) |
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NZF Framework Phases | DISCOVERY PHASE | SKILL ACQUISITION PHASE | GAME TRAINING PHASE | PERFORMANCE PHASE | |||||||||||||||||
Recommended Rest Days | N/A | Minimum of 1-2x Full Rest Days per week (not including unstructured play) | Minimum of 1 Full Rest Day per week | Minimum of 1 Full Rest Day per week Max 2x Football/Futsal Specific sessions per day |
Chronological Age | |
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LTD Stage - Males | |
LTD Stage - Females | |
General Sport | Purpose |
Sports | |
Total Hours Per Week (All Organised Sport, including P.E in schools. Not including unstructured "Free Play") |
|
Alternative sports, recreation & training | |
Football Framework | New Zealand Football Training Programme |
Football/Futsal Specific (Recommended maximum Football/Futsal sessions) |
|
NZF Framework Phases | |
Recommended Rest Days |