U9-U10 Soccer

The goal of ability based teams it to allow all players to play at their skill and confidence level. We want all players to be challenged appropriately (ie not overly challenged, and not under challenged), to build their skills and to enjoy their playing experiences. We wish to provide coaches with technical support to ensure they are meeting the needs of their players. We believe that providing children with the opportunity to play with and against those of similar ability will enhance both player and coach development.

Teams are formed through assessment of the club staff coaches through the current Under 8 and Under 9 season and then teams will be formed with all efforts to balance all teams within each the House Select and the House Development Pods. Friendship requests will also be taken into consideration within each pod, especially for the House Development Pod where we will have the majority of the players. Team coaches will also be asked to offer some input. Finally, there will be a re-evaluation period in late spring and at the beginning of the U9 and U10 season in the fall to move players that have been placed in the wrong pod relative to their ability, have changed significantly over the summer and need to be moved, or are new to the club and need to be placed appropriately. The Club's Technical Director will oversee all evaluation initiatives.

You register for the Under 9 or Under 10 age group as per the usually registration process and then you will be placed on teams through our team formation process. You cannot specifically register for either.

The cost for September to March regular season soccer is the same. There is an additional small spring program fee for U9 and U10 House Select Players.

If you are a new player playing in our club, you will initially be placed on the House Development Team. Unless otherwise assessed/identified in a NVFC Player Development Program or NVFC Team Program.

Same as U5 thru U8. As players are registered, parents are asked to indicate if they are willing to volunteer as Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches, and Managers. We will look at all parents that have put their names forward.

We are looking to have approximately 20% of the players placed in the House Select Pod and approximately 80% in the House Development Pod.

On the registration form there is places for requests. Especially on the House Development Pod side all efforts will be made to honour friends requests, keeping in mind that we also need to consider making balanced teams in terms of ability within the different pods. In the House Select Pod there will be less emphasis on grouping by friendships, but we may be able to accommodate some requests amongst players identified for the House Select Pod as well.  

Some may and some may not. This change in league structure will see some coaches and some players moved to different teams.

Yes, there will be a re-evaluation in the late spring and we also will have a re-evaluation mechanism early in the U9/U10 fall season to identify players who were missed during this season’s evaluation process or have changed significantly over the spring and summer. We will initially leave spots open on the House Select Team rosters to allow movement into this division if warranted/appropriate.

We are making all attempts to not have to move players down. However, if we realize a player is significantly out of place in the House Select Pod, we may ask the family to move to a House Development Team if its in the best interests of the player. We will all look at player initiated requests to move down from House Select to House Development during the season, and on most cases will grant those.

Age Group Coordinators will be supplied with a list of players that should be put onto various House Select Teams sometime in February/March. House Select Teams will be finalized by end of April. All other players will be placed on House Development Teams. Before finalizing all teams, age group coordinators will need to wait until registration closes and waitlists are started. Age Group Coordinators will then release team lists as per usual sometime in the spring/summer.

Note: The U9 and U10 House Select Teams will participate in a once per week program from late April to June consisting of a mix of games/practices.

We will be playing 6-aside at Under 9 (this means 5 outfield players and a goalie) and 7-aside at Under 10 (this means 6 outfield players and a goalie).

At Under 9 and Under 10 House all the teams are assigned the same uniforms.

All Under 9 and Under 10 Teams will train once per week and play a game once per week. Training days will be determined in the summer and games are on Saturdays. On top of this, each U10 team will also have regular visits to our Team Development sessions and receive training from our experienced club staff coaches during the season. U9 teams will participate in the Futsal Development Program led by our Club staff.

The Home Games times will vary and could be scheduled between 8:00am to 3:00pm. The game schedule will be set prior to the beginning of the season.

Each team will come to the Team Development sessions with our club staff coaches on a regular basis. Team coaches can also take part in the variety of coach certification courses and coach clinics/seminars we run throughout the season.

All players will have access to receive extra training through our year round Player Development Academy and Spring and Summer Camps. 

Going into U11 is the first year of Select Soccer (Gold, Silver, and Bronze Divisions) were players will be placed on appropriate level teams based on their ability through a series of in season and end of season evaluation process. There is a detailed end of season North Vancouver FC Evaluations Policies and Procedures Manual in the Evaluations section of our website that is aimed at U11 and up.

No, the Player Development Academy is an optional extra training opportunity with our Clubs’ technical staff for players of all abilities. Players are grouped by ability at the Academy to allow each player to develop at their own pace. The Academy consists of players who play on Select teams at North Vancouver FC as well as many players who will play on House teams for their whole time at North Vancouver FC.

Also, there have been many players over the years that have never participated in the Academy who have been selected for Select teams at U9 and older. In short, no player is advantaged or disadvantaged by participating or not participating in the Clubs’ optional Player Development Academy.