The Upper Hutt City Football Under 19 season is about to get into full swing.
The U19 season is geared around two key objectives:
1) Getting a squad of 18 players ready to represent the club at the National Under 19 Tournament in Napier over Labour Weekend and
2) developing the next breed of U19 players who will be ready to represent the club in future years at both U19, U17 and senior levels.
Upper Hutt City Football hosts an U19 tournament in Upper Hutt over the weekend of 11/12 October. This tournament has been running for over 20 years, and is a permanent fixture in the Wellington Region football calendar. The purpose of this tournament is to give all clubs the opportunity to test themselves under competition rules that mirror what goes on in Napier, and as a result we have virtually all clubs in the region are represented (over 20 clubs), plus a few from farther afield. Over the past few seasons we have introduced an “academy grade” to the tournament to allow clubs the chance of entering two sides, or for those clubs who do not have strong sides they can also choose to play at this level. This year is looking like the largest academy entries yet, with at least a further 8 sides entered.
Upper Hutt City will again this year enter two sides in our tournament, one in the main draw, and one in the academy draw.
We do not select the two sides at this stage of the season.
These sides get selected in the week before our tournament in early October (usually two squads of 15 players), then the 18 who travel to Napier get selected following the Upper Hutt Tournament based off their performances at training and games leading up top the tournament, and at the tournament itself.
Our practice is to invite all players, be they U17s or older players playing in the senior ranks, to trainings and games throughout September and October. This includes any players from other clubs who want to try and get one of the two guest player spots for Napier, acknowledging that to be a guest player you need to be able to bring more to the team than a local player.
We will train at least 3 times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and then either Friday or Saturday. The idea is that the coaches get a chance to see players in both training and game situations. For the team that go to Napier, commitment and fitness is key, so participation in the fitness sessions and trainings are just as important, if not more so, than performance in games.
Trainings begin in earnest on Tuesday 9th September.
This year the coaches are Pedro Garcias, Peter Thomas and Steve Parry, and the Manager is John Blaikie. Anyone wanting to be part of the U19 season should either turn up at training on the 9th, contact one of the coaches/manager, or let us know via Facebook.
Upper Hutt City Football will do everything in our powers to develop our players as young men and give them every opportunity to show their talents.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss the opportunities available to players in this age group, please contact either either club Chairman Jamie Wood, or Club Captain Peter Thomas.
You will find a full list of contact details on the Club Officials page.