Junior & Youth Grading
As the excitement builds for the start of the 2025 season the committee has confirmed the following dates and times for the grading of some of our junior and youth teams.
We will grade for Under 8s upwards where:
a) there are sufficient player numbers for multiple teams and
b) there seems an appetite for a ‘top’ team(s), and/or movement between teams.
We encourage all players to attend grading – at the very least it will be an early season training session! Relevant players will be ‘offered’ a spot in the appropriate team. They are not obliged to take that offer, if for example, they want to play at a lower level with friends.
When and where does grading happen?
Mixed Grading
Sat 8th February, 2025 at Tristram Road Reserve
| 9am – 10 am | Mixed Under 14 |
| 10am – 11 am | Mixed Under 8 |
| 11am -12pm | Mixed Under 9 |
| 12pm | Lunch break |
| 1pm – 2pm | Mixed Under 11 |
| 2pm – 3pm | Mixed Under 10 |
| 3pm – 4pm | Mixed Under 12 |
| 4pm – 5pm | Mixed Under 13 |
Women’s Grading
Sun 9th February, 2025 at Tristam Road Reserve
| 1pm – 2pm | Women Under 10 |
| 2pm – 3pm | Women Under 11 & 12 |
| 3pm – 4pm | Women Under 13 & 14 |
| 4pm – 5pm | Women Under 15 |
Things to know about grading
- Please arrive at least 15-20 minutes before the allotted time and come to the registration desk.
- If an age group requires a second grading, it will be held the following weekend with dates and times to be confirmed.
- We request that players be registered prior to grading.
- Grading will be for placement in the Clubs highest division team per age group
- Players who don’t grade, won’t be eligible to play in graded teams
- The Club use independent, experienced Graders who have no affiliation with the teams they are grading.
- The Age Coordinators use the results of the grading days together with the previous seasons Coaches Reports to select players into teams.
- If you have a group of players that want to play together and not in a graded team, please discuss this with your Age Coordinator
Club contacts for grading
Mixed Teams
- Emily Turner: U6 – U7 agecord.m6-7@abhunited.com.au
- Kev Reeve: U8 – U9 vpjuniors@abhunited.com.au
- Adele Hoyle: U10 – U11 agecord.m10-11@abhunited.com.au
- Linda MacBride: U12 – U13 agecord.m12-13@abhunited.com.au
- Stephen Hoare: U14 – U18 vpyouth@abhunited.com.au
- Michael Vescio: U21 td@abhunited.com.au
Women’s Teams
- Chantal McGarr: U10 agecord.w9-10@abhunited.com.au
- Marnie Maloney: U11 – U13 agecord.w11-13@abhunited.com.au
- Maria Pollard: U14 – U15 vpwomens@abhunited.com.au
Why do we grade our kids?
Gradings start at Under 8s for boys and girls and it’s a fun way to start the season and get back into football. Grading provides an opportunity for your son or daughter to compete with the best players in the club, as well as to even out the other teams so all players get more touches of the ball during Game Day.
You will find that the improvement in the teams below the first team is amazing after grading.
We do not grade every player into teams from top to bottom but rather give the children a chance to try out for the first team.
That said, we would prefer if possible to see all players turn up to the grading day so we get to know all players and understand their levels of play and hence nominate them to a team in a matching division.
If there is only one team in an age group, there is no grading. If there are many players that may warrant two top teams, we may grade for 2 teams but this is rare. We have been grading for many years and have fine-tuned the process so that experienced people with no ties to the age group will review the players 4 core skills.
These 4 core skills are:
- 1v1 (1 player versus another player)
- Running with the ball
- Striking the ball
- First touch management.
As well as the 4 Core Skills we are also looking for:
- Game Awareness
- Game Management
- Attitude to coaches and other players.
The player’s ratings from the graders and other comments taken on grading day will be reviewed with the previous year’s player assessment by coaches to produce the first team by the grading committee.
Please support the club as best you can in the grading process as it’s a proven way to improve the children’s enjoyment of the game and boost the majority of players’ ability in the world game.
Who does the grading?
The club uses grading officials who are impartial and will only assess age groups to which they have no links. The volunteers will include the club Technical Director, C and B licensed coaches and other experienced past and current players and coaches.
Grading will be done by objective and experienced assessors. Coach reports from the previous season will also be considered. We take 1-2 hours to look at a group of players, and we do our best to be fair, objective and consistent.
Assessment will be done on the day, and then the graders will compare notes and refer to coach reports before offering spots. Parents with coaching experience are welcome to join the grading team (especially those people who want to improve the grading process!). Please send an email to the grading committee to express interest.