Have watched a few u12 npl games over the last few weeks. Kids swapping to play different teams at half time. Kids don't know whether they are winning/losing ..... I suppose these rule makers are getting their way to create participation rather than winners. It is truly embarrassing what is becoming of this game that so many of us love

Yes let's go back to the good old days.... big striker upfront. boot it to him.... win the game!!!!  I hate all of this modern stuff about passing.  Big fast kids in my team please.

Good old days?

How far back are you talking?

Everything prior to 2006 was kick and rush, as decentric has explained many times.

Whats that got to do with swapping teams at half time

Considering they'd be in pre-season at the moment, it may be part of the trial process.

Competitive games begin at under 12, so I would assume once the season starts that the games will be competitive (not sure if at that level they have limits on subs or not though ... may depend on the association's rules). I know in the WA the u12 NPL games are competitive, and there are definitely losers and winners.

A new U12 format was trialed in NSW last year, with 9 a side and half pitch games and it has now been rolled out in Victorian NPL. NPL clubs have 2x U12 teams and they play a half each against each other and it is non-competitive (ie no results or tables). As I understand, NPL being a FFA competition will be rolling this out accross the country.

Interestingly Community Clubs in Vic are still playing full pitch competitive, but may be moving across to small sided next year. , . 

IMO 12s should be playing competitive 9 a side on a smaller pitch/goals but with offside introduced.  The current sudden jump from 9 a side on a smaller pitch at 11s to 11 a side on a full size pitch with full size goals and offside at 12s makes for awful football and does not prioritise the players' development at a time when skill acquisition should still be the main focus.

As far as I am aware, Germany and the Netherlands play 9 a side until around 13s so I don't know why we hang onto this obsession with full size pitches and goals when it is the movement of the ball and the players that are the most important.

Swapping teams at half time sounds strange - don't know what the logic behind that is and can't imagine that the players like it much either.

Thanks for the heads up. I must say I don't disapprove of the smaller goals and fields for under 12s (I coached an under 11s team a couple of years ago and even on the reduced sized pitch they used it was too big ... then the next year they were meant to step up to a full sized pitch!). I am not sure about the non-competitive nature of games ... although they are still competitive. Our under 11s had a table (although FFA suggested starting at u12 then) and you did have some coaches only play the best players (I personally gave everyone a go ... even in the final, which we won, also our club didn't grade the teams when other clubs did ... the club with the team that finished top of the league also had the team that finished last, with them losing most games by double digits, how many of those kids turned up the next season I wonder???). However, I coached my sons u6s last year and some coaches in that gave more game time to their better players, even though no score or table was kept (the kids always know the score).

If anyone plays senior soccer you'll know how competitive some small sided games can get at training too.

It is sort of a hard one, because the kids should be playing competitive games, but the problem is that many parents and coaches forgo the kids enjoyment for competition. At the NPL level you could argue that it should be more about performance than having a go (as that is for community clubs). The problem is that many community club coaches think the kids are playing for sheep stations, and kids quickly lose interest if they are not given a go ... after all they are doing it for fun, be with their friends and probably to get off the tablet/xbox etc. So unfortunately parents / coaches have probably driven FFA to institute non-competitiveness as a staple at lower levels.

Nothing in the documents I can find stipulates anything about changing sides though, that I can find. Most seem to mention it is 9v9 with a squad of 13 (so 4 or so reserves). Guess they could play a different team each half ... although playing the same team all game would be best to improve tactical nous and technical players in my opinion.

Agree with this. It is a simple progression for players to make. The u12 keepers look tiny in their goals ... if a kid is able to kick the ball half decent they'll score most the time over half way (I had a kid in my u11s team who scored a few goals like that ... even with the smaller goals the keepers couldn't keep out high shots).

Not sure about other states but the swapping is detailed in the NPLV Rules of Competition. 

Having seen both full pitch & half pitch U12;s, personally dont think either is suitable, full pitch is too large for many teams, but half pitch is too small and can become a bit like pinball, particularly towards back end of the year when many of the kids grow a bit. Think a 2/3 pitch (box to box) would probably be ideal but the logistics of pitch availability makes that difficult. 

Definitely agree with your comment regarding kids knowing the score, all the kids know all the results every week, irrespective of whether the federation publishes them or not. 

All for half pitch for U12s, however swapping to play a completely different team at half time is ridiculous and the kids definitely don't like it

As I said I would have thought playing the a single team for the whole game would be of greater benefit to players. Do NPL u12 clubs have to put out 2 teams each week then?? What happens if they only have one team??

Netherlands play 11 v 11 starting at 11 years of age.

No world powerhouse plays like that.

Welcome to the forum, Ange.

NPL 12s must have 2 teams

Why does winning 11 v 11 have to be about booting the ball long you can win building up play. Plenty of SSG are won with a boot long and defensive tactics. It is about coach setting the right environment.  Just because it is SSG it does not mean everyone is building from the back. Get out more and you will see SSG for the majority of games is still boot ball just on a smaller pitch.