Another local junior carnival is fast approaching with the 2nd holding of the Frenchville Terry Kennedy U10 Carnival on 22 July. The carnival, named after departed long time Frenchville stalwart Terry Kennedy, had its inaugural successful launch last year and looks set to become a regular part of our junior season.

Nominations are now open with details on both the flyer linked below and the Nomination Form and Comp Rules document (also available below).

Terry Kennedy Carnival Contacts flyer
Carnival Rules and Nomination Form

Bluebirds United FC are calling for nominations for its annual Cec Babbage 6 a side U12 carnival. The carnival will take place on the weekend of 30 June-1 July. A nomination form can be accessed from the post below as can a copy of the carnival rules. Further information can be found via the contact in the image attached.
Cec Babbage Nomination Form
Cec Babbage Rules

Football Central Queensland is proud to welcome the Rockhampton North branch of Birch Carroll & Coyle (BCC) as a sponsor of junior football in the Rockhampton region. General Manager Jim Douglas stated that he was excited to have BCC involved in providing Player of the Match awards that come with vouchers for players to use at the cinema. ‘Juniors who are awarded Player of the Match will have three vouchers they can use to get anything from reduced student tickets with free popcorn to a discount on a small combo when they visit the cinema’, said Douglas. ‘I’d like to thank Becci Davies, General Manager of BCC Rockhampton, for coming on board to support our sport. I look forward to working with BCC on future promotions for our members’, said Douglas.

The awards will be distributed over the coming week to all clubs with junior players currently participating in Rockhampton junior competitions and fixtures.

After the rounds of the Intercity Shield featuring players from several CQ centres, the following players have been selected to represent the zone at the forthcoming FQ Community Cup in Mackay from 8-14 July. This promises to be an exciting tournament with teams featured from across the state. Congratulations to all players and coaches for taking part in our trials and to those who did not make the teams this year, there will always be next year! Thanks go to all the parents for your support as well.
Coaching sessions are underway for all teams as are friendly games in preparation for the cup.
Here are the teams in age group order (note – 14 players for U12s only; the rest have 16 players):
U12
Carter King
Ben Tucker
Adam Whitehouse
Joshua Wilson
Ryley Bell
Sonam Lama
Caleb Mills
Neill Evetts
Shaun Evetts
Max Lane- Meier
Andres Giha Carella
Joe Bebendorf
Charlie Hemmings
Xavier Kooistra
U13
Isaac Anochie
Darcy Knight
Tyler Wetzler
Brent Selman
Oliver Van Someren
Nicholas Gold
Lachlan Wembridge
Maksim Bijelic
Declan King
Nate Beach
Seth Hogarth
Ethan Knapman
Ryan Brito
Joshua Kuss
Jonathan Gamble
Sam Hodgkinson (Bundy)
U14
Cody Bromly
Ky Geddy
Elijah Retort
Ryan Walz
Cooper West
Tristan Meier
Anesu Mangweza
Jai Topfer
Ryan Young
Dylan Price
Luke Dollar
Lachlan Dunn
Hayden Finlay
Tafadzwa Jiri
Jake Triplett
U15
Matthew Marshall
Ryan Mansfield
Connor Edgerton
Declan Howlett
Todd Longden
Sean Keetch
Parker Lindsay
Joe Gorton
Scott Skinner
Dan Gold
Connor Stewart
Saxon Smith
Nick Crook
Jeremy McMahon
Fynn Robinson
Liam Radke
U16
Bailey Rule
Declan Mackay
Bryson Hardwick
Reilly Allen
Lachlan Smith
Michael Hancock
Tyler Jacob Bowers
Sam Levi
Jakob Wright
Connor Hartwell
Simbarashe Mugebe
Toby Richardson
Jake Otto
Luke Smith
Billy Stephenson
Daniel Heit
U15 Girls
Jemma Torr
Keely Hooper
Emilee Myles
Trinnity McKeiver
Zoe Josefski
Alana Sailor
Hayley Seagrott
Brittany Staines
Charlie Barsby
Makayla Marks
Olivia Mowat
Jordan Porter
Erin Harvey
Chantelle Sharp
Tarah Staines
Zoe Wilkie

This coming weekend (23/25 March) may be the last one before the Easter break but it looms as a huge one in the local football calendar.

Apart from the usual fixtures, two early season finals featuring teams from Rockhampton and Gladstone will feature on the Saturday night which also sees the return of the CQ Premier League. As if that wasn’t enough, on Sunday junior rep players from Gladstone, Biloela, Cap Coast and Rockhampton in teams from U11 through to U16, will converge on Norbridge Park in Rockhampton as they try to impress selectors and make the zone teams to travel to Mackay for the FQ Community Cup in July.

Our local final as part of the FFA Cup qualifying process will feature Bluebirds at home to Southside United. Both teams had different passage ways to the final with Bluebirds triumphing 3-1 over last years winner Cap Coast while Southside battled through extra time and penalties to edge past last year’s runner-up Clinton 4-3.

Webber Park will also host the final in our inaugural Women’s Knockout Cup with Gracemere Redbacks, last round winners over Gladstone’s Central 7-0, against Gladstone United who just saw off the promising Bluebirds team 1-0. So a real ‘battle’ of the two cities here! Will last year’s RWL Champions be able to continue that form and overcome a well-coached and newly reinstated United side?

Speaking of that, the CQ Premier League also begins with a bang with Fenchville at home to Clinton in what is a rematch of their first-round clash in the FFA Cup qualifiers. A close game there saw Clinton pip the Roos in penalties after extra time; will the quality Gladstone outfit be able to gain the upper hand and repeat the dose or will a strong and rested Frenchville be able to take advantage of the road-weary Clinton side who are yet to play a game at home in what for them has been a hectic pre-season schedule? Should be a fascinating game.

Gladstone’s Central FC  return to the CQ Premier League after a few year’s away this coming weekend facing a tough match away at a rebuilding Nerimbera. Early preseason form makes this one a difficult one to pick although the away team I’m sure will be out to stamp a mark in the competition early on.

Fixtures featuring teams drawn in either of Cup Finals will be rescheduled. See the online draw under Fixtures for details.

Cup Finals & CQ PL Fixtures Saturday 24 March
FFA Cup Zone Qualifying Final
Bluebirds United v Southside United Webber Park 7pm

FCQ Women’s  Knockout Final
Gracemere Redbacks v Gladstone United Webber Park 5pm

CQ Premier League Round 1
Division 1 – Frenchville v Clinton Ryan Park 7pm
Division 2 – Frenchville v Clinton Ryan Park 5pm
Division 1 – Nerimbera v Central Pilbeam Park 7pm
Division 2 – Nerimbera v Central Pilbeam Park 5pm
Division 2 – Bluebirds v Emerald Webber Park 3pm

Season commencement and key dates for 2018 (also see Events Calendar for more)

Gladstone
Miniroos U5-U11 – Saturday 17th March Palm Drive
U12 Junior Competitive ONLY – Saturday 17th March Palm Drive
Senior Men and Women – Saturday 17th March – various grounds
Junior Competitive – Friday 20th April – various grounds

Rockhampton
Juniors & MiniRoos – 10 March Norbridge Park – competitive matches in March for grading only, not played for points until 14 April (after Easter and on last weekend school holidays)
Community Men – Friday 9 March – various grounds
RWL – Friday 16 March – various grounds
CQ Premier League – 24 March – various grounds

Both centres
Easter/school holidays – 30 March – 15 April
Grand Finals – juniors and senior community men and women: weekend of 15 September
MiniRoos finish – 8 September
Premier League – 22 September

Brisbane Roar return to Pilbeam Park, home of Nerimbera FC this coming Saturday 3 March for a 2 day clinic. Details on the Active Roar Program flyer here.

We have the FFA Cup draw for our local qualifiers along with the draw for our inaugural Women’s Knockout Cup. Games will kick-off at the end of national Female Football Week (2-10 March).

The structure for the match days will be that each FFA Cup game will feature a women’s match playing before it. The matches will be played over 3 weeks, with the last week in the Women’s Cup being the final, while it will also be the local qualifying final for the men’s FFA Cup. The winner of that match will in turn play against the Mackay zone winners on the weekend of 4/5/6 May at a venue to be determined.
For the purposes of the FFA Cup, we enter the competition in Round 3. As we have 6 teams, two teams were drawn to have byes in the first weekend of matches; those teams have been drawn to play winners of the first two matches and dates feature below.
The women’s 6 team KO comp was dealt with in a similar way while aiming to match women’s teams with their club male counterparts. Details below as well.
We aim to make the Women’s Knockout Cup an annual pre-season event for clubs in Gladstone and Rockhampton that will could grow to stand on its own.
In the meantime, good luck to all teams.

FFA Cup Draw
10 March Round 3
Match 1: Frenchville v Clinton 7pm Ryan Park
Match 2: Bluebirds v Nerimbera 7pm Webber Park
Byes (matches 3/4): Southside, Cap Coast
17 March Round 4
Match 5: Southside United v Winner Match 1 7pm Jardine Park
Match 6: Capricorn Coast v Winner Match 2 7pm Apex Park
24 March Round 5 Local Final
Match 7: Winner Match 6 v Winner Match 5 Venue & Teams TBD 7pm

Women’s Knockout Cup
10 March Round 1
Match 1: Frenchville v Gracemere Redbacks 5pm Ryan Park
Match 2: Bluebirds v Nerimbera 5pm Webber Park
Byes: Central, Gladstone United
17 March Round 2
Match 3: Winner Match 1 v Central 5pm Jardine Park
Match 4: Winner Match 2 v Gladstone United 5pm Apex Park
24 March Final
Match 5 Winner Match 4 v Winner Match 3 Venue & Teams TBD 5pm

After a promising showing in both Gladstone and Rockhampton with the first week of our trials, numbers are very encouraging across all age groups. We encourage more girls to come along in each age group however as numbers could be better there.
Junior Nomination Form: Download here
Intercity Shield/FQ Community Cup FAQ: Download here
Updated dates and venues for trials in both Gladstone and Rockhampton:

Gladstone Coordinator: Michel Colen – 0408736659 michelcolen@hotmail.com
Rockhampton Coordinator: Cal Lynch – 0402712777 calvinlynch59@hotmail.com
Biloela Coordinator: Leanne Seagrott – cusc@tpg.com.au

In early November 2017 Football Queensland formally announced the establishment of the FQ Community Cup, an annual state wide competition that will launch in 2018 in Mackay during the June/July school holidays. This competition replaces the previous ICC program which was dissolved at the completion of its 2017 schedule. This new cup will involve zone invited teams from across the state, with a focus on talent identification for players outside of the QPL/NPL advanced player pathways. It will present greater opportunities for quality community club-level players aged 12 to 16 to gain recognition from scouts involved with QPL/NPL clubs. The new cup coincides with the FFA’s dissolution of National Championships for competitive aged boys (girls still have national championships to aspire to) and means that young male players will still have the opportunity to take that next step to professional football. There’s many more details to come from FQ as nominations from all zones are considered.

In recognition of the opportunities the Community Cup will present, FCQ has undergone consultation with clubs and interested stakeholders in revamping its internal representative series with the aim to link that directly to selection for the Community Cup. Delivered under the banner of the FCQ Junior Development Program (JDP), this new series will be called the Intercity Shield and is expected to feature teams from U11 through to U16 for boys, and U11, U13 and U15 for girls. It is anticipated that a number of centres will put in teams including Cap Coast, Gladstone, Biloela, Emerald and Rockhampton.  Players participating in the Intercity Shield will be trialling to be chosen to represent the zone at the Community Cup in June. Discussions are currently underway to provide games for the zone teams prior to attending the Community Cup and beyond but the final structure of the entire program is yet to be decided upon. Under 11 teams will not feature in the Community Cup and while there is some uncertainty about the make-up of the overall JDP, there is clear recognition of the need to have an overall development plan to prepare for the 2019 season and beyond with 2018 very much a transitional one in this area for both the zone and FQ.

Discussions with clubs in Rockhampton and Gladstone have resulted in an agreement that clubs will lead the way with academies for their own younger aged players with an aim for clubs well established in this space to also provide opportunities for coaches from other clubs to learn how to set-up and run something similar back at their own club. FCQ will assist by lobbying Football Queensland for coaching support including training programs/courses to ensure that a common program is delivered across the zone.

Zone age group teams nominated for the FQ Community Cup: U12, U13, U14, U15 & U16 boys; U13 and U15 girls.

Some important events/dates:

• Call for Intercity Shield and Community Cup coaches – email generalmanager@fqcentralcoast.com.au for more information or download a nomination form here
• Trials for the Intercity Shield games – Gladstone – Brian Niven Fields on 23rd/24th/25th February & 2-4 March (see above – split age groups and times); Rockhampton – Gracemere Sports Complex (18 Feb) & Norbridge Park (4 March). Note: Cap Coast, Biloela and Emerald may choose to have one date only. Main aim is to try and ensure teams are ready and selected prior to the first round of the Intercity Shield. Smaller centres can choose to recommend individuals attend one of the larger centres rather than nominate teams if they are struggling for numbers in a particular age group
• 18 March 2018 – first round of Intercity Shield games – Clinton Fields, Gladstone
• 25 March 2018 – second round of Intercity Shield games – Norbridge Park, Rockhampton
• 27 March 2018 – Community Cup teams announced (more time may be needed but this is a proposed date)
• 5/6 May – games for Community Cup teams (TBC)
• June/July school holidays – FQ Community Cup (8-14 July) Mackay Football Park

There’s more to follow and updates will be provided as details are confirmed. For more information contact generalmanager@fqcentralcoast.com.au.