Supporting the development of aspiring U12 & U13 Boys & Girls
What is the Weir Rose Bowl?
The Weir Rose Bowl has been a feature of the junior football calendar for well over 60 years with the first event being held in the early 1950s. It was first introduced when prominent Auckland Junior Football Committee member, Tom Weir, donated the Weir Rose Bowl trophy that bears his name. The event is held annually at St Peters School, Cambridge during the October school holiday period. The school provides a magnificent setting for the event as well as a limited amount of onsite accommodation and meals for teams that wish to stay at the venue.
The aim of the Weir Rose Bowl is to provide a structured event for players, coaches and referees in an enjoyable environment that maximises learning opportunities. For the players, this period in their development is recognised as being the ‘Golden Age of Learning’ and it is therefore important that we maximise every opportunity available to support skill acquisition.
The Skill Acquisition phase is important in a player’s development as they are well balanced, coordinated and adaptive to learning football skills. In no other phase of life will motor learning happen faster. Therefore, the Skill Acquisition phase is the optimal time to focus on developing football skill essential for long term participation.
Every year teams from the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Auckland and Northland come together to celebrate their junior football journey and display the skills learnt during their junior years. The Weir Rose Bowl provides a platform for these young players to display their newly gained skills in a safe and supportive environment.
The event also incorporates a Referee Development programme where young referees from across the regions have an opportunity to grow their respective skills under the watchful eyes of regional Referee coaches.
NEW U13 Age Group included in 2022
Traditionally this event has been for players aged u12, however we have added an u13 age group for 2022 that will offer a Weir Rose Bowl experience for players born 2009. There are two categories available, Girls Only and Mixed, this is similar to the u12 age group. The format for the new age group will also be 9v9 with games being played on the same 70m x 50m fields used for the u12 age group. This will offer coaches the opportunity to continue their focus on Skill Acquisition but with a stronger emphasis on the tactical element of the game. Further information is available below.
Our aim for players attending the Weir Rose Bowl is to create a positive learning environment that:
- is player centred, with the focus on ensuring that they have opportunities to develop.
- is enjoyable for players to be part of, through good quality games with appropriate challenges.
- creates intrinsic motivation in players, where they want to develop their ability and take ownership of the process.
- show cases leadership and integrity as a positive characteristic to uphold.
- encourages players to try new things and be creative.
- recognises mistakes as a key part of the learning process.
Spectator Support
All parents, supporters, spectators play a major part in making this event the experience that it is for the players, referees and the coaches. Please remember that they are all learning and may not always make decisions you agree with. We ask that you provide positive encouragement and support to your child, the players, the referees and the coaches and applaud good performance whenever it occurs. We also ask that you try to refrain from giving instructions during games as this may be different to what the coach has asked them to do and could cause confusion for the players.
We hope that you enjoy the event and the Weir Rose Bowl experience.
Want to join us?
Entry into the Weir Rose Bowl is open to all clubs and regional groups that meet the entry requirements and are affiliated to NZ Football and their respective home Federation.
Entry requirements are available HERE.
If you have any questions regarding entering the Weir Rose Bowl please contact WaiBOP Football.
The 2022 Weir Rose Bowl will be held from Saturday 8th to Monday 10th October at St Peters School, Cambridge.
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