2025 Pre-Season Football Programs

We’re delighted to announce our biggest ever Pre-Season of Football!

The BDFC Coaching Team has listened to feedback from players and parents, and added more skill-building programs for more age groups, from beginners right through to our top players.

Holiday Camps
We’ve added a third week to our January School Holiday camps, so kids can spend more time outside playing football, while parents can get a little down time for themselves. For children aged 5–13, our Holiday Camps are open to players of all ability, including non-BDFC members.

Miniroos Kick-Off and MiniTillies Programs
This is where it all begins. For 4- to 8-year-olds, our MinRoos (Mixed) and MiniTillies (Girls) programs focus on young players who are either new to the game, or who need to build skills and confidence. It’s fun, it’s practical, and it’s a great way to spend a Wednesday after school!

Football Kickstarter Program (U8-U12 Mixed, U8-U16 Girls, and U17-O35 Women)
A 4-week program aimed at new players (no more than 2 years playing experience) who want to learn basic skills or develop a better understanding of the game, the rules, and age-based positions and tactics. Sessions are held on Wednesdays at Leichhardt Oval No. 3 in February.

U8-U9 Mixed & Girls
U10-U12 Mixed
U10-U13 Girls
U14-U16 Girls
U18, Adult, and Over 35 Women

All Abilities Training Program
We had a blast in spring, so we’re doing it again in February! This is a free grant-funded program for 5–23-year-olds with special needs. It’s a 5-week pre-season program that players will love!

Pre-Season Development Programs
This is where it gets more serious. Our Pre-Season Programs have been completely revamped for the 2025 season to give our U8 – U16 players a head start. Speed, agility, skill; these sessions run on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons/evenings depending on age group.

Pre-Season Development Program
- 6-week program starting February on Tuesdays at Leichhardt Oval No.3
- This is about getting players up to speed ahead of regular training and pre-season games
- Hone your skills, get rid of bad habits and be ready to compete!
Pre-Season Intensive Striker Training Program (U10-U16 only)
- 2-week program in March on Wednesdays at Leichhardt Oval No.3
- This is for experienced players who want to create more goal-scoring opportunities and learn how to finish like a pro
Pre-Season Intensive Goalkeeper Training Program (U10-U16 only)
- 2-week program in March on Wednesdays at Leichhardt Oval No.3
- We’ll teach you how to read the play, be ready to save, and how to humble the Strikers through skill, agility, reactions and knowledge

Over 35 Womens’ Training Program
There’s always more to learn. Our training program for Women over 35 years of age is a fun, safe, supportive environment where you can ask questions, build skills and get ready for the upcoming season. 6-week program in February-March on Tuesdays under lights at Waterfront Drive Fields.

MiniRoos & MiniTillies are back!

MiniRoos and MiniTillies are back!

MiniRoos Kick-Off is an introductory program designed for beginning and developing players who are new to the game (aged 4-7 years old). The nation-wide initiative uses short, game-based sessions to introduce the sport of football to newcomers in an inclusive way. It focuses on learning new skills, being active, making life-long friends and, potentially, unearthing the next generation of Socceroos or Matildas. You can sign up with your friend or alone, no equipment needed.

Next programs are running from October to December 2024.

Go HERE to book!

2024 Presentation Day

Every year Balmain & District Football Club present awards to our junior teams (Tiny Tigers – Under 14s). This year the award ceremonies will be held over two days: Saturday 31st August and Sunday 1st September at the Waterfront Drive Fields, Callan Park.

Please find your team name and time below.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Saturday

Sunday

U7 Girls Player Pathway Program

Our club is thrilled to announce that we are launching a new program for the U7 Girls supported by Football Australia and CommBank through the Growing Football Fund Community Grant we recently received.

This program aims to provide high quality training sessions for up to 32 (BDFC registered) girls born in 2017 or 2018 that are currently playing in our U7 Girls or Mixed teams in the 2024 Winter Season.

We invite players to register if they are keen to experience professional coaching led by Clare Shine, one of our Development Program coaches (and a former Ireland International player), and our Future Coaches Program coaches.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Day: Saturdays
Dates:

18 May & 1, 15, 22, 29 June
5 sessions in total
No sessions on 25 May & 8 June

Groups: 9am (Group 1) & 10:10am (Group 2)
Venue: Waterfront Drive Sporting Ground, Callan Park
Who: Balmin DFC U7 Girls (playing in U7 Girls or Mixed Teams in 2024)
Cost: Free (grant funded by Football Australia and CommBank)

To register your interest, please complete this form:

What’s on in March?

U8 Gala Day

Our U8 Gala Day is coming up fast, where we gather the ungraded mixed and girls teams for a day of football before the Winter season begins. All ungraded teams are required to attend to allow us to assess them and submit them for grading into the most suitable competition.

Where: Leichhardt No. 3
Date: 2nd March 2024
Day: Saturday
Time: 11:30am – 5:30pm (arrival time varies)

Age Coordinators will contact team managers closer to the day to confirm arrival times and fixtures.

Future Coaches Program – Positions Available for 2024 Winter Season

We are opening our second intake of keen young women (14-19 years old) to join the Future Coaches Program for the 2024 winter season.

The objective of the program is for our club to provide a mentoring program for young women aged 14-19 interested in coaching. Coaches will be accredited through coaching courses, involved in coaching holiday camps, mentoring sessions, coaching in our development programs, and paired up to coach girls’ MiniRoos teams during the winter season.

We want to develop the next generation of coaches at our club, with the right skill set to succeed in their roles and continue to develop our players. Developing more coaches through this program year after year, will help build capacity throughout the club and improve the overall quality of the football experience for BDFC players.

Registrations to join this program for 2024 close on Monday 18th March. For more information or to register, go to: https://www.balmainfootball.com.au/future-coaches/

Team Kit Collection

It’s that time of year again to pick up your team kit bags for the winter season. We have provided 2 dates for kit bag pickup so please ensure that your team sends a nominated person to collect it.

Where: Waterfront Drive Sporting Ground
Dates: 16th & 17th March
Day: Saturday and Sunday
Time: 10am – 3pm each day

Development Program teams will have their kit bags provided to them on the first training nights of the season (12th and 13th March) at WFD. A Parent, Coach, or Manager can pick up the kit bag from our staff at the pavilion or nominate someone from the team to pick-up in time for the pre-season matches that weekend.

Player Pathways Program

Did you narrowly miss out on a spot in our Development Program? Still want to enhance your football skills? The Players Pathways Program is designed for players like you.

If you’re passionate about improving your skills and dedicated to an extra training session each week, our Pathways Program provides an excellent alternative. Join a group of like-minded players committed to their soccer journey.

Where: Waterfront Drive Sporting Ground
Start Date: 12th March 2024
Day: Tuesday/Thursday/Friday
Length: 19 Weeks
Cost: $300

SCHEDULE

U6-U7 Mixed – TUE 4:30pm – 5:30pm
U8-U10 Mixed – TUE 5:40pm – 6:40pm
U11-U13 Mixed – TUE 6:50pm – 8:00pm
U8-U10 Girls – FRI 5:40pm – 6:40pm
U11-U13 Girls – FRI 6:50pm – 8:00pm
U14-U16 Girls – THU 6:50pm – 8:00pm

For more information or to register, go to: https://www.balmainfootball.com.au/player-pathways-program/

Induction Days

We are introducing a new initiative to help prepare our members for the upcoming winter season. See below the workshops we are running on each day which is specific for the age groups.

Where: Waterfront Drive Sporting Ground (all sessions)

Session 1 (Coaches/Managers/Parents)
Date: Saturday 23rd March 2024
Time: 1:00pm – 2:30pm (2 x 45 min sessions)
Who: U8-U12 Mixed & Girls Teams.

For all coaches, managers and parents. This day is not for players.

What:

First Aid, Defib, and Handling Emergencies Training
Game Day Management Workshop (Coaches & Managers)
Parent Game Leader Course
Supportive Parent Workshop

Session 2 (Coaches/Managers/Players)
Date: Sunday 24th March 2024
Time: 3:00pm – 4:30pm (2 x 45 min sessions)
Who:

U13-O50 Boys/Men’s Teams
U13-O35 Girls/Women’s Teams

Coaches, Managers, and U13-U15 Players All Welcome. This day is not aimed at parents.

What:

First Aid, Defib, and Handling Emergencies Training
Game Day Management Workshop (Coaches & Managers)
Coaching Masterclass (Coaches)
Game Leader Course (For U13-U15 Players)

To attend the induction days, please register using the links below:

Saturday 23 March – https://form.jotform.com/233527148165862
Sunday 24 March – https://form.jotform.com/233530323223846

AT LAST – AN OPPORTUNITY FOR AN ALL-WEATHER FIELD – WE NEED YOUR VOTE FOR WATERFRONT DRIVE BY 11 FEBRUARY!

An Opportunity for an All-Weather Field

VOTE NOW

Whilst many clubs that we compete with currently have access to an all-weather playing surface, Balmain & District Football Club (BDFC), despite being the largest community football club in the country, has been unable to obtain access to such a facility. The recently completed all-weather fields at Rudd Park, Strathfield Park and Tempe Reserve show what can be offered by such facilities. Due to their hard-wearing nature, all-weather fields enable community use to be optimised whilst maintaining a high-quality playing surface.

Members may be aware that our Club had been hoping to secure access for our members to an all-weather playing field at the recently opened Rozelle Parklands. However, we were informed last year that the parklands delivered by the State Government will not include an all-weather playing surface. Instead, as announced by Mayor Darcy Byrne and NSW Minister for Roads, John Graham, the State Government is making a $20 million budget available to Inner West Council for it to identify and deliver an all-weather playing field elsewhere in our area, as well as providing other local facilities.

As a result, Inner West Council has resolved to consider four existing playing fields for conversion to an all-weather playing surface and is currently seeking community feedback on which field to select. The four fields under consideration include our home playing fields at Waterfront Drive in Callan Park and at Easton Park. The other two fields being considered are at Balmain Road in Callan Park and Leichhardt No.2 near the Leichhardt Swimming Pool.

The BDFC Club Executive has unanimously resolved to advocate for one of our two playing fields at Waterfront Drive to be selected for conversion to an all-weather surface.  This is based on the obvious benefits of providing an improved playing surface for all year-round use, alongside the building for which funding has now been secured to be renovated and converted into the new BDFC clubhouse and community facility.

Choosing to provide the new surface at Waterfront Drive would enable users to draw on the new facilities being provided at the clubhouse – which include toilets and changerooms – and the existing 200-lux floodlighting, and would not impact on any nearby residents.

Our club is keen to pursue new hybrid grass technology for the all-weather surface, delivering a modern mixture of grass and manufactured materials, drawing on the great advancements that have been made in the development of all-weather playing surfaces.

We are strongly advocating to Inner West Council to select the Waterfront Drive field for all-weather use and, in doing so, provide improved facilities for our 3,000+ members, many of whom live on and around the WestConnex tunnel facility and have lived through the impacts of its construction over the last few years.

As BDFC members will be aware, our Club has been advocating to Inner West Council to provide more fields and improved playing surfaces for decades; this new funding is a great opportunity for the Council to meet the needs of the local sporing community.

Examples of the recent installations at Rudd Park and Strathfield are below.

Rudd Park

Strathfield Park

VOTE NOW TO HELP US ACHIEVE OUR AIM

You can help us with our campaign for an all-weather playing surface at Waterfront Drive by completing the Council’s on-line survey by 11 February 2024 and choosing Waterfront Drive as your priority selection for an all-weather playing field for the local community. BDFC’s secondary choice for an all-weather field is Easton Park.

We hope you will act to support BDFC and our local community in this campaign.

VOTE NOW

2025 Mens and Womens Premier Division Team Trials

Registrations to attend the trials for the 2025 Men’s (BBC) and Women’s (GMT) teams are now open. Both teams play in the Football Canterbury Premier Divisions during the winter football season. We are seeking players who want to join our club and represent the orange and black in 2025.

Trials are held at the end of November and the start of December at Balmain Road Sporting Ground. See the graphics for more details.

Players must register via the online form to attend:

Men’s Team: https://form.jotform.com/242768009676872
Women’s Team: https://form.jotform.com/233476494194871

Commitment for the season:

1 x training session per week from Feb/Mar until the end of the season in August
1 x game per week from March
Saturday – Men’s
- There may be some scheduled midweek games as part of the competition
Sunday – Women’s
- There may be rescheduled matches for midweek or double header weekends depending on weather during the season.

Future Coaches Program (Girls & Women aged 14-19)

The objective of the Future Coaches program is for our club to provide a mentoring program for young girls and women aged 14-19 interested in coaching. Coaches will be accredited through coaching courses, involved in coaching holiday camps, mentoring sessions, coaching in our development programs, and paired up to coach girls’ MiniRoos teams during the winter season. The club will provide mentors to lead the development of these coaches.

For more details, and to register for the program, please go to our Future Coaches page.

All-Weather Field at Rozelle Parklands

At Balmain & District Football Club, we understand the importance of having access to quality sporting facilities. Unfortunately, our club and the wider sporting community are facing a critical shortage of playing spaces. That’s why we’re advocating for the development of sporting facilities at Rozelle Parklands, including an all-weather playing field.

Last season, our club lost over 1,350 hours of playing and training time due to ground closures and washouts. The shortage of local fields is a growing issue that affects not only our club but also the wider community of local players. The existing fields are overused. As our community grows, so will the depth of this problem.

We believe that the Rozelle Railyards development project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to secure an all-weather playing field in the heartland of our membership. We have strongly advocated for vital sporting infrastructure at Rozelle Parklands, and we believe that the provision of an all-weather field with priority, year-round access for our members is crucial.

As the NSW state election approaches, we have asked the candidates for the seat of Balmain to commit to three important points:

Priority year-round access for our club to the new rectangular football field at Rozelle Parklands.
Advocating for the new football field to be an all-weather field.
Providing adequate and suitable parking for users of the sporting facilities.

We support the use of hybrid grass technology over traditional synthetic surfaces for the all-weather field. The technology and materials for all-weather fields are advancing all the time, and we believe an all-weather football field at Rozelle Parklands may be the last opportunity for our club and our community to secure the year-round field we so desperately need.

We urge all our members to read and share the responses from the candidates. Let’s continue to advocate for quality sporting facilities for our community.

Read our letter and the response from each candidate below:

Philippa Scott
Kobi Shetty
Freya Leach (no response received)

1 Year To Go – FIFA Women’s World Cup

20 July 2022 marked one year until our sport takes centre stage in Australia and New Zealand with the FIFA Women’s World Cup. With 1001 girls and women registered to play for Balmain DFC this year, we truly cannot wait for the rest of the country to see and learn what we already know – women’s football is awesome!

The tournament will take place between the 20^th of July and 20^th of August 2023, with games played across various cities, states, and stadiums. For the first time ever, the tournament will include 32 nations as they compete to be named the world’s greatest International Women’s Football Team.

Qualified Nations

Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Sweden, Spain, France, Denmark, United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Zambia, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa

Venues

Brisbane Stadium – Brisbane, Australia

Dunedin Stadium – Dunedin, New Zealand

Eden Park – Auckland, New Zealand

Hindmarsh Stadium – Adelaide, Australia

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium – Melbourne, Australia

Perth Rectangular Stadium – Perth, Australia

Stadium Australia – Adelaide, Australia

Sydney Football Stadium – Sydney, Australia

Waikato Stadium – Hamilton, New Zealand

Wellington Original Stadium – Wellington, New Zealand

Watch Some Highlights!