Women’s Intermediate League
Women’s Intermediate League (WILs) is the age group for girls aged between under 17 and under 19. It has been introduced by our association Football Canterbury to create a better football experience for girls in their older teenage and early adult years. The idea behind the Intermediate League is to create a broader age range, allowing clubs to form teams with girls from multiple age groups. This helps provide playing opportunities for the older girls, and ensure that the Association can match all available teams with similar ability during the grading process.
The aim of the intermediate age group is to ensure there are enough teams to form multiple competitive divisions and to ensure that teams play against teams that are matched in ability rather than only on age.
When are games played?
Women’s Intermediate League games are always played on Sunday from the first week of April. Kick off times vary between 11:30am to 3:00pm depending on the schedule set by the association.
Occasionally due to extensive wet weather, catch up games can be played as a “double header” weekend on both Saturday and Sunday, or midweek under lights. This is rare as our association blocks out 2 weekends a year for catch up games however it always depends on how many games have been missed due to rain which determines if this occurs.
Where are games played?
Games are played within the Football Canterbury Association and can be anywhere from Balmain in the east, Bexley in the south, Concord in the north and Roselands in the west. Half of the games are played at our home ground Henley Park with the other half away from home.
Is there training?
Most WIL teams train once a week any time between Tuesday-Thursday nights from 7:30pm after the juniors and youth have finished their training allocations. Some of the more competitive teams train twice a week.
Do referees officiate our games?
Yes! The CRA (Canterbury Referees Association) are exclusive to our association and officiate all competitive games. Most games will have 1 main referee with 1-2 assistant referees on the sidelines.
Uniform requirements
Uniforms for Football are simplistic. The following are what’s required:
Enfield Rovers playing strip (game shirt, socks and shorts) which are sold upon registration and collected at the canteen
Shin pads and soccer boots (not sold by the club)
Water bottle (supplied by you)
Training apparel (optional)
Regarding training apparel and other Enfield Rovers gear which you can purchase, each sale generates 15% which goes towards helping our club financially. Please check out the training apparel range here
Why have a Women’s Intermediate League?
The experience over the past decade is that many girls drop out of playing competitive sport in their late teens. There are lots of reasons for this including:
The pressures of Year 11 and 12
The transition from school to University and work
Changing social opportunities
They find themselves playing against teams that are much stronger or weaker, because there are too few teams in the age group to form more than one division
They no longer have a team because some of their team-mates don’t come back to football
But there is also good evidence that playing sport is very important in terms of building confidence, enhancing academic performance, building healthy exercise habits for life and providing an outlet from the many pressures that girls of this age face. The Intermediate League allows teams to stay together as they transition from Youth to All Age Players, and means that clubs do not have to dissolve teams that have some players outside the age requirements, or lose teams that have faced much stronger competition. What is most encouraging is that in two years of playing the Intermediate League format, we have seen teams transition from this age group to All Age as an established team, which encourages players to keep playing football.
What about girls who have been playing in an under 16 team but are younger?
The rules allow for girls who are u16 or u15 to play in the Intermediate League, and as the statistics show there are a number of girls who have done this over the past two years. In general, it is more important for girls to be matched with players of similar skill and physical development rather than age.
What about Champion of Champions?
The Champion of Champions competition (knockout competition between the minor premiers of each association) is played in u14, u16, u18 and u21 age groups. Football Canterbury enters teams in the u18 and the u21 competitions - the highest ranked teams with all players meet the eligibility criteria for the tournament in the respective age groups may be invited to represent the Association in the Champion of Champions
What are the rules?
The objective of soccer is to score more goals than the opposing team within the allotted time. The game is played on a rectangular field with two goals at opposite ends. Players move the ball primarily by kicking it and using any part of their body except their arms and hands. They must avoid fouls such as tripping, pushing, or using excessive force against opponents. If a foul occurs, the opposing team is awarded a free kick or penalty kick, depending on the severity.
Offside is another important rule in soccer. A player is considered offside if they are nearer to the opponent's goal line than both the ball and the second-to-last defender when the ball is played to them.
The game is divided into two equal halves, with a halftime break. The referee enforces the rules and has the authority to issue yellow or red cards for misconduct. A yellow card serves as a warning, while a red card results in the player's ejection from the game.
These are just a few of the fundamental rules of soccer. The complete rulebook, known as the Laws of the Game, is set by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) who works with FIFA in setting up the guidelines. There are 17 laws of the game which can be read by clicking here.
Still have questions that weren’t answered?
Please check out our New Player FAQs page for more details or email secretary@enfieldfc.com.au