New Zealand Football is pleased to launch the new Youth National League, which is due to kick off in late August.

The Youth National League will run for approximately two months at the end of the current winter premier youth competitions to extend and elevate the development environment for Aotearoa New Zealand’s top male and female youth players. The Youth National League is designed to give these players the opportunity to continue their development in a more performance-oriented environment.

First announced at the end of 2021, the Youth National League replaces the week-long National Age Group Tournament (NAGT) competition in December for age group teams.

One of the primary objectives is to minimise costs to the participants and make taking part in the competition financially sustainable for Aotearoa New Zealand’s best young players. The Youth National League is supported with funding through partners New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) and FIFA. This directly benefits participants and their families with costs not exceeding $250 + GST, a reduction from over $500 per participant under the former NAGT format.

“This is a significant progression in our youth development space,” says New Zealand Football technical director Andy Boyens.

“The opportunity for our up- and-coming footballers as well as those coaches, referees and other support people to be exposed to a higher level and prolonged season of development and competition is huge.

“We’re really excited to see the Youth National League kick off in a few months.”

Further details on the girls and boys competitions are outlined below.

Girls: U-18s

This is an under-18s competition aligned with the women’s National League, beginning in mid-September.
Youth National League

The four LOTTO NRFL clubs that qualify into the women’s National League will also have an U-18 girls’ team in the Youth National League. The four federation teams that currently compete in the women’s National League (Central Football, Capital Football, Canterbury United Pride and Southern United) will also establish an U-18 team each to participate in the Youth National League.

All teams will play seven games.

Boys: U-17s

This is an under-17s competition that will mirror the men’s National League, with a regional phase (Northern, Central and Southern Leagues) after the winter season and a national phase for the finals series in October. The league will break for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Football Tournament in the week commencing Monday 29 August.

A mixture of fully accredited clubs and federation representative teams will take part.

Youth Northern League
13 teams will be split into two pools, one of six teams and another of seven teams, and will each play six times in a round-robin competition.

Three teams will qualify for the finals series: The winner of each pool and the winner of a play-off game between the two second placed teams.

Youth Central League
11 teams will be split into two pools of six teams, and will each play five games in a round-robin competition.

Three teams will qualify for the finals series: The winner of each pool and the winner of a play-off game between the two second placed teams.

Youth Southern League
12 teams (eight from Mainland, four from Football South) will be split into two pools of six, and each team will play five times in a round-robin competition.

Two teams will qualify for the finals series: The winner of each pool.

Youth National League
The finals series will be played over three days at a central location as quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.
All qualifying teams will play three games.

See summary overview of the Youth National League here

Article added: Monday 04 July 2022