SEASON INFORMATION

Football registrations for the 2026 season will open early in 2026 for all Grades.​​​​​​​

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Football Grades

Due to the introduction of the Whole of Football 2.0 plan, there are some changes to the age groups for the upcoming 2026 season. Further information on the Whole of Football 2.0 can be found here

At Parklands United, we will be looking to provide the following options for the 2026 season:


In House Programmes

'Otakaro' Hub

  • Fun Football - 8th & 9th Grade (born 2017-18) - 5v5 format - see below for more details on this new hub

Mainland Football Competitions

  • Junior Football
    • 10th & 11th grade (born 2015-2016) - 7v7 format
    • 12th & 13th grade (born 2013-2014) - 9v9 format

  • Youth Football - 14th - 17th grade (born 2009 - 2012) - 11v11 format

  • Senior 
    • Canterbury Championship League
    • Reserves
    • Social Mens

  • Masters
    • Masters 35
    • Masters 45
    • Masters 50

We will look to provide information on Open Training's for the 2026 when these become available for each of the age groups.

Football Subscriptions

Our subscriptions for the 2026 season to be published soon. 

Tournaments

During the course of the season some teams may opt to participate in addition tournaments to the Mainland Football competitions. These tournaments are optional for players and not compulsory, however, for those participating there may be additional fees associated with participation (including travel and accomodation if outside of Christchurch).

Individual teams will collectively determine how these fees are covered, but they may be a mixture of parent contributions, sponsorship, team and club fundraising events.

Football Uniforms

Junior and Youth Football players are required to have their own Parklands United playing shirt. For returning players from 2024/25 these remain the same. New players, and players requiring new shirts, will be required to purchase a playing shirt.

New shirts will be available to purchase at the Shirt Allocation Days (dates tbc).

Families are welcome to also purchase 2nd hand playing shirts off other families wishing to sell off their former shirts.

2026 season dates:

Mainland Football has provided draft starting dates for the 2026 season as follows:

Mainland Football Competitions

  • CCL – Saturday, 4 April 2026
  • Senior & Masters excluding CCL – Saturday, 11 April 2026
  • Juniors & Youth – Saturday, 2 May 2026

'Otakaro' Hub

  • Fun Football (8th & 9th Grade) - Saturday, 2 May 2026

In House Programmes

  • Mini Kicks - tbc
  • First Kicks & Fun Football - Saturday, 2 May 2026
  • All Football is scheduled to go ahead on Kings Birthday weekend (29/30 May).
  • No Football will be played on the weekend of Matariki (10/11 July). Only exception may be CCL team depending upon progress in Cup Competitions.
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  • Season end for most teams will be 5 September 2026

2026 timings:

Times for the 2026 season are still to be determined due to changes in the Whole of Football framework.

Structure:

In House Programmes

  • Mini Kicks, First Kicks and Fun Football follows the NZF Whole of Football framework.

'Otakaro Hub'

  • 8th & 9th Grade teams will represent Parklands United at the 'Otakaro' Hub programme. This programme will be based weekly at Cuthberts Green, Pages Road (adjacent to Cowles Stadium) and follows the NZF Whole of Football framework. This includes a skill development programme followed by mini 5v5 games each week against other teams.

Junior 

  • 10th - 12th Grades are played in graded groups of 6 teams against other clubs. No scores or tables published. Following the completion of a round of 5 games, groups may then be regraded by Mainland Football.

  • Games are played both Home (Broadhaven Reserve or Avondale Park) and Away. This means that players will need to travel to away games
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  • Training sessions for each team are set by the Coach and will take place during the week, usually at Broadhaven Reserve, sometime between the hours of 4pm & 5.30pm. Some teams may train more than once per week.

Youth 

  • 14th - 19th Grades are competition grades, divisions are graded, all scores and tables are published. Please note that divisions may be regraded by Mainland Football during the season.

  • Games are played both Home (Parklands Reserve, Avondale Park or QE2 Park) and Away. This means that players will need to travel to away games.
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  • Training sessions for each team are set by the Coach and will take place during the week, usually at Parklands Reserve, Queenspark Reserve or QE2 Park. These times can vary and may operate under lights into the early evening. Some teams may train more than once per week.

​​Team placements

  • Mini Kicks, First Kicks and Fun Football team placements are made at random.
  • 10th & 11th Grade team placements are done based on previous seasons teams with new players being placed into teams where possible.   
  • 12th & 13th Grade are selected through Team Allocation days.

  • 14th - 17th Grade teams are trialled where the registered players are greater than whats required for one team. 

​​Training days and times

Teams playing at 10th Grade or above Team training days & times are set by the coaches for each individual team

General Enquiries

If you have a specific question or enquiry on our Football programmes, please contact our Operations Manager, on parklandsunitedsportsclub@gmail.com