Here's this week's Coaching Tip of the Week, courtesy of Tip Top. You can see them all in our Coaching Tips of the Week FAQ, available from the Help menu.

Passing the Ball

The Keys to passing the ball (short passes) are:

The Wagga Wagga Invitational Teams will come head to head with Albury this Saturday for the second year of the Intertown Challenge.

The winner is decided from the results of the 3 games to be played. Last year the inaugural challenge was played in Albury and they were the winners. Wagga Wagga is hoping to make the shield's home Wagga after this Saturday's games.

The women prepared for their match last weekend in Bathurst at the Mitchell Cup playing against some great Sydney sides, while the Men & Under 18s had great results with their preparation against Southern Tablelands two weeks ago in Wagga.

There will be some great games to watch at Gissing Oval this weekend! Game times are shown below:

The annual Tolland Soccer Club Junior Carnival will be held this year on Sunday 24th August. More details as they come to hand.

Football Wagga Wagga has been advised of the Club Registration Days as shown below. More details will be provided as they come to hand.

For more information refer to the Affiliated Clubs listing for contact and other details. If you are unsure of the locations mentioned see the Maps section.

The Wagga Wagga Senior Women’s Invitational team traveled to Bathurst on the weekend to compete in the Mitchell Cup tournament.

The main objective of participating in the tournament was to give the team a chance to play together and to build team-work for their upcoming clash with Albury in the annual Wagga / Albury Football challenge.

The team had 5 matches and came home with  2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses and finished 3rd on the table which is a great effort considering they were playing against Super League teams and a Premier League team and this tournament was their first games together.

Dribbling the Ball

Beginners should start by using the inside of the foot to keep the ball more central to the body (easier to protect!) however, once you are comfortable you should try using other parts of your foot. Avoid keeping the ball right under your feet, aim to Keep the ball at a distance where you can easily put your foot on the ball without stretching, which will allow you to play the ball. Changes in pace or direction will help you to beat an opponent. Change pace to go past a player and direction to unbalance them. In Football it is a good tool to have if you can play with both feet, so practice with both!!! Scan� the field for passing or shooting opportunities by looking around and in front of you whilst dribbling.

The 2008 All-Age Females Competition will have two divisions:

• Division 1 or Pool A will be named the Leonard Cup.
• Division 2 or Pool B will be named the Madden Shield.

To assist with not disrupting club day structure, all teams will play each other twice as in previous years.

Football NSW will soon launch its e-newsletter that will come out weekly every Wednesday, so to register please log onto the official Football NSW website (www.footballnsw.com.au) and follow the subscribe link to register.

Football Wagga confirms that Small-Sided Games will be introduced for Under 6 through Under 9 grades in 2008. As previously advised, information booklets will be handed to parents by their Club on Registration of players affected, and are also available for download direct from the Football Federation Australia website here

Under 6 will be 4x4 as per information booklets; Under 9 will be 7x7 as per booklet and Under 7 & 8 will have slight variations to accommodate current team numbers.

Click on the image at left for more information.

Football NSW Womens Newsletter for February 2008 is now available for download. If you have any information that you would like to see included in the March Newsletter please feel free to email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Football NSW Female Participation Officer, by the 25^th February 2008.

Football NSW has announced that in response to numerous requests for a review of course dates, the MPIO Course previously scheduled for March will now be held on Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd May 2008.

If you have already registered for the March dates please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it at Football NSW to confirm or cancel your registration for the May course.

To register as a coach, assistant coach or manager in 2008 in Youth League, Metropolitan League or Women's League you are required to have attended a Football NSW Working With Kids Seminar. If you attended a WWK seminar in 2007 you are not required to attend another seminar in 2008. The first seminar has been fully booked so another has been arranged for Monday 18th February 2008.

Updated 14th Feb: Contact details are now correct

Wagga Football Referees Association is holding a NEW COURSE before the start of the season - this will be on the 3rd, 5th, 10th and 12th of March 2008 - 6pm to 9pm at the Rules Club, except for the 12th which will be held at Gissing Oval training ground. Cost is $40.00.

The Branch Championships for 2008 will be held on 29th & 30th March (Boys) and 3rd & 4th May (Girls). Venues are shown below.

We will be trialling Small-Sided Games in the Under 6 through Under 8 grades in 2008. This initiative of Football Federation Australia and Football NSW will bring Australia into line with the practices in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, England, Ireland, The Netherlands, Scotland, Germany, France, Korea and the USA, to name a few. Small-Sided Games are designed to make the game of football a more enjoyable experience for younger children.

We are pleased to welcome Bendigo Bank as the new sponsor for our U/15 Rep Team, which is now known as the FWW Under15s Bendigo Bank Representative Squad.