Run by Strikers for a number of years, Strikers summer six-a-side Football is one of a very few spring/summer competitions played on the Northern Beaches.

Held on Wednesday evenings from September to November at Cromer Park, the competition is a way for young players to extend their football season for just that little bit longer.

Details of the next Strikers Summer six-a-sides are made available around the end of July every year. For more information about the Six-A-Side click here.

Futsal is the indoor version of football that is officially sanctioned by football's international governing body, FIFA.

Played by teams of five players, the game promotes better ball control skills as well as passes on the ground. Furthermore, the smaller play area forces players to improve their skills and decision making.

The Northern Beaches Futsal Association (NBFA) offers year round competitions for senior ladies and men and summer competitions in ages from Under 6s to Under 18s.

Summer competitions start in mid October and run to the end of February.  A winter 2007 competiton for juniors is currently under consideration.

Locations include sports halls at Beacon Hill, Curl Curl, Forest High and Narrabeen as well as two new outdoor courts at Manly Vale Bowling Club.

Other outdoor five-a-side competition are run by St Ives YMCA, Hornsby PCYC and at other locations.

For details of Northern Beaches Futsal Association competitions, click here.

Developed by Australia's Craig Johnston, the ex-Liverpool star who also invented the Predator football boot, Supaskills converts player skills into statistics that can then be used to assess where a player's game needs work.

Endorsed by FIFA, the Supaskills system features 10 skill drills based on the basics of football like shooting, passing, heading and dribbling. After completing all ten drills and recording a score for each (based on time taken and the number of mistakes made), players can log onto the SupaSkills website, input their scores and then receive their own personal STATS. These STATS can then be used to find out how good they are at football _ and how good they could become.

Coerver Coaching is regarded by many as the premier youth football coaching program in the world - and the endorsements it has received from leading international players certainly backs up this claim.

Developed in the 1970s by leading Dutch coach Weil Coerver, the program is designed to improve individual player skills in Coerver's 'Golden Years' - boys and girls between five and 13 years.

A systematic coaching development program, Coerver Coaching combines step-by-step coaching techniques with the moves of the world's greatest players. These skills are then developed in small-sided groups and in small-sided games.

In each holidays Coerver Coaching offers a range of camps for young players at locations around Sydney, including a special 'Mighty Mites' program for five to seven year olds.

Beyond holiday camps lies the 'world of Coerver'.

Each September trials are held for age specific development squads (from Under 8s to Under 13s) that are run at locations across Sydney, as well as an Elite Squad based at Soccer NSW's headquarters at Valentine Park.

These squads run through the summer, offering three sessions a week as well as a range of testing, theory and information sessions and a personal training program. From these squads, selections are held for squads that travel overseas.

Administered by Soccer NSW, Coerver is also backed by a range of training products including manuals, DVDs and videos.

Coerver Technical Director Paul Bentvelzen also appeared in the SBS TV program The World Game, demonstrating a range of Coerver coaching skills.

For details, click here. 

Like school holidays camps, a range of different individuals and organisations offer year-round academy-style coaching programs for players across a range of ages.

These include:

* Australian Elite Soccer Football Academy

* Australian Soccer Coaching Clinics

* Bondi Soccer Academy

* Brazilian Soccer Schools

* Dusan Purac Soccer Academy - operates twice a week at Millers Reserve, Manly Vale (this is a 'pay-as-you-go' program)

* Elite Goalkeeping (likely to soon commence on the Northern Beaches)

* Elite Soccer Coaching Academy

* Football Development Academy

* Football Elite Sydney

* Football Excellence Academy 

* Gus Cerro Football Academy

* IQ Sport 

* International Goalkeepers Academy 

* Kuringai Soccer/Arsenal Soccer School 

* Paul Wade Soccer Schools (Sports Education Group) 

* Richard Alagich Pacific Academy of Soccer 

* Soccer Master Australia 

* Sydney Soccer Academy 

* Sydney Soccer Football Academy (run by former Socceroo Gerry Gomez)

Several of these academies operate on the northern beaches.

In addition, individual coaches are often hired by small groups or on a one-to-one basis. Finding such coaches is very much down to personal contact.

Active Factor Top Shots is a club based program designed to add value to training sessions by providing coaches with a framework of recommended training ideas and activities to be implemented at the coaches discretion throughout the course of the season.

Aimed at five to 13 year old children who are already participating in football, Active Factor Top Shots helps develop basic football skills such as dribbling, passing and juggling in a fun and non-competitive environment.

Coaches can order packs for their team through their club. Each pack contains ten posters for players to keep. Players can then be taken through the three levels of Active Factor Top Shots and confirm that they have successfully completed the activities within each stage. Coaches are encouraged to maintain the details of their players for the chance to win great prizes for their team.

More information on this program can be found on the Active Factor website at www.activefactor.com.au/kids/topshots.asp

Players, develop and measure your skills by practising and learning the skills from the following Active Factor posters:

Level One

Level Two

Level Three

Many parents may look at their children's football as a social activity and not see the relevance of additional coaching. While some children may have natural sporting ability that will shine through in any environment, as a rule, children who do not get additional and/or quality coaching are likely to be disadvantaged when compared with those who have.

Some may think that a longer season and additional coaching may be too intense for young players. But current trends see children getting additional coaching in so many areas, such as swimming, music and academic tuition. In all these areas the emphasis is on getting basic skills right at an early age.

In contrast with some of these activities, additional football coaching and activity (as listed above) is also going to have a significant fun element.