The 2026 North East Border Female Football League (NEBFFL) season will look a little different from previous iterations, as the league adjusts the age brackets for two of their junior divisions.

From next season, the league will keep the under 12s and open division as is, but will alter the age brackets of the previous under 14 and under 17 groups, expanding them to under 15s and under 18s.

Under the new grouping, each junior age group will have an equal three-year catchment, catering for kids from ages 10 to 18, preparing them for the open age competition.

The under 12 division will hold players from 10-12 years old, the under 15s will contain 13-15 year olds, and the under 18s will consist of players from 16-18 years old.

NEBFFL operations manager Matthew Elliott said the expansion of the middle age bracket would help facilitate a smooth transition between grades through a player’s journey.

“We did feel a bit of a pinch point with the under 12s and under 14s,” he said.

“Having just a two-year catchment can quite limit the number of players that are available to play in that age group, and it can be challenging for clubs to field teams week on week due to various factors like players being away or recruitment in general.

“With that becoming 15s and the under 12s group remaining, the three youth grades are now all a three-year age catchment, rather than the middle one being a two-year age catchment.

“That was really important to achieve that, it increases the opportunity for recruitment and makes it easier for clubs to field teams within the middle of the youth ages.

“We feel like that will definitely benefit the middle age group, the under 15s.

“Moving from 17s to 18s, that remains a three-year catchment after the under 15s, so that’s stable from what it has been the last couple of years.”

NEBFFL has been working closely with the clubs for many seasons to implement an age grouping all clubs were happy with, and which allowed them to get the most for their players.

“We do usually schedule a club delegates meeting for post season, around October,” Elliott said.

“We do have a bit of a focus on how the year went, what things worked really well and what things need some improvement, and the age groups formed a big part of that this year.

“It wasn’t something we looked at lightly, we definitely engaged over a sustained period of time this year with the clubs.

“The initial discussions would date back a couple of seasons when some clubs were really keen to move those age group to what we’ve done now a little bit earlier than we did.

“Taking that sustained approach was really good because it allowed us to get a really good handle on the landscape.

“We had the majority of clubs well and truly in support of making that change, that was really good to see.”

Planning remains underway for the 2026 NEBFFL season.