HILLS FA

After two disrupted years due to COVID-19, it was a pleasure to see a completed season for Hills Football

The resilience of HFI Clubs and members showed during a difficult time with wet weather and the imposed impacts upon the well-established competitions.

The Walking Football League officially kicked off following its initial start in 2021, which was halted due to the cancellation of the season. Member Club Kenthurst & District Football Club hosted the League and due to its success, has continued into the summer months.

In addition, the long-standing Summer Walking Football Program has seen its largest numbers to date with a large representation of female participants. As a whole, during the warmer months, HFI’s much loved Summer Football competitions saw the Association hit capacity after two weeks of registrations being opened, highlighting a much-loved return to football for some of those that may not have participated last season.

The Hills Football Community Match of the Round launched during the 2022 winter season which provided all youth and senior teams the opportunity for one of their matches to be live streamed and commentated on, creating a holistic approach to HFI’s appreciation of grassroots football at all levels, age grades, and genders.

Player development programs were at an all-time high with the HFI Development programs reaching the highest registration and retention numbers since its inception in 2018.

HFI will continue to support all members and Clubs by expanding on these player development opportunities both as an Association, and by running these in collaboration with Clubs.

The first Hills Female Only All Abilities program was also launched by Castle Hill United and will continue to grow as the Association heads into a huge year for female football in 2023 thanks to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™.

Other All Abilities programs within the Association have continued to thrive as they experienced their first Football NSW football4all Gala Day since 2019.

The Hills Football Association Youth League (AYL) program had a successful year with two of four teams (U13s and U16s) reaching the final series for the first time. With the addition of an U18s side and the biggest amount of interest within this program, HFI hope to see further success in the upcoming 2023 season.

2022 also featured the launch of a Youth Coaching and Referee Development Clinic held during the school holidays which saw many aspiring and up and coming coaches and referees participate. In addition, HFI saw the highest number of coaches and referees attend HFI facilitated and hosted courses in 2022.

In total, 279 coaches attended HFI run grassroots and advanced coaching courses, with an astounding 133 referees attending Level 4 courses in 2022. HFI Referee Development opportunities are also at a high with two astounding female referees involved in the Football NSW Referee Academy for 2022, which have been reconfirmed for the 2023 season.