FOLLOWING the unfortunate withdrawal of four Southern Hub clubs (Armstrong United, Barwon Heads, Drysdale and FC Leopold) from the ALDI MiniRoos Gala Day on Sunday at the Geelong Soccer Club, a new fixture has been released.

PHOTO: The pitch layout for Sunday's ALDI MiniRoos Gala Day at Geelong Soccer Club's Stead Park complex in Norlane

The annual extravaganza which normally attracts up to 5,000 players, coaches, family members and supporters throughout the day is sponsored by Hyundai A-League club Melbourne Victory FC and will witness a full set of matches to be played across the U7s, U9s and U11s age categories, with teams from the Northern Hub drawn to play teams from the Southern Hub in their only inter-Hub meeting this year.

On Sunday, the hard working Geelong Soccer Club volunteer crew will be providing a full canteen service at their magnificent facility, as is the case each week at all hosting venues.

The fixtures for Week 17 have been announced for the MiniRoos Hub which comprises all the U7s, U9s and U11s age group competitions, split between the Joeys (beginners) and Kangas (advanced) sub-leagues.

The U7s play in a 4v4 (players) format on 1/8 the size of a full pitch, the U9s play 7v7, while the U11s play 9v9 on half ground sized pitches.

It will be a massive day in the city’s northern suburbs with the Geelong Region Boys and Men’s Grand Finals Series being staged on the same day just up the road at Myers Reserve

The Week 17 Fixtures of the Northern Hub Fixtures are attached.

A couple of reminders from the Northern Hub Organisers...

- It seems that there are coaches who still are unaware of Playout zones - can all coaches have a hard-copy of the fixture and if someone is not following expected conventions show them the back of the fixture to ensure they understand some of the basic protocols we are trying to maintain.

- Could all club coaches/delegates please remind all parents/family about the NO DOGS policy

- Could all team coaches, if they are refereeing games, all have a whistle.

- A reminder that at U7 level, we need to discourage players from standing in goal and acting as a "goalkeeper".

- There are to be NO slide tackles.

- Referees ensure all players are aware that attacking team not permitted in defending team’s half (U9s) or back quarter of pitch (U11s) until ball is played out of this zone or referee calls play on.