ANU SUMMER 9s

OVERVIEW

The ANU Summer 9s competition is a nine-a-side social football competition. It's held at a range of fields across the ANU and Canberra’s inner north, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

CHANGES FOR 2025

Fun points are returning. Prizes will be awarded to the best rated team in each competition at the end of the season. No prizes for first.
Mens comps are moving to Thursday to be able to run 6 divisions. Mixed will now be run on Monday and Wednesday. Women's comps remain on Tuesdays.
Referee payments will be increased to $40 a game to improve referee coverage.
Increasing number of games at ANU. 4 divs at ANU each day. 2 at UC.
Adding players to team rosters will be through DRIBL only (i.e. not linked to PlayFootball). However, players will still be required to register in PlayFootball for insurance purposes.
A new disciplinary policy and procedures will detail how we handle disciplinary issues.

COMPETITION DATES AND LOCATIONS

Note:

For the mens and mixed competitions, different days are separate competitions. If you want to play in both, you will need to make two separate nominations, and pay team fees for both.
Generally, a team will play at the same field each week. However, we cannot guarantee that all games will remain at the same location. In the event of field closures, we will endeavour to find appropriate alternatives

GAME TIMES

Games will run between 6pm and 10:00pm. We will endeavour to balance kick-off times across your division.

If you have extenuating circumstances and require a certain time, we’re happy to work with you. Please reach out to us at anusummer9s@gmail.com.

COST

$1100 per team

Note: there is an additional $40.00 insurance payment for each player not registered to play in Capital Football competitions in 2025.

As this is a Capital Football sanctioned competition, all participants must have insurance.
All players registered to play in Capital Football competitions in Winter 2025 or Summer 2025-26 are already covered by Capital Football insurance. However, you must still register in PlayFootball to be covered.
Uninsured players are not permitted to play. We are not responsible for any injuries sustained by uninsured participants.
The insurance cost for the uninsured players will be payable by players in PlayFootball.
If you want to play in multiple teams, you only need to register in PlayFootball once.

NOMINATING A TEAM

The nomination period will open at 9:00am on Monday 15 September 2025 and close at 11:59pm on Sunday 29 September 2025.

To nominate a team, team managers must first ‘register’ a team in Dribl during the nomination period.

Nominate a team in Dribl here

After nominating a team in Dribl, team managers will receive a unique team code by email.

Team managers must then provide this code to players and instruct them to register in DRIBL using the team code as soon as possible.

Nominations will not be accepted unless your team has at least 9 players registered in DRIBL by the end of the nomination period.

You should ensure all of your players register before the nomination period closes. Players registered after this date will not be permitted to play. This is to ensure grading is fair and accurate.

GRADING

You will be graded into divisions based on your team’s ability relative to other teams. You will not be able to choose your division.

Ability will be measured using a team average of the highest level/tier of football played since 2022. Every participant will be required to provide their playing history during the nomination process.

DRIBL provides playing history, we just can’t bulk export. We will audit teams playing histories.

If any individual is found to have knowingly falsified their playing history, their team’s nomination will be rejected.

The tiers are as follows:

If you haven’t played in Capital Football competitions, but have played in other states, choose a tier that most accurately reflects your playing history.

PAYMENTS

After the nomination period closes, team managers receive an email invoice from Xero. You will have 72 hours to pay your invoice or your position may be forfeited.

Payment is by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) only. Payment must be made as one transaction by the team manager.

Instructions for payment will be provided on the invoice. Please ensure you follow the instructions.

REFEREES

If you want to referee, please register to referee in Dribl.

Referees will be paid $40 per game.

DRAWS

Draws will be developed following the nomination and registration process. All fixtures, results and tables will be in Dribl. Fixtures will be published following the grading process. We expect this to occur during the week starting 30 September.

TEAM DUTIES

Teams will only be required to referee games if the appointed referee doesn't show up. If this occurs, teams should referee one-half each.

For all fields, it is the responsibility of the first kick-off teams to make sure the goals are moved into the right place on the field. It is then the responsibility of the last kick-off teams to move the nets off the fields as required.

At UC, the goals must be pushed together facing each other so security can lock them. Ensure the goals are off the field on the Southern end of Oval 6 and Oval 2.

All teams are to provide a size 5 match ball. This ensures one is available as well as a spare.

CANCELLATIONS

Fixtures may be moved or cancelled at any time. Dribl will automatically email participants if their fixtures are changed/cancelled. Please be aware that field closures are outside of our control, and we reserve the right to move fixtures to any available ground to ensure that fixtures can be played.

Due to field capacity constraints, we are unlikely to be able to reschedule cancelled matches, but will do our best to accommodate, potentially using double headers (see wet weather policy below).

Safety is determined by the referees. If a referee deems a field or conditions unsafe (e.g. lightning), games can be called off. In the event of an incomplete round for a division, the round will be called off.

FORFEITS

If you are short on players, forfeiting should only be used as a last resort. We support using fill-ins and borrowing players from other teams to avoid forfeiting. Please post in the Summer 9s Facebook group if you need players.

You may also get in contact with the opposition manager to see if they have spare players. Their contact details will be available to you in Dribl.

Should you need to forfeit, you can submit a forfeit request in Dribl. You will be deducted 1 point for forfeiting, and it may affect nominations involving your players in future years.

COMPETITION RULES

This is a 9-a-side competition (i.e. eight outfield players plus one designated goalkeeper).

The minimum number of players is six, inclusive of the goalkeeper.

Games are played over 2 x 20 minutes halves with a five minute half time break.

Games will not be delayed or time made up for tardiness. If you are late, your game will be shortened. If you are more than 10 minutes late, your team will forfeit the match.

The minimum age is sixteen (16).

Shin guards are compulsory. Players will not be permitted on the field without shin guards. If you make it onto the field without them and are injured, you will not be covered by insurance. Referees reserve the right to deny your participation without shin guards.

Home team can wear any colour except white. The Away team must wear white.

Goalkeepers must wear a different coloured shirt to both teams. The nominated strip colour must not include white, and the away white shirts must not include other colours.

Regular football rules apply (IFAB laws of the game) except for:

No offside
Corner flags are not required
No slide tackles. Slide tackles will result in an indirect free kick for the opposition.
Interchange only (players run on/off from halfway at anytime- no formal substitutions).

The referee's decision is final.

Players that are cautioned (yellow card) will be required to leave the field for five minutes, but may be replaced by another player.

Players that are sent off (red card) will be required to leave the field for the whole game and may face further disciplinary action (such as individual or whole team expulsion from the competition). Sent off players cannot be replaced.

Any acts of aggression will result in disciplinary action that may include loss of competition points and/or expulsion of a player or team from the competition. If any aggressive behaviour occurs, the referee will submit a report to the competition organisers.

Dribl includes a reporting feature. If you have any issues with your match, please use this feature to communicate to competition organisers, and we will follow-up.

Competition points will be awarded as follows:

3 points for a win
1 point to each team for a draw
0 points for a loss.
-1 point for a forfeit.

Please remember that this is a SOCIAL competition and should be played that way.

Teams should ensure their players act appropriately.

Teams that do not play in the spirit of the competition may be expelled from the competition.

For the mixed competition, teams will be required to field 4 male-identifying players, and 4-female identifying players, while the remaining player can be of any gender identity, including those that are gender diverse.

Any form of questioning someone's gender identity will be deemed as bullying and will not be tolerated in our competition.

RESULTS

Referees will enter scores directly into Dribl as soon as practicable after each match.

Referees will record the number of goals and final score, as well as the names of any players given yellow or red cards.

Team managers should also to submit scores through the Dribl app at the end of each game.

If there are disputes that cannot be settled immediately, please use the dispute feature in Dribl to communicate with organisers. We will then be in touch.

Additionally, for any red card offences, and any fights, a written report containing the same level of information as the injury report will also be submitted by the referee in Dribl.

You can use Dribl to record scoring statistics, but this must be done by managers.

If your referee does not show up, please note this in Dribl.

INJURIES

Please use Dribl to document any injuries. If an injury occurs, minor or major, the referee should make note of the following:

Injured players full name
Details of incident
- Example 1 – Jane Smith of Manchester United injured her left leg when tackled by an opponent. She had to leave the field and did not return.
- Example 2 – John Brown of Pink FC jumped for the ball and landed awkwardly, rolling his right ankle. He left the field but came back and was able to finish the game.

WET WEATHER POLICY

This policy outlines the procedures for handling wet weather during the summer soccer competition.

Policy:

Rained out games will not be rescheduled, unless we make alternative arrangements at our discretion.
In the event that the same competition is rained out on multiple occasions, we reserve the right to move divisions between grass and synthetic fields to ensure an equal as possible number of games across divisions.

Procedures:

The organisers will rely on advice provided by ANU Facilities and Services, ANU Sport, UC Sport, and ACT Sportsgrounds regarding whether fields are open and playable.
If a field is unplayable, the organisers reserve the right to move the fixture to an alternative venue that is playable.
If a fixture is unplayable, the organisers will cancel the fixture in Dribl.
All participants will receive an email from Dribl if a fixture is moved or cancelled.
If a game is cancelled due to rain, the affected teams will be awarded no points.
The competition coordinator will make every effort to avoid cancelling games, but the safety of the players is always the top priority.

CONTACT US

Please reach out to ANUsummer9s@gmail.com, but please be patient with us as we are not on call 24/7.