The ball may be nearly one-third of their size, but that won't stop them from giving it their best kick!

Footballing partners Jade O'Neill and Kieran Trim are starting Tauranga toddlers young on the field, opening up their toddler football programme – Mighty Minis – last month.

Moving down from Auckland mid-2022 with their three-year-old son Ezra, the couple realised there was something missing in our local toddler sport scene.

'Down here we just found Monday to Friday there was hardly anything there, and in toddler sport especially, football only started at four years old – so we wanted to start something that younger children could get involved with,” says Jade.

'I've played football all my life and coached teams, and Jade is a primary school teacher and she's amazing with kids and we thought we'd have a good experience and shared knowledge to know how to be able to pull this off,” says Kieran.

Jade and Kieran kicked off their first class on Anzac Day and have started with a happy mixture of smiles and frenzy. Jade says the class was 'chaos but the feedback from the families is really good saying that their kids had a load of fun and want to come back!”

For the toddler age range, classes are focused on skills rather than team games. 'Toddlers learn listening, responding, balance and coordination and prepare to actually focus in a team,” says Jade. 'They are learning how to pass the ball and dribble the ball and working with their parents as well.”

'I'm hoping this experience is going to be a good one for people and that we are able to let the kids have a great time so they can run around, kick the ball and just get as much joy as I've had from football in my life,” says Kieran. If you're interested in getting your toddler into football and want more information, email: mightyminisfc@gmail.com