For families
Everything you need for a Sunday
Dates, where to go, what to bring, and what happens when it does not go to plan. If the answer you want is not here, email and ask. Nothing is a daft question.
Dates
Eight Sundays. Same time, same hall, every week. Doors open at 12, the football is done by about 12.50, and everyone is away by one.
| Week | Date |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday 27 September 2026 |
| 2 | Sunday 4 October |
| 3 | Sunday 11 October |
| 4 | Sunday 18 October |
| 5 | Sunday 25 October |
| 6 | Sunday 1 November |
| 7 | Sunday 8 November |
| 8 | Sunday 15 November |
What happens after 15 November is confirmed to you before the block ends. If a session ever has to move, you hear it from us directly, not from a notice on a door.
Getting there
Ulster University Jordanstown Sports Village, Shore Road, Newtownabbey. Park and come in through the main reception entrance. There is plenty of parking.
Reception is on your right as you walk in and the hall is straight ahead, about ten feet from the desk. Someone from the team will be in reception from about five to twelve to walk you through, so nobody stands about wondering where to go.
The first ten minutes
Nobody is stopped on the way in. Your child goes straight onto the floor and plays, and you come to the desk inside the hall whenever it suits you. At the desk:
- Your name is ticked off the register. Nothing to sign.
- Your child picks a ball out of the bag. It is theirs for the hour. On the first Sunday their passport gets their name written on the front. From week two you hand the passport in here, and it comes back to you stamped at the end.
- You get a coloured stamp on the back of your hand, and so does your child if they want one. The colour tells you which station you start at.
- You are told the three things worth knowing: where the fire exit is, where the quiet corner is, and where the first aid kit lives.
At ten past, two minutes of talking, then look at your stamp and go.
What to bring
- Trainers for your child. It is an indoor 3G pitch, so trainers rather than studs or boots. Leggings or long trousers save knees.
- Trainers for you. You are on the floor, not on a chair.
- A water bottle, named. It will be waiting in the middle of the hall for the drinks break.
- Nothing else. Balls, goals and kit are here.
Shirts
Every child gets a shirt with our logo on the front, included. They arrive a session or two into the block rather than on week one, and nothing depends on having one. No names on them, just sizes that fit.
The passport
A small folded card that goes home with you. Everything in it is something your child did, in their own words: I caught a bubble. I said hello to somebody new. I had a rest and came back. At the end of each Sunday you point at the line that happened and your child presses the stamp in themselves. Bring it back each week and hand it in at the desk when you arrive. Turning up is not on the list, nothing in it can be failed, and there are no dates, so if it gets left at home it is stamped the following week and nothing is lost.
When it does not go to plan
My child will not join in.
We are expecting that. A child who will not join in is the reason this exists. At five, in front of a coach with forty children on a trial, it can cost a place. At two, on your knee, it costs nothing. Watching is taking part. Some children sit out for weeks and then one Sunday they do not, and by the time anyone is counting, joining in is just what they do.
My child cried the whole time.
Then this is the right place for it. A five year old crying alone at the side of a pitch is how children get lost to the game. A two year old crying beside you, in a hall where nobody minds, is just a Sunday, and you are the person coaching them through it rather than a stranger with forty other children to look after. Use the quiet corner, or step out to the corridor, and come back when they are ready or not at all. Turning up and leaving early still counts as the week.
My child took another child's ball.
Everybody has their own, and there are spares in the bag. Swap it, laugh, carry on. Nobody is keeping track of whose is whose, least of all the children.
Can both of us come?
Yes, and if you both come you both join in. Standing at the side watching other people's children is the one thing that does not work in a room like this. If somebody else in the family wants to watch, there is a viewing gallery upstairs that overlooks the pitch.
Can a grandparent, aunt or childminder bring them?
Yes. Anyone who loves the child will do.
We are going to miss a few weeks.
Holidays and illness happen. You are simply expected back, and missing weeks does not put you behind, because there is nothing to be behind on.
What are the wee black bits on the pitch?
Rubber crumb, the infill that keeps a 3G pitch soft. We chose the 3G over the hard floor next door because toddlers fall over a lot. It sticks to hands and knees, so wash hands afterwards, and keep half an eye on anything heading for a mouth.
Getting hold of us
Email info@beforeitcounts.com. Messages are answered by a person, usually the same evening. If you need to stop coming, the same email does that, with no notice period and no awkward conversation.