The Kappa Festival of Football is kicking off in Queensland this summer in a brilliant three-week celebration of the state’s premier players, coaches and referees.

Football Queensland (FQ) will stage seven games across two venues and assemble elite men’s and women’s squads to take on the very best Brisbane Roar and Football NSW have to offer.

The NPL Queensland All-Star Men & All-Star Women face Roar’s A-League and Westfield W-League teams in a Dolphin Stadium double-header on 5 December.

Then, on 12 December, the squads pull on the maroon to represent Queensland against New South Wales in two blockbuster matches at Perry Park.

Here’s all you need to know about how the squads and coaches will be selected!

How are the squads selected?

The Men’s squad and the Women’s squad will be selected according to a uniform process.

The squads are designed to closely reflect the eventual 2020 Teams of the Season for the NPL Men’s and NPL Women’s competitions, utilising that same selection process in order to reward the players who have excelled throughout the 2020 campaign.

This incorporates the 3-2-1 votes that all NPL Men’s and NPL Women’s Head Coaches submit after each fixture, plus the Team of the Week appearances that are subsequently determined from those votes, plus the Team of the Season XIs that all Head Coaches submit to FQ.

To be eligible for All-Star/Queensland selection, players must have played in the NPL Queensland during the 2020 season.

The selected Head Coaches for the All-Star/Queensland teams will have additional input into squad selection and any replacements as necessary, and will have final say over the starting XIs for each match.

Will the All-Star and Queensland squads be the same?

Yes, there will be one Men’s squad and one Women’s squad.

However, injuries or other availability issues may naturally necessitate minor squad alterations in the week between the matches against Brisbane Roar and the matches against New South Wales.

Are foreign players or players born and raised outside Queensland eligible?

Yes, provided they played in NPL Queensland during the 2020 season.

This is to showcase the terrific domestic and international talent performing each week in Queensland while providing the best possible spectacle for fans.

There will, however, be a limit of three visa players per All Star/Queensland squad.

As outlined in the 2020 FQ Competition Regulations, a visa player is a player who is not an Australian citizen, permanent resident of Australia and/or resident in Australia on a ‘permanent’ visa class issued by the Australian Government.

Players who did not appear in NPL Queensland during the 2020 season, including Queensland-born players competing in other states, are ineligible.

What is the situation for Roar players who also compete in NPL Queensland?

Brisbane Roar have full discretion over the composition of their squads.

In effect, this means any NPL Queensland players involved with Roar’s A-League or Westfield W-League setups – whether as a contracted player, as a trialist or on another basis – will be excused from All-Star/Queensland squad selection contention.

How are the coaches selected?

The 2020 NPL Men’s Coach of the Year will be invited to lead the All-Star Men and Queensland Men, with the runner-up invited to join them as an assistant.

Equally, the 2020 NPL Women’s Coach of the Year will be invited to lead the All-Star Women and Queensland Women, with the runner-up invited to join them as an assistant.

The Coach of the Year awards are based primarily on peer recognition, with each club’s Head Coach submitting 3-2-1 votes for their competition.

If a Coach of the Year award winner is unable to take part in the Kappa Festival of Football, the selection of a replacement will be at FQ’s discretion.

The selected Head Coaches will have the opportunity to choose additional support staff.