Footy training for the Upper Spencer Gulf
The Upper Spencer Gulf has three cities, two leagues and some of the hardest footy conditions in the state: hot summers, long distances, and a pathway club a few hours’ drive away in Prospect.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.
Port Pirie and Port Augusta are in North Adelaide’s SANFL country zone. Community football at the top of the Gulf runs through the Spencer Gulf Football League — Central Augusta, South Augusta and West Augusta in Port Augusta, and Port, Proprietary-Risdon and Solomontown in Port Pirie — and the Whyalla Football League.
Which club your address belongs to
North Adelaide’s development zone includes the northern suburbs of Adelaide and country regions such as Port Pirie and Port Augusta.
- North Adelaide
- The SANFL club for the Upper Spencer Gulf, based at Prospect.
Roxby Downs, in the Far North, is West Adelaide’s zone. The SANFL club finder confirms any club.
The competitions
- Spencer Gulf Football League
- Six clubs: Central Augusta, South Augusta and West Augusta (Port Augusta), and Port, Proprietary-Risdon and Solomontown (Port Pirie).
- Whyalla Football League
- Community football in Whyalla.
Set it up for the Upper Spencer Gulf
Four things, in the order the app asks them. None of them needs a coach.
Choose footy, then your team nights
Onboarding asks “When do you train with your team?” Pick your club nights — Spencer Gulf Football League or wherever you play — and your gym and conditioning are scheduled around them, lighter the day after a big one. Tell it your equipment and any niggles and every exercise is fitted to both.
Match the program to your league’s start
The app treats March as the start of the footy season. SANFL and community footy in South Australia starts in April, so you can hold the pre-season through March by setting the phase yourself. The phase lives in Program → Your year.
Know your numbers on day one
Your first testing session is ready immediately: 2km time trial, Bench press 1RM, Max pull-ups, Trap-bar deadlift 1RM, Running vertical jump. It is re-run every 8 weeks, and the results re-price your training weights and conditioning paces.
Put your suburb on the board
In Social → Town, set where you train. Your minutes count toward that town’s weekly conditioning and strength top-10 boards — only the town is kept, never your location.
What you start with, by the month you join
Every block is four weeks — three building, one deload — so a free month is one complete block.
The footy year in the Upper Spencer Gulf
- October
- Off-season. Rest, then rebuild general strength.
- November – February
- Pre-season, through the hottest months. Aerobic base first, then strength, then power.
- March
- Final preparation. Practice matches and testing.
- April – September
- Season. The SANFL runs April to September with the Grand Final on the penultimate weekend of September. Volume comes down, weights hold.
Serious summer heat
The top of the Gulf gets some of the hottest summer days in South Australia, and that is exactly when the pre-season happens. Train at first light, build intensity gradually through November, and treat heatwave weeks as extra load rather than pushing through. The Sports Medicine Australia heat guidelines are the standard reference.
Coaching a side in the Upper Spencer Gulf?
A club licence is A$8 per player, per month (minimum 5), and every player on it gets full Train Smart membership at no cost to them. You write the block once, it lands in each player’s app, and the console shows who actually did it.
Footy in the Upper Spencer Gulf: questions
Which SANFL club is zoned to Port Pirie and Port Augusta?
What clubs are in the Spencer Gulf Football League?
Where these facts come from
Checked September 2026. Zones, grades and dates change — if something here is out of date, the governing body is right and we are wrong.
Nearby and related
Adelaide
Four regions by SANFL zone, the Adelaide Footy League, and a pre-season through a hot, dry summer.
OpenEyre Peninsula
Norwood’s country zone — the Port Lincoln, Great Flinders, Eastern and Western Eyre leagues.
OpenThe AFL pathway
From community level to state league and the draft — and what gets tested along the way.
OpenTurn up to round one already fit
Pick footy, tell it your team nights, and your first block and testing session are ready before you leave the car park.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.