How to do your Game Day Roles

You’ve put your hand up, or been rostered onto to a game day role by your team manager. Thank you very much for helping out! The great thing about our club is we are like one big family, and do whatever we can to help each other out.

But how do you do the role? This page has you covered. Below, we have instructions or a video on how to do your game day role. Reminder that all volunteers with Game Day roles must wear closed in shoes.

Click on the link to scroll to your role:

Game Day Coordinator
Ground Marshall
Runner
Water Carrier
Goal Umpire
Timekeeper/Scoreboard
Field Setup
Field Packup
Canteen
BBQ

Game Day Coordinator

• making sure home club jobs are filled, and if not, making contact with the team manager to assist with finding someone.
• making sure the umpires have the correct game ball for their games.
• responding to the needs of teams (ie scorecards, missing bibs, milestone medals, etc) and umpires.
• responding to any issues that may arise 

Ground Marshall

Ground Marshalls are responsible for three main key areas:

• Maintaining a safe and family friendly environment at the ground
  • Ensuring people are behaving in the crowd
  • Ensuring everyone has closed in shoes
  • Ensure there is no debris / obstacles within the fence or near the field
• Keeping to the schedule, ensuring teams are ready to play on time
• Supporting the umpires
  • Escorting on and off the field and provide drinks at breaks.
  • Collecting the match day paperwork from teams and volunteers – Signed team sheets, Timekeeper card and goal cards.

You’ll be given either an Orange or Green bib by the team manager. Please be sure you are wearing that bib from at least 30 minutes before your game time. Please return the bib to your team manager after the game.

For Youth and U11 Mixed matches, there is a little bit more involved.

• Before the game, you will need to collect the signed team sheets from both team managers and deliver them to the umpires. The umpire room at Broadbeach is on the far left hand side of the Change Room facility if you’re looking at it – just around the corner (not the junior office).
• If there is a report, or yellow or red card, you will be required to be present while the umpires are talking to the reported player and team manager.

AFLQ have created a great video on how to Ground Marshall. There is also some great material online
Ground Marshall Checklist (be sure to scroll to the junior part)
Ground Marshall Roles & Responsibilities Handbook

Runner

The runner is responsible for sending messages from the coaches to players on the field. The runner should enter the field, deliver the message to the players, and return back to the coaches box immediately – not stand around on the field for extended periods of time, or follow play around.

You will be given a pink bib from your team manager. Please return the bib to your team manager after the game.

Water Carrier

From 2024, Water Carriers are no longer used in matches, unless approved by AFLQ under the Extreme Heat Policy.  It is not up to coaches or an umpire to allocate this.

Instead, water should be placed at strategic locations around the ground (such as behind goals), or players should be advised to interchange if they need water.

If water carriers are approved for a game, the following applies:

Water carriers should only be entering the ground during breaks – for example when a goal has been scored, or when a player is lining up for a shot in goal. They must exit the field as quickly as possible once water is delivered.

Waters carriers be placed around the ground and cannot be within the coaches boxes.

You will be given a white bib from your team manager. Please return the bib to your team manager after the game.

Goal Umpire

Goal umpires are required in all age groups, however only keep score during matches for U11 and older.

You will be given a blue bib and a set of goal flags by your team manager. Please return the bib and the flags to your team manager after the game. Please do not hand them onto a different team without permission – each team has their own set of equipment.

The following video explains what a goal umpire should do. Reminder you are required to be impartial!  And remember to give your goal flags and bib back to your Team Manager after the game.

How to Goal Umpire:

How to complete a scorecard:

Timekeeper / Scoreboard

This role entails two things

• Keeping time, and sounding the siren when required
• Managing the scoreboard

Reminder that because we are involved in junior sport, no alcohol should be taken up to the timekeeper box at any time.

The link below here explains when the siren should be sounded for youth matches, and how long each quarter should be:
Timekeeper Instructions

Field Setup

Field setup is a Club Role that is required when there are modified fields, such as for Under 8s, Under 9s, Under 10s, Under 11s and Under 13s. It involves using the posts and cones to create a field of the appropriate size, in your segment of the field.

Maximum Field sizes:
U8 Mixed / U9 Girls – 80m long by 60m wide. Zone width 27m
U9 Mixed / U10 Mixed – 100m long by 80m wide. Zone width 33m
U11 Girls – 100m long by 80m wide – no zones
U11 Boys – 130m long by 90m wide – no zones
U13s (Mixed and Girls) – 150m long by 110m wide – no zones (field markings indicate centre square area and “50m” arcs)

Under 8s through to Under 10s (and U11 Girls)
When you arrive at the ground, the post and cones will have either been placed near where your field should be, or it may still be in the junior office (on the left hand side of the Change Room facility). Make sure you have a stick of cones, and 8 posts – 4 white (goal posts), 4 yellow (behind posts).

1. Using the map outlining roughly where on the ground the fields should sit, stick one set of goals into the ground. Posts should be spaced 5-6m apart.
2. Step out the length of the field for your age group, and put the other set of posts into the ground.
3. Using markers – create an oval shape field to suit.  Space the boundary and zone markers about 5 steps apart.
4. Some ages (U8 to U10) require the field to be split into 3 zones, so as such markers should be used to do that also.

If the field is already setup, your role may be to make the field bigger in between games. For example, if you are allocated this role on an Under 9 mixed game, but the game on your field before was Under 8s. The simplest way to do this is:

1. Move each set of goals back 10 metres each,
2. move the zone markers back towards the adjusted goal posts 3 metres each side, and
3. make the boundaries wider

Under 11 Mixed
A stick of cones will be given to your team manager. The posts we use for these games are located inside the Equipment Shed under the Timekeeper box, and the goal pads in the shed at the back of the old building.

The 4 temporary goal posts should be placed approximately half way between the top of the 50m arc, and the eastern goal posts.  Please be sure to also place a cone in the middle of the field (to denote where the centre circle should be), and also coaches boxes and interchange markers (one box and one set of interchange per team).

Under 13 Mixed / Under 13 Girls
A stick of cones will be given to your team manager. For these games we use 8 temporary posts, which are located either inside the Equipment Shed or underneath the stairs of the 3 boxes.  The goal pads in the shed at the back of the old building.

At each end – the Goal Posts should be placed approximately 2-3 metres past the end of the Goal Square.  Boundary markers should be placed (spaced 5 metres apart) in an oval shape between those two sets of goals (with the outside posts being the point markers).  Coaches boxes and interchange markers should also be placed – one box and one set of interchange per team.

Once you are finished setting your cones up – place the stick on cones in an easily identifiable area away from the field. A perfect location is to put it next to the flag which indicates which field you are on.  Please do not put them in your coach’s kit bag as this makes it very hard for the following team to do their job.

Field Packup

If you are allocated to field packup, that means the modified field for your game is no longer required.

Pick up all the cones (hot tip – get the kids to run around and pick up as many cones as you can!). Pick up all the portable Goal posts. And return everything to the junior office (the office on the left hand side of the Change Room facility – next to the Gym, Underneath the Meat Hub sign).

Please do not put all the posts and cones in the shed under the timekeeper box.  The equipment in there is used for training.

The one exception to this is the portable posts for U11 Mixed and U13 Mixed and Girls:

• The shorter portable posts should go into the shed under the under the timekeeper box.
• The taller posts should be laid down under the stairs behind the coaches boxes (please ensure the spikey ends are safely stored away)
• The 8 post pads should be put back into the shed at the back of the old building of the club (in the roller door shed) – where the BBQ lives.

Canteen

If you are tasked with helping in the canteen, the first thing you should do when you arrive at your allotted time slot is visit the canteen and ask the staff in charge there what they would like you to do.

You may be asked to take orders and fill them, serving drinks, or you may be asked to cook some of the food. Or you may be asked to re-fill the drinks or clean down the sauces. Don’t worry, all of this will be under instruction. There’ll be someone in charge there at all times that you can lean on for help.

During quiet times, you are free to be outside the canteen however please do not go too far, because if the canteen gets super busy, they’ll call you back in.

Please note: during youth games (time slots one that go longer than 1 hour), your shift will be as long as the length of time your child’s game is. ie for all teams other than U17 Boys – 1.5 hour shift (17s boys are 2 hours). This means your shift will extend into a period of time during the game.

We ask that you make yourself available to help out in the canteen for at least the hour before your child’s game starts. But of course we want you watch and support your child, so at this point you’re “on call”. Please watch the game from near the canteen area, and if needed, our canteen staff will ask you to pop back in to help out quickly for a minute or two (during a rush for example, or if the staff need to pop out for a brief moment).

BBQ

If your job is the BBQ, then the first thing you should do when you arrive at your allotted time slot is visit the canteen and ask the staff in charge there what they would like you to do. Depending on the time of day, you might either be asked to:

1. Setup the BBQ and start cooking sausages and bacon and egg roles
2. Cook up some Broady Burgers – canteen staff will advise you what ingredients you need and in what order the burger should be put together.
3. Clean up, and pack the BBQ away.

You probably won’t be cooking all the time, so during down times you’re free to have a chat with friends, but please stay close to the BBQ, as you may be called on to cook more food!

For Youth Games (U13-U17 and U11 Mixed), your shift length is 1.5 hours (unless you are tasked with packup). Your child’s game will start during your shift. During that time, you’re “on call” – meaning you’re free to watch, however please keep close to the BBQ in case we need you to cook. The good news is, the BBQ is a great place to stand, watch and cheer your child’s team on!