---
title: "AFL Game Day Planning Guide for Community Clubs"
url: https://tidyhq.com/blog/afl-game-day-planning-guide-australia
date: 2025-02-19
updated: 2026-04-21
author: "Isaak Dury"
categories: ["Sport-Specific", "AI"]
excerpt: "A week-by-week, hour-by-hour planning guide for running AFL match days at your community club - from Wednesday's volunteer check to Sunday's pack-down debrief."
---

# AFL Game Day Planning Guide for Community Clubs

> A week-by-week, hour-by-hour planning guide for running AFL match days at your community club - from Wednesday's volunteer check to Sunday's pack-down debrief.

![Autunno. Ritratto di Emilio Colombo by Carlo Carra, illustrating AFL Game Day Planning Guide for Community Clubs](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/bp0k7h82/production/cf65d2ee39f352f9609639b68e62e08706d82c38-443x600.jpg?w=1200&fm=webp)

## Key takeaways

- A game day checklist run from Wednesday through Sunday removes the Friday night panic of texting volunteers and chasing missing equipment
- Every role on game day needs a named person confirmed by Thursday - 'someone will do it' is not a plan
- Weather contingency is not cancellation - it's a decision tree that covers wet weather, extreme heat, and lightning protocols before anyone arrives
- Scheduling across four or five grades on one ground requires a fixture map, not just a start time - account for warm-ups, breaks, and overlap
- Post-match pack-down should take 30 minutes with three people, not 90 minutes with one angry committee member

It's 1:15 on a Saturday afternoon\. The under\-14s game is running 20 minutes late because the line marking wasn't finished when the umpires arrived\. The seniors are warming up on the same oval, dodging kids\. The canteen hasn't opened because the volunteer thought her shift started at two\. The first aid kit is locked in a storeroom that nobody has the key to\. And the opposition reserves have just pulled into the car park asking which of your three ovals they're playing on \- there's no signage, and nobody at the gate\.

None of these problems are hard to solve\. Every one of them is a planning failure, not a resources failure\. The difference between a chaotic Saturday and a calm one is what happens between Wednesday and Friday\.

This is the operational planning guide\. Not the atmosphere piece \(we've covered that in our [AFL game day experience guide](/blog/afl-game-day-experience-guide-australia)\) \- this is the logistics\. Checklists, timelines, contingencies, and the week\-of work that makes Saturday feel effortless\.

## The week\-before timeline

### Wednesday \- confirm and communicate

This is your planning checkpoint\. Everything that needs to happen on Saturday should be confirmed by end of day Wednesday, because Thursday is your buffer and Friday is too late\.

**Volunteer roster:** Confirm every named role for Saturday\. Not "we've got enough people" \- confirm each person individually\. Game day coordinator, canteen \(two shifts if needed\), bar manager, gate volunteer, first aid officer, ground announcer, and clean\-up crew\. If someone has dropped out, you've got 48 hours to fill the gap\. If you leave it until Friday night, you're texting people who've already made plans\.

**Equipment check:** Walk the storeroom\. Goal post pads \- are they all there, and are the straps intact? Interchange bench and coaches' boxes \- do you have enough for two games running simultaneously? Boundary flags or cones? Scoreboard numbers or electronic board charged? First aid kit \- stocked, not just present? Defibrillator \- charged and in its case?

**Opponent communication:** If the opposition hasn't confirmed team numbers, follow up\. You need to know how many change rooms to prepare, whether they're bringing juniors, and if they have any accessibility requirements\. A two\-minute phone call on Wednesday prevents a 20\-minute scramble on Saturday\.

**League requirements:** Check any specific requirements for this round \- official photographers, league observers, special round protocols \(Indigenous Round, Women's Round\)\. Some leagues require specific signage or pre\-match acknowledgements\. Know before Saturday\.

### Thursday \- the buffer day

If everything was confirmed on Wednesday, Thursday should be quiet\. If it wasn't, Thursday is your last real chance to sort things out\.

**Weather watch:** Check the forecast\. Not for Saturday specifically \- weather forecasts four days out are unreliable \- but for the general pattern\. If there's a significant chance of extreme heat \(35°C\+\), heavy rain, or storms, start thinking about your contingency plan now rather than at 7am Saturday\.

**Canteen supplies:** Confirm stock levels\. Pies, sausage rolls, bread, sauce, drinks \- whatever your menu is, make sure it's either in stock or someone's picking it up Friday\. Running out of pies at halftime of the seniors is a revenue problem and a reputation problem\.

**Communication to members:** Send a reminder to all playing members and volunteers\. Game times, arrival expectations, any changes from the usual\. One message, sent once, on Thursday\. Not five messages on Saturday morning\.

### Friday \- final preparation

**Ground marking:** If your club handles its own line marking \(many do, especially on council ovals\), Friday afternoon or Saturday morning are your windows\. Line marking takes two to three hours for a full oval with a motorised marker, longer if you're doing it by hand\. Do not leave this for Saturday morning unless you're absolutely certain you have the time\.

**Storeroom load\-out:** Lay out everything that needs to go to the ground on Saturday\. Goal post pads, flags, first aid kit, scoreboard equipment, canteen float, PA system if portable\. Having it staged on Friday means Saturday morning setup is a carry\-and\-place job, not a search\-and\-find job\.

**Umpire confirmation:** If your league doesn't appoint umpires centrally, confirm your club umpires are available\. For junior games especially, you may need to supply goal umpires from the parent group \- confirm who's doing it\.

## The Saturday timeline

This is for a standard community AFL fixture day: juniors in the morning, reserves and seniors in the afternoon\. Adapt times to your league's schedule\.

### 6:30am \- ground setup crew arrives

Two to three people\. Their job:

- Unlock the ground, change rooms, canteen, and storeroom
- Ground inspection: walk the oval looking for glass, holes, sprinkler covers that are raised, animal damage, anything that's a safety hazard
- Set up goal posts if they're removable, fit pads, and check padding is secure
- Place interchange benches and coaches' boxes at correct positions
- Set up boundary flags or cones
- Place wayfinding signs at car park entrance \- which oval, where to go

### 7:30am \- canteen and facilities

- Canteen volunteers arrive and begin setup: turn on pie warmer, fill the urn, set up the float, display the menu
- Check all toilets are unlocked, stocked with paper, and clean
- First aid room open and kit accessible
- Defibrillator placed in visible, signed location

### 8:00am \- junior fixtures begin \(if applicable\)

- Gate volunteer in position with team sheets or match day programs
- Ground announcer or PA operator ready \(even for juniors \- a welcome over the PA sets the tone\)
- Auskick or junior development activities set up on a side area if running concurrently

### 11:00am \- transition between junior and senior fixtures

This is the most logistically complex 30 minutes of the day\. Junior games are finishing, senior players are arriving for warm\-up, and families are either leaving or staying\.

- Junior presentation if applicable \- keep it short \(five minutes, not fifteen\)
- Clear the main oval for senior warm\-ups
- Canteen restocks for the afternoon rush
- Change rooms turned over: swept, bins emptied, showers checked
- Reserves teams begin warm\-up \(typically 30\-40 minutes before their start time\)

### 12:00pm \- reserves game

- Scoreboard operator in position
- Interchange steward managing the bench \(league requirement in many competitions\)
- Timekeepers set

### 2:00pm \- seniors game \(adjust based on your league\)

- Peak attendance\. Everything should be at its best: canteen fully stocked, bar open \(if applicable\), atmosphere \- music, PA, sponsor acknowledgements
- Club photographer or social media volunteer capturing content
- Welcome any special guests: sponsors, league officials, life members

### 4:30pm \(approx\) \- post\-match

- Presentations: best on ground, milestone games, sponsor acknowledgements
- Bar service continues for post\-match socialising
- Begin progressive pack\-down of equipment not needed for social

### 6:00pm \- full pack\-down

- Goal post pads off and stored
- Interchange benches, coaches' boxes, boundary equipment collected
- Canteen closed, cleaned, stock counted, takings reconciled
- Bar closed, kegs disconnected if applicable, RSA log completed
- Change rooms checked, lights off, locked
- Final ground walk: pick up any rubbish, check nothing's been left out
- Lock all gates and buildings
- Report any damage or maintenance issues to the ground coordinator

## Scheduling across grades

Most community AFL clubs run three to five grades on a Saturday: Auskick, under\-12s, under\-14s, reserves, seniors\. Some grounds can run two ovals simultaneously; others have one oval and need to schedule sequentially\.

The critical planning element is warm\-up time\. Every team needs 20 to 30 minutes of warm\-up on the ground before their game\. If the under\-14s game finishes at 11:30 and the reserves start at noon, that's only 30 minutes for the reserves to warm up, the previous teams to clear the ground, and any quick maintenance \(replacing divots, checking goal post pads\)\. It's tight\. Build 15 minutes of buffer between every game transition\.

For multi\-oval grounds, create a fixture map: a simple document showing which team is on which oval at what time, including warm\-up windows\. Print it and pin it at the entrance\. The opposition shouldn't have to ask where they're playing\.

## Weather contingencies

### Extreme heat

Most state leagues have heat policies triggered at 36°C or above\. Know your league's specific thresholds and protocols\. But even below the official trigger, extreme heat changes your planning:

- Extra water stations at interchange and on the boundary
- Extended drinks breaks \(most leagues allow this in heat\)
- Shade for spectators \- pop\-up marquees if permanent structures aren't adequate
- Sunscreen available at the canteen or gate
- Ice towels for players at quarter and three\-quarter time
- Monitor for signs of heat illness in players, volunteers, and spectators

### Wet weather

Rain doesn't automatically mean cancellation\. Your decision tree should be:

1. **Is the ground safe to play on?** Walk it\. If there's standing water, if the surface is dangerously slippery, or if the council has closed the ground, the answer is no\. Contact the league\.
1. **If play goes ahead, what changes?** Wet weather means: extra towels in the change rooms, a plan for muddy boots \(a hose outside the change room door\), waterproof covers for the scoreboard and electronic equipment, and extra canteen stock \(hot drinks sell more in rain\)\.
1. **Communication:** If games are cancelled or delayed, communicate early \- by 7am for morning games, by 10am for afternoon games\. Use your club's usual channel \(app notification, social media, group message\) and update it once, clearly\.

### Lightning

Non\-negotiable: if there's lightning visible or thunder audible, play stops and everyone moves to shelter\. The 30/30 rule applies \- if the time between lightning and thunder is 30 seconds or less, seek shelter; wait 30 minutes after the last flash before resuming\. This is a safety protocol, not a judgement call\. Brief your game day coordinator on it at the start of every season\.

## Equipment checklist

Print this and tape it inside the storeroom door\.

**Ground setup:**

- \] Goal posts \(if removable\) and post pads
- \] Interchange benches \(2 per game\)
- \] Coaches' boxes or barriers
- \] Boundary flags/cones \(full set\)
- \] Scoreboard numbers or electronic board \(charged\)
- \] Sightboard or team name display

**Safety:**

- \] First aid kit \(stocked: bandages, tape, ice packs, antiseptic, gloves\)
- \] Defibrillator \(charged, pads in date\)
- \] Incident report forms
- \] Emergency contacts list \(hospitals, ambulance, league officials\)
- \] Sunscreen station \(summer\)

**Canteen and bar:**

- \] Float \($200 in mixed coins and notes\)
- \] Stock: pies, sausage rolls, drinks, coffee, snacks
- \] RSA signage and responsible service plan
- \] EFTPOS terminal \(charged\)

**Administration:**

- \] Team sheets \(printed or digital\)
- \] Match day program \(if applicable\)
- \] Umpire payment envelopes
- \] Volunteer sign\-in sheet
- \] Wayfinding signage for car park and ground entry

## Volunteer roster template

For a full Saturday \(juniors \+ reserves \+ seniors\), you need a minimum of 12 to 15 volunteers across staggered shifts:

| Role | Shift 1 \(7am–12pm\) | Shift 2 \(12pm–5pm\) | Shift 3 \(5pm–7pm\) | |\-\-\-\-\-\-|\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-|\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-|\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-| | Game day coordinator | All day \(one person\) | | | | Canteen | 2 volunteers | 2 volunteers | 1 volunteer \(wind\-down\) | | Bar | \- | 1 volunteer | 1 volunteer | | Gate/welcome | 1 volunteer | 1 volunteer | \- | | First aid | 1 volunteer | 1 volunteer | \- | | Ground announcer | \- | 1 volunteer | \- | | Scoreboard | 1 volunteer | 1 volunteer | \- | | Clean\-up | \- | \- | 3 volunteers |

Publish the roster before the season starts\. Confirm each week by Wednesday\. Use [TidyHQ's volunteer management](/products/contacts) to automate reminders and let people confirm or swap shifts without the coordinator chasing everyone by text\.

## Post\-match debrief

Not every week \- but once a month, spend five minutes at the committee meeting reviewing game day operations\. What worked? What broke? What needs fixing before next round?

Keep a running log\. "Ran out of pies by halftime of the seniors \- order 20% more" is the kind of note that prevents the same problem four weeks running\. "Gate volunteer didn't show \- need a backup system" is the kind of note that prevents a pattern of no\-shows becoming normal\.

The debrief isn't about blame\. It's about making next Saturday better than last Saturday\. Clubs that do this consistently run better game days by mid\-season than clubs that don't\.

## How TidyHQ helps with game day planning

The operational side of game day \- rosters, reminders, attendance tracking, equipment checklists \- is recurring administrative work that compounds when it's done manually\. Every Wednesday evening spent texting volunteers is an evening the coordinator doesn't get back\.

[TidyHQ's event management](/products/events) lets you create recurring fixtures with volunteer roles built in\. Members see available shifts and claim them\. Automatic reminders go out on your schedule\. The coordinator sees a dashboard showing who's confirmed and where the gaps are \- by Thursday, not by Saturday morning\.

For post\-match reporting, check\-in data flows into your [membership database](/products/memberships), giving you actual participation numbers for grant applications and league reporting without anyone standing at the gate with a clicker\.

## Frequently asked questions

**How early should we start setting up for an AFL game day?**

For a full Saturday with juniors and seniors, the first volunteers should arrive by 6:30am for an 8am junior kick\-off\. Ground setup \- goals, pads, boundary markers, ground inspection \- takes 60 to 90 minutes with two people\. Add canteen setup time and you're looking at a 7:30am opening for an 8am start\. For afternoon\-only fixtures, two hours before kick\-off is the standard\.

**What's the minimum number of volunteers for a game day?**

For a single\-game fixture \(reserves or seniors only\), you can run with 6 to 8 volunteers: coordinator, canteen \(2\), gate \(1\), first aid \(1\), scoreboard \(1\), and clean\-up \(2\)\. For a full multi\-grade day, 12 to 15 is more realistic\. The key is that each person has a specific role and a specific time \- not "just come and help\."

**How do we handle game day when the forecast is bad?**

Have a decision tree, not a debate\. Agree at the start of the season: who makes the call, what triggers it, and how it's communicated\. Most leagues have their own protocols for ground closures and forfeitures\. Your job is to monitor conditions, communicate early, and have a plan for both "game on in bad weather" and "game cancelled\." The worst outcome is ambiguity \- families driving to the ground only to find out the game was called off an hour ago\.

Game day planning is not glamorous committee work\. It doesn't get celebrated the way a new sponsor or a grand final does\. But it's the foundation that everything else sits on\. A club that runs consistent, well\-planned match days is a club where volunteers want to help, families want to belong, and sponsors want to be seen\. Start with the Wednesday checklist\. The rest follows\.

## References

- [AFL](https://www.afl.com.au/) \- The national governing body for Australian Football, including community football resources and club development programs
- [AFL Game Day Experience Guide](/blog/afl-game-day-experience-guide-australia) \- Our companion guide to creating a great match day atmosphere at your community AFL club
- [Leading a Grassroots Sports Club \- Book Review](/blog/leading-grassroots-sports-club-geoff-wilson-book-review) \- Our review of Geoff Wilson's practical guide to running community sports clubs
- [Australian Sports Commission](https://www.ausport.gov.au/) \- The Australian Government agency responsible for supporting and investing in sport at all levels
- [Play by the Rules](https://www.playbytherules.net.au/) \- National program providing information on safe, fair, and inclusive sport, including extreme weather and safety protocols

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Header image: *Autunno. Ritratto di Emilio Colombo* by Carlo Carra, via [WikiArt](https://www.wikiart.org/en/carlo-carra)

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