Ground Control

Please never underestimate how important it is to our club that all senior players and junior parents pull their weight when it comes to ground control duty. Whilst most of you already ably assist, we want to stress the importance of doing your share of ground control / canteen duty.

Like most sporting clubs, we raise funds through our canteen, which needs to be appropriately staffed, and as part of the policies of SSFA we need to supply adequate numbers of general ground control, who are there as part of our duty of care to ensure the safety and enjoyment of football to all spectators and players.

GRFC is run wholly and solely by a volunteer committee, who give up many hours (quite often unseen) of their own time.  At times we struggle to fill ground duty as many people leave it to others.

What we ask of all members is - when your Manager requests your assistance with ground duty, please help out wherever possible, and keep in mind that Team Managers have already given up their time to organise the team when they are requesting your assistance. All too often it is the same people giving up their time.

One of the conditions of registration you ticked when you registered is that you agree to fulfil ground control duties (canteen and field set up) on at least (but not limited to) two occasions during the season.

Teams will be notified on the club’s website and via their team manager when it is their rostered turn. 

Generally ground duty is broken into 3 groups:

  1. Field set up / pack away

This involves setting up (and taking away) goals, corner flags, sub benches etc to get our fields ready for play. It also includes general clean-up including taking bins in and out.

  1. Canteen duty

Canteen duty includes serving customers, making hot chips and coffee, replenishing drinks and lollies. It also includes sweeping floors, wiping benches and washing up at the end of trade.

For insurance purposes no one under 16 is permitted in the canteen.

  1. General ground control (orange vests):

These people are responsible for monitoring games (i.e. spectator behaviour) and helping the Duty Officer reset fields and pack away.

As a Team Manager if you have any trouble covering your allocated time, please let the Draw Secretary know as soon as possible. 

A couple of reminders:

If you can’t do your allocated shift, please let your team manager know ASAP or ideally try and find a replacement, GRFC face fines from the SSFA for not providing adequate ground control.

It is a requirement that all parents/players for each team they are involved in complete at least one ground control/canteen shift per season.

A GRFC committee member is at the ground as a Duty Officer every Saturday and Sunday, providing insufficient Ground Control/Canteen vounteers puts extra pressure on our Duty Officers.

Children under the age of 16 are not permitted in the Kiosk under any circumstances due to public liability insurance provisions.

Association Requirements

The full requirements of Ground Control are set out here (taken from the Association Rule Book.

Each field in use MUST have at least one person in attendance wearing the orange ground control jacket.  A further person will be required to act as the co-ordinating ground controller and work closely with the Duty Officer.  These persons should not be in the Clubhouse, Kiosk or Bar areas.  While the general responsibility of wearing the orange jackets will be that of the playing teams, circumstances may prevail where duty teams are requested to shoulder some of the responsibility.

Ground Controllers are to be constantly vigilant to ensure that:

  • hazards are kept away from the sidelines (bikes, skateboards, rocks, broken glass etc.)
  • spectators remain away from the sidelines, particularly in areas between fields and behind goals
  • unleashed animals are impounded and owners or Council rangers are contacted for their collection
  • instructions and requests from the referee to ground control are immediately and fully attended to, particularly in cases of injuries to players
  • spectator disturbances are appropriately handled (refer to the Association Rule Book)

Ground Controllers must not consume alcohol whilst on duty.

Fines imposed on the Club as a result of a breach of the above requirements may, depending upon the circumstances, become the responsibility of the offending individual.