Organising a Team

Team Numbers

Make sure you have enough players to field a team each week is essential. Each team can register up to 20 players, however the most players you play in any game is 14, with 6 players on the field at any one time with unlimited substitutions.

In mixed competitions there must be a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 3 males on the field.

Failure to field at least 4 players results in a forfeit occurring, so make sure you always have enough players available each week. If you need to forfeit, you must advise the competition admin as early as possible to avoid any inconvenience to the other team and referees.

"Fill-in" players are allowed, but in order to be covered by insurance they must be registered to your team just like a normal player is.

Playing in the Right Grade

Playing in the appropriate grade is important to ensure you maximise your Touch Football experience!

The first few weeks of our night competitions are usually grading games to ensure that the playing field is relatively fair and even.

To help us get the grading correct please ensure that if you have to utilise "fill-in" players during this time that the players are of similar ability to the rest of your team. Also please let admin know so that any temporary changes in your team composition can be taken into consideration when grading.

While we try to make sure we complete the grading process as early in the season as possible, we do occasionally regrade teams throughout the season to make sure the competition is as even and competitive as possible. If that happens to your team, your points and results will come with you to your new grade.

Nominating Your Team

Before nominating your team, please ensure that you read the 'Conditions of Entry' (available from your competitions info page) carefully so that you are fully aware of the rules of the competition, as well as your responsibilities as the team contact.

All nominations are fully online via the MySideline platform (keep reading to get to the link below), which offers a convenient and safe method of nomination and payment.

Before nominating your team, make sure you read on, as there's some important information you need to know!

Registering Your Players

Player registrations are also done online via MySideline. We are affiliated with Touch Football Australia which means participation in any of our competitions covers you and your players under the Touch Football Australia National Insurance Scheme.

Before each game players must ensure all players have registered correctly to your team, and checked-into their game via the online check-in process (https://townsville.tf/checkin).

Online registration and checking-in correctly ensures that in the event of an injury a player is covered by the National Insurance Scheme.

Fees & Payment (all prices include GST)

We charge a fee to nominate your team, and from there it's up to you how much you charge your players. Each team will be required to pay the team nomination fee by the due date, or they will be withdrawn from the competition until it's paid.

Teams paid on (or before) the first night will be given an 'Early Bird' discount.

A $110.00 late fee will be applied to any teams not paid by the due date for full payment.

Each player a is also required to pay a game fee of $5.00 per player, per game. This applies to all players, including any fill-in players (even if they play for another team).

Uniforms

All players on the same team need to be in matching shirts with clearly identifiable numbers on the back, which need to be at least 16cm in height (so our referees can let you know when you're offside, among other things!).

Referees wear a mostly white shirt, so your team can't wear a white shirt when they play. Our rules state that you cannot have more than 1/3 white on your team's shirts, so make sure you are aware of this when organising your team shirts.

If you haven't organised team uniforms yet, there's plenty of options available to you. Here's just a small selection of manufactures that supply touch football playing gear:

Duty Referees

Referees are an essential part of our sport, and we use a "Duty Referee" system to make sure we have enough referees to cover every game played. As part of your team's nomination, your team is required to provide a referee that is available each week. We do have a number of official referees who will officiate games, so your team's Duty Referee may not be required every week but are still required to be nominated with your team.

This method of referee allocation is crucial, so please ensure that when your team is required to provide a referee you do so to ensure everyone has the chance to maximise their Touch Football experience.

If your team's Duty Referee is not available, someone else from your team will be required to fill their role. Failing to referee may mean your team will lose points or be removed from the competition.

Referees are paid by the Townsville Touch Referees Association (TTRA) for each game they referee (in bulk at the end of the season), provided they have registered and provided their account details to the TTRA.

To register as a referee
Register as a Referee

To learn more about refereeing
Become a Referee

Respect for Referees & Zero Tolerance

We place a significant focus on ensuring the sport is free of abuse and harassment for all participants, particular for referees given the difficult role they sometimes face.

A number of frameworks have been implemented to ensure this for all referees including a 'Zero Tolerance' approach to abuse and harassment of officials.

These frameworks are aligned to Touch Football Australia's Responsibility Code and Member Protection Policy, leading to the creation of the TFA Disciplinary Regulations Manual which has been adopted by TTF.

Respect for referees is a paramount focus of TTF, and all participants are expected to treat each referee with the same amount of respect as they would their teammates.

Referee accreditation courses are run throughout the season. All referees are urged to attend these as soon as they can, and there is no cost involved as TTF receive a grant which covers all costs.

If you are interested in attending a course please visit www.ttra.org.au/start