FORFEITS – HOW TO AVOID THEM – I HAVE A DREAM.

This was an email I send out to remind teams about how to avoid forfeits. You can sense my exasperation in the tone, but it does work as teams realise that it is a very rare occasion when a team actually cannot attend in one shape or form.

I have a dream that one day this Futsal nation will rise up and live out the terrible true meaning of forfeits: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Futsal players are created equal.” Futsal Pete 

Hello Futsal Community,

We have a few thoughts to share with you to help reduce forfeits to as low as possible and use them as a guidance in how to avoid them to ensure maximised playing time for all teams concerned. 

Each forfeit costs us considerable amounts in wages and expenses. It also affects the opposition when they have taken the time to get to a game. The most frustrating thing is when notification is given on the SAME day as a game, and sometimes even an hour or two before the game. Please note that most game times are known at least a week or two in advance, so this should not be occurring.

If in the extreme case that you can’t get a team to play, THEN PLEASE NOTIFY US AT LEAST 24 HOURS OR MORE IN ADVANCE.

I cannot stress how important this is for the organisation of a competition and my sanity.

In regards to forfeits, please take these steps to avoid them occurring.

1. Notify teams of game times at least a week in advance – Fixtures are available online at www.futsalforlife.com.au. Tab – Competitions, type in team name or choose SPORT – Futsal Life – Carlton Mens Division ……

2. Organise teams early in the week for confirmation. Set up a Facebook group, centralise your communications. Don’t leave it to the weekend to organise.

3. If it comes to game day and you only have 2 or 3 players, send them down to the game and borrow players from the game before. This way the opposition and your team get to play.

4. Please don’t assume that as you have 3-4 players there is no game to be had, there can always be a game played with a borrowed player. Admin can play, players from game before can play, I can play.

5. Distribute times to all team members so they know when they are playing.

6. If you are struggling to get numbers regularly, let me know and I can provide some contact details for players. Or a fill in for a week or so.

Please help us out with this as it is the right thing to do in regard to forfeits

Cheers