Where did the under-10s' goals go?
At the start of each season, the equipment volunteer hands out a bag of balls, bibs, cones, a pump and a first aid kit to each team's coach. The club also has portable goals, corner flags and nets stored in the container. By Christmas, the under-10s' coach has half the balls he started with, the bibs are mixed between three teams, and nobody knows who borrowed the second set of mini goals.
The first aid kits are worse. A child grazes a knee, the coach uses the last plaster and the last ice pack, and forgets to say. Two weeks later, another injury, and the kit is empty. At the end of the season, the equipment volunteer asks for everything back, gets about two-thirds of it, and orders replacements from the club budget.
Why equipment goes missing
- Nothing records who has what, so items drift between teams and homes.
- Shared items like goals and nets are borrowed without being signed out.
- Damage and loss are not reported, so replacements are ordered late.
- First aid kits are used and not restocked because nobody tells the person who restocks.
- The equipment volunteer only finds out at the end of the season.
What a first aid kit must contain is for your club policy, first aid training and governing body guidance. We track the kits; we do not set the contents.
What missing equipment costs
Replacement costs every season, from a budget that could go on other things. Sessions without enough balls or bibs. Teams without shared goals because someone else has them. And, most important, a first aid kit that is empty when a player gets hurt.
The equipment volunteer's job becomes thankless: chasing coaches for bags in May, being blamed when a team has no pump, and signing off a replacement order each summer without knowing whether the kit was lost, broken or simply sitting in a garage. Portable goals are expensive, and some are heavy and need to be secured properly when in use, so knowing where each set is and what condition it is in matters to the club for more than the cost.
Shared storage makes it harder. When every coach has a key to the container, the last person in decides where things go, and the next person spends half the session looking.
A simple equipment register with QR tags
This does not need to be elaborate. A shared form and a list, or a small tool, with QR stickers on the bags and larger items.
- Each team bag, first aid kit and larger item (goals, nets, flags, pumps) gets a QR sticker linked to a record: what it is, what it should contain, and who holds it.
- At the start of the season, the equipment volunteer scans each bag or kit as it is handed to a coach, and the coach is recorded as the holder.
- Shared items are signed out and back by scanning, so the list shows who has the second set of mini goals.
- Coaches scan the kit to report a shortage, damage or loss, including 'first aid kit used, needs restocking', in a few taps.
- First aid kits are checked on a schedule your policy sets; the coach gets a reminder to confirm the kit is complete, or to request a restock.
- The equipment volunteer sees a list of restock requests, missing items and where everything is, and orders replacements before they are urgently needed.
| Item | Holder | Check or action |
|---|---|---|
| Team kit bag | Team coach | End-of-season return scan |
| First aid kit | Team coach | Scheduled check, restock on request |
| Portable goals | Container, signed out to teams | Sign out and back |
| Nets and flags | Groundsman | Damage reports |
The season, afterwards
When a coach uses the last ice pack, he scans the kit and taps 'restock'. The equipment volunteer sees the request and drops a refill at the next training. The under-10s' coach can see that the mini goals were signed out to the under-9s. At the end of the season, the return scan shows exactly what came back and what did not, and the replacement order is based on facts.
Is your equipment disappearing?
- Nobody records which coach has which kit bag.
- Shared goals and nets are borrowed without anyone knowing.
- First aid kits have been found empty.
- You replace a lot of equipment every season.
- Damage is found at the end of the season, not when it happens.