If your child spent most of last Saturday on the bench, you already know this feeling. Something sits in your chest on the drive home. They say they’re fine. You’re not sure you believe them.
Game time in junior AFL isn’t just a fairness question. It turns out it’s one of the biggest drivers of whether kids stay in the sport at all.
Why game time matters more than you might expect
AFL Gippsland spent the first half of 2025 running one of the most thorough research projects on junior football retention in recent memory — consulting players, parents, coaches, and clubs across seven leagues. When they published their findings, equal game time landed as a central pillar of keeping kids in the game. Not winning. Not skills. Not even fun, exactly. Being in the game is what makes it fun.
This isn’t a surprise to anyone who’s watched their child sit on the bench for the third quarter running. But it’s useful to see it confirmed in research, because it shifts the question from “are we being unreasonable” to “this is a recognised problem with a recognised solution.”
The same project found that a player-centred approach — where coaches prioritise skill development, equal opportunities, and varied positions — was the key recommendation adopted by all seven Gippsland leagues. Separately, Deakin University found that when age-appropriate rules were applied in junior AFL, individual player involvement increased by more than 35%. More touches, more decisions, more development. It’s not a small difference.
What most parents miss from the boundary line
The honest answer is that it’s hard to assess from where you’re standing.
You notice when your child is on the bench. What’s harder to see is whether they’re actually improving when they’re on the field — whether their disposals (every kick and handball they make in a game) are going up week to week, whether they’re finding the ball more, whether a quieter game was about positioning rather than effort.
One Saturday tells you almost nothing. A season tells you a lot. That’s the information worth paying attention to — not as a report card, but as a way to understand your child’s development and have better conversations with them about it.
Tracking your child’s own stats isn’t about building a case. It’s about being able to say, genuinely, “you’re getting better” — and having something concrete to point to when you say it.
Coaches are managing more than you can see
Junior AFL coaches are volunteers. Almost universally. They’re parents themselves, giving up their Saturday mornings to organise 20-odd kids, manage rotations across four quarters, deal with whoever forgot their mouthguard, and try to make sure every kid goes home feeling okay about their morning.
Most of them genuinely want to get game time right. Most of them find it genuinely hard to track in real time. Knowing which kid has played three quarters and which has played one, across a squad of 18, while also calling out positions and watching the game — it’s a lot to hold in your head.
This is actually a solvable problem. Some clubs are starting to use digital tools during games to monitor rotations as they happen, so coaches can see at a glance who needs a run. When game time is tracked in real time, coaches can make adjustments mid-game without relying on memory. That’s better for every kid on the list.
What to do if you’re worried
First, give it a few weeks. One quiet game — even three quiet games — might have a straightforward explanation. Form, team balance, position trialling, or just one of those days. A pattern across half a season is different.
If you do want to raise it, come with curiosity rather than a scoresheet. The coaches at your club are giving up their time because they care about the kids. Approaching them with “I just want to understand how rotations work” is a genuinely different conversation to “she never gets a fair go” — even if both feelings are real.
Most coaches will welcome a parent who’s engaged and wants to help. Ask what your child can work on at training. Ask whether there’s a position they might be better suited to. Make it a conversation about development, not a grievance. You’ll almost always get a better response, and your kid will benefit from it.
When it’s not game time — it’s something else
Sometimes a child who seems bench-bound is getting a fair share of the game — they’re just struggling to find the ball when they’re on. That’s a development question, not a fairness one, and the path forward is different.
Equally, a child getting plenty of time but not enjoying themselves might be dealing with something social — a difficult dynamic, feeling lost in a position they don’t understand yet, or just hitting a rough patch mid-season. None of that shows up in rotations.
Tracking your child’s stats across a season gives you a picture. You can see whether improvement is happening even when confidence isn’t. And sometimes the most useful thing you can do is show your child — concretely — that they are getting better, even if Saturday didn’t feel like it.
Kids who can see their own progress are more likely to stick through the hard patches. That’s not a theory. That’s just how motivation works.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much game time should my junior AFL player be getting?
Most junior AFL competitions have guidelines recommending that all players receive a roughly equal share of game time across the season. The exact minimum varies by competition and age group, so it’s worth checking with your local league. As a general rule, consistent bench time over several games in a row is worth a gentle conversation with the coach.
What’s the best way to approach the coach if I’m worried?
Come with curiosity, not a complaint. “I’ve noticed Mia’s had a few quieter games lately — is there something she could be working on to get more involved?” is a very different conversation to “she never gets a fair go.” Most junior coaches genuinely want to get it right, and they respond well to parents who are engaged rather than frustrated.
Does less game time mean my child won’t develop?
In the most direct sense, yes — development requires repetitions, and repetitions require being on the field. AFL Gippsland’s research found that equal game time is directly linked to both enjoyment and long-term participation. But the answer isn’t always more time — sometimes it’s better positioning, or a different role that suits where they’re at right now.
What if my child seems fine with sitting out?
Some kids manage it well on the surface. It’s still worth paying attention to whether they’re excited about game day — whether they bounce out of bed on Saturday or find reasons to drag their feet. Enthusiasm often drops before kids can articulate why.
Can tracking my child’s stats actually help their development?
Yes — even for younger players, keeping a record of disposals and quarters played over a season gives you something concrete to celebrate with them. “You had seven touches today, that’s your best this season” lands very differently to a vague “good game.” It also helps you spot when something’s shifted — positively or not — without having to rely on gut feeling alone.
ScorX lets parents track their child’s stats during the game, building a season-long picture of development one match at a time. Free to download — start tracking this weekend.