SECONDARY SCHOOLS WATERPOLO
INSTRUCTIONS FOR TABLE DUTY
The duty team needs to supply 5 players to perform table duty either before or after their games.
Games are on a tight schedule and players should ideally be selected for table duty before playing their own
game so that they will be ready for the next game to start without a delay.
Please make sure that your players are wearing tops while they perform table duty and that they are dry as
not to get the score sheet wet.
Only the players assigned to table duty should be at the table so that it is not crowded and there are no
distractions.
The roles of the table duty players are:

2 players for goal judge duty (one at each end of the pool)

1 player to run the clock (Timekeeper)

1 player to keep the score sheet (Scorekeeper)

1 player to manage the exclusion board and flags (Ejection Secretary)
Goal judges:
Goal judges sit on the line of the goal posts. Their role is:

To signal by raising one arm when 6 players and 1 goalie are lined up on the goal line at the start of
each quarter

To assist the referee in calling goals, by crossing both arms when the whole ball has passed the
goal line. This is particularly important in situations when the ball drifts slowly into the goal and the
referee is unsure if the ball has completely crossed the goal line. It is also considered a goal when
the goalie has brought the ball back into their goal.

To assist the referee in determining when the ball has deflected off the goalie before going out of the
field of play by signalling with an arm pointed in the direction of the attacking team.

To throw in a spare ball when the ball has gone out of the field of play, either to the goalie (for a goal
throw) or the corner (for a corner throw) depending on the signal of the referee.
Timekeeper:
There are two divisions for Secondary Schools water polo, an A and a B grade. The timekeeper will need to
know how to use the clock depending on the division that is playing.
For B division, the games are run on a running clock. And for A division games, a 30 second shot clock is
used and the games are stop/start.
It is the responsibility of the timekeeper to inform the scorekeeper the times that:

A goal is scored

An exclusion or penalty call is made

A misconduct or brutality call is made

A yellow or red card is given
And to inform the ejection secretary when 20 seconds of continuous play (i.e. 20 seconds of time on the
clock, not including time when the ball is not in play and the time is not run) has elapsed after a player has
been excluded.
The clock used by the timekeeper is pictured above.
Instructions for B division games:

Set the clock by pushing the pins in the direction of the + or – arrows to set the minutes and seconds
to the correct time

Make sure the shot clock is set to “Hold” for the entire game

Start the clock by moving the pin under “TIME” toward “Run” when the swimmer comes into contact
with the ball at the start of the quarter and leave the clock to run for the whole quarter

Use the + and – buttons to add (or remove, if necessary) goals for the white and blue cap teams

To change the quarter on the clock press the yellow button under “QTR”
Instructions for A division games:

Set the clock by pushing the pins in the direction of the + or – arrows to set the minutes and seconds
to the correct time

Make sure the shot clock is set to “Run” for the entire game

Start the clock by moving the pin under “TIME” toward “Run” when the swimmer comes into contact
with the ball at the start of the quarter and leave the clock to run for the whole quarter

Use the + and – buttons to add (or remove, if necessary) goals for the white and blue cap teams

To change the quarter on the clock press the yellow button under “QTR”
To play start/stop:

Use the hold/run setting under the time clock, not under the shot clock.
 Stop the clock when:
1. A goal has been scored until the referee blows their whistle to recommence the game
2. After a foul (including an exclusion foul), until the ball has been played. An indicator that the ball
has been correctly played is when the referee lowers their arm.
3. When the ball goes out of the field of play, until the ball has been played
4. When a penalty shot is being taken, until the player has shot the ball
To reset the shot clock:
 Press the yellow reset button under “Shot Clock” every time:
1. There is a clear change of possession (possession means a player is holding and has control
over the ball)
2. Any player takes a shot at goal
3. There is a goal throw or corner throw after the ball has gone out of the field of play
4. There is an exclusion foul called
5. There is a penalty called
Scorekeeper:
The scorekeeper will fill in the score sheet, taking note of goals, exclusions, penalties, brutality, misconduct,
yellow cards, and red cards.
Below is an example of the keeping of the time of events:
Time
No.
Col.
Evt
Scr
4.03
4
B
G
0-1
3.40
5
B
G
0-2
2.20
7
B
E
0-2
2.01
13
W
G
1-2
1.33
4
W
P
1-2
1.33
12
B
G
1-3
4.29
7
B
P
1-3
3.03
4
B
G
1-4
2.01
3
B
E
1-4
From this, you can see that a goal (G under Evt) was scored with 4 minutes and 3 seconds remaining on the
clock by number 4 blue (B under Col.) making the score 0 – 1 (the white score is recorded first followed by a
dash then the blue score).
At the end of the quarter, a line is drawn through the line below the recorded events, and the score continues
to be recorded for the next quarter on the following line.
In addition, the top of the score sheet needs to be filled out including faults and goals scored. A dash is put
through the faults box when a player is excluded or has a penalty called against them. There are three
boxes, if a player fills three boxes, the exclusion secretary will need to be informed. An example of the score
sheet for the events recorded above for the blue team is given (there is another side for the white team).
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Name
Faults
1/4
I
I
2/4
3/4
4/4
I
Ext
Tot
2
1
I
Time Out
3
1
3
The final component to fill out on the score sheet is who won! Fill out the name of the winning team in the top
box and cross out “tie” and the name of the losing team in the bottom box. Or if the game was drawn, fill out
the team names in the boxes and cross out “beat”.
Ejection secretary:
The role of the ejection secretary is to update the foul board and wave the appropriate flags.
Any time a player has an exclusion foul or penalty called against them and ejection should be recorded in the
ejection board. If a player is excluded and then a penalty is awarded against them because they do not leave
the field of play or they interfere with the game, they will receive two personal fouls against them, one for the
exclusion foul and one for the penalty. A player can receive a maximum of 3 personal fouls in a game before
they must sit out on the bench.
The flags:

BLUE and WHITE flags are held up to signal that a player or substitute player may re-enter the
game after 20 seconds of playing time has occurred following an exclusion foul and only if the
player has surfaced in the exclusion area (the red box in the corner of the pool by their team
bench). A blue flag is held up for a blue team member and white for a white team member

A RED flag is held up to signal when a player has received 3 personal fouls and must be
substituted with a different player. This flag is raised at the time the third personal foul occurs.

A YELLOW flag is held up to signal that a substitute player (along with the colour flag of that
substitute players team) may re-enter once four minutes of playing time has occurred following
the exclusion of a player for brutality.