When does a junior team forfeit, and what happens if we can't field a team?

A junior team forfeits a game if:

• it does not have at least 7 players on the field at any time
• it does not take the field within 10 minutes of the scheduled start
• it has no goalkeeper (except in J 9/10 and J 11/12 Divisions 1 and 2, which may play without one)
• it leaves the venue before the umpires abandon the game.

A forfeit is a 0-5 loss, and the opposition gets 3 premiership points. If a team forfeits after the game has started and the other side is further ahead than 5 goals, the team loses by the actual margin. A team that forfeits 3 or more games in a winter season is withdrawn from its division with no refund of team fees.

Planned forfeit. A team with fewer than 7 players available can forfeit without attending, but only if the club phones Hockey WA, the venue, the umpires (or the club arranging them) and the opposing club before the earlier of 12:00pm on the business day before the game and at least 48 hours before the game. Otherwise the club pays the cost of the opposition's umpire and, on grass fields, a $150 fine (on turf, the turf fee plus game fee for both teams).