Defining Your Event Goals
Settle what the event is for before you book anything or order a single suit. A private birthday party for 12 children? A team-building afternoon for 40 colleagues? A community festival where bubble football is one attraction among several? A fundraiser where tickets have to sell and the proceeds matter? Each of those pulls your decisions on venue, suit numbers, staffing, scheduling and promotion in a different direction. Put the goal, the audience, a rough budget and an ideal date range on paper. That short brief will settle most of the arguments later and keep the plan from sprawling.
Choosing the Right Venue
Very little rules a venue out. Outdoors, you have park pitches, school playing fields, GAA grounds, beach volleyball courts on firm sand and private gardens. Indoors, sports halls, community centres and warehouse space all do the job. What you actually need is a flat surface with nothing sharp on it, at least 20 × 15 metres per pitch, and three metres of clearance overhead if you are inside. Outdoors in Ireland, a wet-weather plan is not optional — line up an indoor alternative or a rain date from the start. Check availability and hire cost, how the equipment gets in (you are carrying bags of deflated suits and an electric pump), and what parking and public transport are nearby.
Equipment Quantities and Logistics
Suit numbers follow from your turnout and format. Ten suits cover a five-a-side match, plus two spares. For a tournament with games back to back, twelve suits per pitch is the comfortable number — it allows rotation and a pressure check between matches. Add portable goals (two per pitch), a ball, cones for marking out, an electric air pump and a basic first-aid kit. Hiring the kit in? Pin down the delivery time and confirm the supplier is sending a pump and repair kit with it. Using your own Bubble Allstars equipment? Work through the pre-event maintenance checklist in our Safety Tips & Maintenance guide at least 48 hours out, not on the morning.
Scheduling and Format Design
Short, high-energy matches are what the schedule should be built around. Adults do well on six-minute halves with two-minute breaks; children are better on four. A two-hour event with 20 participants fills neatly with a four-team round-robin of six matches, a final and a slot for a fun game. Put 15 minutes at the front for briefing and warm-up and 15 at the end for cooling down and talking. Leave buffer time in between, because matches never start quite on the minute. For a public event, break registration into staggered time slots so the crowd flows. The variations section of our Bubble Football Rules guide is a good source of format ideas.
Staffing and Roles
Even a small event runs better when the roles are named. The minimum is a referee for each pitch to enforce the rules and keep things safe, a coordinator to run the schedule, handle registrations and sort problems, and an equipment manager to inflate, inspect and rotate the suits. Scale up and you will want a first-aider, someone on photos or video, and a volunteer on the registration desk. If you are hiring the kit in, ask whether a trained facilitator comes with it — many Bubble Allstars hire partners include one. For community events, volunteers from local clubs or a students' union are excellent value.
Promotion and Ticket Sales
For a public event or a fundraiser, promotion decides whether the pitch is full or empty. Begin four weeks out at the latest. Set up a straightforward event page — Facebook Events, Eventbrite or your own site — carrying the date, time, location, price, what to wear and what is provided. Write it actively and lead with a strong image; Bubble Allstars gives equipment customers high-resolution promotional photos free of charge. Push it out across social media, local notice boards, parish newsletters and school newsletters. Early-bird pricing gets the first bookings moving, and asking attendees to share their photos and video afterwards builds the audience for the next date.
Day-of-Event Checklist
Be at the venue an hour before the first participants at the very least. Walk the playing surface, clear anything sharp and mark out the boundaries. Inflate every suit and check each one for pressure and harness function. Put up the goals, set the cones, place any signage and test the PA if there is one. Make sure every member of staff knows what they are doing. Once people arrive, run a five-minute safety briefing: the rules, how to fall safely by tucking and rolling, and the signal that stops play. Take the group photo before the first match, while everyone still looks fresh. Through the day, check pressure between matches and pull out any suit that has gone soft.
Post-Event Follow-Up
Once the whistle goes, deflate and inspect every suit. Write down any repairs needed and log them so nothing is forgotten before the next outing. Wipe each suit with a damp cloth and mild soap and let it dry fully before it goes into the bag. Get a thank-you message out to participants inside 24 hours with the photos and a short feedback form. If tickets were sold, reconcile the income and costs while the figures are still to hand. Feed the comments into the next event. If this is the first of a series, start a mailing list so the people who came get first word of the next date. And if suits or spare parts are needed before then, Bubble Allstars turns repeat orders around quickly.
Frequently asked questions
How many bubble football suits do I need for an event?
Plan twelve suits per pitch: ten for a five-a-side match and two spares for rotation, punctures and pressure checks between games. For larger events, run several pitches in parallel rather than making the teams bigger.
How much space does a bubble football event need?
At least 20 × 15 m of flat, obstacle-free ground per pitch, plus room around it for spectators, breaks and equipment. Indoors you need a ceiling height of at least 3 m. Always have a wet-weather backup for outdoor events.
How early should I set up before the event?
Arrive at least 60 minutes before the first participants. With an electric pump each suit takes about 60–90 seconds, so a set of twelve is ready in under 20 minutes, which leaves time to clear the surface, mark the pitch, set up the goals and brief your staff.
Who do I need on site?
At minimum one referee per pitch, one event coordinator and one person in charge of the equipment. Larger events add a first-aider, a photographer and someone at registration. Volunteers from local sports clubs or student groups work well for community events.