What size a wristband insert is
The window on a standard quarterback wristband is about 4.25 by 2.75 inches, and that is the size of each card on this page. It is the same card Script Week prints from a call sheet, so a hand written insert from this template and a generated one sit in the band the same way. Bands vary a little by brand. If yours is a different size, measure the clear window with a ruler before you print, and trim the card to fit rather than shrinking the whole page.
The window's plastic border covers about a quarter inch on the top and left edges, which is why the numbers start a little in from the corner. A number under the border is a number nobody can read on Friday.
How many plays fit on a wristband
Twenty. Two columns of ten is the most a player can read at a glance in the rain with a helmet on, and it is what this template gives you. Thirty is the practical ceiling if you print smaller type, and a youth offense is usually fine with twelve to sixteen. Put the plays you will call this week on the band, not the whole playbook.
How to number the plays
Give every play one number and use it everywhere: the quarterback's band, the receivers' bands, the running back's band and your call sheet. Print them from one list. The failure is never a bad numbering scheme. It is two documents that were right on Thursday and disagree on Friday because somebody changed one of them.
- Straight 1 to 20 in call sheet order is the simplest and works for a youth offense.
- By play type tells the huddle something: 1 to 9 runs, 10 to 16 quick passes, 17 to 20 shots and screens. Linemen hear a low number and know to run block.
- A decoy is the same play under a second number. Call 7 in the first quarter and 18 in the fourth and a sideline that thought it had you decoded starts over.
- Renumber every week. Five minutes at the printer makes last week's film useless to the other staff.
Printing and cutting the inserts
- Letter paper, portrait, print at 100 percent or Actual size. Fit to page shrinks the card and it slides around in the window.
- Card stock holds up better than copy paper. If you only have paper, a strip of clear tape across the back keeps it from folding when the band is pulled on.
- Cut just inside the dashed line. The card is drawn at the window size, so anything outside the line is waste.
- Print a spare or two. A band goes missing every week.
Laminating and keeping it dry
The band's window is clear plastic, so the card is mostly protected. For a rainy night, clear packing tape over both sides does the job of a laminator for one week. With a laminator, use a pouch bigger than the card and trim it after, leaving a sealed edge so water cannot get in. Write the plays in before you laminate; a Sharpie smears on plastic.
Doing it in Script Week
If you build the call sheet in Script Week, every play on it gets a number and the wristband inserts print from the same list, sized to this card, as many per page as fit. Change a number on the sheet and every band reprints to match. Drawing plays is free for one coach, and so is your first call sheet with its wristbands.