[ayso45-coaches] Vol.2: A few mid-season reminders

[Beau James]

Refs (and interested coaches),

Here are a few more general and  gentle reminders, as we resume play for 
the second half of the season after the walk-a-thon break. Thanks to all 
of you who sent in suggestions.

Today's new topics:

(4) Coaching and the technical area
(5) Use of "club linesmen"
(6) Offside: clarification of "deceive or distract" an opponent

Beau

_*(4) Coaching and the technical area*_

    The policy in region 45 (and most AYSO regions) is simple: anyone
    who is coaching players on the field must remain in the technical
    area.  That includes coaches and assistant coaches, of course, but
    it also includes parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and
    complete strangers. /Anyone /who is calling out advice or
    instructions about play must remain in the technical area.

    The technical area is not painted on many of our fields, but it
    exists nonetheless: 10 yards on either side of the midfield line
    (the diameter of the center circle, for U12 and up) and at least 1
    yard back from the touchline.

    Spectators between the technical area and the top of the penalty
    area may cheer and offer positive comments ("Great shot!" 
    "Excellent tackle!"  "Nice save, keeper!"), but they may not coach
    ("Defenders, move up!" "Take it up the outside!"). If they begin to
    coach, they should be asked to move to the technical area.

    Spectators should not be closer to the goal than the top of the
    penalty area. If they are, they must be silent. Spectators should
    never be behind the goal (except silent photographers, with the
    referee's permission).

_*(5) Use of "club linesmen"*_

    In a U10 or higher-division game, when you do not have a full
    three-person trained referee team, you will need to ask the
    coach(es) to recruit one or two "club linesmen" to assist you.  A
    club linesman should not be an assistant coach.  Please ask the
    coach to recruit a parent or sibling.

    The duty of a club linesman is /only /to indicate when the ball is
    in touch. A club linesman should /never /indicate an offside
    infraction. As the referee you may ask a club linesman to try to
    stay even with the second-to-last defender, to help you in locating
    the offside line. But you must take on complete responsibility to
    decide when there has been an offside infraction.

    Take a moment before the game begins to speak to the coaches and let
    them know that you will do the best you can under the circumstances,
    but that close offside calls may be missed.

_*(6) Offside: clarification of "deceive or distract"*_

    Chris Madden asked:
>     I am still not entirely clear on your argument about offsides. Is it not the very scenario of "an attacker in an offside position, breaking toward the goal and drawing defenders to run towards him" that FIFA had in mind when it wrote "making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent?" I am hard pressed to think of another reason for this wording in the LOTG.
    The short answer is "no, that's not the scenario that FIFA had in mind."

    One of the explanations (FIFA Circular 874, 2003) says this:

        How should we interpret "interfering with an opponent" ?
        ...
        Making a gesture or movement while standing in the path of the
        ball to DECEIVE OR DISTRACT AN OPPONENT.

    In the context of Chris' questions, the important phrase here is
    "... /while standing in the path of the ball/ ...". A player who is
    breaking toward the goal but is away from what the training
    animation calls "the area of active play" is /not /deceiving or
    distracting an opponent. He is simply playing soccer.

    The "deceive or distract" language covers actions by an offside
    player in the area of active play. One might see a faked  kick or a
    simulated header to capture a defender's attention, while an /onside
    /teammate  actually receives the ball. The offside player didn't
    "play or touch" the ball, but his action is still an offside infraction.

    There's lots of history behind this short wording. As there is
    behind offside itself - see for example
    "http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/corshamref/sub/files/offsidehistory.pdf".


On 10/5/2007, Beau James wrote:
> Refs (and interested coaches),
>
> Below are a few procedural reminders/refreshers, collected from 
> observations at many games so far this fall.
> Today's topics:
>
>     (1) Free kicks: respecting the distance, quick kicks, and setting 
> up walls
>     (2) Offside: when does offside postion become an offside infraction?
>     (3) "Quarter" substitutions: the clock is running!
>
> If  you have other topics that you'd like to see shared with the 
> region 45 refs, please send them to me for the next "edition".
>
> Hope you are enjoying the season so far.  Have a great day on Saturday!
>
> Beau
>
>
> _*(1) Free kicks: respecting the distance, quick kicks, and setting up 
> walls*_
>
> On any free kick awarded to the *red *team, all *blue *players are 
> responsible for moving the required distance from the spot where the 
> ball is placed for the free kick. The required distance varies by 
> division: 6 yards for U7/U8, 8 yards for U10, 10 yards for U12 and 
> older. The distance applies in all directions around the ball, not 
> just the "forward" direction that the kick will probably go.
>
> Especially in the younger divisions, the referee may need to encourage 
> the *blue *players to move away from the ball ("move back 8 yards, 
> *blue*"). But unless asked by the *red *team to do so, the referee 
> should not become involved in positioning the *blue *players.
>
> The *red *team is /always /entitled to place the ball and take a quick 
> kick. The *blue *team is entitled to try to set up a defensive 
> position, such as a wall - but the *blue *team is /not /entitled to be 
> given time to set up their defense, and the *blue *team is /not 
> /entitled to assistance from the referee getting into their defensive 
> position.
>
> Things change when the *red *team asks the referee to /enforce /the 
> distance ("hey, 10 yards, ref!"). At that point the free kick becomes 
> ceremonial. The referee should first tell the *red *kicker that she 
> must now wait for the referee's signal before kicking. Then the 
> referee should go to the appropriate distance from where the kick will 
> be taken to indicate to the *blue *players how far they must move.  
> (That's usually quite a bit further than the players think it is!)  
> Once the *blue *players have backed away the required distance, then 
> the referee should signal to the *red *player to proceed with the kick.
>
> _*(2) Offside: when does offside position become an offside infraction?*_
>
> Remember that in soccer, being in an offside /position /is not an 
> infraction. To become an infraction, the player in the offside 
> position must become /involved in active play/.
>
> Today's point is to emphasize the meaning of /involved in active 
> play/. >From Law 11:
>
>     The definitions of elements of involvement in active play are as
>     follows:
>     . Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball passed or
>     touched by a team-mate.
>     . Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from
>     playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the
>     opponent's line of vision or movements or making a gesture or
>     movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts
>     an opponent.
>     . Gaining an advantage by being in that position means playing a
>     ball that rebounds to him off a post or the crossbar having been
>     in an offside position or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an
>     opponent having been in an offside position.
>
> When you are an assistant referee, tracking the offside position and 
> indicating offside infractions to the referee is your primary 
> responsibility.
>
> An attacker in an offside position who could have played the ball, but 
> does not, is not "involved in active play" simply by running toward 
> the goal or calling to his teammate for a pass. An attacker hanging 
> out in an offside position near the goal is not distracting the keeper 
> and thus "interfering with an opponent" simply by being there. An 
> attacker in an offside position, breaking toward the goal and drawing 
> defenders to run towards him, has not generally "deceived" his opponent.
>
> Be sure that /active involvement/ actually occurs, before you raise 
> your flag to indicate an offside infraction.
>
> Brad Porter forwarded this pointer:
>
>     http://www.dynamic-thought.com/OffsideLo.swf
>
> which is a good animated referesher on the basics of the offside law.
>
> Law 11 is deceptively simple. It is the subject of endless 
> scenario-playing and debate in any referee meeting or class.  If would 
> like to engage in some lively discussion, join us at one of the 
> Wednesday pizza sessions.
>
> _* (3) "Quarter" substitutions: the clock is running!*_
>
>
> The region 45 policy regarding the substitution breaks "approximately 
> midway through the first half" and "approximately midway through the 
> second half" is that /the clock continues to run/.
>
> Substitution breaks are meant to be brief!
>
> Coaches should not expect to use the substitution break as a "coaching 
> huddle", even in the younger divisions. This takes playing time away 
> from the players.
>
> Players who are going off should show their jersey number to the 
> assistant referee (or referee, in U7/U8) before sitting down. Players 
> who are remaining in the game should stay on the field. Players may 
> come to the edge of the field, parents may bring water bottles to the 
> players.
>
> After a short break (+- 90 seconds), the referee should start calling 
> for the players to get back on the field. Sometimes, a short "tweet" 
> of the whistle and calling out ("Let's go! Clock is running!") helps. 
> Calling out the restart ("It's a *blue *throw-in from here!") may help 
> to un-confuse the players and get them moving into position more quickly.
>
> In region 45, the fields must be scheduled very tightly in order to 
> complete all the games each weekend. We do not have the luxury of 
> large inter-game gaps. That means that we do not have the luxury to 
> stop the clock during the substitution breaks (as AYSO National 
> suggests) nor to add time at the end of each half to compensate for 
> long, slow substitution breaks.
>
> Start the match on time, start the second half on time, keep the clock 
> running during each half - and keep the substitution breaks short, 
> sweet, and on point.

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