Coin Toss

[smithxi]

Does the guest or home team call the coin toss?

[Chubbywubby]

Referee's choice unless specified by the rules of the competition. I always have the visitors call it. Or you could flip a coin to decide who calls it. :D

[BC_Ref]

Referee's choice unless specified by the rules of the competition. I always have the visitors call it. Or you could flip a coin to decide who calls it. :D

Agreed. I generally give it to the visitors, but more out of courtesy than anything else. Although flipping the coin to flip coin does have points in its favour.

[smithxi]

flipping to flip seems a bit like a waste of time.

[Wreave]

Just to be more specific, here's what it says in the LOTG:

A coin is tossed and the team that wins the toss decides which goal it will attack in the first half of the match.

The other team takes the kick-off to start the match.

The team that wins the toss takes the kick-off to start the second half of the match.

In the second half of the match, the teams change ends and attack the opposite goals.

That's it. Traditionally, the visiting team calls the toss, but it absolutely does not matter.

[Nashvillian]

When doing youth games, I usually pick the smallest kid that shows up when I call for captains.

Does anyone else notice that there seem to be more and more players showing up for the coin toss? What does a team need four or five captains?

[Englishref]

I get the home team captain to toss the coin, and the away team captain to call while it's in the air.

[hornetbiz]

When doing youth games, I usually pick the smallest kid that shows up when I call for captains.

Does anyone else notice that there seem to be more and more players showing up for the coin toss? What does a team need four or five captains?

I can give you one answer from a High School coach's perspective...

While I personally will never have more than three captains (for a team of 35-40(jv's included)) some coaches I work with at my school and other soccer coaches in my league will have 4 or 5 captains because it's politically expedient. IOW parents get pissed when their kid isn't selected to be captain.

In youth soccer everyone's a winner;) and if I'm volunteering to coach I'm not going to piss someone off over something as trivial as who are the captains of a U-12 team.:)

[IASocFan]

I ARed for some CRs that had the home captain flip the coin. I thought it was a pretty clever idea until we had a string of girls who didn't know how to flip a coin. They sort of tossed it in the air, and it sometimes even flipped over. :rolleyes:

When I coach U8-u12, the captains were always the ones who brought the treats and the oranges! :)

[Wreave]

When doing youth games, I usually pick the smallest kid that shows up when I call for captains.

When I fail to write down the night before who is home and who is visitor, I pick whoever is first out to the center circle. However, once I've selected the team that's calling the coin, I do let the captains decide which of them will call it - so long as the caller is identified prior to the toss.

So long as we're detailing procedures, I also show the coin ("this is a head, this is a tail") to both teams, identify the caller and ask them to call it in the air, then toss the coin high. After they call it, I repeat the call ("heads has been called") and let the coin land on the ground. Then there is absolutely no question from either team who won the toss.

Note that according to the laws, there is not even a requirement that the referee allow or require a team to call the coin. He could simply assign it - red is heads, blue is tails - then toss the coin. I have never seen it done, but as a coin flip is random, if there's some kind of contention over who calls the coin, this would be a permissible method to move forward.

[david58]

I used to bring coins from England, Germany, Japan, or wherever I had last had the dubious honor of conducting business. The kids weren't impressed, sometimes confused by the wierd coin.

I used to do the heads/tails thing. Then, I bought a coin that has red on one side and yellow on the other. No confusion, red or yellow. Or the USSF coin, Black and Gold.

After one time watching a kid that couldn't flip the coin toss it flat into the air and it not turn once, I do the honors myself. I also catch the coin, since, yes, I have had them stick on edge in the muddy ground.

[Nashvillian]

I bought a coin that has red on one side and yellow on the other. No confusion, red or yellow.

Where do you purchase such a thing?

[steever]

Here's one:

http://sfsra.org/main/shopping.lasso

[NHRef]

I was advised against letting the coin drop to the ground, because the first thing everyone does is bend in/down to see it and might bonk heads!

[IASocFan]

I am against letting the coin drop to the ground, because it usually gets caught vertically in the grass!

[Wreave]

I am against letting the coin drop to the ground, because it usually gets caught vertically in the grass!

If you play on grass fields, I can see how that would happen. Not usually a factor for me the last season or two. :rolleyes:

In the Super Bowl, they let it drop. Not to get an example from pointyball, but they do play on grass and it usually works out OK.

[IASocFan]

If you play on grass fields, I can see how that would happen. Not usually a factor for me the last season or two. :rolleyes:

In the Super Bowl, they let it drop. Not to get an example from pointyball, but they do play on grass and it usually works out OK.

They don't usually use a quarter. I used to have a large old silver dollar which would land flat. Unfortunately, all my silver dollars have escaped, and I'm left with quarters or smaller. :(

[chrisrun]

So long as we're detailing procedures, I also show the coin ("this is a head, this is a tail") to both teams, identify the caller and ask them to call it in the air, then toss the coin high. After they call it, I repeat the call ("heads has been called") and let the coin land on the ground. Then there is absolutely no question from either team who won the toss.

I go one further and ask them for their call before I flip the coin. Then they can't "forget" to call it, or call it late.

[jkc313]

I go one further and ask them for their call before I flip the coin. Then they can't "forget" to call it, or call it late.

I always ask them to call it before I flip and repeat what they said before I flip. I use either a USSF coin or an armed forces coin I purchased that has an eagle on the front. As to number of captains, I had one coach send out 7-8 as they hadn't been captain yet that season. Being captain in youth soccer is only important to the parents and doesn't affect the game at all.

[IASocFan]

I like to remind captains that their function is keep their players in line so that I don't have to.

I answer any polite questions from any player when the ball is NOT in play.