Keeper carries the ball outside his area

[wjarrettc]

Well, after a week of rainouts, we finally got back on the field this weekend for my second week of my first referee season. I had 3 centers (U19 coed rec, U14 coed rec, U12 coed rec). All of the games went pretty well but I did have one situation that I need help/verification on.

In the U12 game, I had a keeper who would carry the ball right to the edge of the top of the penalty area and punt. Once, he took one step over the line as he kicked. I let the play go but circled back and said "make sure you stay in your penalty area on your punts"

Not five minutes later, the same situation occured and this time the keeper carried the ball right to the top of the arc, a good 5-6 yards outside the area.

What is the restart? Does this warrant a caution? I'll wait to hear what you guys say before I post the call I made.


Thanks,

Jarrett

[whipple]

Reminding the keeper to watch the area, is the right way to handle it. Normally, if the keeper, in the process of returning the ball to play, handles the ball outside the penalty area, it is either not an offense (doubtful) or it is trifling (has no effect on the game or opponents). In these situations, we call nothing.

In your second instance, when the keeper carried the ball to the penalty arc, you might award a DFK to the opponents, but at that age group, depending on the level of competition, this early in the season, you might be able to shout, warn or instruct, since the keeper is obviously confused. Even if you award the DFK, you should still have a word with the keeper to remind them where their special privileges end.

This is, at worst, a foul. There is no misconduct, so you would have no reason to even think about your cards. Don't worry, there will be other games where you will need them, but not that one.

[Bill Archer]

A keeper handling the ball outside the area is...well...a player handling the ball. The rulebook is rather specific about this.

Nice of you to give the verbal, I wish more guys would communicate with the players like this, but it's not relevant here.

I'm certain you did the right thing.

[whipple]

Originally posted by Bill Archer
A keeper handling the ball outside the area is...well...a player handling the ball. The rulebook is rather specific about this.

Nice of you to give the verbal, I wish more guys would communicate with the players like this, but it's not relevant here.

I'm certain you did the right thing.

Actually, the Laws are not nearly as specific as one might wish on this issue, which has increased in importance since the 3 step's were abolished. The offense is deliberate handling, with the exception beeing the keeper within his own PA.

It is not an offense for a keeper to deliberately handle the ball within his own PA. Outside of the PA the keeper has the same status as any other player, so if he accidentally handled it outside the PA, even if the original handling had been deliberate, as is the keeper's right, for example, while in the process of returning the ball to play, it would not be an offense, at all. It is only if, in the opinion of the referee, that the keeper deliberately handled the ball outside of the PA that we blow the whistle and award a DFK for the opponent.

For this to occur, either the keeper has to initiate the handling outside the PA, like breaking up an attack, or if the keeper is already in legal possession, to be clearly trying to gain some advantage.

There are many fair minded referees who will disagree with this interpretation, but as yet, or at least the last I heard, it is still being tossed about by the powers that be.

[todda74]

the 12 year old is obviously making a mockery of your authority by continuing to break the rules. You should award a direct kick for hands and red card the little snot. You might want to tell him that obviously he is not intelligent enough to play soccer so maybe he should change to football. And curse his parents for procreating such a plague on this earth.

[pkCrouse]

Originally posted by todda74
the 12 year old is obviously making a mockery of your authority ... red card the little snot. ... tell him that obviously he is not intelligent enough to play soccer ... curse his parents for procreating such a plague on this earth. Todd, inevitably someone is going to think that you being serious, so you might want to be a little more careful to indicate when you are posting tongue-in-cheek. Some referees are notoriously literal people. ;)

Jarrett, Sherman gave you an excellent perspective on dealing with the unique situation of the keeper going too far with the punt. Any time you can correct the errors of young players without disrupting the flow and fun of their game, go for it. You will quickly learn to be able to read the players and determine whether to intervene and if so, how deep you need to go into your bag (i.e.: physical presence, stare, word, whistle or card) to correct the behavior.

U-19 center on the 2nd week of your career? How did that go?

Paul

[todda74]

ahhh touche

[wjarrettc]

Originally posted by pkCrouse

U-19 center on the 2nd week of your career? How did that go?

Paul [/B]


Okay, so I got the restart right (DFK from the top of the penalty area) but I also cautioned the keeper for PI since I had warned him previously. While I was talking with him about it, I realized he didn't understand the boundaries and wished I hadn't brandished the card so quickly...but alas it was too late. (Next time, I'll talk first, then go to the pocket if necessary). After the game I talked with the coach about it learned the fellow had never played in goal before, but the coach had no arguments about the card. It made me feel like I was acting on Todda74's behalf :)

As for the U19 game, it actually went quite well. Of the three games I worked, it was the easiest, with the U14 being the most physical of the three. The association that I was working for only has a few U19 coed rec teams and they cover 15-19 year olds that aren't playing high school or classic so the talent pool is lean. (SC only recently started allowing dual participation and not many are taking advantage of this yet)

I only had one real problem in the U19 game, but it was mainly my "senior" ARs fault (note I use the term "senior" loosely after working with this fellow). There was a quick play down the length of the field with a winger crossing on goal from the AR's side. From my position sprinting from the other end, I saw the ball come off the front cross bar and stay in play, however, all the players stopped playing. I looked to my AR who gave no visible flag signal so I shouted "Ball still in play". The players played on, audibly griping to me that it should be a corner or a goal kick (depending on which team they were on). At halftime, I asked the AR about it and he said "Oh yeah, that went off the back crossbar, but I thought it was so obvious that I didn't need to flag it for you." (With ARs like this, I guess we know why they assigned me to a U19 center with practically no experience).

Probably the funniest moment of the day came in the U12 game when my AR (a different fellow) signalled goal kick, which is what I was going to call as well. As soon as I signalled, the offensive player said "That should be a corner." I repeated authoritatively "My AR and I agree, GOAL KICK." Then the defenseman said "He's right, that came off of me." I was at a complete loss as to what to do. Change my call and let the players think they can talk me into changing it? Actually, what I did was gave the young players a quick lesson on how sometimes the referees can be wrong, but you have to go with what they call and we restarted with a goal kick (note, at this point the team to which I was awarding the goal kick was already down 7-0).

Well I must have done okay overall, because before I left the fields, the assignor asked me to come back next week and work both of his U19 centers for next weekend.

Jarrett

[kevbrunton]

Originally posted by wjarrettc
Probably the funniest moment of the day came in the U12 game when my AR (a different fellow) signalled goal kick, which is what I was going to call as well. As soon as I signalled, the offensive player said "That should be a corner." I repeated authoritatively "My AR and I agree, GOAL KICK." Then the defenseman said "He's right, that came off of me." I was at a complete loss as to what to do. Change my call and let the players think they can talk me into changing it? Actually, what I did was gave the young players a quick lesson on how sometimes the referees can be wrong, but you have to go with what they call and we restarted with a goal kick (note, at this point the team to which I was awarding the goal kick was already down 7-0).
Every once in a while, these little ones will do something like this and embarrass you -- it's keeps it fun because at this age and level, you NEVER know what to expect.

Originally posted by wjarrettc
Well I must have done okay overall, because before I left the fields, the assignor asked me to come back next week and work both of his U19 centers for next weekend.
Sounds great. Keep it up.

[pepperref]

I agree with the others that the verbal warning was the right thing to do. It has always worked for me in this scenario. But even if you disregard the keeper's experience level, a YC for PI on a second offense of this type seems a little harsh, especially at this age level and for an infraction that already results in a DFK from 18 yards out. Think about it for a minute, if you were the opposing coach, wouldn't you want that keeper in the game giving up a DFK everytime he put his hands on the ball?