Penalty Kick "Ethics"

[paulb]

For 12 year old girls I tend to tell the goal keeper, on penalty kicks, to just react to the ball. Don't guess, cause you'll get alot of bad kicks at this age. You're best off just reacting. Seems like the way to go.

We had a penalty kick against us last game (we've had 3 against us this year... sheesh). I could tell by the shooter's approach that she was going right, upper right I figured. And indeed she did. It was a very nice kick, pretty-much unstoppable.

I was very tempted at the time to tell the goalie, very loudly, "She's going upper right!" I didn't do that, cause if anything that will just distract her.

But then I thought, if you make a comment like that, it might really get into the head of the kicker. So, what if I told the Keeper, "Just react to the ball, ignore what I say, but I'm going to loudly tell you, 'She's going upper right', or some such, to get inside the shooter's head."

Ok, so then I started to question the ethics of a strategy like that. So what do people think? Totally fair game, or bad sportsmanship? Especially considering we're dealing with U13 girls here.

[loghyr]

I was very tempted at the time to tell the goalie, very loudly, "She's going upper right!" I didn't do that, cause if anything that will just distract her.

What if she is showing right to get into your goalie's mind? :eek:

At some point you will face that type of shooter.

I think your best bet is to let your keeper gain confidence by making her own decisions. If you yell out "Right" and the shot goes left, she might start questioning her judgment.

[ranova]

Referees get guidance on where to draw the line between fair play and foul. For instance, exagerating a foul is not allowed. But feints and trickery are allowed if the true state of affairs is apparent to the opponent. Specific guidance is given on various restarts, including penalty kicks. For instance, the kicker is not allowed to fake a penalty kick to draw movement by the keeper. Neither during the run of play can you come up behind a defender and yell "Keeper's ball" to trick the defender into letting a ball go through to you.

I don't know how others would view it or what the USSF guidance says about it, but I would say that the LOTG allow coaches to give technical direction from the sideline during matches. To me that would not allow a coach to give fake technical directions. Apart from the LOTG, I do not consider it ethical for a coach to engage in any kind of subterfuge in order to gain an advantage during play. Substituting players to delay in the final minutes while you are leading is ethical. It is no different than a player kicking a ball in play out of bounds or dribbling into a corner and shielding the ball. All legal and ethical.

The NSCAA has a code of ethics for coaches. There are also articles on coaching ethics.

[NHRef]

Putting my coaches hat on for a moment, I would not do this. Two reasons: let the keeper do their thing without distraction, and I doubt it would get in the shooters head.

I help coach a U16B team and one of the coaches is non-stop "advice" to the players, several has asked to to get her to stop (she's the head coach), even in practice they say it does nothing but confuse and distract them during the run of play. Many times they know what they want to do and the "noise" (as they call it) distracts them and makes them hesitate.

let the kids play.

[BigGuy]

"I was very tempted at the time to tell the goalie, very loudly, "She's going upper right!" I didn't do that, cause if anything that will just distract her."

You should be working with your keeper on this stuff in practice and not react. So the keeper can make an educated guess.

[uniteo]

"her right or my right?"

and now the ball is in the net

[Twenty26Six]

Ok, so then I started to question the ethics of a strategy like that. So what do people think? Totally fair game, or bad sportsmanship? Especially considering we're dealing with U13 girls here.

You really need to think about this??? :confused:

So, you're a grown man and you're yelling out things to undermine the success of a 12 year old girl? What ever happened to letting the kids succeed/fail on their own merits?

It's about them improving as players - not winning and you're not even f'n playing!! :mad:

Edit: I love how people are debating this like it is a serious point of discussion. How sad is that...

[saabrian]

Ok, so then I started to question the ethics of a strategy like that. So what do people think? Totally fair game, or bad sportsmanship? Especially considering we're dealing with U13 girls here.

Bad sportsmanship AND bad coaching.

Zip it and let your keeper figure it out for herself. They're 12 and it's not the World Cup.

Maybe after the game, talk to her about the PK and why you thought the kicker was going to do what she did. Otherwise, all you're doing is teaching your keeper to follow orders instead of learning things for herself.

[Sandemonium]

Believe it or not, this exact thing happened to our team last year on a PK midway through the game. Our shooter stepped up, picked his spot, and began as run up to the ball. As he was en route, the opposing team coach began to scream and yell "HE'S GOING RIGHT, RIGHT, IT'S RIGHT!" I don't think he noticed that he moved onto the field and was probably 15 yards from the touchline while screaming it. It really rattled our shooter, and he flubbed it and hit it over the net. The ref ended up giving the coach a yellow... but giving the other team a goal kick and not letting us re-do it, strangely enough. The coach admitted his fault and even offered to let us take it over, but I guess the ref felt differently.

[DerbyRam54]

Believe it or not, this exact thing happened to our team last year on a PK midway through the game. Our shooter stepped up, picked his spot, and began as run up to the ball. As he was en route, the opposing team coach began to scream and yell "HE'S GOING RIGHT, RIGHT, IT'S RIGHT!" I don't think he noticed that he moved onto the field and was probably 15 yards from the touchline while screaming it. It really rattled our shooter, and he flubbed it and hit it over the net. The ref ended up giving the coach a yellow... but giving the other team a goal kick and not letting us re-do it, strangely enough. The coach admitted his fault and even offered to let us take it over, but I guess the ref felt differently.
If the age group was the same, I would definitely have had the kick retaken because of the outside interference. At older age levels players have to learn to block things out, though unsporting behaviour is always unsporting behaviour.
Maybe your ref got a bit too focused on the coach and neglected to consider the interference possibility.

[FIFAstud101]

I was a keeper. If you as a coach do your job and teach your girl to look for the right signs and work on proper diving techniques, you should not worry. Games are for the players to play and the coach to watch and make slight adjustments either in the next practice or on the fly, not yell constantly and yell on pks.

[refontherun]

You really need to think about this??? :confused:

So, you're a grown man and you're yelling out things to undermine the success of a 12 year old girl? What ever happened to letting the kids succeed/fail on their own merits?

It's about them improving as players - not winning and you're not even f'n playing!! :mad:

Edit: I love how people are debating this like it is a serious point of discussion. How sad is that...

What you put in your coffee this morning?:rolleyes: You might want to tone it down a bit! I do happen think it is an important point of discussion for coaches.

First, being a referee and a coach, I would not consider a comment of this nature to be "tactical instruction". Telling the defense to push up, or telling Mary to "crash the near post" are tactical instructions.

A comment like that from a coach on a PK where only two players are involved, would draw a stern warning from me. If the comment were made before the ball was touched, even if I had given the signal to proceed, and the shot missed, I would allow a retake if I felt it may have influenced the kicker in any way. Even if the PK were successful, a warning would still be forthcoming.

Too many coaches think they have to dictate what their players do on the field. Coach in practice, manage during a game. I agree that the only way young players will learn the game, is to make their own decisions (right or wrong) on the field, during a real game.

Opinion from the dark side.