In the same light as dangerous goal posts, I have moved and had moved many obstacles left near the playing field. Most common items are hurdles left just off the field by the track teams. I have also moved tables, bags, chairs, people and various other items that could impact player safety. It's all part of the job.
Clearly anything that has the potential for affecting player safety on or about our field is within our authority and our responsibility. What about beyond that? For instance, I have more times than I can count yelled at kids hanging on a goal well off of my field – but at that point I'm probably acting more as compulsive parent than in my referee role. Of course the knuckleheads are slightly more likely to respond appropriately when they see the uniform ... This is obviously a matter for application of Law 18, but I'm really just interested in a bit of general discussion of line-drawing in these situations (and maybe a little awareness-raising in the bargain).
I once had to hold up a game because a kid was crawling on the net of the goal that was being attacked. Kid was no more than 3 I guess. I for sure wasn't going to grab him off the netting, but I was wondering just exactly where this kids parents were at the time.
Shouldn't he have refused to start the game when the AD refused to move the goalposts? If it is unsafe, it is unsafe. It doesn't become safe just because the AD refused to move it. PS: I don't do high school
NFHS rules make school personel (coaches, ADs) responsible for some thngs that would normally fall on us. Player equipment checks, for instance, consists of simply asking the coach if all his/her players will be legally equipped when the game starts. They also get final say on what constitutes a safe playing environment, IIRC. That doesn't mean it's morally correct to allow the game to proceed. You could always refuse, just don't expect to receive any more assignments.
Yes, but ... as called to our attention by @Law5 upthread, NFHS rule 1.7 says this about that: Perhaps hyper-technically speaking, that can be read to mean that until we blow the whistle for the kickoff, we can't refuse to play the game for safety reasons – but once we do blow, we can and should make that determination if we deem it appropriate. I arrived for a pair of regional playoff games the other night at a stadium that is pretty much a mess even on a good day; now it had been raining steadily for what felt like forty days and forty nights, and it was a muddy swamp. No problem, home for supper, right? Well, both coaches and the field administrator were standing there waiting for us, and they said "We don't think the field is playable, but our bosses at the county office say we have to get these games in no matter what and we can't call it. Can you do anything?" Being the hyper-technocrat that I am, I replied, "Technically I don't have authority to call either game off until I blow the opening whistle, and that won't be for another forty minutes. But, well, let me see what I can do." So I took the easy way out and called my assignor, secured authority to go ahead and declare the field unplayable, did so, and we all went home. Everybody was happy except for the knuckleheads at the county office – which is as it should be.
I thought there might be something I wasn't recalling. HS season is in the fall here so my NFHS book is tucked away in a drawer somewhere, and it's not available online without paying a fee, AFAIK. So blow for kickoff, immediately blow to stop play, point to the goal and tell the AD to move it. Yeah that will go over well.
I can log into my NFHS account through Arbiter, which then gives me access to online versions of the soccer rules book and case book under the Publications tab. I must be special!
At my son's first center for competitive teams, he required that a dead rat be removed from the field.
I was a spectator at my son's game this morning. As the game starts, I notice the far goal is not anchored. AR in his 50's Me: So you know, the far goal is not anchored. AR:I know Me: Then you shouldn't be playing AR: If you can find an anchor, you anchor them. Me: The weight bags are behind the goal, but not "on" the goal. AR does nothing Me: ~shocked~ Walked to far side AR and told him. He stopped game immediately and corrected it. So so very stupid. Not only is it a safety issue, but it is a huge liability. I put him on notice and he did not take action. That is wanton disregard. It certainly opens him up to punitive damages and may be enough to allow his insurance to not cover him if something had happened.
Especially if this is a youth game it should not just be on the referees (although that's a major issue) - the coaches, club, school/park/setup parents as appropriate need to be aware of this too. Even if the referees catch this 30 minutes before a match, something could happen 35 minutes before
Something happens with goals and it falls and a kid gets hurt everyone get sued. Coach, league and official and the goal company. Did I leave anyone out? I tell you why it happened years ago with the kwick aluminum goals. When you bought a set of kwick goal adjustable goals. The fasteners that held them into the ground was also made of aluminum. You had to use a rubber mallet to bsng them into the ground. Those rubber mallets would get lost or stolen. So you used a hammer. The hammer would break the aluminum fasteners. Those fasteners were very expensive so people used other things to fasten the goals. Then you had kids who loved to climb the goals and the goals fell on them. You know you can't sue the kids. Parents would not like that so the same parents sued the coach. The coach should be sued because once the game ends their attention span stops. They don't watch their players that much after the game. I am an old man and in all those years I never sued anyone for anything. But I would hire people to look after my interests.
I get to all assignments very early. I like to warm up. I'm old. I need to warm up. I have a ritual that includes running, stretching, walking. I pretty much cover the entire field by the time I'm done. I look for golf balls, big rocks, holes and other things that make the field unsafe. I check the corner flags, and then the goals. I am always the first guy of my crew at the match. Most of the time no one volunteers to go check the goals when they get there. In HS, it NEVER happens. It drives me CRAZY.
90%of the time when I check the fields, the corner flags aren't in the correct spot. I think a lot of field maintenance personnel/volunteers realize there is actually a correct spot for the corner flags.
I rarely have flags missing, but on turf fields in both Texas and Iowa, the little corner flags blow over. For some reason, they weren't designed for windy days - a rare occasion in both states. - NOT!
Yeah, those little hemispheres filled with sand don't stand up (literally) to much of a wind, and after a couple of years of being tossed around they tend to break open and lose the sand anyway.
Trick for medium to low winds: Tie the flag to the pole (using the tail of the flag itself). After it falls over again, all you can do is lie it down at a 45 degree angle to the field.