I administer the clock with appropriate rigor in division games, as they have potential playoff implications. I administer the clock with appropriate lack of rigor in non-division games, as they don't. Ditto re substitutions.
The last five minutes clock stopping is the way NCAA rules handle it. In actual practice, the coaches don't sub in the last five minutes, other than for injuries. Blowouts are, as socal lurker says, the chance for the end of the bench to actually play. You won't see anyone trying to chisel time off the clock in basketball or football. My high school was winning a second round boys basketball playoff game on Friday by quite a bit. The deep bench subs came in with two minutes left. One kid looked unfamiliar, so I checked the varsity roster next to the scoreboard. His number wasn't there. Ah! JV kid brought up for the playoffs. A JV kid that got to play in a playoff game? Now that's going to be a sweet memory for him. And the loudest cheers of the entire night, from the starters on the bench and the student section, were for those subs scoring.
Then just sub them in before the last 5 minutes, or take the clock stoppage. Either way, problem solved.
What problem is there to solve? I was responding to your suggestion that there wouldn't be any subs. (I don't do HS, but my reaction to this rule change is "who cares"--it helps less skilled refs [dare I say High School Refs as opposed to Soccer Refs?] have clear instructions on how to use a blunt tool that requires no judgment rather than the more subtle tools that rely on the judgment of a skilled referee. Shrug.)
Maybe you should join your local high school association. I'm sure they could use more referees, and you could help those "less skilled refs", since you proclaim to be a "skilled referee".
I agree. What I meant was in my rookie HS season, I had some issues remembering to start/stop my watch as required by the rules (as a backup to Stadium clock). I wasn't disregarding them, I just wasn't used to farting with my watch so much and sucked at it sometimes. I see this as potentially adding to my suckage.
I still have those problems. Even worse than forgetting to stop it is forgetting to restart it -- even though my Garmin referee app politely buzzes periodically to remind me that it's stopped. Yet another reason to wear two watches.
Which app do you use on Garmin? I use “Soccer Score Tracker” only to find it has since been removed from the IQ store! God forbid I ever have to update my watch! It has all the functionality of Spintso plus score tracking
It's called Referee Watch (Activity track, multi half) by Winder. It just has timing and GPS functions, no scoring or cards or the like. Timing can be either count up for club play or down for college/HS, with a secondary watch going the other direction in either case. I really like it a lot. Hard to think of anything I would change about it. Hmm ... I see there's an update available. Dare I install it? I'm always nervous about fixing something that ain't broke ...
Agree on Referee Watch. I believe the app costs about 5 bucks. Also good for stoppage time (vibrates every 15 or 30 seconds while you have it stopped so you don't forget) and vibrates every 30 seconds after time is up if you're adding on in your head. (The only issue I have ever had is setting it up in the rain. The touch screen is used for set up, so if you do different length games you need to set it up before the touch screenis wet and non-responsive--you don't use the touch screen during the game.) It does not track score, but I don't think I'd want to do that on my watch anyway.
My Garmin app does track score (not goal scorer or cards, just score). I find it useful when doing something like futsal, when scores reach the double digits and everyone is looking to get started really fast after. Too bad the developer removed it from the IQ store. Probably realized it was too good to be free.
I know that we are way off topic here but the Referee Watch app works perfectly on the non-touch screen garmin forerunner 230/235.
Don't see how that has anything to do with this. But since you ask, we get paid a flat game fee, no matter if the game is a mercy rule that ends at halftime or an overtime game that ends in kicks from the mark. I really don't think the extra 30-45 seconds it takes to sub is going to make that much of a difference. But I guess some people only do this for the money.
How is stopping the clock in the last five minutes for subs "doing this for money?" This rule has been part of college soccer for since I have been doing college games. I can count on one hand the number of times that we have stopped the clock in the last five minutes for subs.
College has limited subs, high school does not. The tactic would be rather ineffective in college as compared to high school.
NCAA rules limit the number of re-entries in a period by each player. They do not limit the number of substitutions that can be made. A few years ago now, one local college had 44 on the roster of their women's team. The next year they were down to 42. I was doing one of their games and, with five minutes left (okay, a few seconds more than five) I look over, at a stoppage, and there are 10 subs from their team waiting to enter, players from the second row of the benches. Of course, I had to ask AR1 if he had recorded all of the subs. If looks could kill...…..
Yes. College has unlimited subs, but there are restrictions on when players can re-enter a game. In the first half, there is no re-entry and in the second half, each player is allowed to re-enter once. There are exceptions to this rule for injuries, cards, and goalkeepers too. A couple years ago, I was AR1 for a DIII women's game where one team only dressed 13 players. Halfway through the first half, the two bench players subbed in. In my head, I thought, "Well, that team is done with subs for the half!"
That’s not the point of HS sports. Participation is a big part. Note that participation doesn’t mean guaranteed playing time.
@GoDawgsGo is the one who brought up money in the first place. He was making reference to the fact that stopping the clock for subs in the last five minutes would make the game last longer. I am well aware of the college rules. I have been a college referee for 18 years, and have done over 400 college matches. Plain and simple, this rule will help cut down on time wasting at the end of games. It also makes it easier for referees. Instead of having to decide "is this team just subbing to waste time?", we now just stop the clock. I don't see the problem here.
I don't either. Obviously the emphasis put on excessive subs and cautioning coaches wasn't getting the desired result so they changed the rule. I like it since who am I to say three subs in three minutes is excessive? For all I know the child is very tired or carrying a knock and the coach wants to sub.