I have a cousin (middle school boy) who is playing soccer this year. He was born without an arm from the middle of his humerus bone down. What are the rules for him throwing in the ball. I know that when he goes to camp and plays with other children like him they throw the ball in one-handed. I also know that the correct procedure to throw the ball in is both hands over the head. How would you as a referee handle this in a school game setting and a FIFA game setting. Thanks, Scott
Maybe can consult him: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/one-armed-footballer-makes-professional-debut-5620290
I have refereed players with one arm - as long as they throw the ball in with a similar motion to what a two armed player would (delivered from behind and over the head) it is not an issue.
"Now the rest of the story": so my cousin had his first game and when he went to throw in the ball the ref would not let him because he could not use both hands over his head. I was just curious if this was the way it should be handled. I played soccer for a small bible college and have done some refing but had never had this situation presented to me. Part of the issue is that my cousins mother is overprotective and is now out to get this ref and anyone who causes an issue with her son.
USSF's Advice to Referees from about two years ago said this... 15.3 Exception to the Use of Both Hands A player who lacks the normal use of one or both hands may nevertheless perform a legal throw-in provided all other requirements of Law 15 are observed. But, it should be noted that the ATR is no longer considered authoritative after the 2016 rewrite. As a referee, I'd let him take the throw. BTW, when my daughter was U12-ish, one of the opposing teams had a girl with one arm who regularly took throws. Edited because I missed this, but Mom should contact the league and/or referee assigner and respectfully have them educate referees on rules about this. More flies with honey kind of things. She gains nothing by being "out to get this ref." This is likely the first time these guys have had to deal with the issue.
The LotG have a bit in there about when something's not covered... consider what soccer would expect, spirit of the game, etc. Spirit of the game says "take that throw one-handed", my gut feel is that soccer would expect the same.
It's unfortunate that his mother is looking to create enemies for her son rather than create allies for him.
They have to use all the hands they have. -NFHS 15.1.2. "...The thrower shall use both hands (unless a physical impairment would limit use to one hand)...."
Like Sulphur said, go with what the Spirt of the Game demands. That is acutally called out in the LOTG, in the Introduction (Page 13 in the 2017/18 version): Football must be attractive and enjoyable for players, match officials, coaches, as well as spectators, fans, administrators etc. The Laws must help make the game attractive and enjoyable so people, regardless of age, race, religion, culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability etc. want to take part and enjoy their involvement with football. Football’s Laws are relatively simple, compared to other team sports, but as many situations are ‘subjective’ and referees are human (and thus make mistakes) some decisions will inevitably cause debate and discussion. For some people, this discussion is part of the game’s enjoyment and attraction but, whether decisions are right or wrong, the ‘spirit’ of the game requires that referees’ decisions are always respected. The Laws cannot deal with every possible situation, so where there is no direct provision in the Laws, The IFAB expects the referee to make a decision within the ‘spirit’ of the game – this often involves asking the question, “what would football want/expect?”
One of the students in an entry level referee clinic I just did had only one arm. He said that he had some referees say he couldn't do throw-ins, but most were ok with it. I had reffed his games from when he was about 10, so I knew he was very good at throw-ins.
Nobody has mentioned it yet, but this is a clear issue of reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
We have a middle school soccer game. Dollars to donuts, that means we have a relatively inexperienced referee. He had no idea what to do. But I'd put the real blame on the coach/school--this is such a completely predictable issue (including that an inexperienced ref wouldn't know what to do), the school should have addressed it with the league in advance.
So a couple of years back I am reffing this U12 Girls game, and the thrower takes a very weird/bad throw. It was close enough to OK that I let it go. But at halftime, I give the coach a flyby and mention the very, almost/bad throw. He says her arm was broken as a youngster and that is the best she could do. Well, no problem, but you could have given me a heads up earlier. As the game progresses, it turns out she is the primary thrower. She wasn't doing a baseball toss, so no advantage was gained, but still: A heads up would have been nice. Saw her a couple of more times that Fall, so by the end of the season, I was ready for it.
Thanks for all your input. I presented all the info you guys gave me and they are now trying to work thru the middle school and high school A.D.'s and local ref organization. The new hell is trying to get people to call them back.
A kid with a disability like that is persevering in life and enjoying sports - why oh why would a referee not see the benefit to the GAME and those kids to let him play. Unless he's doing a sidewinder softball pitch, I can see the mother's point!