U17 boys travel game this past weekend, I'm AR1. There were a couple of "close calls" for offsides on goal kicks, where the parents loose their collective minds. Then the coach yells, "you can stop running the trap on goal kicks, there is no offsides on goal kicks....He's not gonna call it." Part of me was surprised the coach actually knew the rule, but apparently they had been getting those calls from other crews earlier in the season.
U11 coach approaches CR pre-match last week and says "There's no offside on gola kicks, just so you know." CR (who's 17) looks down at his badge, looks back at the coach, laughing and says "uhh, yeah." His face really sold it.
CR at a U12 girls match. Late in a 1-1 affair. Defensive header in the goal area. I blow the play dead and indicate IDK. Parents on both sides are going nuts shouting their various rules interpretation, "penalty", "red card", "free corner (?)", etc. One father states loudly, "I don't think the guy in the fancy yellow jersey needs any help". All the parents shut up! I have no idea who the parent was, but he was some sort of spectator-whisperer. I wanted to ask if he would stay for the rest of the day!
Pretty common if the U12 is a two year span rather than a one year span as the league includes 10 year olds. (Which is true for most, but not all, of AYSO, for example.)
They do. I make a point of pointing it out to the spectator sideline pre-match. The players and coaches are all well calibrated to the rule. Started last season.
My guess is that father has a fancy yellow Jersey at home. That is usually my job when I am watching a game and not wearing mine anyway...
Years back now I was on the organizing committee and working the Region III Presidents Cup, when a perturbed mom came up to me to complain about the way the referee was calling her son's game. I looked over at the field and saw that the center was Matt Foerster, a year or so removed from centering the U18 boys national championship game. I told her that I hadn't been watching the game, but she should take comfort in the fact that she had the best young referee in Region III working her game. To my surprise that satisfied her, and she seemed more interested in sharing that fact with the other parents than complaining any more.
U19 Girls, State Cup contender level. Obvious foul on green defender by white FW inside defender's 18. Ref yells play on, defender attempts a clearance that goes back to the white forward who shoots wide. How is advantage granted to a defender inside her own 18 that is under pressure? Is there ever advantage to a defender in her own defensive third? You would think it would almost always be better to whistle the foul and let the defense clear the zone.
I have absolutely used Advantage in the defensive third at U19. These players are strong enough and fast enough to counter quickly, and countering against a defense that is pushed up and disorganized can be significant, compared to letting that defense get back and into shape. That said, from the play you describe, what I'm envisioning is a situation where I would decide that the advantage wasn't realized, as opposed to squandered, and bring it back to the foul. But that's just me.
If the R perceived the play the same way you did, I would not expect advantage to be applied. I would imagine either he did not perceive pressure or that he was sloppy with language and was saying play on because there was no foul. Without seeing the play, it is difficult to judge. A botched pass does not mean there was not an advantage -- we go back for lack of advantage if it wasn't really there, not if the advantage that was there was squandered. Perhaps in your play the R believed that the defender had an easy opportunity to make a pass to start a counter attack; a bad pass would not be cause to go back, but if the player was challeneged more than expected so the opportunity to make the play was not better than the free kick would be it would be cause to go back. Sure. Potential counterattack. "Almost always" is the key. Advantage is most prevalent in the attacking third, may often be appropriate in the middle third, and is rarely appropriate in the defending third. Rarely and never are not the same. IMO, where many referees get lost on advantage is situational perspective. The question the referee should be asking himself is "is the fouled team better off if I don't call the foul." That is rarely true in back third. If the R asks himself the wrong question (often, "does the fouled team still have the ball"), then the answer to the question won't tell him if advantage should be applied.
Thank you for the honest response. I guess my reaction is a bit tainted by an earlier call where the ref waived off an offside call in favor of a goal kick. He acknowledged the AR and allowed the goal kick when the offside kick position was at the top of the 18. I know there is rarely bias in the decisions of the center but these two decisions within a few minutes of eachother really caused howling from both the spectators that knew what they were looking at and the coach.
Did the player flagged by the AR touch the ball? If not, it sounds like an early flag by the AR, and the R was correct to award the GK. See diagram 5 in the offside examples in the LOTG.
So a free kick either way, one at the 18 and one at the 6. The one from the 18 can lead to an offside and the one from the 6 cannot, if received directly. At U19, either kick can/will make it to the attacking half, so there is certainly the possibility of advantage. I'll posit that maybe the coach and spectators that were howling maybe didn't know as much as you think they did. And I won't even dignify the side-ways inference of bias with a reply.
I hear this said in this way frequently, and I've never quite agreed. Advantage is most prevalent in the middle third, where fouls frequently happen in transition and set pieces aren't very valuable. In the attacking third, where fouls lead to valuable set pieces and defenses have had time to recover to behind the ball led to less advantages than the middle third. YMMV.
She did, it was her shot that went wide. As often happens, the center didn't see the flag until after the shot and then decided to just let the GK happen. Normally it isn't a big deal but when the defense is trying to clear their own end against a stiff wind in a 2-1 game, 12 yards can make a difference. Always nice to hear neutral perspective which is why I post in here.
12 yards is a difference, even at U19, into a wind. Offside isn't the issue, clearing your defensive end is. And your inference that the crowd and coach don't know what they are talking about will be ignored as well.
Okay, if your U19 State Cup contenders are having trouble clearing their defensive end then that should be factored in to a decision whether to go with the IFK for OS or the GK. But, wow... And I didn't infer, I stated...
They were semi-finalists, losing 2-1 to the eventual champ. So they are good regardless of your sarcastic undertone. And also, women HS keepers do not always have a D1 leg on and she was kicking into a 20 mph wind. I understand this is a ref forum but having a badge on your shirt doesn't make you the ONLY person that knows anything about the game.