So why not just have a rule that a foul throw-in by the leading team results in the clock being stopped?
Why do that when you can Americanize it by making it a turnover like basketball? This is the same era in which NFHS gave us the basketball travelling signal for GKs taking too many steps . . .
In NFHS's infinite wisdom when they added the six second rule for goalkeepers, they also kept the four second rule for goalkeeper steps! That meant that you had to count two separate things at the same time.
You want to add more situations to involve the rarely cognizant clock operators in high school games?
Hey, watch who you're maligning there. My on-the-ball clock operator stopped the clock the other night when I called a PK, a situation in which I all too often forget to signal it. Full marks.
IMHO, actually getting the clock stopped in high school is a pretty chancy thing, requiring repeated whistling, signaling and shouting to get the clock operator's attention, about 50% of the time. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a blue tooth connection that would let us control the clock from the field?
I'll forever be amazed by how this unsanctioned high school and college crap is allowed to make up whatever laws they want. Only in Amurica!
Unsanctioned? Well yes if you’re specifically talking about USSF but NFHS and NCAA provide the necessary coverage for players and referees that they would normally get under USSF.
Allow me to hijack these discussions about the intricacies of clock management to once AGAIN suggest that all of these vagaries could be eliminated if the academic jurisdictions would swallow their pride and allow time to be accounted for like the entire rest of the world. Sigh ...
Or you could observe that IFAB is the only body that thinks it should be the sole writer of rules that apply to every game played all around the globe. Different rule sets are the norm in virtually every (if not every--I don't know if there is another exception) sport.
While I am not a fan of having many different rule making bodies, high school/college soccer in the United States is not "unsanctioned." That term implies that schools are just getting together and playing games and making things up at that game. There are sanctioning bodies for both high school and college soccer in the United States. However, they are not affiliated with USSF/FIFA.
USSF's official position is that high school and college soccer is "neither affiliated nor unaffiliated." At one time, college games could count towards USSF referees' upgrade game count, on a 2 for 1 basis.
They are the norm in American-based sports like baseball and basketball, but if you look at cricket and rugby, they are similar to soccer in that there is a world governing body that creates the laws.
Here are the complete NFHS changes from their website. It looks like they have adopted the recent IFAB changes. https://nfhs.org/sports-resource-content/soccer-rules-changes-2020-21/
The high school rules are now very close to IFAB with the main exception of clock and other school related rules. These are very positive changes over the last few years.
i don’t think the clock will ever change. And, I actually think the throw in rules should be the norm!
One interesting distinction on the dropped ball change. In IFAB, the ball is dropped to the team that last touched the ball. In the NFHS change, it is dropped to the team that last possessed the ball. At least, that's the way I'm reading it.
Yes, and I like it that way better. And I'm personally "interpreting" the IFAB version to mean the last team that touched the ball before it hit me. Or maybe the last team that touched the ball before I decided to blow. But definitely not the the last team that just randomly happened to touch the ball right before I finally get around to actually blowing. And what about the place of the drop[ped] ball?
The unintended consequence here is the IFAB change all but forced referees to stay the heck out of the Penalty Area for fear of getting nicked by the ball. For a 3 man crew, fine, just dont wander in Stay a little higher and get a different angle. But for a dual, you are often down low and in the PA just because thats a dual. Thats going to cause a slight positioning issue keeping the lead out wider, or take a chance on having some really badly located and timed dropped balls.
If the partners I work with are any indication, the only change here will be the proper pointing of the direction of the throw in!!
I think that is because NFHS still has a drop ball for things like the ball leaves the field if it is touched simultaneously by players from each team. Therefore, since both touched the ball at the same time, it becomes who had possession last.