I was refereeing a U13 girls select game yesterday afternoon. It was a very competitive game -- both teams are undefeated in the league, one is also untied. It was down to about 10 or 12 minutes remaining in the game and it was still scoreless. A shot / cross comes from the area at the top corner of the penalty area and was blocked by a defender in the area. From my perspective, I couldn't tell if she used her arm or got her body onto it. I FELT that she used her arm, but couldn't tell for sure. The AR was in a position with her almost directly facing him and he was only 12-15 yards away, so I immediately looked at him to see if he was going to flag it -- nothing. So I didn't call anything. Of course, the entire crowd (or I suppose half of them) were screaming handball . I asked the AR after the game if she had played the ball with her arm and he said yes. I asked why he didn't flag it and he said that he didn't think he should call a penalty kick as the AR -- despite my clear instructions to the contrary in pregame. However, I realize that when you're using a couple 16 year old young men in their 2nd year of refereeing, they're not very often going to call a PK no matter what instruction you give them at the beginning. After the game, the defender's coach also told me that it was clearly handling. Here's what I was thinking about later on as I considered "how could I have handled this"... Remember I thought I had a handling foul the way the arm came forward and body language, but I could not see the ball when it struck her body/arm so I could not tell if it struck her midsection or in fact struck her arm. So, would it have been acceptable to blow the whistle and run over to the AR and talk to him -- did it striker her arm, did she play it with her arm? In this case, she did, turn and signal for a PK? But what happens if he says, no, it came off her midsection -- then what? Drop ball for "inadvertent" whistle? Is there any way I should/could have handled this differently? Thanks for your help...
After reading our other threads, I'd tell the coach it didn't look like an "intentional" handball to me. Don't think I've ever had a coach tell me of a foul that I should have called on his team.
Kev, this is a dilemma that effects every Referee - at every level! What to do when you "feel" something wrong rather than see it? I'll answer the last bit first - the option of blowing the whistle anyway, going over to the AR and dealing with it based on what he says, is NOT really an option. As you say, it would lead to problems if he said there was no infringement, and even if he says "PK" and you give it, it really could cause as many issues, such as that you appeared to pass the buck onto a young kid. So, let's get to the meat of the issue. First off, the REAL solution comes down to your pregame. It sounds like you did make the effort to tell your ARs that you were looking for them to call PKs if you needed help. I guess you need to really stress that this is the case, and try everything you can to force that into their heads! What may work is to copy a technique used at the higher levels where the ARs have "beeper flags". Even in those games there are times - too many to list - when the AR may not feel it appropriate to make an obvious signal for a PK, so what he does is simply "beep" the center with no other flag signal, so he knows that the AR thinks it should be a PK, but no one else does. Then the Ref can make his own mind up. Now, short of having "beeper" flags at youth level, what you can do is agree on a discreet signal that they could make to let you know without everyone else knowing. Perhaps you tell them, "if I think it MIGHT be a PK but I'm not sure, I'll look at you - if you are comfortable calling it, signal as per normal USSF procedures, if you dont feel comfortable making an obvious signal, then just hold your flag across your body at waist level and I'll know you're telling me PK". That way, they get the message to you without (probably) anyone else knowing - they'd probably be more comfortable with that. Lastly, if you are still uncertain of their cooperation, sometimes you have to go with your instinct. Many times I have made/not made calls based on instinct. Usually it turns out my insticts were correct. So, if you have to make a choice with no help from anyone, that's usually the safest option - if it was what you thought instinctivly and you dont go with it, you'll regret it later on. Just IMHO.
Even though he was the coach of the visiting team, he was a good friend of mine -- our son's played together for a year on our league's premier team and we served on the league's board together for a couple years.
Thanks, deep. Good suggestion. Some sort of discreet signal occurred to me last night too as I was thinking about this situation. I think from now on when I'm refereeing with young referees, I'll do this. I know some that would make the call and frankly I thought this one would too. I KNOW the one that was on the other end of this game would NEVER make this call. BTW, I just heard from the home coach whose team did not get the PK that they should have. He was very gracious about it. His wife is a referee and I referee with her a lot, so I know him well too. He said that he could tell I couldn't see it and he realizes few young referees (the AR) are going to make that call. He said that I called a good game -- specifically pointing out a couple calls he appreciated -- and that he could live with the missed PK.
I don't have a significant objection to the use of these "discreet signals" if they help with communication. However, I don't think we should lose sight of the real problem, which is that the AR saw the foul and didn't call it because he didn't think he was supposed (allowed?) to, despite Kev's pregame instructions. We all know that young/inexperienced AR's are often reluctant to signal fouls, particularly in the penalty area. In the pregame instruction it helps to point out that the CR can always waive off a signal from the AR if he doesn't want to stop play. The reverse is not true - if the AR doesn't give the signal, the CR remains uninformed. Unfortunately, many CR's over emphasize lines like "give me first crack at anything in the box", or "if you know I didn't see the foul, then you may go ahead and flag it if you are absolutely certain." These instructions do more harm than good in the development of young/inexperienced AR's. They're probably still working on their own foul-recognition skills, so how can we also expect them to know whether the CR did or didn't see the foul. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the AR didn't accept Kev's instructions at face value because of previous instructions to the contrary. I'd rather have the signal from the AR and waive it down if I am certain that play should not be stopped, as opposed to setting up so many hurdles for my AR's that they aren't able to assist me. Better to have the players upset with me because I waived down the AR's flag than to deny those same players the benefit of all three officials providing input into getting the call right.
This post bears repeating. It happens even with experienced referees. I had it happened to me Saturday night.
PKC, we are all in agreement here that the proper thing is for the AR to signal it, and if need be the center will wave him down. The question though was what you do when the AR doesn't want to make that signal. In that case, the suggestion is that they make a discreet signal to the center. The goal is to get the information to the center guy. An AR who doesnt have the confidence to raise a flag to get a PK called - regardless of how strongly or frequently he is told to do do in the pregame - will usually feel OK about making a discreet signal.
Oh I understand exactly what you're saying deep-throat, but I'm concerned that it may just compound the problem. If you have found it to be helpful in the develpment of your AR's, then go for it. I assume that you would only use this technique a few times with any given AR, as a way to wean him off of his hesitation to signal fouls. Otherwise I think it would be a bad habit to instill. In any event, we agree that ultimately we want to get this AR to a point where he is confident enough to signal what he sees and let the chips fall where they may. If the "discreet signal" helps in the development process, I can't argue with success. You've offered an option for how to deal with the effects of the problem, while I was focusing more on identifying the cause.
Absolutely, and we are in agreement. The "discreet signal" suggestion is only recommended when the AR doesn't have the confidence - due to age/lack of experience etc - to make the call correctly. Hopefully once he has done so a couple of times and sees that his center is taking that info gladly, he will then develop the confidence to do it overtly from then on.