Or in this case, lack of sportswomanship. Last Tuesday PM I worked a high school varsity girls' match using the two-man system with another referee who is USSF-certified, too. In my partner's end, the white 'keeper makes a strong, courageous save and crushes one of her teammates. The referee tells the 'keeper to throw the ball out which she does. Then he blows the whistle and calls on the coach to tend to the player. I quickly ran down to him and reminded him that in high school rules, the team in possession gets an IFK if we stop play for an injury. I suggested that we simply give the ball to white for an IFK. He says (correctly) that we have to stay with the throw-in. I admonished him to make sure the blue player "does the right thing" and returns the ball to white. Well, she didn't. The 'keeper was standing 12-15 yds. from her goal waiting for the throw. Instead the thrower lofts it to a teammate who chips the 'keeper from 25 yds. out in the 30th minute of a 0-0 game. (The white team was devasted and gave up three more before the end of the half.) I thought to call a phantom foul before the shot, but didn't act quick enough (and there really wasn't anybody around her that I could claim was fouled). Any suggestions on how to handle such a situation?
You've just given a perfect example of why the dual-system can be such a nightmare for an official. You are stuck with his bad decisions, such as his not taking advantage of one of the few NFHS rules that I consider to be an improvement over FIFA's laws. As far as the player's failure to do the "sporting thing" with the restart, we recently debated this very scenario in another thread. As I recall, most of us came to the conclusion that at this level of play, we cannot take the place of the players' coaches and teammates in teaching them the value of sportsmanship, so long as what they did has lawful. I can tell you that if this scenario played out in my high school area, every coach in the league would yank those two young ladies from the field and would exhort the referee to find a way to nullify their own goal. Coaches (and athletic directors) around here have very long memories.
I am standing in southern California and clearly saw that the TI was foul! Wrong place! Or lifted her foot! As far as fixing it up afterwards, the one team could allow the other team a "free goal." But this remedy is beyone the referee's authority.
Nat, I gotta agree with what others have already said. I glanced over at your match from the Silver Lake boys match and that girl was clearly well onto the field when she made her throw. If I could see it from all the way in Kingston, I don't know how you could have missed it! Scott
Drop Ball.... just before the ball goes out of bounds, blow the whistle. A lot of the young/mid aged kids don't understand the total concept of sportsmanship as it relates to soccer. I didn't. I figured hey, its our throw in, they should have kicked it out further down field. Or, why should I kick the ball out of bounds if your player is hurt. If the ref thinks it's serious (I know that player's just acting anyway) he'll blow the whistle. But, kids today are more exposed to the traditions in soccer and the coaches can help make the kids more aware of traditional expressions of sportsmanship and encourage their practice. That's why unless I'm doing U16 or higher, I usually blow the ball dead where I can exhibt some control over the restart.
You mean your seeing eye dog barked? Everything happened deep in the other end of the field. I really felt helpless. An incident in the second half involving the coach gave me the feeling that the throw-in incident wasn't an accident. Live and learn.
Nat, if it WAS at your end (and assuming the keeper had kicked it out when she saw the injured player) is there any way to prevent having to whistle a foul throw. In other words, could you tell the thrower that you expect her to throw it to the keeper? Do we have any role in teaching soccer tradition? Jim
I would answer "yes" to both questions. I have done so in U12 and U14 matches. "Fair Play" and "For the Good of the Game" are more than just marketing slogans to me. One of the reasons I did not tweet a "foul" throw from my end was the practice I see frequently of Team A throwing the ball into a teammate who then hoofs it down to Team B, effecting the same result as simply throwing the ball to Team B. By the time the ball was in the air going towards the goal, it was too late.
As both a coach(high school) and player currently and having been an official I place the blame squarely on the coach. I had an injury situation in two games this week (one playing, one coaching) and I made sure to instruct my player (as a coach) what to do, luckily my team is smart enough to know this but I would not take any chances. On the team I play on I had to fake the throw three times and yell at one of our strikers because he couldn't figure out what I was doing! As an official in that situation I agree with the others and would have called a foul throw. Of course as te coach scored on I would have been going nuts screaming at the opposing coach for letting this happen!
B14 Div 1 match on the same field as the first scene. Blue goes down with leg cramps late in the game. Red kicks the ball out at midfield, in front of the team benches. For the ensuing throw-in I went over to where the Blue player is and told him that the "right thing" would be to be throw the ball to a Red defender "that way". With a quizzical look, the player points out that the Red defense is the other way. The players, coaches, bench, and I have a good laugh, the ball goes where it needs to go, and all is well. Cracking match, 2-2, with Blue scoring their goals in the final minute of each half.
Apparently, good sportsmanship can make you live longer or evolve better, or something. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/21/weekinreview/21WADE.html It's in our genes.