The Coin Toss

I was going to post this exact question.

I just saw it in a game played this past weekend. I can't remember which one but I watched the Man U v. West Ham, Tottenham v. Arsenal and Bolton v. Leeds games this weekend. It could also have been Bayern Munich v. Shalke or Kaiserslautern v. Hertha Berlin as I watched them too, but I'm thinking it was one of the EPL games.

Jeff, you out there? Is this something done commonly over there?

 

For one game I ARed, the CR gave the coin (in this case it was a US quarter) to the team that won the toss. This was an u10 game, at first they were totally confused by the idea. Then the kids got a big kick from it.

 

Two or three of the MLS centers do this, but since MLS insist on it being done in the locker room, no one ever gets to see it. Always felt not showing the coin flip took something away from the TV coverage of an MLS game.

 

I've seen a few refs "try" to do this. I think it's some carry over from some other sport; football. The notion is that having the players more directly involved in the coin toss removes any accusation of bias or unfairness in having the referee do the coin flip.

While good intentioned I don't think it serves any purpose and just creates more problems. One time, the ref gave the coin to a teenage girl to flip, and she didn't have a clue how to flip it and we spent time trying to teach her out to flip it, and it turned out to be more of a coin "drop."

I've found the captains could care less about winning the coin flip. Winning that kick off possession or picking the goal is not that tactical to the players, and they just want to get this ceremony over and play. I would say .01% of the captains take this seriously enough to question anything about the coin toss. This causes the refs to get more lax on fairness, and more briefly ceremonial, and once in a great while you have a player say something like, "I didn't see which side was heads" . . or "didn't he call tails?"

It's mostly ceremonial, if not traditional.

 

When there's wind involved, then it definitely makes a difference and sometimes fields can make a difference. Used to play on one that ran decidedly down hill one direction.

 

I have to disagree with Keith on a couple of things here. Firstly, it is certainly NOT a carry-over from football - it had been done that way in the UK, Italy, Germany and several other countries LONG before football was even heard off over there. Much more likely that football stole it from soccer. Also - at least in this country - players at the higher levels actually DO care about it, and DO want to win it. There are exceptions, but mostly they treat it seriously - as evidenced by the fact that they all know immediatley what they want to do if/when they win the toss - they dont stand there trying to make their mind up.

 

Maybe it did come from soccer, that's a moot point. But I disagree that players are serious about it or prepared. 95% of the time, at least in high school and adults, the players are not prepared to choose if they win the toss. They discuss it or have to think about it. Sometime we have this long pregnant pause while the captains figure out what they want, and usually a keeper-captain has the final say. Again, another reason it's more ceremonial.

How many kickoffs immediately become tactical into an attack and shot on goal? Most of the time there is many, many changes of possessions before a formidable attack is mounted. Sure there are exceptions, and given a "choice" you'd always prefer to have the kick off. But kicks off are almost like throw-ins. . they're just a means of starting the game and reasonable effort to maintain possession.

 

I think you're missing the point -- the KICKOFF isn't the tactical advantage, the DIRECTION of play is the tactical advantage.

Maybe you don't get as much wind out there in the Mountains affecting the play as we do here in the Midwestern "prairies", but I RARELY have teams take the kickoff in high school (the only place it's a choice anymore). They pick which end to defend depending upon the sun and wind. Two high schools have east-west fields and the sun is right just above the cross bar of the western goal -- it DEFINITELY affects the goal keepers on the eastern end for the first half. It's a HUGE tactical advantage to win the toss and defend the western end in the first half. Also, given that all the territory around here is pretty flat, whatever wind there is nearly always affects play, so it's a tactical advantage to have the wind at your back to start the game -- frequently with the games finishing after dark, the wind has let up by the second half.

Back when the USSF teams had a choice of kickoff or defend a goal, 95% of the time, the teams chose to defend a goal to have the TACTICAL advantage of which direction to be attacking the first half.

It is NOT ceremonial in the least bit. The only time I get any hesitation is when there's no wind, etc.

 

I guess it's a LONG off-season when the subject of the coin toss is such a hot topic! I agree with Kev here - the direction is important. And, again, I have to disagree with Keith. At least at the higher levels - the Pros - the teams do care, and the captains ALWAYS know what they want when they win the toss. And it does almost always depend on field/weather issues, or in some cases (I admit) superstition!

 

Keith, I think you are involved in some very low level soccer. I very much would like to win the cointoss when wind is present or the field is sloped.

 

I am also thinking about the angle of the sun and how it can seriously affect the way a keeper sees the ball..

 

yep, forgot about the sun.

 

taking another tack....

This may be a bit mundane, but is the preferred way of handling the toss? Do you catch the coin and flip it over on to your hand or wrist or let it drop to the ground?

...oh yea Happy New Year to all board participants

 

I agree, almost always they choose direction or which goal to defend. But your argument that they're always prepared and use all this tactical criteria is not reality. When there is no obvious wind or sun advantage, or any other very obvious teactical criteria, they are not prepared. I agree they "should" be, but the reality is they're not. If they changed the rule to be "the home team kicks off first half, and always in a north or east direction.. . .you wouldn't get many complaints. It's just not that tactical as you suggest.

The wind and sun seldom change that much in 30-45 minutes, so picking one doesn't preclude you're going to be faced with the reverse situation. The tactical element of this decision is very minute.

 

Tactial minutia

There is no argument that the sun and wind, or some field condition is tactical. . . the point is, it's minutia, and usually moot when the second half starts and your orginal tactic now reverse on you. I think the players realize this as well, and just feel this is not like winning the coin toss on a NFL overtime.

This is not about "low level" games, Frans, (thanks for the attempted put-down). I find that the younger, youth players usually are told what to pick if they win the toss, by the coach, otherwise they'd be confused. The older youth, high school, and adult captains usally come out unprepared, and they discuss the decision between themselves. In MY experience, it's in the minority when the decision is immediate after winning the coin toss. Added to this is the advantage of winning the coin toss at the beginning of the game. This is why I suggest it's mostly ceremonial. Its always a non-debateable situation, with very rare dispute or disagreement. Few players even look when you show them which is "heads" and which is "tails." They take you at your word, because they don't really care. Given a choice (winning the coin toss), is always an opportunity for some tactical decision; most serious players/coaches, will take every opportunity to be tactical about any decision afford them or any opportunity. But the advantage of the choice of direction tactic is not as tactical as most of you are making it out to be. Seldom does the wind change or die down, or the sun angle change that much in 30-45 minutes. It's really a moot topic, if not insignificant.

 

I had an assessor make a HUGE deal out of the coin toss once. He felt that the way you handled yourself before the game sent a big message to the players about what they could get away with.
He hated letting the coin hit the ground....could land on its side and now you look foolish.....
The less said the better........dont dig a hole by saying"I wont accept this or that"
Make sure you ask what half the toss winner wants to ATTACk........etc etc..
I thought he was a big fanatical but, hey I know better then to argue with those guys.

 

I agree, but this has nothing to do with what we're talking about. Now you're talking about the referee's involvement in the coin toss. I agree it should always be professional and brief.

I practice the "call it in the air, if I drop it, we'll flip it again" standard of not letting the coin hit the field. I wouldn't say this is policy or USSF SOP, but I find it preferred among senior referees. I think it's more professional, relieves possibility of conflict (even hitting another person before hitting the ground. . . opportunity for grief).

Lecturing, giving advice at the coin toss, is old taboo, and most understand this, but the newer referees are still learning and we need to remind them. This new "attack" verbage is confusing, especially to younger players. I still ask "goal or ball" in high school, or "which goal to defend" in USSF . . the assessor can't hear me, and as an Emeritus . . I don't really care ;o)

 

Re: Tactial minutia

I suppose this part of the debate belongs somewhere else on the board, but since it is here, I'll comment. Over the course of a 90 minute game, the angle of the sun crosses 22.5 degrees across the globe - that's a significant change, particularly early in the spring and late in the fall when the horizon is far less than 180 degrees. Any experienced keeper over the age of 12 will have a very definite opinion as to which end they want to defend if the sun is going to be an issue. Woe be to the captain who doesn't consult with his keeper on this point.

As for the original question in this thread, I've seen it done many times and I think it can add a nice touch of class at the beginning of the game. I put it in the same category as handing the ball to the striker of the team that will have first touch, rather than the CR placing the ball on the center spot himself. Takes 5 more seconds but looks nice.