Rules

AYSO REGION 110 HILLSBOROUGH
a nonprofit corporation dedicated to youth soccer

TO: Hillsborough AYSO Referees – U8, U10, U12 and U14

RE: Rule Clarifications

The following issues occasionally arise during the season. Often, coaches and/or referees exhibit some confusion as to how the laws apply to these circumstances. Please take some time to review the following notes. If all referees apply the laws in a consistent manner, it will make our jobs easier and avoid confusion among the players and coaches.

Use of Arms for Protection

Other than the goalkeeper, players are not allowed to deliberately use their arms to prevent the ball from striking their chest. This is true for both boy and girl players. In soccer, the “hand” includes the entire arm up to the shoulder joint. Therefore, using the arms to deliberately deflect the ball is an infraction resulting in a direct free kick for the opposing team.

To the extent that this rule is questioned at all, it occurs in U10 girls and up. However, there are no special rules for the girl players. Girls are not allowed to deliberately protect their chests with their arms and thus use their arms to deflect the ball.

The only circumstance where players (boys or girls) may use the hands and/or arms for protection is when the action is both instinctive and protective (other than boys protecting the groin area when forming a “wall” on a direct free kick). In those circumstances, the player is “reacting” as opposed to “deliberately” handling the ball. When this occurs, the referee must make a judgement immediately and either whistle the infraction or signal to “play on” . The following guidelines may be of assistance in making this judgment:

To be instinctive, the player must have no other option but to protect him or herself, as they will not have had time to move out of the way or turn their body. The referee should consider the distance of the player from the ball when it was kicked, the angle of the kick, and the speed of the kick. Usually, it is fairly obvious if the player cannot even attempt to get out of the way.
If there is time for a conscious reaction, the player must attempt to avoid the ball or play it with the body in a legal manner (ie: with the head or with the arms directly against the side of the body). For example, if the ball is kicked from thirty feet away and the player stands still, protects the chest with the arms and deflects the ball with the arms, that would most likely indicate a deliberate intention to play the ball with the arms. It is your judgment call, but always keep in mind the fact that the action must be both instinctive and protective.
As another example, assume a ball is twenty feet away from the player towards whom it is kicked. The player jumps up in the air, protects the chest and deflects the ball with the arms. This is clearly deliberately playing the ball with the hands, as there was no instinctive, protective reaction to a sudden physical threat. In fact, the player deliberately sought to play the ball, even jumping in the air to reach the ball.

The referee always makes the final judgement. However, please keep in mind that younger, less experienced players will instinctively protect themselves more often that older players. Therefore, allowing some latitude might be appropriate in the U10 divisions; especially at the beginning of the season. Where an infraction is whistled in U10 at the season’s outset, the referee should quickly explain and demonstrate (literally takes 2-3 seconds) to the penalized player the lawful technique for a chest trap (i.e., hands and arms pinned to the torso), and at halftime or after the game explain the same points to the coaches. In the U12 and U14 divisions, there should be no latitude given, as, by that time, the players should be well aware of this rule.

Yellow and Red Cards (Note: Not applicable to U8 Divisions)

In the referee training session, we were taught the purpose and use of the caution (yellow card) and send-off (red card) in helping to ensure the safety and fairness of the game.

However, we generally do not caution or send off players in Under 10. If necessary, the same objective can be achieved by counseling the player and/or quietly issuing a verbal caution directly to the player and informing the coach of your action. Should that prove ineffective and you feel a send off is necessary, you should consider offering the coach the option of pulling the player and playing short voluntarily. Otherwise, the coach is faced with losing the player on a red card for the remainder of the game anyway, and losing the player for at least one more week because of the formal send off. Do not allow a substitution in this rare situation, because the lesson will not be learned.

In U12 and U14 divisions, cautions and send offs should be managed without special exceptions and as discussed in our training sessions.

Manageable problems with coaches and spectators should be reflected in sportsmanship point deductions. However, in the unlikely event of a major issue with a spectator or a coach which needs immediate action, a referee may formally caution or send off the offending coach or spectator. However, out of respect to coaches and spectators, a referee should not “show” red or yellow cards to such sideline participants. Since issuing a caution or send off to a sideline participant is a serious matter, any such action should be reported to the Chief Referee who will refer the matter to the Board of Directors to determine if further sanctions are appropriate.

Keep the following points in mind before taking any such action:

Spectators are the responsibility of the head coach. Therefore, if a referee feels that spectators need to be controlled, the coach should be asked to handle the situation.

Fortunately, major problems with a coach are infrequent and usually the result of a coach’s misunderstanding of the ethics of coaching youth sports and the protocol expected of AYSO volunteers. However, to the extent that action needs to be taken, keep in mind the points discussed in our training sessions; particularly actions which can be taken avert confrontations. Often, coaches need only be reminded of the importance of the image he or she projects to the players and parents and of the coach’s responsibility to set a proper example.

Deliberately Kicking the Ball to Your Goalkeeper (Note: Not applicable to U8 Divisions)

There is occasionally confusion regarding the penalty for a goalkeeper fielding the ball with his hands when it has been intentionally kicked to him by a teammate. (To simplify this explanation, the term “his” will be used in place of “his/her”, and it is assumed that the goalkeeper is, in these instances, in his penalty area.) Please note the following:

There is no penalty under any circumstances when the ball is fielded by the goalkeeper with his hands if the ball comes off a teammate’s knee, head or chest. There is a possible infraction only if it comes off the teammate’s foot or shin.

If a teammate kicks the ball directly to his own goalkeeper, the goalkeeper is always allowed to play the ball with his feet.

If a teammate kicks the ball directly to his goalkeeper, and the goalkeeper fields it with his hands, the referee will immediately make the determination whether the action was intentional. If the referee deems it unintentional, no whistle is blown, and play proceeds. If the referee deems it intentional, a whistle is blown. In that situation, the only penalty is an indirect free kick from the spot where the ball was handled by the goalkeeper. If that spot is inside the goal area, the ball is placed on the six yard line at the point nearest where it was handled by the goalkeeper.

There is no other penalty for this infraction.

Please remember that, once outside the penalty area, a goalkeeper handling the ball is an infraction resulting in a direct free kick for the opposing team no matter how the ball came into the goalkeeper’s hands.

Charging the Goalkeeper

AYSO safety guidelines are quite strict and clearly prohibit charging the goalkeeper. This is especially important in the U8 and U10 Divisions and very important in the U12 and U14 Divisions. Players should not be afraid to play goalkeeper, and nothing scares the younger players more than seeing the keeper charged. So, it is important to teach this rule early on in their development as soccer players.

In The U8, U10 and U12 Divisions, the ball is out of play if any part of the goalkeeper’s body is touching the ball; even if it is only one hand. When that occurs, offensive players are not allowed to attempt to kick the ball. Infractions should be whistled immediately, and a verbal warning should be given to the offending player. If the same player repeats the offense, the referee should, depending on the circumstances, seriously consider giving that player a yellow card.

A judgement call should be made in the situation where the goalkeeper and an offensive player are both going for the ball at the same time ( a “50-50” ball). For example, assume both are the same distance from the ball, and the goalkeeper dives forward to grab it. Unless, the offensive player is absolutely sure that he or she can make a clean kick without touching the goalkeeper or hitting the goalkeeper with the ball, the offensive player should not move to kick the ball. This falls under the interpretation which holds that the ball should not be struck if it is close to the goalkeeper’s arms; as the goalkeeper is making a deliberate move to control the ball. In other words, even though the goalkeeper is not actually touching the ball, if it is readily apparent that the goalkeeper will be touching it within a split second (before the attacker can safely play the ball), then the ball should not be struck. In these situations, the benefit of the doubt should always go to the goalie in U8 and U10 and only somewhat less so in U12 and U14.

Entering and Leaving the Field

Coaches are not allowed to enter the field of play during a game unless specifically invited by the referee. There are no exceptions to this rule. Newer coaches often do not understand this, and often believe they have a duty to enter the field to assist an injured player once the referee stops play to assess the injury. Should this happen, diplomatically advise them during halftime or after the game not to repeat this conduct. Also, do not allow the coach to give tactical instructions to his team when he enters the field, invited or uninvited, to attend to an injured player.

If there is a contentious situation on the field (for example, an argument or altercation), an uninvited coach’s presence might have undesirable consequences. The referee must control such volatile situations, and the assistant referees (or the other referee in a dual control game) must assist by keeping coaches and bench players away from the scene.

Also, players may not enter or leave the field without the permission of the referee, except in the ordinary course of play (e.g., to take a throw-in or corner kick, or to retrieve a ball which has gone out of play). Permission is implicit when substitutions are made at quarter breaks.

Quarter Breaks

Please remember that the quarter breaks are for substitutions only. Players may not leave the field unless they are being replaced by a substitute. For example, players are not supposed to leave the field for water or to be coached, and they should not congregate around the coach.

However, in U8 and U10, player rotations are often complex. As a result, this usually results in most of the players gathering around the coach for their new assignment whether we like it or not. To be realistic, this type of congregating is pretty much unavoidable, and the best we can do is attempt to keep the process as short as possible.

Since the break is only for substitutions and rotations, it should be quite short. Usually, problems occur only when the coaches take too long to rotate players. Even though the rotations can be quite comprehensive (especially in U10), all coaches should have their rotations set before the game (as in….. it should be on the line-up card which they give you at the beginning of the game). They should not be making these decisions during the break unless injuries or other unforeseen events have forced this to occur. If you feel the coach is taking too long to decide positions, try to politely move them along so as to avoid delays.

Fighting (Note: Not applicable to U8 Divisions)

Should a fight occur on the field, the players involved should be immediately red carded. The minimum additional sanction for a red card is expulsion from the following game, but more severe sanctions may be given after the situation is reviewed by the chief referee and the chief coach.

If players are fighting, you should not determine who is right or wrong. You should simply deal with all involved parties equally. Please understand that no fighting is to be tolerated under any circumstances. Repeated infractions can result in players and / or a team being expelled from the league.

Also, as noted above, AYSO rules state that coaches are never allowed on the field during game time unless specifically invited by the referee. In other words, if there is an altercation, the referees should try to stop the fighting without the help of the coaches. A coach’s presence on the field might worsen the situation, so they should not be allowed to enter the field unless you feel their assistance is needed.

Questions??? Please call Mike McNally (347-8958) or Andrew Levin (342-7575). Thanks for your assistance.

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