Soccer Officiating Tips for Week Two

Hey all, here are some tips to help you get into the playoffs and look good while you do it.

First off, we have to talk about fouls. The lowdown is that we HAVE to call more of these. The past few times I have been out there, watching or playing, there were a lot of missed fouls, or mis-enforced fouls. I've seen some problems on the field brewing, just due to the fact that we are not calling, or missing calls. Below are some tips to hopefully avoid incidents in your games.

1. CALL THE FOULS THAT PLAYERS HATE! The biggest one is fouls from behind. WHENEVER someone has the ball, and someone else clips, kicks, attempts to trip, or just plain old doesn't get the ball. Blow it dead. Unless there is an OBVIOUS advantage (e.g., a breakaway) call this foul. There is no other foul that will get players mad at each other. If we call this, we wont have to worry about any retaliation later in the game. Here is a good rule to go by:

   If contact was made, and the ball was not played, it is an automatic foul. IF the contact was blatant, or dangerous or reckless in any way, it is an automatic YELLOW card.

   No questions asked about this, if someone takes a swipe at someone else's legs, and trips him from behind, blow the whistle, and give him a yellow. There is no need for that in the game.

2. TALK TO THE PLAYERS. I think I'm getting my point across here, and I have seen improvement. Keep it up.

   A few things to say to help control the game is, "slow down", or "Take it easy." This is especially important when players are coming in to challenge one another. But one thing that is NOT a good thing to say is "#33, I don't want to see that again, or I'll give you a card…" This statement doesn't look good on your part, first of all, it locks you into having to give that player a card the next time he, or anyone else does that…which you may not want to. And secondly, if a player did something to warrant a card, why not just give it to him the first time, and not have to worry about a 'next time?'

3. WATCH THE PLAYERS, AND SEE WHOM CAUSES TROUBLE. Now, as referees, we have the best seats in the house to watch the games. And as in all sports, there are players who stand out, both as stars, and as troublemakers. These two types of players usually hate each other. It's our job to protect that star, because the troublemaker is going to be gunning for him. There is a rule in the book that warrants a yellow card for 'persistently infringing the laws of the game.' This means that if there is one player, that commits foul after foul, you can give him a card. I would strongly recommend you doing this. If you have an IM player out there, and he continues to commit hard fouls, after about the second one, give him a warning. Not like the one above, but call him out, saying "#31, ENOUGH!" Hopefully he'll get the point. If he doesn't change his play, well, the next one, card him. If that still doesn't do the trick, give him the second yellow. There is no reason he should be playing, because it's obvious that he's just out to hurt people. Protect the players, priority number one.
4. WATCH BEHIND THE PLAY. After the play, things still might go on. Try to ball watch less, especially as the trail official. One big thing is, while the ball is flying through the air, don't watch the ball, it's in the sky, it'll come back down…don't worry. Instead, watch players, either the grouping that just kicked the ball, or the group near the drop zone. As officials we are people watchers, not just ball watchers. Watch just off the ball, there is a lot of trash talk, and chippy stuff happening behind the play, that we need to stop.
5. Finally, since we talked about fouls so much, we'll go over the mechanics for them one more time. First of all, if you call a foul, blow your whistle, LOUD. Then point with a 45-degree angle in the direction of the kick, voicing the color of the kick, and whether or not it's direct or indirect. If the foul warrants (a hard foul), blow your whistle, don't signal, and run straight to the point of the foul. Be ready to observe any retaliation. Then proceed with the free kick enforcement.

Now, let's talk about card administration. Here is a step-by-step manual on how to give a card.

1. Blow your whistle to indicate a stoppage of play.
2. Run to the spot of the foul to prevent any retaliation
3. Once this situation is under control, tell the kicking team to hold the kick
4. Back away from any group of players, and call the offending player to you, make him come to you, do not go to him.
5. Tell him why he is getting the card.
6. Then show the card, ABOVE YOUR HEAD, for about 3 seconds.
7. Backpedal to your position, keeping all the field in view
   1. DO NOT shove a card in a players face
   2. DO NOT hold the card in front of you
   3. DO NOT attempt to scold a player as you give a card

   Just simply show the card above your head, hold it straight. If you have to give a second yellow to a player, first show the yellow card, then show the red.

Again, I hope this helps, just try to keep control as we head into the playoffs, single elimination tournaments get really heated, some players out there will think this is the world cup. Just keep a close eye out. Good luck and have fun!

Any questions, let me know

Jeremy
valentine@umich.edu

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Please send comments or questions to recsports@umich.edu.

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