Question Number: 12622

Law 15 - Throw In 4/22/2006

RE: SISL Under 12

Debbie Penrod of O Fallon, IL st. clair asks...

I ref high school and USSF. In high school if a throw in does not enter the field of play it is awarded to the other team. What is the USSF call for this--the rule book does not say or I could not find it.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Debbie a throw-in is a restart of play after the ball has crossed either of the two longer field boundaries. So much for insulting your intelligence. No, I'll do it again...

Law 15 states the ball is in play immediately after it enters the field of play. So at that time play is restarted. There you have it. Say what??!

Play restarts when the ball enters the field, not until then. So if the ball does not enter the field play DOES NOT restart. As a referee you know once a restart of play is established, assuming it's the correct one, play can not restart any other way. So buried in there is the logic of it all... If there's no restart of play how is play restarted? Commensurate with the restart established by the ball leaving play. In other words the same team has another try and they keep trying until play restarts. Logic.

So if that's logic what was used to make up US High School rules?

Regards,