Question Number: 13391

Law 18 - Common Sense 7/22/2006

RE: competive Under 14

james Lappan of kingston, ontario canada asks...

why do the refree make the kids go down on one knee when there is an injured player . And is there an rule for this

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

There is no rule on this. Possibly the referee wants to the kids to rest and relax. Or to make sure they do not get into any nonsense.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

The take a knee is from coaches, not referees. It is peculiar to Canada and the USA.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

There's no rule. It's traditional and common courtesy.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI james ,
while we can respect the fairplay concept and the younger the youth the more concerned we are at bumbs and scrapes it is a practise that can be frustrationg if the players who fall down are not hurt and the attacking team is stopped because it is expected when your opponents go down to a knee trying to make the referee STOP play!

I think it started as a tradition or courtesy gesture and some myth now floats about that it is a law or rule of some sort.

Only if a referee stops play is play stopped.

I had a player fall and his teammates at the urging of his coach were droping to their kness expecting the oposition to do the same except the opposition had not heard of this lame practise and kept on going.

This of course irritated the coaches of both teams.

I suggested to the coaches that unless a decapitation occurs in behind play to let me handle whether play is required to be stopped . I look carefully at players when they go down and quickly ask can you continue. I stop play for head or serious looking collisions or when I do not get an appropriate response. Once the whistle goes then if the players want to take a knee and rest or get water that is fine but as a practise I think it is unneccessary and even at times unfair even if we acknowledge the safety concerns for why it began!
Cheers