Question Number: 20015

League Specific 9/20/2008

RE: Conpetitive High School

Dave of Clarkston, Washington USA asks...

Two High School Questions:

1. Obvious Opportunity to Score. Is it a good practice to apply the 4 D's described in the USSF ATR (12.37) to similar situations in high school matches?

2. Late arriving team. In a recent high school match, the visiting team showed up 5 minutes before kick-off and wanted 25 minutes to warmup. Our state-level rules booklet does not address this issue and I did not see it in the NFHS Rules Book. What is the best way to handle this type of sitution when there is no game manager or the game manager doesn't know what to do?

Thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

1. Even in the strange rules of high school soccer I would assume the 4 D's should apply.
2. There should be some rule somewhere regarding this. I would think 25 minutes is excessive especially if the other team objects. If there is no rule I would tell the coach we're starting the game no more than 10 minutes after the scheduled start

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

1. Absent any other rules, the concepts would apply.

2. No league rules? I'd apply common sense. Maybe the team was held up in a traffic jam in the construction zone. But I was told to be there for a 4:00 start, and I made it. We're starting at or near 4:00. If the other team shows up at 3:55, I'd be slow in getting any check-in procedures completed, take my time with the KumBaYah good-news sportsmanship speech, and in general not rush things for them. But we'd be taking the field at maybe 4:05 or 4:07 - not 4:20. Then again, maybe the best way to handle this situation is to refuse any more HS games in this league until they get their act together. You can bet no football or basketball game in HS would be starting 20 minutes late!