Question Number: 20256

Character, Attitude and Control 10/14/2008

RE: Competitive Under 12

Howard Egan of Capitola, CA USA asks...

Hi

As a coach this season, I have been struggling with a rash of incorrect offside calls. I'm also a ref, and I know what is and is not offside, so it's frustrating when I see an onside player get called offside. I'm coaching a U11 Girls division 3 comp team.

Anyhow the common theme of the truly egregiously bad calls is that they are always on the left side of the field ... farthest away from the AR.

I would never assume I can see better than an AR unless the play is literally right in front of me, so I'm only focusing on these. In several cases players have been called offside when they were just inside the defending half of the field at the time the ball was played. In other cases they were a few steps into the attacking half but several steps behind the 2nd to last defender at the time the ball was played. In all the cases the flag went up as soon as the player ran into an offside position .... well after the ball was played from deeper in our defensive half.

I assume possible reasons for this are, 1) AR not really level, 2) Bad Half-line marking, 3) AR Can neither hear or see the ball being played on the far side so he can't tell when it's ok for the player to make the run,

In thinking about it and with this age group ( a bit more bunched up than we'd like) , it is entirely likely that the AR is not able to detect when the ball is played and simply raises the flag.when the player runs into the offside position. Here's the real question, if the AR doesn't see or hear when the ball is played, should they even call offside?

In my experience, if you don't see it, you can't call it. I guess I'm asking from a ref perspective as well as a coach since I have to deal w/ both perspectives.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I think you have another factor to consider - in U12 games you're likely to be seeing brand new referees with little experience. Many leagues don't even have AR's until U14 or U16, because there aren't enough of them to go around.

The new AR's are eager to impress the referee by how quickly they can snap the flag up when something occurs. They don't take the time to consider whether or not the player was onside at the time the ball was kicked. They only see the player racing down the field, now ahead of everyone else, and the ball coming toward them.

If you get a chance to speak with the referee, you might inquire whether she is sure the AR is calling it correctly. Better to get them corrected before a bad habit is established. Of course as a referee, you know that any criticism by someone from the sideline is viewed with suspicion. Whatever you do, don't start your conversation with, 'I'm a referee too, and I think ...' That's a surefire way to be cut off without delay, because it's usually followed with '... and here's what you're doing wrong.'

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

I too coach, occasionally play and often referee so when you witness less than stellar performances, be it true or perceived as any opinion one might draw upon, we still must do better than say I walked a mile in those shoes and now I have his shoes and I am a mile away.

Consistent results are not achievable unless we provide a framework of effective monitoring and training. Only with focused efforts to dedication, quality assessing and mentoring do they have hope to become better officials.

Young aged referees or inexperienced ARs or referees of the older persuasion some who are parents never really played or are there for nothing more than fulfilling the requirements for a team to supply a referee to be allowed to play in the league at all. The wee ones do suffer the pains of learning their skills while the official's learn theirs as well.

While those of us who do work with the youth or newer referees and ARs try to instill confidence and attention to detail those prone to too quick flags or not able to process the picture freeze frame concepts of position to judge the later involvement are hopefully doing the best they can given their caliber of training .

The neutrality of an official, albeit integrity intact, do not prevent mistakes from occuring. I suggest to ARs that when in doubt you DO NOT wave it about. A late correct flag is far better than an early one so wait and see. But if the initial evaluation for position is flawed no decision that follows is likely going to shine brightly in the atta boy column. I watch errors at the top level for blunders that I have a hard time imagining I would make yet the pressure, speed of play or a brief loss of focus a bad angle and oops, there but for the grace of God go I!

My suggestion grit your teeth and reflect on the reality of making things better long term not in the immediate match. Dissent, interference and sanctions are likely the only thing that is likely to occur short term. If you record and offer input in the form of comment cards which leagues if they are proactive should make available to EVERYONE in the league. If those who THINK they see fault at least record things EVENTUALLY the amount of information collected serves a purpose if it highlights a consistent theme.

Trying to point out flaws in the midst of a highly competitive or emotionally charged match is simply in my opinion a bad idea. Effective calm, post game reviews in an comfortable stress free situation with video review and a sense of let's make things better not find fault and blame.

The difficulty in any given match is your immediate views are simply not going to change the reality of the decisions. If the ARs are weak then do not play offside traps because you accept their limited understanding it is a risk to do so. On attack try angling your striker across the field at the far defender then turn and go .

There is no guarantee the ARs or referee will be up to the task but as we are fond of saying here, a referee or AR is a match condition that you must adapt to. You can not change either their knowledge or their eyesight to your view of the way things are to be. No matter how correct you are or perceive you are!

I too feel I have a good handle on offside and I occasionally resent the inept or useless criticism that coaches, players and fans try to foster on me. They likely think they are correct, well tough for them I know that when I make a decision I am 100% convinced it was required. I will be humbled when the video shows me otherwise but until then. Play on!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Have you spoken with the referee assignor about what you have witnessed? If not, why not? If so, follow up and see what was discovered.

Have you offered to work as a referee with some of the people you think are calling lines incorrectly in order to share your experience and knowledge?

Have you asked your local referee association to have a session on how to properly call offside and to make sure the club(s) involved in your team's schedule are invited? It's a simple Law, but one that takes some experience and extra coaching to do correctly. All that practice will come in handy.

As a former coach and player, one of the reasons I took up the whistle was to try and improve the level of refereeing in my area. I quickly discovered how much I didn't know, and have spent the last many years trying to correct that deficiency and to bring others along with me on the knowledge train. You can too.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 20272