Question Number: 23150

Other 4/20/2010

RE: All Under 15

Todd Wendorf of Marysville, PA United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 23132

I am a referee, coach and former player. I agree wholeheartedly with your advice that there is no limitation on the number of 'defenders' in the penalty area during a goal kick...however, I do not entirely agree with your assessment that stationing some defenders in the area is not a smart idea.

At the higher age groups, I would concur. However, with the wee-littles and even up to U13, having the sweeper or central back stationed at the penalty spot can prevent an easy goal for an opponent who intercepts a poorly kicked/placed goal kick.

Interestingly, a few years back I remember seeing the US Mens goalkeeper nearly give up a goal on an errant punt that his opponent was able to deflect back toward the goal.

As a U10/11 coach, I always insisted on having either a back take the goal kick or putting a back in front of the goal to protect against an unlucky kick.

Regards,

Todd

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

'Some' defenders is an imprecise term. Having a a kicker and the goalkeeper is 'some'. Having another defender back hopefully to prevent some of the errant and unfortunate kicks, miskicks and bounces common to U-little soccer is not a bad idea. But having more than three or four defenders in the PA starts to get a bit crowded.

I suspect my colleagues and I were thinking more of games where the defenders are in the penalty area not because they have a purpose and a job assigned by the coach, but because they don't know where else to be (having seen a great deal of this myself). In those instances, too many defenders in the PA results in a number of retakes because the ball hits them, or they want to 'help' it out of the PA. In those cases, having too many defenders in the PA is not such a grand idea.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I agree that with younger players, an extra player in the penalty area might be a good idea. But having too many players there is not useful. U10's generally play small-sided games, with about 5 or 6 players per side. If you have the goalkeeper, the kicker, plus another defender in the area, there are at most 3 of your players to receive the ball - while all of their players are waiting for it. Odds are, your team will soon be defending again.