Question Number: 24139

Mechanics 10/11/2010

RE: Competitive Under 12

Erica of Madison, WI USA asks...

U12 Classic Boys game...I didn't have an AR and didn't seen the Offside infraction.

My eyes were on the player with the ball and I was running down the field (I was about 5 yards ahead of the ball.) When the 20 yard forward pass was made, I followed the ball with my eyes and kept running. When the 2nd offensive player (Black team) received the pass, the 2nd-to-last defender (Orange team) seemed to be on level with the Black player. I let the play continue.

First, the Orange Coach started to yell for offside. Then, the Black coach yelled at me too. I let the play continue until the ball went out for a throw-in. Both coaches continued to rant for the entire 15-30 seconds of play, until the Black coach yelled out 'I was all the way back here and even I could see that one!'

(I'd been yelled at for a good portion of the game, so I blew my whistle and told both coaches to meet me at mid-field.) The Black coach (the call would've been against his team) continued to rant. The Orange coach got quiet. I told them to file a report if they had a problem with the reffing, but the play was done and I was going to continue the game.

At this point, could I have even called the offside infraction? Both coaches agreed upon it, but is it even appropriate to do, when you didn't see it (I'm willing to admit that it is likely to have occurred.)

The coaches, parents & a few players continued to yell the remainder of the game.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Your league puts you into an impossible situation - reffing a competitive game without assistants. Then the coaches yell at you when you don't see something. And they wonder why the league doesn't have enough referees to go around? Perhaps if the referees they had were treated better, fewer of them would quit and more referees would join up.

You can't call what you can't see. That's a simple fact. You seem to have handled the situation as well as you could. Both coaches were treading the line of being dismissed from the field; you managed to keep going.

I have a couple of concerns about your descriptions. First, you say that when Black received the ball, he seemed to be even with Orange. The determination of offside position is made wheen the ball is kicked, not when it is received. Did you take note of the position of the players earlier?

Second, you note that coaches, parents and a few players continued to yell at you. This illustrates why the supposed adults on the sidelines cannot be allowed to act like children - it inflames the players as well.

I would suggest you ask a respected colleague to watch one of your games, to see if you are allowing too much bad behavior. If you stop the behavior earlier, with a few cautions (warnings for coaches) or even dismissals, you will have set the tone for the game. Of course you can't caution or dismiss parents directly, but you can tell the coach that unless the behavior improves - or unless a particularly obnoxious parent leaves - that the game will be abandoned.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Erica
One of the key skills that you need to develop is positioning. When you are on your own without the help of assistants then it is important to be in a position that has the ball in view and also where play is going. Being ahead of the ball and looking back to watch the ball is not a good position as it means looking away constantly to look for offside and other infractions off the ball.
Once you have made your decision then stick with it. If you decided it was not offside from what you seen then so be it. You cannot go back and award a free kick because of the intervention of coaches.
As regards dealing with 'shouting in' that is a skill that you are going to have to develop. The reason it happens is that the 'shouters' believe that they are influencing the decision making of the referee. That's a signal they pick up from uncertainty, body language, decision making etc of the referee. Strong referees rarely get this as they project a strong, in control demeanour and deal with matters swiftly and strongly even if they are wrong. Yes there will be calls for decisions but once it gets to a rant then deal with it. There are good resources out there on the wording that can be used by referees on Ask, Tell and Remove situations. You were convinced here by both coaches that it was offside. You did not see it so that's all that counts. I would simply tell them that I am on my own watching play and I can't simply watch everything (even with good positioning). I would tell them that the games does not need their intervention and that you will take firm action should there be a repeat.