Question Number: 15150

Law 11 - Offside 4/10/2007

RE: Rec. and Competitive Other

Larry Stone of Roselle, IL USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 15133

Following up the offside question in 15133 as well as my own experience as the head referee of a rec. program with lots of brand-new youth referees every year, I have reached the opinion that USSF training (at least in my area) does a poor job of teaching referees how to effectively make the offside decision. Despite all the talk of the nuts and bolts of the offside law, they never tell the new AR how to actually do it. I know you talk a lot about when to judge offside position but the fact that there are specific times to judge offside position (touches by the attacking team, of course) seems to elude far too many referees.

When I run the line, every time the attacking team touches the ball, I look to see if anyone is in an offside position. If there is not, then I don't even need to think about offside until the next touch as everyone is legal to participate. On the other hand, if at a touch I see an attacker in an offside position, I now "tag" him as ineligible until the next opportunity to judge offside position (control by the defense can be viewed as a special judging of offside position that by law makes all attackers eligible - in fact, as an advanced concept, we should be thinking of it as judging eligibility to participate, not judging offside position, since there are a number of times when a player can be in an offside position yet by law is eligible to participate - besides defensive control, there are the excepted restarts: throw-ins, goal kicks, and corner kicks).

Putting the emphasis on when to judge eligibility to participate helps make clear some of the oddball stuff that confuses far too many referees. For instance, the throw-in that deflects off a defender on the way to an offside-positioned attacker. At the moment of the throw-in (and equally applicable to the goal kick and corner kick), we have a touch by the attacking team (the thrower) but by law, all attackers are judged to be eligible to participate. Now the ball deflects off a defender. The deflection is, of course, not a time to judge eligibility so the status of the attackers does not change. They were eligible to participate before the deflection so of course they remain eligible to participate.

I've found when I explain offside to referees this way, the light bulb goes on. Thanks for listening.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Correct, but in the off chance the assistant is watching the last but one opponent, deciding who can't get involved, as he must do, and a defender is the last one to play the ball he isn't going to know this little tidbit. The referee MUST know this so the team can function correctly. If you don't inform the newbies of this there are going to be incorrect offside decisions based on this.

You're probably right about the training received so feel free to use the offside explained thing I wrote, it helps. There just isn't enough emphasis on professionalism these days, any help you give is greatly appreciated...

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I'll play Devil's Advocate here and tell you that, in my opinion, you are not helping the ARs. If you only look for players in offside position when there is an attacking touch, how are you keeping up with the next to last opponent or the ball wichever is closer to the opposing goal? By your scenario, I easily see an AR 20 yards out of position at an attacking touch and unable to correctly decide if anyone is in an offside position. I will agree with you that many referee sourses do an abysmal job with offside but looking back I see that, in my Grade 8 course, it was due to the instructor NOT keeping things simple. I likewise mentor young referees. My offside teaching is simple. First, stay even with next to last opponent or ball. Second, don't even think about making an offside decision unless the ball is played or touched by a teammate. Third, No offside in own half, goal kick, corner kick, throw-in. Fourth, make certain that a player in offside position is actively involved in play or leave your flag DOWN. 5. Offside does not reset unless opponent's control ball. They already understand it resets when another teammate touches the ball and when the ball goes out of play. They learn the first 3 and with time can learn 4. 5 takes away the nuances of a deflection. Your example of a deflection of a throw-in off a defender should not confuse an AR if he is well grounded in 1-3.

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

See Question: 15162