Question Number: 16340

League Specific 8/17/2007

RE: Rec Under 9

Amy of Atlantic Mine, MI USA asks...

Is there slide Tackling and if not how should we call it and is a free kick for offsides direct or indirect?

Answer provided by Referee Jon Sommer

You say you are a referee......PLEASE retake you course because this is a painfully easy question (particularly the free kick for offside). do not go out on a field with such gaps in your knowledge

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Check your local rules for U9 play - some leagues only use indirect free kicks at that level for any offense - and they may or may not have offside. Slide tackling - which isn't anything defined in the Laws of the Game - usually means a player is sliding on the ground trying to tackle the ball away from an opponent. It is a perfectly legal play on the ball, and is often a thing of great beauty when done well. A player who is sliding out of control and who uses such manuevers to ram into opponents however is not a thing of beauty, and needs to be called for the offense and the misconduct. Don't let any referee or coach tell you "sliding tackling" is illegal. It is not. The result of the 'slide tackle' might be, but not the slide itself.

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Occasionally leagues in the USA prohibit "slide tackles", but you will have to look to your league rules to find out exactly how they define that and how they deal with that if they do.

I know for a fact that in all other circumstances sliding is a legal method of tackling for the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Atlantic Mine? I wasn't aware there was soccer up there. The only league I'd heard of in the UP was in Marquette. (My son graduated from Tech last year.)

Is this a recreational league that takes care of training its own referees? That may explain why you don't know that the restart for offside is a indirect kick.

As my colleagues have remarked, many u-little leagues prohibit slide tackling because it can be very dangerous if not done correctly. You will have to check your rules to see. It also is banned in some adult "for-fun" leagues, because everyone has to go to work on Monday and would rather do that without broken bones.

One problem with a ban on slide tackling is that it reinforces the myth, "You can't play the ball while you're on the ground."