Question Number: 16807

Law 9 - The Ball in and out of Play 9/20/2007

RE: Rec, Traveling Under 11

Laura K Newell of Worland, WY United States asks...

We have a parent that is always telling the kids to kick the ball out of bounds everytime they get in trouble near their own goal. Can penalties or fouls be assessed for kicking it out of bounds too many times?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Laura this seems an odd thing for a parent to be doing unless he is the coach. Even though there is no penalty for kicking the ball off the field some referees may consider this a time wasting tactic used in killing off a close match. It is rather an unsophisticated method of play and is a little used tactic once players gain even minimun skills.

Your coach should be concerned about one of his parents usurping his authority during a match. The parent should confine his remarks to praise of his child's and team's good play rather than seeking ways to negatively influence the match.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

No! It's not great tactics, but its allowed. The coach should talk with this guy so his team will stop giving away precious possession of the ball for no reason.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Ah yes the old saying, "When in doubt kick it out!" saves the day again. Tactically this works for little soccer tykes under great pressure by more skilled opponents for a brief while in their development as a player. Occasionally the need to get the ball out into touch or a long hoof out allows recovery time and a temporary release of pressure but it is very very poor condition to prolong or maintain as a good defending tactic on a constant basis. Players need to maintain possession as much as possible and while we minimize risks within our defending third it is not reasonable to always kick a ball out and expect to get any better as a skilled player.

As a Coach I would have issues with parents screaming instructions. That job is my job or ast coach only less vocal and within the technical area! Their job is to praise and cheer or if I assign a responsibility to help out as instructed. An example is for a parent to hold a stop watch and click it on and off to see how much actual time their child actually has the ball in his or her possession in the game. Or record on a field map where we are losing ball possession or write down the number of turnovers or who shoots from where etc... this way they can tactically help the team instead of confusing them with screams that generally distract and upset more then anything else.

I have on a few occasions requested a parent refrain from screaming because they were literally causing the players, his own as well as the opposition to stop playing and cringe as he lunged almost into the field. I generally ask the coaches to control the touchlines but the players deserve to play the game in fun and unhindered by the overbearing adults.

There is no law per say on kicking a ball into touch to stop play, it is a legal use of time delay. That said the USB behavior begins to creep into my thoughts when I see a keeper with the ball in his hand within his penalty punt the ball well out into touch into the surrounding forest knowing the ball must be recovered by going through a 3 foot high stream first.
Kick the ball out to get it away from an opponent or relieve pressure is not illegal but to to try my patience as referee will generally do a team little good! I add on ALL time and make a specific point of that. In one match I added 11 minutes which caused much consternation among the league that I should have the audacity to do so.
The good thing about being free to referee to the laws of the game unlike those pressured to ignore things is we are true to that game at that moment!
Cheers