Question Number: 17139

Law 3 - Number of Players 10/6/2007

RE: Select Under 15

Dave Eberle of Clarkston, Washington USA asks...

Substitutions

Our select youth league has the policy that "substitutions may be made, with the consent of the referee during any stoppage in play."

The Guide to Procedures states that the referee "does not permit the substitution if the substitution is not prepared to enter the field or if the team in possession on the restart is prepared to restart quickly."

I find that most select youth teams usually do not restart quickly, so I normally allow substitutions for the opponents. Is that a sound practice?

Thank you in advance for your words of wisdom.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

If your league has the "any stoppage in play" standard, then your subs should be conducted strictly in accordance with Law 3. Try to establish a habit of not allowing substitutions (except for injury stoppages) unless the substitutes were already up at the halfway line and ready to come in when the stoppage occurred - NOT if they jump up and run there AFTER the stoppage occurs. If you can do this, I promise it will make all subbing decisions very easy and the coaches will adjust (perhaps grumbling) and the game will be better served. You are correct to not allow the substitution if the team in possession wishes to have a quick restart, but you must allow it at the next available opportunity.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

You will find following the procedure in Law 3 exactly will streamline things, allow for faster substitutions and generally be better all round. There is substantially more written about how to undo poorly administered substitutions than is written in the Law about how to do them in the first place. The reason for that is referees who insist in doing substitutions like American football and basketball. Those methods only work in those games.

Regards,

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