I caught part of a Ulittle game this weekend. I think it must have been U10 boys. On throw-ins, I heard the coach tell his boys to aim for the head of the opposing players. I guess under the new rule, any header garners an indirect free kick for the opposition? Did I interpret this correctly? I would think that just like with handling, any unintentional header when your head is in its natural position, including when your opponent chucks the ball at your head, should not be called. None of the balls hit the kids heads when I was watching so I don't know what the refs would have done but it seems like a cheap trick to pull.
Question about Ulittle headers
- Thread starter Monkey
- Start date
outside!
DA
Agree on the cheap trick part. If my kid was on that team, I would seriously start looking around.
coachrefparent
GOLD
Too bad there is no video of this Coach and the team he works for.
I do many 7v7's as I enjoy those games and the craziness of the parents. This is a interesting question and I believe a better action would be as follows:
1) Stop play and inform the coach that the "header" rule at this level exists for the safety of the players and is mandated by US Soccer and that (1) if he continues to coach his players to violate the rules I will be forced to report his behavior and he will be removed from the sideline; and (2) if his players follow his advice to intentionally throw the ball at the heads of their uLittle opponents I will consider such action "Unsporting Behavior" and those players may be cautioned (Yellow) and I will award a direct free kick to the opposing team, the conduct also can be classified as "playing in a dangerous manner" and an IDK awarded to the other team, which would be a good first step. In any case, coaches that intentionally coach their players to violated the rules/laws need to be drummed out of youth soccer.
1) Stop play and inform the coach that the "header" rule at this level exists for the safety of the players and is mandated by US Soccer and that (1) if he continues to coach his players to violate the rules I will be forced to report his behavior and he will be removed from the sideline; and (2) if his players follow his advice to intentionally throw the ball at the heads of their uLittle opponents I will consider such action "Unsporting Behavior" and those players may be cautioned (Yellow) and I will award a direct free kick to the opposing team, the conduct also can be classified as "playing in a dangerous manner" and an IDK awarded to the other team, which would be a good first step. In any case, coaches that intentionally coach their players to violated the rules/laws need to be drummed out of youth soccer.
A competent referee would not give a ifk for an unintentional header...in the case of an intentional header its an indirect freekick. If the defending team on a corner heads the ball away its and IFK for the attacking team outside the penalty box parallel to the area the header occurred. The ball would be stationed right before the box, has to be touched to score.
It would be neat if the parents brought the rules sheet with them.
It would be neat if the parents brought the rules sheet with them.
coachrefparent
GOLD
We haven't reached the point of having a mass of parents who understand the game. American baseball parents know what a suicide squeeze is and why we will never see one in Little League, basketball parents know what an offensive foul is, football parents know what pass interference is - but most American soccer parents never played the game, or left after a couple of years of coed rec soccer at recess.
Socal United
SILVER ELITE
Now I had the head of the refs here in North County tell me that any time it hits the head it is an indirect free kick. She said it was because it is a safety issue not a judgement call. The refs all weekend at Premier Cup called it accordingly, even the 6 year old that got hit in the face with the ball.
Ok now I understand. It was the Premier Cup at 4S Ranch. The coach must have known that they would call it. I am glad my kids do not have to deal with the new heading rule.
Not to put any ref on the spot, but how would you handle the situation if the ref association told you to call all headers, including intentionally hitting someone's face?
GunninGopher
SILVER ELITE
I have missed the last couple local association meetings, but nowhere have I heard or seen that the restart should always be an IFK. That is ludicrous. Stopping the game for any contact might be a proper response to a perceived safety issue, but that shouldn't dictate the restart.
What I think is causing some confusion is that I have heard some waffling about is whether we should stop the game if there as any sort of unintentional light contact, including a 'brush' of the ball against the hair. What is clear to me is that the game is stopped when there is an intentional header or when there is a chance that a player might have been injured from an inadvertent ball contacting the head (as we are coming to understand what constitutes this sort of an injury). I think that some officials are taking the position that any contact to the head is a risk of injury. I'm not there yet, but I will stop the game if the contact was at all direct and/or hard, regardless of intent. For me, restarts are as appropriate, IFK or dropped ball depending upon my perception of the intent.
Anyone suggesting that an unintentional touch of the ball to the head should be an IFK is wrong based upon everything I've seen from authoritative sources on this subject, both verbally and in writing. Until I see some official directive from a proper authority that says that unintentional heading is to have an IFK restart, I'd be difficult to convince. That being said, if a competition put it in writing in the rules and made that policy public, I'd print out the rules for the competition and make sure both teams were aware of it during the pre-game, which is what I hope happened in the tournament(s) being discussed. Actually, I'd still have a lot of trouble with that. It just doesn't make any sense that we would mandate an IFK restart in all situations.
A dropped ball is a time honored practice to restart a match when play has been stopped due to injury, I think some people have misunderstood some conversations or other instruction.
coachrefparent
GOLD
Yep.
baldref
GOLD
the ref association doesn't decide on interpretations. i do believe someone here is mistaken because the rules i read for the tournament i ran in, specifically said inadvertent header was a drop ball.
Shouldn't it be no call - play on?
baldref
GOLD
i just looked up both sets of rules sent out to referees for both tournaments this weekend. both sets say inadvertent header is a drop ball. i doubt leanne said differently, but if she did she made a mistake.
coachrefparent
GOLD
No.
That's interesting that the dropped ball for inadvertant headers has been adopted by some tournaments, that probably makes sense from a safety standpoint. All of our tournaments this year and last (including league) utilized the original rules as posted by USSF, non-deliberate headers resulted in no foul and play on. Either rule works, although punishing a non-deliberate header with an IFK seems to contradict the USSF guidance, but fortunately I have yet to see that employed.
Refs do you get sent the rules for each tournament (as opposed to just a link to the rules on the tourney website)? Do these rules sometimes differ from the rules as posted on the tourney website? Thanks.
Why not? Did I miss something on the USSF/USYSA "play less soccer" directives?
I posted IFK because that was the rule for scdsl, anyone outside of SCDSL I encountered was rather new to the no header rule. Id say a drop ball would be a waste of time havin to get to the spot and explaining why theres a drop for this situation. It just feels out of place to me. A ifk is a simpler restart where you get into position right after you make the call, a drop ball is like a foreign candy to the kids at those ages.