Referee Tips:
David vs. Goliath
AS K THE REF
by Said Sanhoury, USIndoor Director of Officials
eing aware of a team's
style of play can be a
tremendous benefit to a
referee before he or she walks
onto the field of play. Not that
the referee should walk onto
the field with a bias, a good referee, nonetheless, does
his homework. A
good
referee
talks to other
referees and
draws upon
his
own
experiences
with
the
teams and
players he or
she officiates.
For
teams
whose style of play
is aggressive, the start of
the game is critical. Indoor soccer is a game of skill, not brute
force. A team that intimidates
others through physical recklessness needs to be kept in
check from the outset. The referee should not allow such tac-
B
tics or be intimidated himself
by them. Blow the whistle,
establish control early, and
maintain the fairness of the
competition by being consistent.
Realize that the less physical
team is not always the victim. It may indeed
attempt to influence a referee
by
"diving"
(i.e., feigning
a foul to gain
a free kick.)
In
such
cases, the referee
may
allow play to
continue or, in flagrant
instances,
issue a Blue Card.
Referees, therefore, are best to
prepare themselves for both
the subtle and not so subtle
tactics of the Davids and
Goliaths of indoor soccer.
Qu es t i o n s ?
Ref @USI ndo o r.co m
Dea r Ref :
If there's a foul or an injury and you need to blow your whistle, how do you resume
play? If it's a free kick, then do you take the kick from the place of the foul or injury? John,
Savannah, GA
Dea r John,
If you blow your whistle for a foul, the Restart is a Free Kick from the spot of the foul. If
you blow your whistle for an injury and there has been no foul, you restart from the spot of
the ball at the moment of stoppage by either (1) a free kick by the team in clear possession
of the ball at that time, or (2) "a Dropped Ball" in the event that neither team had clear possession. If you have a foul and an injury, you restart play from the spot of the foul. To learn
more, you may order a copy of the Official Rules of Indoor Soccer from USIndoor's online
"Publications" page. Thank you for your question.
Said Sanhoury, USIndoor Director of Officials
For a copy of the Official
ref@usindoor.com
Rules, see the ad on page 31.
Pictures from Metro City Soccer, Sacramento, CA, where
USIndoor Regional Instructor, David Simmons, recently
conducted referee training and certification.
Visit
26 • Dec.-Jan. 2002 • G O A L
In d o o r
USIndoor's online "Referee's page at www.usindoor.com
or contact ref@usindoor.com for additional information.
