Question Number: 17409

Law 6 - Assistant Referee 10/20/2007

RE: rec, classic, ppa Adult

ray delfosse of Harmony , PA United States asks...

as a Linesman, you are to snap the the flag to indicate a foul, offside, or ball in and out ect. To get the center's ref attn. Once the flag is up, when lowering the flag are you supose to snap it again or lower it normal. Alot of people have been snapping the flag upon lowering.

Thanks
Ray Delfosse

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

No, you're not to be snapping the flag AT ALL! If you have some time, peruse the Guide to Procedures for Referees and Assistant Referees for some helpful information at the www.ussoccer.com site. The last thing the AR wants to do is to draw too much attention to themselves by snapping the flag. That was perhaps true 10 years ago, but is no longer. Don't snap it going up or down. If you have to get the referee's attention, and he is oblivious to your flag in the air, call his name.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Ray,
been there, done that it was the way we trained a few years back and on the grass roots pitch a snapped flag still reverberates around here to some extent.
As a USSF referee you have a wealth of information at your disposal with the 2007 ATR , guide to procedures position papers, mechanics etc... The empasis is that we communicate throughout the match as officials working together. Maintain eye contact, look to the ARS often, at every stoppage, every restart, at every time a long ball has flight time , shoulder checks after conflict, potetntial offside situations. The whole match is a series of thumbs up, hand gestures time checks, signals so that we get into a HABIT of communicating. If an AR decides to command attention it best be for a really important reason and he best not be wrong. The AR job is to assist the referee make a decision! Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Snapping went away a long time ago. Something about calling undue attention to yourself. Funny yellow jerseys came in about that time. This is something I classify as infinite wisdom...

Regards,