Question Number: 25472

Law 11 - Offside 9/20/2011

RE: Select/High School High School

Parent of Middle, Tn US asks...

Sorry if I mess this up, will try to explain as best I can.

Over the weekend my daughter was reffing a U12 boys select game. Red played a through ball into blue's penalty area. Three red players were offside postioned, but were not involved and made no move toward the ball. Daughter swallows the whistle. Blue parents and coach erupt into crys for offside and blue players stop playing (should have been an easy pick up and punt for blue keeper). Meanwhile a red player comes from an onside position and runs for the ball. Fortunately blue keeper finally gets his wits about him and dives on the ball to much grumbling from parents & coach.

So the question is, did she do right by swallowing the whistle and what's the best way to handle this situation when parents confuse the players by their hollering?
Thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Absolutely correct call. The only way the offside-positioned players could be called is if they were blocking the sight line of the goalkeeper, which it doesn't sound like.

If the parents hollering are distracting and confusing their own players, the referee stays out of it. It's the coach's job to enforce sideline behavior that disadvantages the team.

If the parents are yelling at the opponent players, that's another matter. The referee should stop play (considering advantage) and tell the coach to control the parents. If the coach refuses to do so or cannot do so, the game is abandoned. Some competition rules may allow the referee to address the spectators directly, and even 'send off' a parent.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Good decision. Law 11 itself states that it is not an offense to be in an offside position. Moreover, players have been told since age 6 to play to the whistle. The incident is a coaching moment, and hopefully, something the coach will address in the next practice.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for enthusiastic parents at U12. By age 14, however, many of the players will be asking their parents to shut up. (Mine did.)

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Good on your daughter for not only knowing the laws, but having the courage to stand by her decision. She did the right thing for the right reasons - so please, congratulate her for us!

Ignorance of the laws from players, spectators and team officials is one of the most frustrating things for referees to deal with, and it causes all sorts of problems - as your daughter has discovered. I'm constantly surprised at how many people somehow don't get the concept of 'not involved' when it comes to offside, but it seems to happen.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
Unfortunately this happens in every single game. There was a time in the Laws that offside would have been called here. Absolutely not any more yet many are still living in the past.
Your daughter was 100% correct in that it is not now an offence to be in an offside position and as an onside player was the only attacker that got involved in active play the correct decision was made which was to allow play to continue.
The challenge here for the game is that many players, coaches, spectators don't bother to understand the current Laws and then cry/moan about the referee getting decisions wrong. If a goal is scored in such situations the referee has to endure 'abuse' which is totally unacceptable. That is why referees need to develop fortitude & mettle in dealing with such situations and not to be intimidated into making the wrong decision.
As regards the best way to handle parents it is a matter of personal preference. Most times I just ignore the sideline and it is up to the coach to deal with his players' reactions. An odd time such as this I might shout to the defending players so that most can hear '' Number 11 clearly in an onside position' after the play has ended.
The only time I would get involved with the sideline is if there is interference which is affecting the game. IMO spectators calling for decisions is not. The ability to switch off from that is also a skill that needs to be developed. Probably more difficult watching your daughter from the sideline.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Sounds like your daughter knows what she is doing. Good for her!! U12 Select players should know to continue play until the referee stops play. Most areas require a full 3 man crew for select games so am I to assume your daughter had an aR that signalled for offside? If so and your daughter disagreed she should visibly wave the AR down to indicate to the players she is not stopping play. If she was by herself in the interest of fairness at this age level she might want to yell 'no offside' if she believes the parents have confused the players.

You as a parent can remind other parents that yelling about things they are totally ignorant of can never do any good an that the only people at the field qualified to know the Laws AND be objective are the referees.

You didn't mess anything up. Excellent question