Question Number: 26726

Law 11 - Offside 9/7/2012

RE: JV High School

Teddy Cooper of Fort knox, KY Mead asks...

If a team moves their defenders up onto the other side of the half field mark to were they are on offense and one of the forward for the other team stays at the half field mark or on their side when the ball is kick back to that person and they play the ball they are not off sides corrected because the defenders went across the half mark to their offense side, the farthest back a player has to back up to be onside is mid field right, so if the other team moves their defenders to the other side to help their offens then the player that stayed at mid field or just on the other side is not off side right.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Teddy
A player cannot be offside in his own half of the field of play no matter what. So a player standing in his own half when the ball is played cannot be called offside.
However once he is in the attacking half then normal offside applies. A player is in an offside position if he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. Without any defenders in their half the only way a player can remain onside is to stay behind the ball or wait for the team mate in possession of the ball to move past him. Once a player is behind the ball he is then in an onside position.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

There are 3 requirements for being in an offside position, and all must be met:
-- closer to the goal line than the ball
-- closer to the goal line than the 2nd to last opponent
-- in the attacking half

So if the attacker stays in her own end, she cannot be offside, regardless of the position of her opponents. If she times her run correctly, she will take off just as the ball is kicked and will receive it well downfield. Everyone will be crying for offside, because they didn't see where she was when the ball was kicked.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

One of the lawful ways to beat the offside trap is to be located inside your own half when the ball is kicked. If the forward times the run correctly, the forward could easily be on a break away when the ball lands. Not offside.