Question Number: 27874

League Specific 10/11/2013

RE: Recreational Under 12

Brian H of Seattle, Washington USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 27842

I believe the OP would be better served asking this question of his local referee assignor/supervisor.

I suspect that he is talking about AYSO, which mandated that games be divided into quarters when I played and refereed with them over 15 years ago (and which I suspect they still do today). When I became a referee, we were never instructed on how to properly manage the ends of the odd numbered quarters. Some referees waited until a normal stoppage of play to end odd numbered quarters and then restarted with whatever the appropriate restart was, while others stopped play once time expired even if the ball was in play and then restarted with a dropped ball. I usually used the dropped ball method unless the ball happened to already be out of play when time expired.

By comparison, in the two leagues where I currently referee, neither of which is AYSO, both mandate that games at the youngest age levels are divided into quarters. Both state in the local competition rules that all quarters are ended with a hard stop once time has expired, with a shorter version of the halftime break after the odd quarters. Teams alternate kickoffs to start each quarter, and teams switch ends of the field only at halftime.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are different local rules regarding managing youth games that are divided into quarters, so the OP isn't going to get a 'one size fits all' answer from this forum. Although if he is indeed talking about AYSO, I 100% agree with Referee Wickham's answer, barring any direction to the contrary from local league officials.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Brian
Thank you for your comments. In any game the referee should aquaint himself fully with the competition rules and also to understand how those rules are implemented in an area.
However the referee should always consider what implications his decision has for the game. For instance the location the game is stopped is important as is what is expected at the restart.
Dropped balls has the propensity to cause problems in the modern game so much so that FIFA had to introduce the first law change in many many years to solve this problem.
If it were myself I would always look for the throw in around half way as the ideal natural stoppage.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You are correct. I made a mistake when closing out the question. It should have been closed under League Specific since the LOTG do not allow for quarters to be played, only halves.