Question Number: 30199

League Specific 3/17/2016

RE: Rec/Select Under 15

Brad of Plymouth, Michigan United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 30195

Regarding the 'heading' question, the person asking the question does raise a legitimate issue.

I can't speak for other states, but in Michigan the rule is 'All players 10 years old and younger, regardless of what age group they are playing in.'

So taking this rule as it is written and conveyed, a referee who is officiating a U-11 game has to apply a different set of rules for 10 year old players than for 11 year old players--essentially the older players have a rules advantage in that they CAN legally head the ball. I will leave the editorializing on this rule to the esteemed referees...

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Brad
The Michigan State Youth Soccer Association has eliminated heading for all players U11 and younger. This directive it states is to protect players 10 years old and younger regardless of what age group they are playing in. So I assume that the directive recognises that U10 could play in U11 hence the decision to include U11s in the no heading rule. Not sure what happens if an U10 plays in an U12 game though albeit it might be unlikely?
Anyway I fail to understand how any referee can decide in a match situation a particular players age. It is impossible unless the player has some sort of clear identification to clearly distinguish him or her and even at that the identification might be missed.
I would go as far as to say that if Under 10s cannot head the ball then they should NOT be playing in older age groups where heading is allowed and then the question does not arise. That should not be a decision for the referee to make.
Like all new directives there will be outlier issues. The main principle is that for referees to follow any directive as best as possible.
Finally the concept of reasonable care comes to mind. Reasonable care is the degree of caution and concern an ordinarily prudent and rational person would use in similar circumstances. It is a standard used to determine a legal duty and whether such duty was fulfilled. I believe that in a game where heading is allowed the referee would not be expected to know ages of the players and that he acted with reasonable care.