Those of you who know me may know that I frequently talk about youth soccer refereeing. It’s great exercise, it’s a way to get extra cash, learn conflict management skills, and discover a new hobby that friends and families can support each other doing. Plus, without referees, hundreds, if not thousands, of young soccer players won’t get the chance to play properly organized matches, if at all.
New Hampshire, like everywhere in the United States, is in desperate need of youth soccer referees right now. If you’re interested, you can find out more information at soccernh.com.
To be fair, soccer refereeing isn’t for everybody. However, if you think soccer refereeing isn’t for you because the rules are too complicated, let me tell you that you are wrong. The rules of soccer are far smaller than other popular sports here in America, and most of them are pretty straightforward.
Those rules are known as the “Laws of the Game,” or sometimes as the “LOTG” and you can read all 17 of them by clicking here. Some leagues have minor modifications, and high schools and colleges in the U.S. have similar rules based on the LOTG, but otherwise, the LOTG is a universal standard across the world.
If there’s anyone out there that might want to be a referee but is still worried about being overwhelmed by the rules, let me boil down those 17 laws in the LOTG. Obviously, any referee should read the LOTG in its entirety, but here’s the bare minimum from what I’ve seen over the past 10 years for anyone getting started.
Law 1 – The Field
It’s a rectangle. The long sides are known as the “touchlines,” and the short sides are known as the “goal lines.” In the middle of the goal lines, there is an upright rectangle with two posts and a crossbar2. The markings on the field are…
- The goal area(s)
- The corner arc(s)
- The penalty area(s)/penalty mark(s)
- The penalty arc(s)
- The center line or halfway line
- The center circle
Here’s a picture, I’ll discuss those terms more later.
Law 2 – The Ball
In youth soccer, players under the age of 12 have a “Size 4” ball and players above the age of 12 have a “Size 5” ball. The ball must be fully inflated.
Law 3 – The Players
There is a maximum of 11 and a minimum of 7 players for each team, one of them being a goalkeeper. Some leagues or age groups within leagues may have a smaller number of maximum and minimum number of players, so make sure to double-check.
Law 4 – The Players’ Equipment
The players need shin guards under socks, and shoes that do not have metal studs on their soles. There may be other limitations depending on the league. Jewelry is generally not allowed excluding religious or medical apparel. Often casts are not allowed, but this can vary depending on where you are, so make sure to double-check.
Each team must have different colored jerseys from each other and both goalkeepers must have different colored jerseys from their teammates and each other. For younger players, if the goalkeepers have the same-colored jerseys as each other, it’s not the end of the world.
Law 5 – The Referee
The referee is in the field with the players are is in charge of enforcing the LOTG and reporting the results of the game. One key thing in Law 5 is known as the “advantage rule.” Basically, when a team is fouled, but they would benefit by play continuing, the referee can let play continue briefly and see if the team would be helped by then stopping play and getting a free kick or ignoring the foul completely. For football fans, think of it like declining a penalty, only it’s the referee’s judgement.
The referee puts their arms at a 45-degree angle above their head and straight in front of them and yells “Play On!” when an advantage occurs. We’ll get to what fouls are later. (Law 12)
Law 6 – Other Game Officials
Normally, there are two assistant referees helping the referee. They move along the right touchline in the half that each team is attacking (more on that later) between the center line and goal line.
Assistant referees provide recommendations to the referee for…
-Team possession when the ball goes out of bounds (Laws 15,16,17)
-Offside (Law 11)
-Fouls (Law 12,13,14)
-Goals (Law 10)
Law 7 – Duration of the Match
Generally, the duration of each half are as follows in youth soccer
If the players are all in Elementary School (Under 10 years old): 25 minutes
If the players are all in Middle School (12 or 13 years old): 35 minutes
If the players are on the cusp of Elementary and Middle School (10 and 11 years old): 30 minutes
If the players are in High School/Older Middle School (usually 14 to 18 years old): 40 minutes
If the players are legally adults (over 18 years old): 45 minutes.
The two halves are separated by a halftime that is no longer than 15 minutes, although leagues can note a specific length (again, check your local listings). Both halves must be roughly the same length, (they can be a few seconds different) but time can be added on at the end of each half by the referee to account for any stoppages or injuries where play stopped. At the youth level, most referees do not stop the clock unless an injury is very serious.
Law 8 – The Start and Restart of Play
At the beginning of each half and after every goal (see Law 10), the restart is a kick-off. The team with the kick-off is allowed to have two players inside of the center circle and all the other players must be in their respective halves of the field, as delineated by the centerline. Before the game, there is a coin toss. The team that wins the toss can decide to have the first kick-off or choose with goal to attack. The teams change sides at halftime and the team that does not have the kick-off in the first half gets the kick-off in the second half.
Any situation where play is stopped for reasons not otherwise specified in the LOTG (injuries, non-players entering the field, damaged ball, etc.), the restart is a drop ball. In a drop ball, the referee grabs the ball and drops at the feet of the team last in possession of the ball before the game stopped, with the ball becoming live when it hits the ground. If the play stopped in the penalty area, the drop ball is done dropped at the feet of the goalkeeper.
Law 9 – Ball in and Out of Play
The ball is out of play when…
- It is completely beyond the goal line or touchline
- Play has been stopped by the referee
- The ball touches the referee and then a team starts an attack, loses possession or the ball goes directly into goal.
Otherwise, the ball is in play.
Law 10 – Determining the outcome of a match
If the ball goes completely over the goal line between the goalposts and under the crossbar, it is a goal. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins the game.
Teams can score goals while the ball is in play, with the exception of goalkeepers throwing the ball across the field between the goalposts and crossbar on the other side of the field.
Teams can also score goals on kick-offs, direct free kicks, corner kicks and goal kicks.
Law 11 – Offside
If you enjoy ice hockey, just imagine if the blue line moved.
If you don’t know the rules of ice hockey, imagine an invisible line from touch line to touch line that attackers cannot go beyond before the ball.
That line is either….
- The center line
- The second to last defender if they are behind the center line
- Wherever the ball is at that moment if it is beyond the second to last defender and the center line
If an attacking player is beyond that line, they are in an offside position. However, play only stops when from an attacking player being in an offside position at the moment a teammate kicks the ball if…
- The player was involved in play
- The player was interfering with an opponent’s ability to make a play
- The player gained an advantage from being in that position.
If one of those three things happens, and the defender did not intentionally play the ball first, the defending team receives an indirect free kick at the point of the infraction.
Law 12 – Fouls
Three things here: direct free kick fouls, indirect free kick fouls and disciplinary action (cautions and sending off). More on direct free kicks and indirect free kicks in Law 13.
There are ten direct free kick fouls. Seven are done to an opponent “carelessly, recklessly, or with excessive force.”
- Kicking
- Tripping
- Charging
- Jumping
- Pushing
- Striking
- (Slide) Tackling
The three other ones are
- Holding an opponent
- Spitting at an opponent
- Using the hand or arm to play the ball, excluding the goalkeeper in their own penalty area. (a.k.a – handball)
There are nine indirect free kick fouls
- Dangerous play (was not a direct kick foul, but somebody nearly got hurt, rare at higher levels)
- Impeding play (a defending player stopping an attacking player from playing the ball when neither could have feasibly played the ball)
- Goalkeeper touching the ball with their hands directly from a teammate’s throw-in
- Goalkeeper touching the ball with their hands directly from a teammate’s kicked pass
- Goalkeeper TRYING to touch the ball with their hands from a teammate’s pass using any part of their body other than the foot
- Preventing the goalkeeper from releasing the ball
- The goalkeeper keeping the ball in their hand(s) or arm(s) for more than six seconds
- The goalkeeper touching the ball with their arm(s) or hand(s) a second time after it has left their possession (beyond their control) and has not touched another player
- A stoppage of play when a player is guilty of dissent toward a referee or using offensive, insulting or abusive language
- Any other time there is a caution and play was not stopped for another reason already.
For serious infractions of the LOTG, the referee can give a player or coach a caution (yellow card) or a “sending off” (red card)
Yellow cards can be given at the youth level for…
- Delaying the restart of play
- Failing to respect the minimum distance on a restart of play
- Dissent by word of action (i.e. – arguing with the referee to the point where it becomes disruptive)
- Persistent infringement (i.e. – when a player commits enough fouls that the referee feels it has become disruptive)
- Unsporting behavior (basically anything else, usually when a direct free kick foul is done in a “reckless” manner.
- Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity inside the penalty area (i.e. – intentional foul in a situation where an attacker otherwise would have scored a goal)
Red cards are very rare at the youth level. They can be given for…
- Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity outside of the penalty area (see above)
- Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity by a deliberate handball
- Serious foul play (i.e. – “excessive force” during a direct kick foul situation, usually when a player deliberately tries to injure another player)
- Violent conduct (like serious foul play, only when it occurs away from active play)
- Using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or actions
- Biting or spitting at someone
- Receiving a second caution during a match.
Law 13 – Free Kicks
Congratulations, you have called one of the fouls in Law 12. If a team get a direct kick from a foul, they can score a goal directly from the kick. If a team gets an indirect kick foul, they can score a goal after it has touched another player (referee’s hand is straight up in the air until it touches another player). If an indirect kick goes under a crossbar and between goalposts, just imagine that they weren’t there.
Opposing players must stay at least 10 yards away from the point where the free kick is taken until the ball is kicked.
Indirect kicks can occur within the penalty area, but not the goal area. When there’s a direct kick in the penalty area, you get…..
Law 14 – Penalty Kicks
Unlike other free kicks, penalty kicks are taken at the penalty mark when a direct kick foul occurs anywhere in the penalty area. All players other than the goalkeeper and the player taking the kick must stay out of the penalty area and 10 yards away (penalty arc is the area less than 10 yards away from the penalty arc outside of the penalty area) until the ball is kicked and moves. The goalkeeper must have both feet on the goal line until the ball is kicked and moves. The referee tells the player taking the kick when they can begin and they must kick the ball forward.
If somebody moves where they aren’t supposed to before the ball is kicked and moves, there’s either an indirect kick for the defending team (attacking team infraction, no goal), a goal (defending team infraction, goal scored) or a retake of the kick (whoever did the infraction benefited from the outcome.)
The LOTG has a whole grid with more detail on infractions.
If the kicker kicks the ball backwards or fakes the kick to get the keeper off the line, it’s an indirect free kick for the defending team.
Law 15 – Throw-ins
If the ball goes beyond the touch line, the team that did not touch the ball last gets to throw the ball in from the point where the ball went out of bounds.
The player throwing the ball must…
- Have two feet on the ground at the moment the ball leaves their hands
- Must have two hands on the ball
- Must throw the ball directly over their head
- Must throw the ball at roughly the spot where the ball went out of bounds.
Law 16 and 17 – Goal Kicks and Corner Kicks
When the attacking team kicks the ball out of play beyond the goal line, the restart is a goal kick. When the defending team kicks the ball out of play beyond the goal line the restart is a corner kick.
On a goal kick, the defending team can kick the ball at any point inside the goal area. On a corner kick, the attacking team kicks the ball anywhere within the penalty arc, a small triangle located at the intersection of the goal line and the corner line.
Law 18 – Common Sense!
Not officially a law, but experienced referees will talk about Law 18 all the time: when in doubt, do what’s needed to make sure the game continues safely and fairly for everyone involved.
