Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Coach Tells Kids to Take-a-Knee When They Are Exhausted. What Does the Referee Do?
It puts the referee in a difficult situation to judge when a kid should be substituted for an injury. Still, an injury substitution can be abused by a coach or player if they sub when they are only tired in U14 and below. This creates a situation of free-substitution for the team abusing the rule. What's a referee to do???
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We as referees, we are not in position to question players injury or the players capability to keep on playing. All we can do is ask the player if he can continue playing. If the answer is no, the coach has the option of playing a man down and giving the injured player time to rest and bringing him back later that quarter or substitute for the injured player, as we know, the credit goes to the player who started that quarter. If this is an abused technique by the coaches, by faking a players injury, at some point during the game, the score card is going to show some of the players only playing one quarter and some not even getting in the game. At this point, the coach needs to be informed about this and a consequence should be given.
This is the Region's Interpretation Regarding this question:
The AYSO rules and regulations state that if a player is injured, the coach may provide a substitute for the player, in which case the injured player may not return until the beginning of the next quarter. Only the player who is injured is credited with a quarter played regardless of the actual time played. Also, the coach may choose to not substitute and play short, thereby allowing the injured player to return during the quarter in which he or she was injured. The basis for the rule is "injury" and the referee must make this determination. If an "tired, but uninjured" player is allowed to be substituted under these circumstances, it is tantamount to a "free" substitution mid-quarter (not allowed in divisions under U16) which could provide a competitive advantage over a team who is required to substitute on a quarterly basis.
If a player is injured (as determined by the referee either by knowing what happened or by asking the player), then the coach may sub or play short - in accordance with the rules. If the player is not tired (but not injured), the player will be allowed to either catch his breath on the touchline or leave the field and the team must must play short until either the player returns or the quarter ends. In either determination, the safety of the player is ensured and the compliance of the rules is adhered to by all parties.
In this situation, as said before, the referee has no real control over this during a game. If a kid wants to come out for whatever reason the referee must let him.
The real power is with the parents.
As a parent it is OUR responsibility to insure that all the kids are played and treated fairly by a coach.
Let's put it this way. If my child, or any child on my child's team were told by a coach to take a knee so that he could take him out and replace him with another player and the child was physically and emotionally able to play, I would have a real problem with that. Irregardless of what the score was. And I would let the coach know just how unfair and possibly illegal that was. And if that coach refused to change that policy I would go up the chain of command to make sure that the coach was informed as to the AYSO way of doing this.
The AYSO is a recreational soccer program and winning must be done in a fair way. In which all the kids, irregardless of skill, get a chance to play at least 1/2 of every game. (Here in LM it is 3/4 of every game.)
So parents, winning is no good if some kids are made to feel inferior. Skill level should not be the only judge of how much playing time a kid plays. In fact the only way a kid gets better is BY PLAYING.
By protecting all the kids on your team you are protecting everything that is good about youth sports.
IF A KID IS EXHAUSTED AND CAN'T DEFEND THEM-SELVES ISN'T IT THE RESPECTABILITY OF THE "COACH" TO TRY AND PROTECT THE KID? AFTER ALL ISN'T SAFETY OF THE UP-MOST IMPORTANCE? IF A COACH IS TRYING TO CIRCUMVENT THE RULES THEN SHOULDN'T AN INVESTIGATION BE DONE AND BASED ON THE RESULTS APPROPRIATE ACTION DONE?
Isn't that what I said in the previous post, minus the yelling??
SORRY IGNORE THE CAPS
no yelling here just lazy
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