2004 GU9, GU10, Referees’ Guidelines

Thanks for volunteering to referee in Girls’ U9, U10! Here are guidelines that may answer some of your questions.

1. AYSO Tenets: 1) Everybody Plays, 2) Open Registration, 3) Balanced Teams, 4) Positive Coaching, 5) Good Sportsmanship
    

2. Disputed Calls: The coaches have been requested to not dispute any call made by referees during the game. At the end of the game (not during substitution breaks or halftime), the coach may approach a referee to discuss any call on which (s)he has a question. Referees do make mistakes, hopefully fewer and fewer as we become more experienced, and such discussions at the end of the game, if cordial enough, can serve as useful learning opportunities for both the referees and coaches. But during the game, the referee needs to assert the rules as best as (s)he can, and not become vulnerable to calls from the touch lines.
    

3. Teams are 7 per side (6 + Goalkeeper (GK)). If one team is short, it will play short. The other team will play with a full set of players.
    

4. Forfeits: There will be no forfeits. As mentioned above, if a side is short it will play with the players it has available.
    

5. Playing Time: Each player must play at least 3 quarters. If a coach says a player cannot play her 3rd quarter due to illness, or has to leave the game early, please try to verify with the player’s parent.
    

6. Goalkeepers: If a player plays GK for 3 quarters, she must play the other quarter at another position on the field. She cannot sit out that quarter. If she plays 4 quarters, one must be on the field. In other words, she can’t play all of her time on the field in goal. Record GK on score cards.
    

7. Reporting for Game: Be at your game assignment at least 15 minutes before game time to check the teams in. Inspect the goals for proper placement, holes in netting, and the field for any hazards and mark any with cones (provided by coaches).
    

8. Player Inspection: Ask coaches for the completed game card when you check players in. Kids can’t play with hard casts, slings, earrings, bracelets, any hard object in her hair, or with any blood on them or their uniform. Earrings cannot simply be taped. They must be completely removed. All parents were made aware of this in the registration materials. Every player must have a team uniform. Socks must completely cover the shin guards. Jerseys must be tucked in, no exceptions for fashion or other reasons. No softball cleats. Encourage double-knotted shoelaces. (Coaches have hydrogen peroxide in their bags to neutralize any blood that may be found on a uniform during the game. The game cannot resume with untreated blood. The wound needs to be covered with a bandage.)  Also, ensure that the coaches have visible their AYSO-issued coaches badges, and have the players' medical release forms available.
    

9. Ref Flags: Should be left on the ground near the centerline flag after each game. If you are the first game of the day, they should be with the rest of the field equipment. Give one to each of the assistant referees when you give them your game instructions (more below).
    

10. Keep Games on Time. This may mean checking teams in on the touch line while the previous game is finishing so you can start on time. This is particularly important once we lose Daylight Savings Time.
     

11. Start of Game: Visitor captain(s) call the coin toss at center. Winner of coin toss selects which goal to attack in the first half. Loser of toss kicks off. Winner of toss kicks off in the 2nd half, after switching sides of the field. The home team is to provide the game ball - size 4.
     

12. Substitution Break: Is brief: 30-60 seconds (a little longer if it is hot). You should stop the clock for these breaks, unless the game is extremely behind schedule and daylight hours are limited. It should be called at a stoppage of play close to 12-1/2 minutes. Try not to call a break during play; wait until a natural stop in play. Players staying in the game must remain on the field. Parents/spectators may hand water to the players.
     

13. Substitutions: Record substitutions on the game cards. Substitutions are allowed only at the substitution break. Exceptions are: 1) Injury: The injured player can be substituted. The injured player has to wait until the next substitution break or halftime before she can play again. Use your discretion in counting the number of quarters a player has played. If an injured player or a substitute plays only for a couple of minutes in the quarter, do not count it as an entire quarter for the player. 2) If a side is short and a player arrives late, she can enter at a natural break. However, if there is a full team playing, she will have to wait for the next substitution break or halftime.
     

14. Half: Each half is 25 minutes long. You should not wait for a natural break to call halftime. You can add time for long injury stoppages at your discretion, with a firm eye toward the clock, especially the next game’s start time. The halftime break is 5 minutes.
     

15. End of Game: Until the playoffs, where a winner must be determined, games can end in a tie. You must retrieve the game ball at the end of the game and return it. If time is running short for the next game, ask the coaches to do the congratulatory cheer and handshake behind the goal, so the next game can start on time. You should observe this process for any changes to the Sportsmanship Points (see below).
     

16. Teams and Spectators on Opposite Sides of Field: As assigned on the season schedule that coaches were provided. For example, Team A and its spectators on South side, Team B and its spectators on the North side. No coach or spectator should be coaching or cheering from behind the goal line. Request the person to move, and do not start the game until (s)he has moved.
     

17. Areas for Coaching: No coaching from goal lines, behind the goal or beyond the center circle, by anyone, coach or parent. Coaches must stay in their boxes (within 10 yards of the halfway line). Assistant coaches should stay on their own side. If an assistant coach is on the wrong side, request the person to move to the right side, and do not start the game until (s)he has moved.
     

18. Linespeople/Assistant Referees: We will likely use parents/spectators as Linespeople/Assistant Referees during the regular games. Assistant referees will not be assigned until the playoffs. So, upon arrival, 15 minutes or more before the game, talk with each coach to determine who will be their "club assistant referee". Ask if any parent is a badged referee, and if so request that that person be the AR. [If you happen to be at one of the games and you are not the center referee please volunteer to be the AR.] Then meet with both AR's and instruct them and make sure that they understand their responsibilities - calling balls out of touch, how to use the flag, how you are going to run your diagonal, going all the way down their half of the field to help on calling corner & goal kicks, being another set of eyes in determining balls crossing the goal line for a goal, etc. For very inexperienced “club assistant referees” you may want them to not move from the corner, so they are in position for goal line calls at all times. Unless the AR is a badged referee you are confident with, you should be the only one making all offside calls. No unbadged club assistant is to make offside calls; the call is yours as the Center Referee.  Also, an AR should be on the opposite side of the field from their "own" team.
     

19. Making Calls Early in the Season: For the 1st game of the season only, be lenient, especially so in U9 games. If the throw-in is bad, for example, please use the opportunity to teach briefly the player the correct throw, and allow the same girl to have a 2nd throw-in from the original location. If there is a clear obvious offside violation, call it, and likewise explain to the players why the call was made. From the 2nd week on, enforce the rules as written. Let the coaches and players know this during the inspections.
     

20. Girls On the Ground: If a player falls down, within 5 to 10 seconds it should be possible to determine whether she has “merely” tripped and will be back on her feet or if she is injured. As soon as it appears that a player is injured, blow the whistle. (My preference is to have all players on the field drop to one knee. This tends to speed up the process of attending to the injury without undue attention by teammates.) -If a player appears to be injured, coaches should be the only ones attending the player, not the referees, and not the parents. The injury to the player is the responsibility of the coach. They hold the medical release forms, etc. We are not supposed to assist the player, but call the coaches onto the field. The coaches should not come on to the field unless asked to by the referee. The restart of the game is a drop ball done at the point where the ball was when the whistle was blown, not where the injured player was.
     

21. Repeated Dangerous Play/Fouling: If after repeated warnings about a child’s play, a “yellow card” situation occurs, you don’t have to use the card, but you should inform the player and the coach of the violation, and briefly explain why it was a yellow card violation. The player does not have to leave the field. These instances are few in GU9 & 10, but they can happen. If appropriate, you should exercise it.
     

22. Dismissals of Players, Coaches and Parents (Red Card Situations): These are exceedingly rare, but they can happen. You need to address argumentative, belligerent, or inappropriate coach or parent behavior that goes out of the bounds of the AYSO tenets. Remind coaches that they are responsible for their sideline, and if the inappropriate behavior continues, that person, be it coach or parent, will be dismissed. You should not show the red card to a coach or spectator. Before dismissing a spectator, coach or player, inform the person what has happened, and why he or she must leave. The game cannot resume until they have left the premises, out of sight of the field.
     

23. Sportsmanship Points: Please record these on the back of the game card. Three points of a maximum five is a normal score. The CENTER referee, with the help from badged assistants, can move any category up or down to a max of 5. For example, if a player comes out of uniform (mismatched socks or shorts), then generally take off a point or two, depending upon the number of players out of uniform. If players exhibit particularly good sportsmanship (e.g. helping a fallen player, applauding when an injured player resumes play, encourages their teammates, etc.), you should upgrade the "player conduct" category up a point or two. The same applies for coaches and spectators.
     

24. Sign the Game Card LEGIBLY: Have the Assistant Refs. sign the card as well. Leave it in the "purple card cooler," which will be outside the shed by the fence on the west end of the field. If yours is the first game of the day, retrieve the purple card cooler from the shed and place by the fence.
     

25. Remember – this is for the kids, for them to have fun, be part of a team, and to feel good about themselves. Help provide a safe, encouraging, positive environment for the kids and their families at the field.