Kick off positioning

[OldNavyRef]

Had an assessment recently. I was skimming through it and noticed a 'Kick off positioning' section. I got the standard expected.

I stand just outside of the centre circle on the halfway line. Is there somewhere else I should be?

 

[es1]

Strange, and meaninglessness, competency to be specifically marked against, but hey ho

I can't think of any positions you could stand that would be 'above expected', only some which are less desirable.

My position is 5 yards or so outside the centre circle/half way line junction towards the left wing of the team defending kick off

 

[Russell Jones]

For me, the only way a referee could demonstrate 'above expected' in this (somewhat odd) criteria would be if they were clearly adjusting their position to react to the set up on show from the team kicking off. If, for example, the team set up with four players on the left wing, ready to sprint onto a long crossfield pass, then you might choose to start 10 metres into the opposition half on that side of the field ....

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

I assume it was a match day coach report (not an assessment), designed to flag up areas of your game which went well plus some development points?
As Russell has stated, at the kick off (and after goals and at the start of the second half) the coach is looking to see whether the referee is "switched on" to the most likely outcome of the first few seconds.
Just one very small part of a big picture, and an early opportunity to impress

 

[RustyRef]

Exactly what @Russell Jones and @ChasObserverRefDeveloper have said. If a referee just takes up an expected kick off position they are just getting standard expected from me, but if they demonstrate they have read what is going to happen at a specific kick off and changed their position / movement accordingly I will go above standard.

I think this competency is looking more for really bad kick off positions. I saw one referee stand literally right next to the ball for every kick off, that is clearly wrong and he was in the way of play every time.

 

[Viridis1886]

I saw one referee stand literally right next to the ball for every kick off, that is clearly wrong and he was in the way of play every time

Like this...

 

[Ben448844]

Like this...

Many moons ago it was common for alot of refs we had on Sunday mornings to place the ball on the spot and then blow the whistle after they'd taken a couple of steps to the side. They weren't in the way because the ball had to be played forward from kick off back then so you had 2 players around the ball and 99 times out of 100 one player tapped it forward and the other kicked it straight back down the middle of their half. Seems bizzare now but it's not that long ago.

 

[socal lurker]

Like this...

My all time favorite "you have to be kidding me" moment on position was watching my daughter play in a high school junior varsity game. (Translation: low level high school game.) In the US for high school, along with writing their own rules instead of using the LOTG, games are commonly called by two referees for whistles. I one game, on a on a penalty kick, one ref was on the field post where the PK was being taken.