A&H

Decisions Today

J

Josh the referee

Well-Known Member
Level 7 Referee
Hi all,

I had another U11 game today, couple of decisions I made that I wanted some honest guidance on.

Firstly, in the first few minutes an Away Player takes down a player with arguably a Reckless challenge to stop a promising attack. I didn't dish out the yellow car but could I have sold it but would it have been the right decision especially at this level?

In the second half, a player from the home team kicks the ball up and it hits their trailing arm as they're bringing it back down, waved away the few appeals from the away side, what would you do in this situation?

Thank you in advance for your help
 
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My opinion at Under 11 level, your tolerance level for cautions can be shifted to lenient. I would personally recommend a caution for most fouls would need to be very cynical & the ball not within playing distance. This can change if match control is jeopardised but at U11 you should be able to manage a match, managers can help you by substituting players who are on the limit.

Your hand ball sounds like accidental, which is only penalised if the player goes on to score or passes to a player who immediately scores.

No need to doubt yourself, your opinion as referee is the one that counts.

Keep self analysing your match decisions, and enjoy it!
 
Josh the referee said:
Hi all,

I had another U11 game today, couple of decisions I made that I wanted some honest guidance on.

Firstly, in the first few minutes an Away Player takes down a player with arguably a Reckless challenge to stop a promising attack. I didn't dish out the yellow car but could I have sold it but would it have been the right decision especially at this level?

In the second half, a player from the home team kicks the ball up and it hits their trailing arm as they're bringing it back down, waved away the few appeals from the away side, what would you do in this situation?

Thank you in advance for your help
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The first one is really down to the referee at the time. If you feel the incident is worthy of a card, show it.

The second one does not read as deliberate so, leaning towards no offence
 
Anubis said:
The first one is really down to the referee at the time. If you feel the incident is worthy of a card, show it.

The second one does not read as deliberate so, leaning towards no offence
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Yeah the player kicked the ball upwards and it hit their arm which was coming back down from being raised
 
both of these incidents sound like the skill level of the U11 game may have been a contributing factor.

for u11s i try to keep in my mind to apply the laws in the spirit of the game. they're very young.

to give an 11 year old a yellow card, for me, they've really got to be misbehaving, or making a terrible challenge. i don't want to upset an 11 year old unless they need putting back in their box. they're there to play for fun, no need to ruin his day if he's accidentally made a late challenge.

though the handball, sounds like his arm was away from his body making it unnaturally bigger. i would have given the free kick (no card) there probably, especially if there was a chorus of HANDBALLLLL REF. equally waving play on is hardly a biggie if its in a neutral part of the pitch and more of an accidental handball by the player. CARRY ONNNNN would of worked just as well.
 
gvu_ref said:
both of these incidents sound like the skill level of the U11 game may have been a contributing factor.

for u11s i try to keep in my mind to apply the laws in the spirit of the game. they're very young.

to give an 11 year old a yellow card, for me, they've really got to be misbehaving, or making a terrible challenge. i don't want to upset an 11 year old unless they need putting back in their box. they're there to play for fun, no need to ruin his day if he's accidentally made a late challenge.

though the handball, sounds like his arm was away from his body making it unnaturally bigger. i would have given the free kick (no card) there probably, especially if there was a chorus of HANDBALLLLL REF. equally waving play on is hardly a biggie if its in a neutral part of the pitch and more of an accidental handball by the player. CARRY ONNNNN would of worked just as well.
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I may have forgotten to mention it was in the Defenders box 🙈
 
Basing this purely on your description as written in your opening post.

As a level 9 you’re still learning, so I’m not trying to get you to suck eggs, but walk you through step by step so that when it happens again - and it will a - you can think “Oh yes I had this before.”

You’ll have heard - I hope - about the stepped approach in your training. That foul challenge is your opportunity to stamp your authority on matters. Verbally pull the offending player out and calmly explain that he/she can’t challenge like that again.

What you’re doing here is more than just warning the defender - but making clear to all involved that it’s not going to be permitted. Be calm, take your time as you need to and be confident. It’s all in your hands and you’re in control.

It’s early on, so a very early caution may (stress may) mean you have to start cautioning for other fouls you may have otherwise been able to manage. Not always the case, as some need doing straightaway and there’s no getting away from that.

In this case, moving to step 2, and going for a public warning helps - if the player does it again there will be few arguments if you do caution them later on.

Does that help?
 
Josh the referee said:
I may have forgotten to mention it was in the Defenders box 🙈
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think ive only ever gave 1 penalty at u11 age group, and it was a deliberate trip by the defender after he had been megs'd by the attacker. unbelievably blatant, even the parents were tutting at him. i find myself running about the mini pitch just wanting them all to have a nice time, long as ive got the game under control. think with experience and gaining confidence you begin to know what the expectations are. if im not blowing for a penalty and ive got coaches yelling REFFFFF im making it clear verbally its either SILHOUETTE or ACCIDENTAL. and telling the lads on the pitch to play to the whistle. don't let coaches influence your decisions, 9 times out of 10, theyre passionate dads getting carried away.
 
Tealeaf said:
Basing this purely on your description as written in your opening post.

As a level 9 you’re still learning, so I’m not trying to get you to suck eggs, but walk you through step by step so that when it happens again - and it will a - you can think “Oh yes I had this before.”

You’ll have heard - I hope - about the stepped approach in your training. That foul challenge is your opportunity to stamp your authority on matters. Verbally pull the offending player out and calmly explain that he/she can’t challenge like that again.

What you’re doing here is more than just warning the defender - but making clear to all involved that it’s not going to be permitted. Be calm, take your time as you need to and be confident. It’s all in your hands and you’re in control.

It’s early on, so a very early caution may (stress may) mean you have to start cautioning for other fouls you may have otherwise been able to manage. Not always the case, as some need doing straightaway and there’s no getting away from that.

In this case, moving to step 2, and going for a public warning helps - if the player does it again there will be few arguments if you do caution them later on.

Does that help?
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Thank you so much, I really appreciate the advice and i'll just make sure that I remember these things for the next time they happen.

I heard a little bit about the stepped approach in the training but still don't exactly understand how you use it properly and when to use it. If you had any description of it, please let me know
 
In simple terms the stepped approach is about building up to the ultimate sanction, which is sending a player off.

Depending on the individual it has roughly 4 or 5 steps. Personally, I don’t count awarding a free kick on its own as a step, so view it as 4.

Step 1 - the quiet word. Maybe in passing to a player “Be careful” “Watch yourself with those challenges” etc. Sometimes you can use this in a scenario where it’s not actually affected play, but had it done so (eg if it had made contact it would be a free kick), or even when the ball is out of play.

Also known as a private word.

Step 2: You’ve stopped the game and obviously called the player in to warn them, or even try and settle them down. They may be all fired up and bordering reckless, or getting close to the point where you are considering persistent infringement for a number of lesser severity fouls. This is also called a public word, because it’s obvious. You can call the captain into help settle the player down, although personally I’ll do this more in case of dissent rather than fouls with the other exception being the “loose cannon” type of player.

Step 3: Caution. You’ve used steps 1-3 in the game or with an individual and enough is enough.

Step 4: Sending off. Similar to step 3s explanation, you’ve gone through the stages or it’s so severe you have no other option.

Some important caveats. You don’t have to follow all of these steps before cautioning or sending off. Some challenges or actions mean you have to move to that step immediately.

Equally you can apply step 1 to an entire team but reach the point where you feel it isn’t working and escalate it to step 3.

You can also take a step backwards in the case of individual players. For example how many times do we hear on the tv that a player “has to go because he’s already been booked”? Sometimes after a player has been cautioned and fouls again going to step 2 and a public word can be your best option. They might not make another foul in the game. They might get subbed - problem solved. Or they continue, and pick up a second caution by which time it’s all on them. You’ve made it clear to everyone that they are on the last chance and they leave you no option.
 
gvu_ref said:
though the handball, sounds like his arm was away from his body making it unnaturally bigger. i would have given the free kick (no card) there probably, especially if there was a chorus of HANDBALLLLL REF. equally waving play on is hardly a biggie if its in a neutral part of the pitch and more of an accidental handball by the player. CARRY ONNNNN would of worked just as well.
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the description describes a player with arm innatural position for what he was doing. Spot on to not call it. Keep in mind the purpose of the biggering offense”—its to prevent players from getting an unfair advantage by putting their arm in an unnatural position to take up space. It doesn’t make sense to even think about when a player kicks the ball into his own arm.

DJIC said:
Your hand ball sounds like accidental, which is only penalised if the player goes on to score or passes to a player who immediately scores.
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You description is a couple of years out of date . . . Only applies to the handler scoring
 
I think if it’s big field 11 vs 11 and u11-12 then you can caution a blatant SPA.

But ..,was it reckless (which is YC - remember: 1-2-3 - careless - reckless - excessive force) or was it a promising attack… which one? Or both?

if reckless, then you are saying yellow card foul, so, yes, YC ;)

If it was SPA (stopping a promising attack) why? Lots of attackers, passing opportunities, heading towards goal etc…?
 
santa sangria said:
I think if it’s big field 11 vs 11 and u11-12 then you can caution a blatant SPA.

But ..,was it reckless (which is YC - remember: 1-2-3 - careless - reckless - excessive force) or was it a promising attack… which one? Or both?

if reckless, then you are saying yellow card foul, so, yes, YC ;)

If it was SPA (stopping a promising attack) why? Lots of attackers, passing opportunities, heading towards goal etc…?
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Game was 9 V 9

It was a counter attack, midfielder comes from behind to take down the player. There were maybe 2 Defenders so a 3 vs 2 for the attacking team. SPA was in my mind but obviously at that skill level the chance of the ball going forward and a clear chance breaking for the attacker is rare.

I think the tackle bordered Reckless bit I felt reluctant to hand out a Yellow card to a 10/11 year old!
 
Josh the referee said:
Game was 9 V 9

It was a counter attack, midfielder comes from behind to take down the player. There were maybe 2 Defenders so a 3 vs 2 for the attacking team. SPA was in my mind but obviously at that skill level the chance of the ball going forward and a clear chance breaking for the attacker is rare.

I think the tackle bordered Reckless bit I felt reluctant to hand out a Yellow card to a 10/11 year old!
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YHTBT but smells like a yellow was not appropriate. At 9v9 unless it’s cynical then I think you can be very slow to card.

At u11 9v9 no one wants water polo refereeing with whistles for every accidental kick. But… when you do have a foul to whistle you should always be thinking careless-reckless-excessive force.

And 9v9 are games for you to get used to moving around, watching everything - remember to try to keep all the players/benches in view if something weird happens - and also to practice communicating. Get used to talking: seen that, go on; carry on; hands down etc etc.

PS Have you run the line yet? Working with the flag with better refs is the fastest way to advance;)
 
santa sangria said:
YHTBT but smells like a yellow was not appropriate. At 9v9 unless it’s cynical then I think you can be very slow to card.

At u11 9v9 no one wants water polo refereeing with whistles for every accidental kick. But… when you do have a foul to whistle you should always be thinking careless-reckless-excessive force.

And 9v9 are games for you to get used to moving around, watching everything - remember to try to keep all the players/benches in view if something weird happens - and also to practice communicating. Get used to talking: seen that, go on; carry on; hands down etc etc.

PS Have you run the line yet? Working with the flag with better refs is the fastest way to advance;)
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Thanks for the advice.

I haven't had any games with the flag yet, I'm under 16 so quite hard to find any games where I can work with more experienced referees.

I know that it happens at academies so might look at trying to get some games there next season if I can.
 
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