2015 Rules Changes, Questions, etc

[chaoslord]

This thread, in my head, will serve as the main place to talk about refereeing stuff for the year. Discussion might happen elsewhere organically, sure, but I feel like having a dedicated thread will help questions get answered and where situations can be talked about without detracting from other discussions. If this is seen as an unnecessary thing it can be closed.

There will be situations where referees get calls wrong. I know I've gotten calls wrong before. This thread, ideally, will serve as an opportunity for us to all learn together. And I really do mean together. Obviously I'm going to have my opinion on situations but knowing what players, coaches, and fans expect is just as important and helpful for referee development. Understandably, there might be a little bit of anger about a call that may or may not have been right. I get that. But let's try to avoid ref bashing. There is a difference between a referee missing a call, having a bad night, or just being a bad referee in general. I'm not going to pretend there aren't bad referees out there, but there is nothing constructive that comes from the conversation of "That ref is bad."

That said, the most important part of the thread will be the rules changes for the upcoming season. If it serves no other purpose than making people aware, that's fine with me.

2015 Rules Changes

There are two Rules Changes for the year put out by NFHS, one that is relatively minor and one that is HUGE. I'll start with the minor one. I'm assuming Arkansas will adopt both of these, but if for whatever reason that doesn't happen I'll come back through later and post about it.

5-1-2: The jurisdiction of the officials shall begin on their arrival at the field of play and its immediate surroundings, which shall be no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of the game.

Basically, refs can start handing out cards when they get to the field. This shouldn't have any affect on anyone, I hope.

3-3-2b(2): If the referee stops the clock for an apparent injury to a field player or goalkeeper, the field player or goalkeeper will have to leave the field. The field player may be replaced, and the goalkeeper must be replaced.

Previously, if a referee stopped the clock to check on a goalkeeper the keeper could stay on. Not anymore. Having to have your backup keeper on the field for a few minutes could be a huge deal. If I were a coach I would have my keepers be trained to say "I'm okay, don't stop the clock, I just need a couple of seconds". If I'm completely honest, I'm not expecting this to get enforced 100% of the time, but it should be. Don't get burned by "Last week's ref let us keep him on." Just be ready for it now. Doubly so come playoff time.

While I'm here talking about things getting enforced or not, can I just make one request?

If you have any affiliation with a team, please have them start stockpiling rolls of tape that match your teams sock colors now.

Here is the editorial changed rule about it

4-1-1(b): Both socks shall be the same color, with the home team wearing solid white socks and the visiting team wearing socks of a single dominant color, but not necessarily the color of the jersey. If tape or a similar material is applied externally to the socks, it must be of a similar color as that part of the sock to which it is applied.

This rule has been on the books for a year now. I hate having to go through this conversation:

: "Coach, your players can't have white tape on their <NOT WHITE> socks."
: "Well it's really hard to find <NOT WHITE> tape, and we don't have any. Can't we just please wear it?"
: "Sorry."

The end result of this conversation is the coach being upset and having a negative opinion of the referee. Game hasn't even kicked off and the referee is in the hole. Even worse if a player who tapes up after the referee asks the coach "Is your team properly and legally equipped?" and gets on the field because now the player has to go off the field to fix the issue AND the coach gets a yellow card (if he hasn't already been given a card for illegal equipment). Let me tell you, a caution to a coach because sock tape is white instead of <COLOR> can send a game right in the toilet. It's what the rules demand and what the state has asked us to do. Trust me, I get it, it's a fairly ticky tack thing. I also get not everyone will enforce it. heck, maybe most won't. All I'm asking is giving us referees a little bit of help by making sure your kids/players/coaches are aware of this and are following it. I know I'm going to have a bunch of rolls of tape in my bag to help, but I want that to be a rare, "Oh no we just traveled three hours and forgot our tape" situation instead of "Good to see you again ref, still got that <COLOR> tape?"

Link to changes: http://www.nfhs.org/sports-resource-content/soccer-rules-changes-2014-15/
Nice little flyer that includes Points of Emphasis: http://www.nfhs.org/media/885681/nfhs-soccer-rules-poster-2014-15.pdf

[Lionheart88]

Ah, joy.  That's going to make all our lives easier.   

[forumfan]

I believe the replace-the-injured-goalkeeper-if-you-come-on-the-field rule was in place last year in AR HS.

[sevenof400]

This thread, in my head, will serve as the main place to talk about refereeing stuff for the year....

Idle thought: we are all just visitors in Chaoslord's head......

[chaoslord]

I believe the replace-the-injured-goalkeeper-if-you-come-on-the-field rule was in place last year in AR HS.

I don't think it was but I won't swear to it.  Either way, it's a national rule as of this year so if we did it last year we were ahead of the times, haha.

I got my 2014/15 rulebook (complete with GK rule change) in the mail today. In addition, there was this nice little NFHS/AAA branded card with a short message printed on it. I assume that it's going to be required reading at the coin toss. Just in case I lose mine before the season gets here in the first week of March (so far away still!), it reads:

"The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and your state association require officials to enforce sportsmanship rules. High school athletics emphasize positive values. All of us have worked hard to create a sense of teamwork, respect, responsibility and perspective. We remind you that we expect good behavior and will quickly penalize misconduct. We encourage and appreciate your help. Let this competition reflect mutual respect among all participants, coaches and officials. Coaches please certify that your players are legally equipped and uniformed according to NFHS rules. Good luck and have a great contest!"

[chaoslord]

This thread, in my head, will serve as the main place to talk about refereeing stuff for the year....

Idle thought: we are all just visitors in Chaoslord's head......

Probably laughed at this more than I should have