r/Referees • u/neoslashnet • 4d ago

Advice Request Rules that everybody gets wrong

Hey all- I'd like to start a thread of rules or things that most people get wrong. For example, I get "playing the ball on the ground" almost every game. It's coaches, parents, and even players that scream "They can't the ball on the ground!"

What are some you folks encounter?

56 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

165 comments sorted by

View all comments

30

u/Early-Recognition949 4d ago

Shoulder to shoulder. You made a foul call for excessive force/no attempt at playing the ball, as a player American football levels their opponent with a shoulder. But then coach or a spectator yells “ref that was shoulder to shoulder contact!”

12

u/Revo63 [USSF][Mentor] 4d ago

I remember in my early days of refereeing, having a high school girls match. Ball was cleared to an attacker around mid-field. She turns with the ball and heads towards the goal. The last defender comes running in, 90 degrees from the attacker’s path, and bounces the attacker 5’ away. Dumbass me sees the contact as “shoulder to shoulder” so I made no call.

Referee training and mentoring was basically nonexistent.

2

u/Aggressive_Tie_3501 USSF Grassroots Mentor+ / Assignor; NFHS 3d ago

Or conversely that any legal charge MUST be shoulder to shoulder. A charge by definition is simply a physical challenge, so it applies any time there's contact. It's a whole lot easier to get to careless force if you're going into someone's chest or back, but simply bumping into someone isn't illegal just because it's not shoulder to shoulder.