BRCL Referee Liaison's Report to the Board

Report for 6/13/2006 Board Meeting

(1) Inquiries Referee Liaison replied to in Spring 2006 season:

• 3/12 - from a coach - Referee holding player passes during a match, not checking player equipment, AR allegedly not understanding offside
• 3/12 - from a coach - Referee saying that shinguards could be no more than 2 inches above the shoe (incorrect - a VHSL rule)
• 3/13 - from a coach - How referee handled a team without player passes at the match site
• 3/13 - from a coach - A suggestion for how referees can check player equipment and passes simultaneously before a match
• 3/14 - from a team manager - Referee not checking player passes or equipment (especially cleats), AR allegedly not familiar with offside, whether or not it's all right to shake hands with referees after a match (as a result of BRCL Board adopting rule in March about no communication with referees)
• 3/14 - from a League officer - Whether or not a referee truly ejected a coach from a match
• 3/28 - from a League officer - Referees' pre-game safety inspection of soccer fields - what to look for
• 5/1 - from a team manager - Center Referee late to field and didn't check player passes or equipment
• 5/2 - from a parent - ethics of Center Referee talking to coaches and fans at halftime about a first half ejection
• 5/6 - from a fan - unruly, allegedly beer-drinking fan arguing referee's calls but not warned or ejected
• 5/7 - from a referee - need to find a way to keep coaches off the touchline so they don't interfere with AR's work

(2) Reminder to BRCL players, coaches, and team officials to remain in their technical area along the touchline:

Players, coaches, and team officials need to remain inside the technical areas marked on the field (except when players are waiting in the space designated for substitutes).

Personnel responsible for lining fields need to mark the technical areas so they are visible enough to be obeyed without referee direction.

According to the "Rules of Play for BRCL Games:" (a) technical areas must be marked off three (3) yards off the touchline on the team's side of the field; (b) players and team officials must remain within the technical area; (c) only four (4) carded team officials, including coaches, are allowed in the technical area; (d) only one team official at a time is authorized to convey limited tactical instructions to players at the touchline and then must return to the technical area; and (e) team officials may not direct play from the sideline.

According to the 2006 USSF "Instructions for Referees and Resolutions Affecting Team Coaches and Players," the section about the technical area states the following:

Team officials may convey tactical instructions to players during the game. However, team officials must remain within the confines of the technical area while doing so and must conduct themselves, at all times, in a responsible manner. Only one person at a time may be standing in the technical area, giving instructions to the team. The technical area may be defined as an area covering the length of the substitutes' bench plus one yard on either side and extending from the front of the bench up to a distance of one yard (one meter) away from the touchline. It is recommended that markings be used to define this area, but the absence of such markings does not relieve team officials from the obligation to behave responsibly. The referee may sketch out a technical area if one is not marked (my emphasis added here) and if, in the opinion of the referee, this is needed to assist in the control of sideline behavior.