FEW CHANGES MADE IN 2004 HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER RULES
A focus on risk minimization and
substitutions highlighted the January 25-26 meeting of the National Federation
of State High School Associations (NFHS) Soccer Rules Committee.
The most important change made
was a clarification from the 2003 rules meeting regarding goal post padding.
"Last year, we permitted goal post padding for the first time," said
Tim Flannery, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the NFHS Soccer Rules
Committee. "This year, we clarified that rule by adding the specifications
for the padding."
That clarification is of Rule 1-4-1, and states that the padding
must be commercially manufactured and properly secured. In addition, it will
have to be white, with a maximum thickness of one inch and a minimum height of
72 inches. No markings other than a single manufacturer's identification or
logo may appear on the goal post padding. Since presently there is no
clarification of the goal post padding rule, this addition will be a factor in
risk minimization.
Another major rule that deals
with risk minimization is Rule 4-1-1, which
was changed to include that shinguards must be age-
and size-appropriate. Previously, the rule only required that they be
age-appropriate. This addition will assist officials in determining the
appropriateness of shinguard size, because many
manufacturers currently size shinguards according to
standards such as youth, medium or adult.
A second major issue at this
year's meeting dealt with substitutions. A line in Rule 3-3-1(d)2
pertaining to injured players on the field and their removal from the game was
changed to allow a team to make a replacement for an injured player whether
that player was specifically attended to on the field or after he or she was
helped off the field. Since there are often minor
injuries in which play is stopped and the player seeks to leave without needing
to be attended to on the field (as in a bleeding situation), this proposal
would allow the coach to replace the injured player or opt to play short.
Also along the lines of
substitution, an addition to Rule 3-3-3 states
that the team not in possession of the ball may substitute an unlimited number
of players on a corner kick if the team in possession of the ball is also
substituting [provided the substitutions have checked in per 3-4-1(d)]. This addition will increase
both effective playing time and participation because currently there is not a
good reason for disallowing substitutions for the defenders of a corner kick in
which the kicking team has already chosen to substitute. This rule change will
help avoid repetitive, unnecessary substitution stoppages.
"Allowing substitutes on
corner kicks is a big change," Flannery said. "It now puts us [NFHS]
in line with the NCAA."
A change to Rule 5-3-1(b) will delete the phrase
"and assists" to limit the responsibilities of the referee to
confirming goals for the scorekeeper when crediting players, rather than both
goals and assists, as the current rule states. This adjustment is appropriate because
the officiating crew should not be responsible for noting assists when they do
not play a significant role with respect to the rules of the game.
Also, a new rule has been added
with regard to assistant referee signals used in the diagonal system of
officiating. The rule states that if the assistant referee sees a foul or
misconduct, he or she will indicate this by holding the flag vertically until
acknowledged by the referee. Once acknowledged, the assistant referee will
wiggle the flag and point the flag in the direction where the free kick will
take place.
In addition, each year the
committee identifies certain aspects of the rules that aren't being changed,
but are being stressed in the Points of Emphasis. This year, the Points of
Emphasis focused on six central themes: sportsmanship,
profanity, game administration, ethics, team
officiating and overall game safety.
"The committee continues to
stress the importance for players and coaches to model good sporting behavior
in all soccer contests," said Dr. Robert Lombardi, associate executive
director of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association and chairman
of the NFHS Soccer Rules Committee. "This year, as we have for the past
several years, the committee continues to place emphasis on minimizing risk in
soccer."
Soccer is the fifth-most popular
sport for boys at the high school level with 345,156 participants, according to
the 2002-03 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the NFHS.
It ranks seventh in terms of school sponsorship with 10,103. On the girls side, it also is fifth in popularity with 301,450
participants in 9,299 schools.