Todd Abraham
C. Cliff McCrath
If you have a question about or need an interpretation of the NCAA Soccer Rules, you’ve come to the right place. Two NISOA Hall of Famers, long time NCAA Soccer Secretary-Rules Editor, C. Cliff McCrath, Corey Rockwell (current NISOA Senior Director of Education) and NISOA National Rules Interpreter Todd Abraham are active contributors here. Please follow the following guidelines before posting your question:
- Read the current NCAA Soccer Rules book (available on the Forms page of our site).
- Do not post questions regarding issues of referee judgement.
- Do not post specific game details ( i.e. home team, match date, etc.) with your question, if your question happens to be about something you saw during an intercollegiate soccer game.
All questions are subject to editorial review. This is offered as a service to NISOA membership for educational purposes, with the expressed understanding that only the NCAA Soccer Secretary-Rules Editor (Ken Andres) can provide an official rule interpretation.
There is a discrepancy between the “NCAA Soccer 2010 and 2011 Rules and Interpretations” and the “Comparative Study of Rules and Laws”, 2011 edition regarding Facemasks. The “Comparative Study” indicates that “Facemasks not permitted”, where the “rules” do not mention facemasks, at all.
This makes me question the validity of other areas of this ‘quick reference” guide.
Obviously, we should use the 2010 and 2011 Rules and Interpretations, as out definitive guide.
I could not find a location for new interpretations or corrections, on the NISOA site. Does such a location exist, that we should check regularly?
Ed et al: Any discrepancy determinded by collateral publciations require attention and corrections to the latter. The NCAA rules and interpretations take precedence AND ARE THE ONLY AUTHORITATIVE RULINGS that are to be followed in any disputed matter. It is assumed that there will be occasional misunderstandings because parallel publications are produced without unilateral programming or oversight. It is important to note that the NCAA rules and interpretations, historically, do not provide “shopping lists” of all items addressed in a given rule. (Example: Artificial noisemakers, various types of jewelry, etc.) Further, when a given item is NOT identified, the answer is provided by the Secretary-Rules Editor who is appointed to provide such interpretations between annual meetings. To wit, face masks are NOT prohibited – specifically – in Rule 4.5.4 and, therefore, may be considered acceptable to the referee on a game-by-game basis. There have been significant improvements in the quality of face mask construction many, of which, now comprise pliable – and safe – materials. Every effort should be made to allow players to play if what they wear does not constitute danger to themselves or others.
Can soccer be played legally on a crowned football field?What is the allowance between the highest elevation on the field?
Would it be possible to elaborate on Rule 10.11 Lightning Safety Policy, Expiration of Time? The context and example read to me as though there’s a 3 hour window, but I’d like a bit more information if you were to have multiple delays.
Paul: Please review Rule 1.18 in the 2010-11 rules and interpretations.
Joe: The best example is: A game begins at 2:00pm…at 2:47 lightning stikes and the game is suspended because of the elements. If the game can be restarted it must restart prior to 5:00pm. At 5:01pm the time has exceeded the total of two 90-minute games. Hope this helps.
When must a ball be released on a throw-in? I had a coach ask me this question and looked it up. I the link – http://nisoa.com/about-us/instructional-articles/interscholastic-instruction/soccer-by-the-rules-thow-in-basics/
it states “The throw has to start behind the head, come over the head and then release the ball.” The coach wanted us to call foul throws because they felt the other team was holding on to the ball farther than “over their head”. I looked it upo in the rule book at half (as I told the coach I would) and found nothing that specified when the release should occur.
The release is to occur after the ball has come from behind the head and has total gone past the front of the head (forehead). At the time of the release, both hands must have been in contact with the ball and both feel must be on the ground.
This is for interscholastic soccer and the interpretation was made by the NFHS rules editor
Under Rule 5.4.1, the referee’s pregame duties include surveying the field conditions for safety purposes.
The rulebook further states that “violations involving field conditions, uniforms, equipment or other items shall be reported immediately to the appropriate governing sports authority and, if possible, necessary changes or repairs shall be made before the contest.”
Can a referee abandon a match before the game due to a very old turf field that he/she deems unplayable?
yes. The referee has this authority
Cliff,
It’s my understanding that a red card offense or any unusual occurancce while the game is in the hands of the officials are to be submitted to the Athletic Directors at each school. Is that no longer the case> was a NISOA official for many years.
Cliff you “might” rememberme when I was on the NCAA National committee and you brought SPU to play UMSl inn STL
Ejections are reported to Brian Crossman for statistical purposes. Fighiting incidents must be reported to the athletic director through the regional representative.
A school in the process of changing their football field from grass to turf paints soccer lines on the field. The field’s width is less than 65 yards. Does this field meet NCAA regulations? The football field has existed for many years. Prior to this recent change in 2010 of surface the field had never been used as a soccer field.
The rules:
The field in question is NOT LEGAL – because it has not hosted a soccer game!
If it hosted a soccer game prior to September 1995:
It need only be rectangular the width of which cannot exceed the length.
Hey Cliff, I am from a North East chapter in NY referee association around the capital district.
Situation- Both teams are on the pitch in their assigned positions on the field. Just before the kick off the home team coach wanted to replace a player with another player, which he did. Is this to be considered a substitution for the player coming off the field or is this a no harm no issue because play had not started?
I could not find any information on this in the rule book. Thank you for you time. respectfully, Joseph Kokerank.
Legal. This is not a substitution as the game has not started. See Rules 3.4, 3.6 and 8.2.
Kenneth G. Andres, Jr.
NCAA Soccer Secretary-Rules Editor
I had a referee friend make the following statement regarding pass-backs to a keeper in High School Soccer:
“Deflections or mis-hits should never be deemed as deliberate directly to the keeper or to an area where the keeper can play the ball with their hands.”
ART. 3 . . . On any occasion when a player deliberately kicks the ball to his/her own goalkeeper, the goalkeeper is not permitted to touch it with his/her hands.
The key to me seems to be intent, but the wording being “deliberately” makes one question what my friend called “mis-hits” (I agree with the deflections part). I assume he means a kick that did not go where you wanted it to go or not at the pace you wanted it to have. I would argue that if the player tried to kick the ball the intent was there, as we apply the rule in the college game based on the official interpretations, but “deliberately kicks the ball to his/her own goalkeeper” carries what seems to me to be another meaning all together for the High School gane. Any advice on this that would clarify this rule on the high school level would be very helpful.
Per the NFHS Secretary Rules Editor:
Rule 12-7-3 is correctly stated below. The kick to the goalkeeper by a teammate must be deliberate. The writer indicates that intent is the “key” to this rule, and he is correct. The official must decide if the teammate of the goalkeeper intended to kick the ball to the goalkeeper. The writer incorrectly states that a deflection cannot be a deliberate kick to the goalkeeper.
Example: A teammate deliberately kicks the ball to the goalkeeper but on the way to the goalkeeper, the ball skips off the back let of an opponent and goes directly to the keeper. The opponent did not play the ball and, in fact, did not see it coming. If the goalkeeper touches the ball with his/her hands, it is a foul.
A miss-hit would be a kick that was intended to go somewhere else but goes directly to the keeper. If the keeper touches the ball with the hands, it is not a foul and play will continue because the ball was not deliberately kicked to the keeper.
Here are two examples of miskicks that went to the keeper but were not fouls:
1. Player A is in 10 yards into Team B’s side of mid-field. Player A passes the ball back to a team A player who misses the ball. The ball rolls to the Team A goalkeeper who picks up the ball with the hands. This is not a foul because Player A did not intend to kick the ball to goalkeeper A.
2. There is a strong wind and team A is kicking into the wind – a goal kick by a team A player travels outside the penalty area, but is blown back into the penalty area by the wind. The ball is picked up by goalkeeper A. There is no foul because the ball was not deliberate kicked to the goalkeeper.
Thanks for clearing that up.