07/30/12 – Rule 7 Duration of The Game

July 30, 2012 Soccer Blog Updates

PrintThis weekend we held our annual Officials Advanced Camp in conjugation with the Blue Grass State Games. I was very impressed by the Professionalism of the “Campers” as they went through the training sessions and was able to see many of them work games over the weekend. I also got a chance to visit with several coaches. It was a great weekend for preseason soccer and adds to the anticipation of the upcoming season. Some questions came from the referees about the Heat Index rule when it overrides our normal “two equal halves of 40 minutes each”. I thought I would give you the answers that I shared with them. First “How do we end the periods ? (Rule 7-1-4) Simply follow the same procedure we use for halftime of a standard game. Second “How do we restart?” (Rule 7-2-3) Again, no need to over-think this, we will simply exchange ends and alternate the kickoff. The only modification of the NFHS rule book is dealing with the interval between the quarters (7-2-2) that calls for two minutes, is changed because of the KMA policy on “heat index” that requires a ten minute water break. Although we could complain how “this is unfair — Soccer shouldn’t have so many breaks in play!”, the bottom line is:  It is the safety of the Students that will always out way someone’s perceived view of how soccer should be played. Print