AYSO National Referee Program

Refereeing with Fewer Than Three

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Course Objectives

• Understand the Principles of the Diagonal System of Control (DSC).

• Understand what the referee(s) must monitor and in what order of priority.

• Apply those principles and priorities when fewer than three referees are available.

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Duties of Referees

• Referee’s Job: Keep the Game Safe, Fair and Fun.

• More specifically, chose the best position to see and judge the match priorities.

• How? Use principles of Diagonal System of Control (DSC) (modified, when there are fewer than three referees).

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Core Principle of the DSC

• Referees and Assistant Referees constantly vary their positions to maximize the likelihood that one is properly situated to judge any event that occurs.9/30/2015

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What Do Officials Need to Monitor?

• Scoring of a goal• Ball over a boundary line• Offside• Fouls/misconduct• Technical infringements (on

restarts)• Issues outside the touch line

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DSC with Three Referees:Boxing Play

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Touch line

Go

al l

ine

AR1Offside

Fouls and injuries

R

Direction of play

AR2

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DSC with Three Referees:Boxing Play

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Touch line

Go

al l

ine

AR1

OffsideAR2

Fouls and injuries

R

Direction of play

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DSC with Three Referees:Four Eyes on Play

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AR1

AR2

R

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What if there are Fewer Than Three?

• Solo? • One AR? • One or Two Linesmen?

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What’s the Impact?

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What changes with fewer than three?

• The referee’s priorities should affect his/her field position in order to maximize his/her view of what must be judged.

• The referee’s priority choices will be different depending on the player age and skill.

• The fewer trained referees, the greater the physical demand on the referee because he/she must position him/herself to see and judge more events.

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What Governs the Referee's Movement?

• Where must he/she be…

– To observe what is happening now?– To observe what will happen next?

• These can be contradictory demands!

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What Governs the Referee's Movement?

• The assistant referees help resolve the conflict.

• Fewer eyes must make boundary line decisions.

• This is what makes refereeing with fewer than three officials hard!– Less information from others means more constraints

on positioning.– Referee can’t do it all by him or herself.– Fewer officials means much more running.

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Impact of Fewer Than Three

• Monitoring usual events (offside; restarts; player conduct; boundary line) become more challenging.

• Referee must establish priorities.– Priorities must be adjusted as game progresses.– Priorities affect positioning.

• Recruiting linesmen reduces the compromises the Referee must make.

• Physical demands increase for the referee.

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DSC When Refereeing Solo (no Assistants; no Linesmen)

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Positioning: Where Do You Start When You’re Working Solo?

• Start with the standard diagonal.• Modify position as game requires.

– Move with play; don’t wait for it to pass by.– Be wider than usual.– Be deeper than usual.

• Take advantage of restarts to reestablish position.

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Refereeing Solo: Implications

• Ideal: referee goes deeper and wider than in DSC;Reality: coverage will be shallower and narrower.

• Judging ball on goal line is next to impossible.• Judging close offside requires being ahead of the

ball at both ends, which is extremely hard or impossible.– Manage expectations pre-game!

• For older players, tight control is essential.– Limit use of advantage

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DSC with One Referee: Realistic Referee Coverage

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CL

CL

R

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DSC with One Referee (no AR's): Recruit a Linesman! (Or Two!)

• Why recruit linesmen?– Today’s linesman is tomorrow’s referee

(linesmen are good source of recruits for referee training).

– AYSO is a volunteer organization; volunteers are needed (spectators might need reminding that they are needed!)

– With assistance, the referee makes fewer compromises.

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DSC with One Referee

• Why Else Recruit Linesmen?• Physically and mentally taxing to work

solo• Can’t watch everything.• Must focus on priorities: goals, offside,

fouls.• Let linesmen worry about ball into

touch.

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Instructions for Linesmen

• Where they move (along half of touchline)• What they signal (ball in and out of play

ONLY)• How they signal (flag straight up)• What’s “in” and what’s “out”?• How to handle linesman who “knows

offside”?• What about the goal line?

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Restart Positioning without an Assistant Referee

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DSC with One Referee: Positioning

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R

B

D

E

C

Direction of playA = Corner Kick Referee Side

B = Corner Kick Far Side

C = DFK Attacking Third

D = DFK Outside Attacking Third

E = Penalty Kick

X = Throw In

X

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DSC with One Referee: Positioning

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A

R

A = Corner Kick Referee side

Direction of play

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DSC with One Referee: Positioning

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BB = Corner KickFar side

R

Moves in with players

Direction of play

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DSC with One Referee: Positioning

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Positioned to monitor offside

C = DFK in attacking third

C

Direction of play

R

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DSC with One Referee: Positioning

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R

In zone of play

DD = DFK outside attacking third

Direction of play

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DSC with One Referee: Positioning

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R

E = Penalty Kick

E

Direction of play

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DSC with One Referee: Positioning

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X

X = Throw-InFar side

R

Direction of play

Moves closer to far touch line; prepares to move with play or towards goal line with play as needed

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DSC with One Referee

• Moral: Avoid doing games solo: get two club linesmen!

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DSC with a Referee, Assistant Referee and a Club Linesman

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DSC with Two Neutral Officials

• One is the referee, one is an assistant referee– AR will be given additional

responsibilities during pre-game conference.

• A club linesman is used on the other touch line.

• This is the only acceptable configuration.

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The dual system (two referees on the field with whistles) is not authorized for use in AYSO matches!

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DSC with Two Officials: Positioning

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Touch line

Go

al l

ine

AR

CL

Fouls and injuries R

Direction of play

Referee will need to lead play to watch for offside

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DSC with Two Officials: Idealized Referee Coverage

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AR

CL

R

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DSC with Two Officials: Realistic Referee Coverage

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AR

CL

R

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DSC with Fewer than Three Referees: People Management

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DSC with Fewer Than Three:People Management

• Younger players’ games– Focus on the adults– Have pre-game discussion with coaches

• Older players’ games– Focus on players, not coaches/spectators– “Sign up” the players for low offside

expectations– Limit use of advantage– Failure to detect fouls can lead to loss of control

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Fouls Off-the-Ball

• Identify problem players early• Be nearer to problem players• Take a wider position to see more• Ask AR (not club linesman) to watch

players• Speak to players early; prevent

escalation• Consider cautioning earlier than usual

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DSC with Two Officials: AR Helps with Problem Players

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AR

R

CL

AR watches players behind referee’s back

When play is here

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Summary

• Refereeing with fewer than three referees is a compromise.

• Use principles of the DSC to adjust position to compensate.

• Prioritize your duties and position yourself to maximize your ability to judge goals, offside and fouls.

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And remember: the dual system is not authorized for use in AYSO!

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Goal For Referees

• Support the delivery of a great AYSO experience for players and others

• How will this workshop help you support this goal?

• Thank you!

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