He should wait until active involvement

He should wait until active involvement
by wcnitz (2026-09-02 09:12:21)
Edited on 2026-09-02 09:13:30

In reply to: At our tournament this past weekend posted by HTownND

The younger the age group, the lower that threshold. Chasing a ball from an offside position with a defender? At higher age groups and skill levels, we probably wait until they're at least within playing distance. Younger? If they clearly aren't stopping, the guidance is to put the flag up right away.

Part of the guidance revolves around the change 10 years ago - instead of the restart taking place where the offside player was on the teammate touch, it's at the point of impact instead. So the AR is expected to keep moving with play until active involvement, then stop and raise the flag.

Without VAR and comms, if the flag goes up, the referee is going to either a) blow the whistle or b) wave down the flag (for defender touch, or the AR forgetting it was from a goal kick, or something similar).

Replies:

I HATE this rule - Irishlawyer 2026-09-02 10:47:37
- Yeah, safety should be the priority at the youth levels - wcnitz 2026-09-02 11:01:38
It wasn’t a good through ball - HTownND 2026-09-02 10:38:11
- Yeah, flag up means stop play - wcnitz 2026-09-02 10:43:10