Mavericks

There are a number of outstanding referee websites that provide instruction and video clips of actual game situations that can be helpful to referees:

Ask a Soccer Referee

This is an excellent website where referees from around the country can submit questions to USSF and get official answers (not just some "expert" referee's opinion -- "expert" has been defined as a has-been drip under pressure!).  It's interesting to read the question submitted and then to try to answer it yourself before reading the official answer.  It's a challenge!  Sometimes those answering the questions rag on some of the "inventive referees" who come up with all sorts of weird law interpretations.  The link to the site is http://www.askasoccerreferee.com/

Law Book and Guide to Signals

You can download a .pdf file of the laws from the following website:  http://www.ussoccer.com/Referees/Laws-of-the-Game.aspx

You can also download a .pdf file of the "Guide to Proceedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials" at the same website as above.  This contains all the approved signals and procedures for referees (sometimes referred to as "mechanics", that is, how to signal, where to be positioned, etc.).

In-Depth Explanations of the Laws

If you need help understanding a particular law, USSF publishes "Advice to Referees", which provides great explanations of all facets of each law.  It is organized by each law, so it's easy to find answers about offside issues by going to section 11 of Advice to Referees, which corresponds to the offside law, which is Law number 11 in the Law Book.  The link to download the .pdf file is http://www.ussoccer.com/Referees/Referee-Development/Instructional-Materials.aspx

The league is also accepting applications for coaches and referees. A coaches clinic and referee training is provided. For more information contact the league at 894-1088 or cysl@sbcglobal.net

If the ball is on the line, is it in or out?  The laws of soccer state that the whole ball must be outside the whole line for it to be out.  Therefore, a ball on the line is still in play.

Since the whole ball has to be outside the entire line, the bottom of the ball may be sitting outside the line but still be in play because a portion of the side of the ball is still over the line.

Likewise, for a goal to be scored the whole ball must pass over the entire goal line.

"That was a hand ball, ref.  Are you blind?"  Why didn't the referee call that?  Short of not seeing the foul (it's possible he or she was looking somewhere else or were screened by another player), the referee has made a judgement that, in his or her opinion, it was not a deliberate touch of the ball.

The laws contain many phrases like "If, in the opinion of the referee, . . . " or "at his discretion . . ."  The laws make the referee the sole judge in soccer.  Judgement calls (for example, if a player was tripped or if they just fell down) are based on the judgement of the referee, not the opinion of the coach, players, or spectators.

Sometimes we hear coaches panic when their players aren't standing behind the line when making a throw-in.  The laws state that a part of both feet must be on or behind the sideline.  Therefore, no need to panic.  Even if a player has only part of both heels on the line, it is still a good throw-in.

Other aspects of a good throw-in:  a part of both feet touching the ground and the ball must be delivered with both hands from behind and over the head.