Jay, a U13 – U19 referee, asks:
| I was a middle school coach and now turned referee and have a question regarding coaches shouting verbal instructions from the technical area. For example, opposing team errantly plays the ball which is headed out of touch. An opposing player is racing after the ball, but my player is closer. I realize it will be our throw in (or corner, or goal kick) if it goes out, so I and yell out, “let it go, let it go, let it go!!!!” Under the LOTG, is this permissible? As a former coach, in one game, I was asked by the official to use the player’s name in conjunction with the instruction, if I’m going to yell it. “Sally, Let it go, Let it go Sally!!” So there is no confusion and the opposing player will know the instruction is not coming from her coach. I understood the point he made as to not be unintentionally deceptive. Now as a rookie referee, I am looking in the LOTG for where this is covered and if it is something that needs enforced during games. |
Answer
It’s not impermissible. However ….
Depending on the age of the player (say, roughly 14 and above) coaches should not be shouting guidance of the sort you described. This is what practices are for. This is what studying the game is for. This is what a player learns by doing. And this is what working with the bench players is for. If there is any guidance that is desperately needed with respect to your players on the field, make it short (2-3 words) and always focus it on the target player rather than shouted across the field (preface the 2-3 words after the name of your target player on the field).
Better yet, use time off the field and focus on the substitutes off the field — this enables you to not shout but to focus what you feel needs to be said to the subs for when they are on the field. Use the half to deal with events that you feel should have been handled differently. If you have players mixed between those who have played for several years and those who have had more experience, try to bring them into a discussion at the midgame break. If you want to focus on a specific player who has made several mistakes (every player has made at least one error), don’t throw out a litany of critical observations (no matter how correct your words may be) but ask if the player remembers the event and then see if you can get him/her to figure it out or see what the other players might offer.
Really good coaches (handling 14 and above age players) rarely say anything toward the field during active play time that is negative – positive comments are great and a player understands the underlying point better than some complex (more than 2-3 words) speech. Frankly, it is a well-established fact that even a moderately experienced player rarely hears, much less captures the meaning of, more than a word or two shouted from the sideline (particularly if there are family members also shouting at them).
Finally, consider and take into account the possibility that the player may already know what to do and why – shouting advice that the player already knows or has already considered can be embarrassing, particularly if he/she turns out to be, on balance, correct (being on the sideline does not always give you a better view of what is going or about to go on).
Short of seeing an immediately approaching dangerous event (regardless of who it is) that might be mitigated by shouting about the almost-certain collision, the rest of the game should be left to the players you have trained, who have gotten experience, and/or who have learned by making a mistake. The above advice also saves you a lot of dry throat problems.
As for the last issue at the bottom of your question, there is nothing in the Laws of the Game on this subject. That’s one of the reasons we have offered this website for more than 20 years.
