u/fulaftrbrnr

Recently got into a discussion with some fellow officials and we were split on this issue.

In age groups where deliberate heading is not allowed, is the head considered for purposes of a player being in an offside position?

I know this is splitting hairs, but at some point I received instruction that the head is excluded in these cases because it can’t be used to legally play the ball. However, I can’t find ANYTHING from any source that backs this up.

Bonus question: Would you disallow a goal that was accidentally scored from an attacker’s head (ie: deflected off the head into the goal) in U12 and below?

Edit: Consensus seems to be that there’s nothing explicit, even in USSF, state, and local association guidance and ROCs. This would suggest that we fall back on Law 11 and include the head as a body part which can put players offside. Interesting thought exercise though.

Training for my fitness test for recert as USSF Regional. Was told that the test would be run back and forth on turf this year instead of around the track.

I’ve been training on natural grass and peaking around 30 intervals continuous before the engine gives out.

Just ran on a track for giggles and did 48 continuous (Test + 20%) with some left in the tank.

Guess I’ll switch to artificial turf and see how that goes.

Anyone else have experience with this transition? (I’m told National Camp is running it in turf too). How did you find it compared to last year’s test on a track?