The Ref Stop

Heading ban for u12s (England)

The Ref Stop
It is a trial for some U12 leagues and tournaments, but the details? Corners? Thrown ins? The keeper?

It would be very interesting to see the specifics of this.
 
The US took this step a few years ago. There are some slightly different approaches as to details, but the general concept is that deliberately heading the ball is a safety violation resulting in an IFK for the other team. Doesn’t matter if it is a live ball or a restart, they simply aren’t allowed to head the ball. Some places have applied the IFK to unintentional contact with heads, some have made unintentional head contact an automatic DB, and others have done nothing on inadvertently contact with heads (unless, of course, the R stops for an apparent injury).

there is a developmental plus side—players who weren’t allowed to head the ball young tend to be much better at playing the ball from the air in other ways. (And I’m not sure there is that much down side in developing heading skills, as so many “headers” at younger ages are just a player standing there and letting the ball hit his or her head.)
 
I totally understand why they've brought this in, but not sure how it's going to work in practice. ie what happens if a corner is swung in a head height ? Does everyone just duck, until it hits a player in the face ? Personally, i'd start by ruling out drop- kicks from keepers in the early years, so that it doesn't get launched onto some poor kids head
 
U12's has it's own set of mini-soccer rules anyway. It's just 'nursery footy'
No doubt there will come a day when someone decides what the rest of us (all age groups) can and can't do in terms of personal risk
 
There's very little heading at that age group anyway. 10 years ago they were playing on full size pitches at that age, rightly that was changed and the focus is now very much on the technical side of the game.
 
BCMilan said:
I totally understand why they've brought this in, but not sure how it's going to work in practice. ie what happens if a corner is swung in a head height ? Does everyone just duck, until it hits a player in the face ? Personally, i'd start by ruling out drop- kicks from keepers in the early years, so that it doesn't get launched onto some poor kids head
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In the US, GKs are generally not allowed to punt/drop kick at 10U, but are at 12U.

and even at 12U, not that many players are taking corners that get put in for header attacks. If the ball is high, they still need to play with a different part of the body. Investors been seeing it for several years now, and it really isn’t a big deal in actual practice. (If this moved to 14U, I think it would be more of a challenge.)
 
bester said:
DOGSO for heading it off the line?
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Not in the US. It is a safety infraction, not an offense. Can never be subject to caution/send off.

Keep in mind this is a rule for kids. Not too many at these ages are cynical enough to actually do all the conniving things we can think about with a rule like this.

I’ve done dozens of games with the no-heading rule, and have yet to see a cynical play to take advantage of the rule. while I’ve heard lots and lots of hypothetical situations, I haven’t even heard of an actual one that occurred.

it’s a safety rule, nothing more.
 
I coach a girls side who are starting U11s this season (22/23) at 9v9 with offside etc, they play in the U11s boys league and there is very little heading in the game bar a couple of stand out players.

In the 9v9 games I've covered, very little heading of the ball. Last season I saw 1 "diving" (he fell over) header scored at U12s.
 
DAW7 said:
I coach a girls side who are starting U11s this season (22/23) at 9v9 with offside etc, they play in the U11s boys league and there is very little heading in the game bar a couple of stand out players.

In the 9v9 games I've covered, very little heading of the ball. Last season I saw 1 "diving" (he fell over) header scored at U12s.
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I coach an U12's (last season) with 9v9 and many of the teams we played against launched corner kicks balls into the box where there were 2-3 players waiting to head home (coached that way).
 
Pembroke said:
It is a trial for some U12 leagues and tournaments, but the details? Corners? Thrown ins? The keeper?

It would be very interesting to see the specifics of this.
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I haven’t seen that anybody in here have any “specifics “ for this season coming … did you manage to get info from anywhere else … I attend my grandsons coaching lessons and am being asked as “the knowledgeable one” - how does this work? Guidelines - sanctions etc
 
lesbobly said:
I haven’t seen that anybody in here have any “specifics “ for this season coming … did you manage to get info from anywhere else … I attend my grandsons coaching lessons and am being asked as “the knowledgeable one” - how does this work? Guidelines - sanctions etc
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The FA have not yet released detailed instructions, but expected soon.
 
I believe Cornwall FA is one of the trial areas, so our contingent from there could shed light on this?
 
lesbobly said:
I haven’t seen that anybody in here have any “specifics “ for this season coming … did you manage to get info from anywhere else … I attend my grandsons coaching lessons and am being asked as “the knowledgeable one” - how does this work? Guidelines - sanctions etc
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Local youth leagues (Bristol) covered by two regional FA's are a no.
 
Tealeaf said:
I believe Cornwall FA is one of the trial areas, so our contingent from there could shed light on this?
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Hmm haven't heard that we are and a recent email made me doubt that we are confirmed to be...
 
I t hink this is good but I also think they shouldn't put any restrictions inside the penalty area and that way they can up the age limit a bit .
 
Received the IFAB rules today on this trial…

Looks like it is essentially going to be like handball .. in that deliberately heading the ball is a YC or RC offence depending on situation.. seems over the top to me for under 12s but I guess they need to have clarity
 
Just had a nosey at the laws/protocol.
Headers in the penalty area are idfk from the penalty mark... Is this a precursor to all idfk in the area being from penalty spot?
 
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