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For
the Official Rules from US Youth Soccer and FIFA, you can click here,
but this is our much more simplfied version:
Law 1:
Field of Play: 45 - 60 yards long, 35 - 45 yards wide, line at the
halfway point, with a 8 yard radius circle. Goal Area: Conform to FIFA.
Penalty Area: A penalty area is defined at each end of the field as
follows: Two lines are drawn at right angles to the goal line, ten (10)
yards from the inside of each goalpost.
These lines extend into the field of play for a distance of ten (10)
yards and are joined by a line drawn parallel with the goal line. The
area bounded by these lines and the goal line is the penalty area.
Within each penalty area a penalty mark is made eight (8) yards from
the midpoint between the goalposts and equidistant to them. An arc of a
circle with a radius of eight (8) yards from each penalty mark is drawn
outside the penalty area. Flag Posts and Corner Arc Conform to FIFA.
Goals: Goals must be placed on the center of each goal line. They
consist of two upright
posts equidistant from the corner flag posts and joined at the top by a
horizontal crossbar. The maximum distance between the posts is eighteen
(18) feet and the maximum distance
from the lower edge of the crossbar to the ground is six (6) feet.
Law 2:
The Ball: Size 4
Law 3:
The Number of Players: 2 teams, 6-8 players each, one of whom is the
goalkeeper. Substitutions: unlimited, any time the game stops.
Law 4:
Player Equipment: Team shirt, black shorts and socks, shin guards worn
under the socks, soccer spikes or tennis shoes, no jewelry.
Law 5:
The Referee: Registered referee, Grade 9, or leauge player no less than
12 years of age. All rule infringements shall be briefly explained to
the offending player.
Law 6:
Assistant Referees: linesmen may or may be used.
Law 7:
The
Duration of the Match: 4 equal 12 minute quarters. 2 minute breaks
between quarters, and 5 minute break at the half.
Law 8:
The Start of Play: The opponents of the team taking the kick-off
are at least four (8) yards from the ball until it is in play.
Law 9:
The ball is out of play when: it has wholly crossed the goal line or
touch line whether on the ground or in the air, or when play has been
stopped by the referee. The ball is in play at all other times.
Law 10:
Scoring: Conform to FIFA
Law 11:
Offside: None
Law 12:
Fouls and Misconduct: Conform to FIFA with the exception that an
indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team at the center spot
on the halfway line if a goalkeeper punts or drop-kicks the ball in the
air from his/her penalty area into the opponents penalty area
In other
Words:
If it looks like it should be a foul, it probably is. You can’t
knock someone down, trip him, kick him, push him, punch him, or
anything else that is unacceptable to civilized humans. Basically, you can’t gain an advantage at
the expense of an opponent.
However, bumping an opponent while competing for a loose ball is okay,
as long as it is done without the use of arms, hands, knees, thighs or
feet. Once the arms or hands come up, the whistle usually blows. The manner in which players get the ball
has
to be clean, avoiding excessive contact. The player’s path to the ball
can’t be through or over anyone. There are some non-contact fouls of which
to be aware. Obstruction is exactly what
it sounds like – purposely preventing an
opponent from getting to the ball. To be guilty of obstruction,
however, intent is factored in, meaning a player without the ball is
purposely getting in the way of an opponent who is trying to get to the
ball. Dangerous plays can be
classified as trying to kick a ball that is in
the air near another player’s head; trying to head a ball that is too
close to the ground and another player’s feet; or trying to play the
ball when you have fallen on the ground in a way that you might hurt
yourself or an opposing player.
Law 13:
Free Kicks:At the U-10 level, free kicks can be direct (where the player
can try to kick it in the goal) or indirect (where the ball
must touch another player before it goes in the goal.) Direct Free
Kicks are awarded when a player commits a physical foul, like a
handball. Indirect Free kicks are awarded for non-contact fouls like
those mentioned above, or when a goalie punts the ball into the
opposing team's penalty area. When a player takes a free kick,
including kick-offs, goal kicks, and
corner kicks, after he kicks the ball, he cannot touch the ball again
until another player touches the ball. Therefore, a player cannot
simply start dribbling the ball on a free kick.
Law 14:
Penalty kicks: are a special kind of direct kick. Penalty kicks are
awarded to a team when the opposing team commits a direct kick foul
(for example, a hand ball or a physical foul) in its own penalty area.
Instead of placing the ball where the foul occurred, the ball is placed
on the penalty spot – precisely 8 yards in front of the center of
the goal. Only one player on the attacking team is permitted in the
penalty area to take the penalty kick and the goalie is the only
defender permitted in the penalty area when a penalty kick is taken.
Players must also be outside the arc at the top of the penalty area, in
order to give the kicker room to approach the ball. The goalie must
start with his heels on the goalline until the ball is kicked by the
attacking player. If the ball hits the goalie and stays in the field,
it is a live ball and any player can then play it. If the ball hits the
post or crossbar, any player – except the one who kicked it – can play
it.
Law 15:
The Throw-In: A
throw-in has to be taken with two hands over the head and both feet
staying on the ground behind the line.
Laws 16 and
17: Goal Kicks and Corner Kicks:If the ball goes over one of the
endlines, it is either a goal kick or
a corner kick depending on which team kicked it out of bounds. If the
defensive team kicks it out, it’s a corner kick. If the offensive team
kicks it out, it’s a goal kick.
A corner kick is
taken
from, well, the corner. There is a small arc painted in front of each
corner flag. The ball has to be placed in that arc and kicked from
within there. A goal kick is placed within the goalie’s box and kicked
from there. A goal kick has to leave the
penalty area (the 10-yard box) before any other player can play it –
the cause of a great many do-overs in U-10 games. |