For the most part things went very well. There are some issues that need to be discussed however, especially one that disturbed me greatly:
1. I tried to get to every court at some time this week. I tried to place a copy of the LI Futsal Laws of the Game in to each bin, so if coaches want to view the rules, they are more than
welcome to.
2. Games need to be started on time. For some reason there were two locations where games lagged behind by more than 15 minutes.
3. The administrative procedures for futsal matches are a bit different than those for soccer. Here are a few things that should be done:
Each time that a team’s goalkeeper is in possession of the ball while it is in play and in his own half of the pitch, one of the referees must visibly perform the four-second count.
When a foul is called, the referee closest to the foul, unless the restart is done correctly and quickly, moves to the spot of the foul to mark placement and ensure the defensive team does not encroach. The other referee should move down the filed close to the goal line of the defensive team.
Whistles must be used for the following restarts: Kick-offs, restart for free kicks when the appropriate distance is required, penalty kicks, after the issuing of a card, after an injury
4. There was one referee who confirmed his assignment and left before his time was finished. Luckily a referee who was scheduled the following game arrived early and covered.
THIS CAN NOT HAPPEN!
If there is an emergency, you must call and if I don't answer, leave a message.
If you finish a match and a referee does not show for the following match, call me.
If you can stay and cover the match, please do so. Whatever happens, I must be informed of any unusual situations.
5. All penalty kicks are taken 20 feet from the goal line. I, as well as other referees, have seen some penalty kicks being taken from the top of the 3 point line, which is far more than 20 feet, especially if the goal is placed on a line behind the end line of the basketball court. As you can see in the 2 diagrams below, If the goal is situated on the goal line for either a middle school or high school size basketball court, you can see that the free throw line is just about 20 feet away from the end line of the court. In that case, placing the ball on the free throw line is appropriate. If it is not, you must figure out how far 20 feet is away from the goal line. We must be consistent and to have a fixed point on the pitch change from referee to referee is just unthinkable. Know where the mark should be before you start your first match. This is one of the reasons why it is important to arrive 30 minutes early to a match, to deal with differences on different courts.
Middle School Basketball Court
6. Working a match can by yourself (U-12 & younger) can bring up some unique issues that normally wouldn't occur when working with another referee. The issue I saw most frequently was the referee being too close to the play and then interfering. In this aspect, the game requires you to be more agile than a match with two referees. My advice would be to trail the play from a safe distance and move quickly out of the way when a counter attack presents itself. In most instances, working a futsal match by ones self requires more physical and mental fitness than working with another person. If that technique does not work for you, stay off the field of play and follow play back and forth from the touchline.
Bottom line is that the referee can not interfere with the course of play. There is simply no need or reason for it.
The file below contains pages from FIFA's Guide to Procedures on the Futsal Laws. They deal mostly with the procedures that a referee must be familiar with when refereeing Futsal matches. Please become accustomed with the information contained within.