Question Number: 19069

Law 5 - The Referee 5/12/2008

RE: Recreational Under 15

Jordan of Toronto, Ontario Canada asks...

I have just started refing 5, 6, and 7 year olds and have come upon the term advantage. I havent heard of this before and dont know what it means. Just hoping you can explain what it means, and when i would use it/ call it.

Thanks,
Jordan

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Ignore advantage at that age group. They don't understand it and you need to have a clear understanding of it before you start using it. I'm not sure how you became a referee without being taught the concept of advantage. Basically, it's when it would be more advantageous to a team that has been fouled NOT to call the foul but to allow play to continue. Advantage is something that takes awhile to get right. At U-Little play, call every foul you see.

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Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Advantage involves identifying foul play offered to defeat an opponent that fails to do the job intended. It also involves identifying a specific thing that will be the advantage realised and a specific time to allow to find the advantage you seek. As you are just starting out you'll be well advised to stop play for every act of foul play you see. This will train you to whistle foul play. Allowing things to go unchecked trains you to do that and believe me unlearning that is not an easily done thing. It is far easier to stop intervening than it is to intervene. This also teaches you foul recognition and whether or not the players desire you to intervene on some things.

Regards,

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