Quote: snip Player safety is important, but so is appreciating the game and the players and not putting them down after the fact, whether the act is intentional or not. snip To me, it looks fairly obvious that she was going for the ball and then pitched forward off balance as she knocked into the keeper. As a player, I've seen similar things happen and not ever get called. snip At any rate, the point is, the rule in the game is that you cannot challenge when the keeper has the ball in her possession, not that you have to back off in a two foot radius when the ball is near her. A good striker continues to challenge the ball until it's in possession of the gk just like a good gk challenges the ball to get it into her possession when it's in her box, then the good striker does whatever they can to get out of the way. PS. Before anyone accuses me of not caring about player safety, I say this as someone who will hopefully be in a Orthopaedic Surgery residency in three years with a focus on youth and professional sports medicine for fellowship. And I want to do research on helping prevent ACL injuries in female soccer players.
Wow...I'm writing down your name so, in the future, when I need a surgeon I know who to contact. Very well said.
Here is my point of view with the perspective of "I don't have a dog in this fight, and I'm a keeper's dad" No foal! I do not see any control of the ball by the keeper. It appears the forward touched the ball before the keeper. The forward would be concentrating on the ball more than the keeper. The keepers location is not set, so one can not expect the forward from avoiding a collision. Great competitive play by both the keeper and the forward. Dangerous? Of course, but every time the ball gets in the box I think it's dangerous (as some other keeper parent said, "I have the anti-acid and defibrillator to prove it") Reckless? I don't see it! Just good old hard nosed play.
