SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Clutching and grabbing....and other differences between NC-SC

We live in Fort Mill, right outside of Charlotte. After having played NCYSA since U8.....my now U13 son has finally seen the light of day and is playing for CESA on the '93 Premier team. For the Fall......we're playing U14.

Having played a couple of league games its interesting to me to see the differences in play between NC and SC. I wouldn't say SC is more physical......but there is definetly more grabbing.....pulling of shirts, stuff like that.

The referees let it go........is this legal? And is it the norm? An example.....an outside back is beat. Attacking player has bet the back wide off the dribble and the defender reaches up and grabs the attackers shirt and pulls....enough to pull attacker off stride. Is this a foul?

Second......attacker, defender and ball form a triangle. Attacker is at 6 o'clock and in possession of the ball. He takes a big touch......ball goes to 12 o clock, perhaps 5-6 yards in front of him. Defender is at 9 o clock. Instead of going to the ball at an angle, defender continues a straight run midway between the attacker and the ball. With momentum, effect is to shoulder the attacker off the ball, except that the defender has prevented the attacker from getting to the ball. I see it as obstruction, as opposed to shielding. Is this legal?

Again.....we're relatively new to SC play....but the refs appear to be more tolerant of this type of play, and teams accordingly seem more inclined to take advantage of it.

Thoughts?

Ahhh, obstruction! I remember when they last called that.....back in my college days in the early 80's.

Good point Daddy. Shoulder to shoulder is fine, except when everyone is two-to-three paces away from the ball.

The cliche I always heard was play the ball, not the player.

Big Daddy,

My daughter's team played two teams from Georgia in the RBC tournament this past weekend and the referees did let a lot of shoulder to shoulder action take place away from the ball. Obstruction, fouls, and pulling players to the ground were common. It seems the refs are willing to let them play physical until someone gets hurt or both coaches are screaming. I noticed the later in the day the game is played the less likely fouls will be called. I am sure the play is more aggressive for boys than girls. What to you tell your child, play your best or play like your opponent?

I tell my son to adapt. All that clutching and grabbing is not the beautiful game....

But if thats what the ref is going to allow, then you either step it up or get knocked out.

One word Advantage. I can pull your shirt all day but if you are able to still play the ball ( cross it , pass shoot ) then a lot of time the ref will allow play to continue. It is a foul but again most times the ref will let play go on. The kind of play you will see more and more.. The older he gets the more physical it tends to be.....if you happen to get an experinced ref it can make a diff ... but this is the way the game is played more times than not. Tell him to fight through the hard play and he will be fine.

Is there nothing to do in Rock Hill/Fort Mill/Charlotte? You guys just go on and on.

Soccer is a contact sport....

Pulling and grabbing is part of the game which the referee needs to control.

Where do players see this? TV, older players

Is it normal? it is part of the game

NC vs Sc (or Ga/Tn etc.)I have played numerous NC teams (all high level in Super Y , tournaments, etc.) They do it as much as anyone else. So I think you may have experienced the exception when in NC.

Cola Fan, yaaaawwwnnnnnnnn. Uhh, sorry about that. Have a coke and a smile dude.

Futbol....I only know what I know. I have no doubt age has something to do with it and I don't have experience watching....say, U16 boys playing in NC. Just saying that having watched about 40 U12 games at the highest level last year, and then watching our kids play U14 this year.....the differences are immense. Maybe the extra year of playing up has somethign to do with it, altho the tournament this past weekend....the GA teams play the same way. Bridge didn't. We don't.

Big Daddy,

Pulling og shirts, etc. is not legal and yes, the ref. may play advantage BUT he/she can also go back and give a yellow card after the play has ended. I too see a lot of grapping and have approached some others about it. My take is the refs seem unwilling to call it on the younger players. Why? I am not sure. I personally think that the officials need to address this at a younger age because players will get thrown out for pulling players down when they are the last defender once they get older. I have seen several times this year the last defender pull a jersey on a break away adn no call was made, let alone a caution or a straight red.

While I'm on the subject of what refs should call, has any one else noticed that refs are not looking to the AR immediately when there is a close offside situation? I have seen it everywhere from Clemson vs. MAryland (the ref probably let them run for another 50 yards before he looked over) to u11's this week at RBC (where the ref NEVER looked over so the young AR put his flag down and the attacking team scored).