Okay, so I wanted to get a better grip on this whole offsides thing in soccer, especially since I’m coaching a U14 team now. It can get pretty confusing, you know? So, I dove into it this past week, and here’s what went down.
First off, I hit up the official rules. You’d think it would be straightforward, but man, there’s some tricky wording in there. The basic idea, at least how I understood it, is that a player’s offsides if they’re closer to the other team’s goal line than both the ball and the second-to-last defender when a teammate plays the ball to them. That’s a mouthful, right?
So, to make it clearer, I started by watching a bunch of pro games. I paused the replays like a madman, trying to see exactly where the players were when the passes were made. I was looking for that moment when a player was sneaking behind the defense right as the ball was kicked.
Then, I moved on to some diagrams. Seeing it drawn out helped a ton. They showed different scenarios, like where the attackers and defenders were positioned, and how it changed depending on who had the ball. That’s when it clicked about that “second-to-last defender” part. It’s usually the goalie who’s the last defender, but sometimes, if a defender rushes up the field, it can be another defender.
Next, I tried explaining it to my U14 team. We walked through some drills on the field. I had some players act as defenders and others as attackers. We froze the play at the moment a pass was made so they could see who was where.
- “See how you were ahead of the ball AND both of these defenders when your teammate kicked it?”
- “That’s offsides.”
- “Now, let’s try it again, and this time, wait for the ball to be played before you make your run.”
It was a bit of a mess at first, but they started to get it. We even played some scrimmages where I’d yell “Freeze!” at certain moments and we’d check everyone’s position. It was kind of chaotic but also really effective. There was a lot of this.
- “Hey ref, is that considered offside?”
- “No, you were ok, play on.”
- “So I have to be behind the ball too?”
Honestly, the best way to learn it is just by doing it over and over. After all this, I feel way more confident about teaching offsides. And the kids? They’re definitely complaining less about the calls in practice!
It is not easy, but we are getting there!
