What should the referee do, and how is play restarted if...

Red player #11, who is in an offside position, turns her back towards the opponent's goal and makes no attempt to play the ball as the ball rolls past her after being passed by a teammate. Blue defender #3 runs past red player #11, gets possession of the ball a few yards past the offside player, and turns up field dribbling it. Red player #11 immediately challenges the blue player and tries to tackle the ball away.

Answer:

The red player #11 who is in an offside position may become onside if the blue opponent plays (meaning possessed and controlled, not simply deflected) or gains possession of the ball.

In this scenario the referee should judge and determine if blue player #3 gained control of the ball. Since the blue player got possession of the ball, turned up field and dribbled the ball, she had control of the ball. Therefore red player #11 is now back onside and may challenge for the ball. The referee should allow play to continue.

(See pages 31 and 100 in the 2009-10 AYSO edition of the Laws of the Game; pages 40 and 44 in the USSF Advice to the Referees on the Laws of the Game, 2009-10 edition.)

What should the referee do, and how is play restarted if...

The blue team has effectively used the offside trap, stepping forward just before a red attacker passes the ball to a teammate, to leave the opponents in an offside position. In order to defeat the blue team’s tactic, the red team starts placing a player in an offside position as a decoy. At the next attack by the red team, the red player with the ball pretends to pass the ball to the teammate in offside position. This causes the blue team to use the offside trap and move forward. However, the red player with the ball does not pass it to the teammate in offside position and instead, dribbles the ball pass the blue defensive line who was expecting an offside call to be made. Is the use of the decoy considered active participation and therefore offside should be called? Without the decoy the blue team would not have moved forward and gotten caught moving in the wrong direction.

Answer:

There is an old soccer saying: “Live by the trap…die by the trap!" For offside to be penalized, a player has to be in an offside position and then become involved in active play. The decoy player was in an offside position but did not become involved in active play because the teammate never passed the ball to him/her. Therefore in this scenario there is no offside to be penalized. In youth games, players are still learning about the game so the referee can help by verbalizing as she/he lets the play continue and points to the player in the offside position…“Keep playing. He/she is not involved.” In every game, both teams have the opportunity to use smart and creative legal tactics to attack and defend. This is part of what makes for an enjoyable game for all players and spectators.

(See page 31 in the 2009-10 AYSO edition of the Laws of the Game.)