[Mike Simonds]

You are absolutely correct. This is kick catching interference by the kicking team as long as the kick has not touched the ground.

But please be careful. In our league some teams are known to try the following variation of the pouch free kick:

The kicker will tee up the ball but instead of kicking the ball low so it will pop up high into the air, he will kick the ball near its top, causing it to bounce off the ground and then high into the air.

Covering officials need to be aware of this variation because as we all know once the free kick hits the ground several things change immediately: the kicker and holder can be legally blocked; the receiving team no longer has the benefit of being protected by the kick-catching interference rules; and the kicking team has the opportunity to legally recover the kick because it has already touched the ground. You may either have first touching by K (R's ball at the spot of first touching) or if the ball has traveled 10 yards (and has already been grounded if this variation is used) K can recover the kick and it will be K's ball (unless there was first touching).

This is why I am still in favor of having the umpire in the middle watching the kicker even in a 5 man crew. We use a 6 man crew here on Maui so the R and U are already in the middle.

Anybody else see this version of a free kick?