Free Kick Positions

[Jaysef]

Am I reading the Umpire positioning correctly on free kicks? On a 5-man crew, Umpire is on R's 20, pressbox side (opposite HL), and on a 4-man crew U is at R's 20 on same side as HL (opposite press box)? It's only my second year, but I remember last season, always being on the sideline opposite the pressbox, as my veteran Referee directed. Did Umpire positioning get revised this year? If so, did the responsibilities also get modified?

[Theisey]

U, B and H positions were changed. (sorry, I prefer H to indicate the Head Linesman, rather than to use L).

It's all documented in the officials manual. Do you guys get that one? Its only printed every other year, but this year was a printing year.


Forgot to add that there are shaded areas for B,U and H showing what responsibilities have changed.

[Edited by Theisey on Aug 19th, 2004 at 08:29 AM]

[Jaysef]

Thanks for the input...We did get the Officials Manual this year and I noticed inside the front cover it did reference the position changes. I just didn't remember switching sidelines last year when I went from working w/5-man to 4-man.

Thanks Theisey

[Theisey]

The U used to be on the same side as the H for 4-man and I'm 99.9% sure he was for 5-man.
What might mess a U up is which side of the field to start on for the coin toss. Looks like you'll start on the same side of the field as you do for 4-man.

IMHO, it would have been nice to just have U and H switch positions just like it used to be a number of years ago. Then if they really wanted to make a change for the better, switch up the L and B. Oh well.

[Jaysef]

It shows U with LJ, pressbox side for 5-man, and U with H opposite press box this year in the book. As far as coin toss, U escorts visiting captains to center of field. As far as his position during the toss, I am unsure. I was instructed to reiterate the call made by captain, and the result of the toss...correct?

[Mike Simonds]

We studied the NFHS 5 man mechanics where the U is back with the R around R's five yard line and the H gives the ball to the kicker and then goes to K's restraining line.

However, because the NFHS only goes up to 5 man and the state play-offs use CCA 7 man, our association decided to use CCA 5 man mechanics. The U is with the kicker, the HL is on R's restraining line, and the LJ is on K's line. R and BJ are back around the goal-line.

For the coin toss we have the U with the R in the middle to observe and record. BJ and LJ bring in captains and HL instructs the chain crew.