In our Referee Department in this issue we are recommending an excellent site for referees.

The object of the DTL referee department is two-fold:

1. To keep referees and would-be referees up to speed with what is happening in the rules and refereeing world. And…
2. To help community soccer organizations to train referees and to educate coaches, players and parents with regard to how they behave and interact with regard to referees.

The recommended site is http://www.drix.net/jim/ and the resident expert there is Jim Allen, who is a National Instructor Staff/National Assessor of the United States Soccer Federation, who "approve" the site and recommend it to their American referees.

If the site appeals to you then bookmark it for future reference.

We have taken one excerpt from the site to show you the type of material that is available, but also to highlight a particularly difficult problem for players, coaches and referees at corner kicks.

 Ask the Ref

I coach a U18 girl’s team. In our most recent game, we encountered a situation in which our defense uncharacteristically gave up several corner kicks in a row. On the first kick, a player from the offensive team was obviously and deliberately interfering with our keeper - not just blocking her view, but getting next to her, getting their feet tangled up, bumping her, etc. The referee was standing on the goal line, outside the far post, with all this clearly in his view. The corner kick was taken, and our team put the ball over the end line, giving the other team another corner.

At that point I called to our keeper to give her some instructions. The referee was essentially between the keeper and me, so I knew he would hear everything I told her. The offensive player was still right next to her, so I knew she would hear me as well. I loudly and clearly stated something like this: "Don't worry about her. She's allowed to play anywhere she wants. Take a position and let her get next to you if she wants. Then you move away. She's not allowed to keep following you to interfere with your play."

My intent with giving her this instruction was threefold:

1. That she should try doing exactly what I said.
2. That the player on the opposing team would recognize that she could be called for a foul.  
3. That, just in case the referee had forgotten about this rule, he would be reminded.

In fact, without looking back at me, the referee held his arm out towards me and gave an "ok" signal with his hand. I figured the problem was taken care of. On the ensuing corner kick, the exact same thing happened. No foul was called. As it turns out, there was a third consecutive corner, same action, and no foul.

1. Is my interpretation of the LOTG correct, in that a foul should have been called against the offensive player?
2. What else could I have done, short of directly asking the referee why he wasn't calling the infraction? (My practice is to never speak directly to the referee during a match, except when I call for a substitution.)

Your method was a bit heavy-handed and possibly a bit disrespectful of the referee, but it seems to have been deserved in this case, even if ineffective.

The information you gave your goalkeeper was essentially correct: If the player marking the goalkeeper at a corner kick plays the goalkeeper rather than the ball, she is engaged in unsporting behavior and should be cautioned and shown the yellow card. This was made clear in the USSF 2001 publication "Instructions for Referees and Resolutions Affecting Team Coaches and Players [at] Regional and National Cup Competitions and Tournaments" It is equally applicable to all games played under the aegis of the United States Soccer Federation.