Sportsmanship: Easy to Talk
About, Hard to Define! Every year we recieve complaints about unsportsmanlike
behavior. Unfortunately, what constitutes unsportsmanlike behavior is difficult to define. What is jubulent celebration
to one team, is rubbing it in to the other. What one team considerss playing hard to the end, is running up the score
to the other. Like most people, while I can't define a specific rule as to what is unsportsmanlike
conduct, I know it when I see it. Of course, this doesn't provide much of a solution because nobody sees all of the
games and ten different people could see the same event and come to different conclusions. So
do we just give-up trying to to have players, coaches and fans act in a sportsmanlike manner? I hope not but we have
to realistic about what we can do. First, some behavior is clearly over the line and referees have to power to issue
red cards and kick players, coaches and/or fans out of the game and the building. Every year, unfortunately, we will
have one or two players, coaches and/or fans thrown out of a game. The most common cause is abusive behavior towards
referees, coaches or players. In each instance the team who had a player, coach or fan thrown out protested stating
that they did not believe the behavior crossed the line or that the penalty was too severe for the conduct. I personally
have had people swear at me, thrown things on the field, make obscene gesture's, throw garage cans or continually yell
and scream after repeated requests for them to stop. None of these situations were pleasant to deal with, especially
in the context of a youth soccer game and half of the people responsible were adults. What can
we do? The following are my suggestions: 1. We need to continually change the rules to help referees control
the game to avoid problems; 2. We need the coaches to help their players act more sportsmanlike; 3. We
need parents and coaches to set a good example.
Over the last three years we have changed the rules more times and more significantly
than we have done in the prior 12 years combined. We have taken "intent" out of many of the calls, we have
added new penalties to be called around the boards if a play is dangerous because of the presence of the boards and we have
increased the harshness of the penalties (penalty times increased to 3 minutes and a red cards result in an automatic additional
two game suspension). We will continue to listen to the coaches and referees and make changes where we believe that
the change will help avoid some of these issues. I believe that the coaches have the most impact on sportsmanship issues.
While a referee can make a call, the fact is, a coach does not have to rely on a referee to make a call - if a player
is out of control, acting unsportsmanlike, take them out of the game. Remember, the referees are watching all of the players
on the field and have to physically keep up with the play. They simply are not going to see or hear everything that
happens during a game. Players want to play, if playing time is taken away - whether by a referee or a coach - their
behavior will change. When a team gets a safe lead, there are a number of things a coach can do that allows his/her
team to play hard without running up the score. Put the best players on defense, have the best players try to set up
players who don't score very often, have players only shoot with their non-dominate foot or by a header. In other words,
you can keep the score down while at the same time allowing your players to play harder and actually improve their play. Generally,
if the coaches look at the game from the perspective of the other team and be aware of actions that will come across as "rub-it-in"
or unsportsmanlike and talk to their players about it we will eliminate a lot of problems. The final area that would
improve sportsmanship is the example set by the adults. Every year I will have someone complain about the behavior of
another team yet they, themselves, spent the entire game screaming at the referees. Why is it okay for a coach or a
fan to scream at a referee but it is unsportsmanlike for a player to do so? Everyone says that these games are just
for fun yet one team is playing like it is a world cup game and the team that lost is screaming because they lost. I
personally don't believe you have to win the game in order to have fun. I've played and coached for many years in a
number of sports and so of my fondest memories were on teams that weren't very good and many of the best teams I have been
associated with are remembered for wanting the season to end as soon as possible. The best games for both teams are
the hard fought closely contested games and not the blowouts. Frankly, blowouts are boring for even the team that wins.
Whether teams win or lose, the most important question is did the players have a good time. I've seen too
many games where the parents and coach are more upset about the game than the players themselves, where parents and coaches
yell and confront the referees or have angry exchanges with the other team - is this really the example that we want to send
to our children? If everyone would remember that these are just games, that whether the game was won or lost will be
soon forgotten but if the players learn how to handle winning and losing with class and sportsmanship that will stay with
them forever. Steve Nash |
Rules, Rules and More Rules! Unlike outdoor soccer, there
are no universal rules. Each indoor league is free to create their own rules. North Indoor Soccer made significant
changes to their rules in 2009 and have continued to tweak the rules to create a fast paced, safe game. You will see
more 2 minute penalties, less discretionary calls and the referee's have the authority to impose a 5 minute major penalty
on players. The rules will be enforced more like in a hockey game. We do not want to see more penalties called
during games; however, these leagues are designed to be fun games and we want to make sure that the players safety is paramount.
We do not call the game the same as the outdoor game because the game is quicker, is on a hard surface and there are
boards all of which can create safety issues. We also do not have the same rules as other indoor soccer leagues because
we chose to emphasis player safety. Hopefully, this will help control the game and players so that play does not get
out of hand. The new rules can be viewed on the Referee/Rules page of this website. Please read the rules! NO Children, Non-Players or Non-Coaches in Players Bench Only players and coaches are allowed in the player bench area. The referees have been instructed
to have non-players and non-coaches leave the bench area. If they do not leave when asked, a penalty will be imposed
on the team This rule is imposed by the arena and supported by NIS. Quite simply, it is not safe to have extra
people on the bench , especially children. |
U10, U12 & U14 A Balanced League
is Better for Everyone Every year we are asked why we don't allow players to put
their own teams together in these leagues. The answer is simple - allowing teams to enter would greatly favor traveling
teams who are already put together. To have leagues that only have traveling teams harms everyone since non-traveling
players will have no interest in joining such a league, have no real way to put together their own team and the traveling
teams will be harmed because there simply are not enough traveling teams at the same level to have viable leagues. In addition, NIS was created as a non-pressure alternative to traveling soccer for traveling and non-traveling players.
Traveling players get plenty of high pressure soccer but rarely get to play for fun. Traveling players tend to
play with the same players over and over because they play at the same level and they never get to play with other players.
Part of grouping up is learning how to get along with new people and, who knows, they could become best friends! The biggest problem we have in these leagues is everyones desire to only play with certain players. In some
cases it is a desire to create a super team, in other cases, the parents only want their children to play with certain players.
Unfortunately, this has resulted in unbalanced leagues and a shrinking of the number of players playing in these leagues
which hurts everyone. We know that not everyone agrees with our philosophy and there are
plenty of leagues around the Twin Cities that not only allow you to put in your own team but require you to do so. Don't try to figure out a way around the system. If you really only want to play with a team that you create, you should go to one of the other
leagues that allow you to do this. Every year we are forced to create new rules to deal with the creative ways that
people come up with to skirt the spirit of these leagues. Unfortunately, the new rules also often block actions that
are within the spirit of the rules but it is not our place to determine who is following the spirit of the rules and who is
not, we simply have to follow the rules. What
you will find, is that those leagues are not balanced and the persons running those leagues do not care whether they are or
not. In many cases, players end up returning to us because they have gone from one rink to another, never finding what
they are looking for. We will be happy to welcome you back. In fact, we are one of the few youth leagues that
actually grow in size as you go up in age. Our two biggest leagues are the U16 and U19 leagues. Our U19 league
generally has around 20 teams! Please help us create fun, balanced leagues and have
a great 2012 season! |
