Law-Five

Senior starters are: Goalie, Left Back, Center Back, Center Mid and Forward. Two other seniors come off the bench. Next year will be a rebuilding year with only a few seniors; quite a few sophomores and juniors and a relatively inexperienced goalie.

If you lose to PSA and PSA beats ERSA you wouldn't win the state league.

According to the TSSAA rule book all games must have at least two referees. I wonder if you could protest that the game wasn't official? What do you do if only one official shows up? Some would argue that a center ref with two club linesmen is better than a dual, but still not within the rules set forth by TSSAA.

Webb and CSAS play Saturday morning at 9:00 AM at Webb.

The majority of the CSAS schedule is against district teams which they are required to play (8 games total). The non-district teams include CCS, Ooltewah and Red Bank with remaining games against Baylor and Knox Webb.

Recent history might indicate that they will have a tough time making it past any of these three from Chattanooga. CSAS and Notre Dame didn't lose much from last year and CCS is still good in spite of having to rebuild somewhat.

It's probably a moot point by now, but the best way to beat Boyds defense is to play on a big field. If they have to spread out and run they'll break down pretty quick. On a cracker box field they just pack it in and you can't go through them - they're too big and athletic for that.

Boyd's defense is too organized for Sweetwater. If the game is played at Boyd that's a definite factor - you just can't get around them. Boyd's primary tactic is to win the ball and then kick it 60 yards which is very effective on their field. Boyd wins by 2.

Joel Bradford for McCallie has 16 goals and Clint Parker for McCallie has 10. They lead the Chattanooga area in scoring.

I've saw Baylor play Riverdale and Webb play McCallie. Let's see if I can compare apples to oranges. Best attack of the 3 goes to McCallie but since they aren't playing we'll ignore that for now. Best set pieces goes to Webb. Best overall team skill goes to Baylor (this is soccer skill, not necessarily biggest or fastest). I think Webb will have trouble scoring on Baylor but they found a way against McCallie so I'll give them a goal there. Baylor is very organized and constantly attacks and defends with numbers. Group effort says to give Baylor a goal. Webb probably has an overall size advantage which may net them a goal since they attack so well. Baylor counter attacks very well due to skill of defenders so I could give them a goal there. Net result is maybe a 2-2 tie - probably going to be a 2-1 game in favor of Webb due to home field advantage. Not a bad piece of fence riding if I say so myself.

The 4/17 game between CSAS and Baylor has been changed to 4/30. CSAS plays away at Knox Webb on 4/21 Their record should be 7-0-1 instead of 6-0-1

I can't believe there's been no discussion about the McCallie - Knox Webb game tonight at 6. This ought to be a big game for both clubs. I think the outcome is too close to call.

Max Crabtree at McCallie

If Red Bank plays smart and capitalizes on set pieces they can make a game of it. If they let their emotions control their play they will probably lose 3-1.

I've seen Grace and Boyd play and neither is very strong skillwise - but Boyd has more size and athleticism and really goes to the ball well. (Grace seems to start some really young players). Boyd is pretty well organized in the back so I'm not sure Grace gets many shots in this game either. I think Boyd by 2 or 3 goals.

Are you looking to pick up some more games?

According to the 2006-2007 TSSAA Handbook in section titled "Regulations Governing TSSAA Officials", 4. An official who fails to report for a game or match that has been assigned - unless released by the opposing coaches or unable to report due to accident or other unavoidable cause - shall be sugject to penalty by TSSAA, and will be placed on probation. On second offense, the official will be suspended for 12 months. In the same publication in the section titled "Girls Soccer, Soccer Regulations", paragraph V. Officials, sub-paragraph B states that a minimum of two officials shall be used in each contest, but three may be used. There's nothing in the handbook for being late, only if he fails to show. You might have a legitimate complaint with the single official incident.

Historically, refs have come from the soccer parent who decides to become a ref since he (or she) is already at the soccer field all weekend with their kids. There's nothing wrong with this. Young people who decide to ref usually don't stay with it too long in spite of the excellent money they can make. I feel there are several reasons for this: fan abuse and schedule. Most teenagers have probably been taught that they should respect adults and all that - yet as a ref they are told to control the game and the fans. This can be very confrontational; after being yelled at for a season or two they quit specifically for that reason. If you ref as a teenager you are most likely doing it at your local association on Saturday and Sunday mornings - not the time most teenagers want to get up and go stand on the soccer field (in spite of the money). Now, TSSAA won't let you ref until you're 18 which means you are probably in college. Reffing probably isn't high on the priority list of a college freshman. Since most high school games start in the early evening, you either have a new job or just got out of class; what will entice them to go ref a high school game? Paying more for a high school ref is certainly one solution but they've raised pay significantly since 2001 and the number of officials is about the same. If you try to raise the standard of existing officials by making them meet fitness standards you would reduce the number by about half. We need decent pay, fitness standards, ongoing training, maybe even forums where coaches and refs get together to share concerns - but who implements this or pays for it? Since this is soccer, not football or basketball, we're probably on our own like we've always been and you may as well get used to the two man system. If there is change, it will be slow and implemented at the local level. Sorry for the lengthy answer, I just don't see an easy answer to the question you posed.

Really? I could have sworn the rules states that the player must intentionally propel the ball with the hand or arm.

Bobby Earls at McMinn County has been coaching almost 20 years - how many wins does he have?

Find out who runs your local ref association and send them a note. Unfortunately, a majority of a refs' calls are based on judgement and it's hard to officially complain when they can reply that "In my judgement.......". There's no protest allowed on judgement calls.

Depending on what steps you implemented to hold the referees responsible you would probably only succeed in reducing the pool of referees. The number of referees is already critically low, spread over way too many teams. If you require all games to use three refs you would be forced to play on Saturdays and Sundays. In the Southeast region, for instance, the referee association covers teams from North Georgia (including Dalton) up to Tellico and Sweetwater. This is a corridor that is over 100 miles and covers about 23 - 30 High school teams and half a dozen small colleges. On a Tuesday or Thursday night you can't buy another referee (who are mostly running duals) - not because of money but due to lack of refs. The association holds clinics, weekly meetings, etc. and still has its share of inadequate refs. If you eliminate the older ref who can no longer maintain the pace and the inexperienced ref who just hasn't done enough games to effectively control a bunch of over stimulated teenagers, you have so few refs left that most teams couldn't schedule any games due to the shortage of "qualified" officials. I reffed almost 20 years and retired when I felt I could no longer maintain the level I thought the game demanded because I held myself to a higher standard. The sad thing is, I can still outrun a good number of the refs in our area and do a better job. Final answer? There surely isn't an easy solution to this problem.

Problems with the two-ref system have been pretty thoroughly covered in other threads. To answer one of your questions, there is no rule against starting a match with one referee and two club linesmen. If the other referee shows up you switch to the two man (or a three man if the third ref was late). Also, in TSSAA you never add time to a game; you stop the clock for certain events like goals, injuries or cards but you never play for more than the 40 minutes.

CSAS 3 - 0 McMinn Central

Correct - once time is expired the game is over. FIFA - adds time for injuries, cards, etc. and never stops the clock. Tn. High School - stops the clock for several reasons (goals, cards, injuries, etc.). There's nothing in FIFA or TSSAA that provides for continuation just because a player has a goal scoring opportunity (being able to sell the call is another matter). With a 5-1 score I would have already decided to end the game exactly on time. Conversely, and you've seen it before when you know time has expired, if the next play is putting the ball back into play the referee will almost always let the kick or throw occur and then blow the whistle once the ball is in play.