Free kick, What would you call?

[Shoottv]

JV Game. After a safety.
K6 kicking from the 20. Grounded kick from a tee ball travels to the 30 1/2 yard line. K6 trailing his kick goes over the ball (without attempting to play it) and hits R14 in the knees full force at the 31 yard line just as he is attempting to play the ball.  After a large amount of ball hockey K14 recovers.

In my opinion this was a very dangerous play to R14's legs. I also feel that the kicker was playing the man and not the ball. I know we punted the call so I'm open to suggestions.

[HLinNC]

Sounds as if you had a block below the waist.  

Not sure what all this:

goes over the ball (without attempting to play it)

,

kicker was playing the man and not the ball

: has to do with anything.  It was a grounded kick so there is no KCI.   The ball went 10 1/2 yards (I'm assuming the 30 1/2 was K's) so 1st touching is out the window.

Other than the illegal block, what other options did you think you had?  Penalize K half the distance and re-kick.

What goof of a coach had what was essentially an onside kick attempt after a safety?

[Shoottv]

HlinNC.

Sorry for the description I've been doing soccer much longer than football and occasionally the terminology crosses when it shouldn't.

I was just trying to say the hit was in advance of the ball and K6 wasn't trying to recover it. If he trys to grab the ball on the way by I don't throw the flag. But I had one of those "You can't do that!" moments.

I called it KCI when I reported it to the WH and he went with that. In postgame I realized we punted the call and should have gone with block below the waist.

We were also very shocked at the attempted onside from your own 20.

[VALJ]

Hell, that's your problem, Shoot.  Forget about that "other" football...   

[HLinNC]

I was just trying to say the hit was in advance of the ball and K6 wasn't trying to recover it

So do you think there would have been a foul had the block been above the waist?   Might want to read 9-3.

[Shoottv]

So do you think there would have been a foul had the block been above the waist?   

No, I wouldn't have thrown it. It struck me because he targeted the legs and in front of the ball. I think BBW is the correct call.

[Atlanta Blue]

In front of the ball or behind the ball means nothing.  K is allowed to block ahead of the ball.

Not "playing the ball" means nothing.  K is allowed to block without playing the ball.

Playing the man and not the ball means nothing.  K is allowed to play the man and not the ball.


Was it a BBW or not?  That is the ONLY question that matters here.  Was K's first contact with R below the waist?  Did K contact higher and then move down?  Did R ward off K with his hands before K hit his legs?

Those are the things that should go through your mind, not the "not playing the ball" and all of that other soccer mess.

Don't get me wrong, I love soccer.  Played it all through high school and a year in college.  Played travel ball, All Star teams, etc., still help the high school team.

But as we say in Georgia, this ain't soccer.  If I can teach soccer players to forget their soccer kicking motions and learn football kicking motions, then I figure even a soccer official can forget the soccer rules and apply the football rules! 

[LarryW60]

For some reason, there's a line in the rules book that is clanging in my head after reading this.  The line says something to the effect that on a Free Kick, K cannot touch R (before "something" happens).  I don't have my rules book with me so I can't determine if that even applies in this situation.  Any help out there?

[ppaltice]

For some reason, there's a line in the rules book that is clanging in my head after reading this.  The line says something to the effect that on a Free Kick, K cannot touch R (before "something" happens).  I don't have my rules book with me so I can't determine if that even applies in this situation.  Any help out there?

If the free kick is in flight, K cannot touch the kick or impede R's opportunity to catch the kick.  That is KCI.

On a grounded kick, K does not have the same restrictions as in NCAA and NFL rules.  K can block R even if they cannot legally touch the ball.  K can also block in the back to get to a loose ball that they can legally touch, but if the ball has not yet gone 10 yards (or has touched R), K cannot block in the back.  No player can block below the waist on a free kick (except to tackle the runner).

[LarryW60]

Ahh.  Thanks.  The "something" was the ball striking the ground (which happened immediately in the OP).  So the rule I was thinking of doesn't apply here.