Offsides

First, I will give a definition of offsides, then I will try to explain it a little.

Offsides in soccer is when an attacking (offensive) player is passed the ball and there are not at least two defensive players between the attacking player and the goal line. 

In other words, if the only person on defense between you and the goal is the goalie, as a general rule you are offsides, and if the ball is passed to you, the referree can blow the whistle and the other team receives a kick to go in the other direction.  You need to make sure that you keep at least one other defender (besides the goalie) between you and the goal unless you already have the ball.

Now, there are some important qualifications to the general definition given above. 

 *  A player is not offsides if the ball is between them and the goal line they are attacking.  (In other words, if the ball is between you and the goal, you can go after it no matter where the defense is located.)

*  A player is not offsides if they move in front of the defense while they themselves have possession of the ball.  (In other words, if you are dribbling it and get past their last defender, you are not offsides.)

* A player is not offsides if the teammate passing the ball is already in front of you when they pass it.

(NOTE:  The second and third items above actually fit under the first, but are added here for clarification) 

*  A player is not offsides if they are in their own defensive half of the field.  (If you are at the half-line, you are not offsides, no matter where the other players are located.)

*  A player is not offsides on a throw-in or on corner kicks and goal kicks.  (You can move where you want before the throw-in or kick, but if someone else touches it first, you must return to an onsides position.) (Thanks to Kevin Powell for correcting my previously incorrect statements on this point.)

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?

On offense, we need to be careful that we do not run behind the defense. 

* If you find yourself behind the defense, you need to hustle back onsides so that a teammate can pass you the ball. 

* If you are dribbling and see that a player is in an offsides position, do not pass it to that person until they have returned to onsides.

On defense, we can “push up” so that the opposing team’s attackers cannot be planted so closely to our goal. 

* Each person on defense needs to move up in games like this.  If one person is hanging back, then it does no good for the others to be moved up.

* In the event of a significantly faster attacking player, trying to play them in such a way that they are offsides can be dangerous because as soon as their teammate passes the ball they can make a break for it.  As long as they were onsides when it was played by the teammate, they are onsides.

I hope this helps a little,

Coach Frank Sansone