When I took my first officiating course a decade ago in Howard County, Maryland, our tutor over two weekends — a very wise and articulate referee named Craig Proffen — soughtnot only to teach us the “Laws of the Game.” Much more importantly, he taught us when best to apply them. He stressed that while it was our duty to know the rules by heart, once out on the field thereferee was the ultimate judge, jury and executioner. He used this phrase several times. That is, if a player waiting to be subbed in during a U-9 rec game runs on to the field of play a couple ofseconds before their teammate has left it, you as a referee can ignore the rule that says they need to be shown a yellow card.
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