Pondering Play-On (and a quiz)

[eme]

The play-on technique for loose-ball technical fouls during play was initiated in NCAA college play for the 1989 season as a way to decrease the number of whistles in the college game and also not to penalize the offended team by taking away a likely potential advantage should they pick up the ball.

Referees have taken the first reason above perhaps too much to heart as the standard mechanic is to signal and proclaim aloud "Play-on" whenever a looseball technical foul occurs even if the ref expects to kill the play almost immediately. In our rush to "keep whistles to a minimum" we need to keep in mind a question as a potential Play-on develops: would the offended team be better served by a play-on that allows them to regain possession of the ball OR would they like a nice clean re-start with everyone five yards away?
For example, a defender chasing the ball deep in his defensive end, surrounded by opposing attackmen, is illegally pushed...ref signals playon...defender picks up ball right on the endline and is now played by three attackmen. What advantage did he gain by the playon technique? Would he not have been better served by a whistle, the awarding of the ball, and a clean re-start? One can think of similar scenarios all over the field...especially during plays along the sidelines going "east-west" rather than "north-to-south."

Long prelude to the quiz which is as follows:

A is man down. B is pushed illegally by A. Ref signals playon just as B knocks ball out of bounds as period ends. How does the next period start?

[ref4ee]

Long prelude to the quiz which is as follows:

A is man down. B is pushed illegally by A. Ref signals playon just as B knocks ball out of bounds as period ends. How does the next period start?

Here’s my call:

Award to B at the start of the next period....the playon doesn't stop until the whistle or possession is gained. Either the whistle from the period end or the whistle for the out of bounds signaled the end of the playon, and therefore possession to the offended team (B).

As to the prelude:

Either the ref realizes that "no good" can come of the defender getting possession and he blows the whistle, or the defender himself must realize that there is no advantage to be gained and they stop going for the ball as they realize it will be a favorable restart. Good coaching should help the players understand how rules are adjudicated and they should be instructed as to when it is in the team's best interest to pursue a ball.

A couple of similar rules-based coaching scenarios that come immediately to mind would include 1) if you go offsides, keep going as you can only get called for it once and 2) if the ball is being clamped by the goalie outside of the crease, the part of the goalies stick that is outside of the crease can also be checked (I see lots attackmen pass on making this check because they or their coaches don't understand the rules).

[LaxRef]

Referees have taken the first reason above perhaps too much to heart as the standard mechanic is to signal and proclaim aloud "Play-on" whenever a looseball technical foul occurs even if the ref expects to kill the play almost immediately.

There is a good reason for doing this: so you communicate to everyone who understands the rules that, yes, you know that that particular loose-ball technical foul is a play-on, but that in your judgment the play warrants being blown dead. If you just blow the whistle, you might get some smart-alec yelling "that's supposed to be a play-on."


In our rush to "keep whistles to a minimum" we need to keep in mind a question as a potential Play-on develops: would the offended team be better served by a play-on that allows them to regain possession of the ball OR would they like a nice clean re-start with everyone five yards away?

This is an interesting question. One view is that if it's going to be a disadvantage to pick up the ball, don't do it and wait for the whistle. Of course, the problem for the player is that you just don't know if the play-on is for the push you think you just got in the back or for the hold that you were hoping to get away with. Thus, you don't know whose ball it will be when the whistle blows, or even whether the whistle will blow at all when the opponent scoops the ball.

Unfortunately, I can't see a good way to fix this. If you want the chance to press an advantage when it's there, you have to be willing to accept that sometimes you may be disadvantaged by the play-on. But I do agree that as officials we should be aware of this.

Long prelude to the quiz which is as follows:

A is man down. B is pushed illegally by A. Ref signals playon just as B knocks ball out of bounds as period ends. How does the next period start?

The play-on denotes possession, so team B ends the period with possession (the ball going out of bounds just ends the play-on) and will get the ball at the same relative position (or outside the box) when the next period begins.

[Laxref_36]

I would agree with the awarding of the ball during the start of the next period. However I would evaluate the play on technique. When the offending team is going to get the ball in a bad position, why allow this to happen. Kill the play and give the ball to the offended team.

[shrekjr]

Here's a play I had a couple of weeks ago that fits this discussion........

A's goalie makes the long clearing pass to midfield. While jockeying for position, A steps offside. I have a play-on. The ball crosses midfield with B chasing it toward his goal. After a couple of seconds, B gains possession but his momentum has carried him to near his own defensive restraining line with two of A's attackmen right behind him. In a spur of the moment decision, I stopped play and awarded the ball to B at midfield by enforcing the offside call using the logic that this was a better deal for B. Considering this all happened within 2-3 seconds, my first thought when B picked up the ball was that there was no advantage gained by allowing play to continue. Had the play gone any longer without possession, I'm I would have killed the play and awarded the ball to B anyway, but this happened so quick and it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, which is usually the way I like to officiate.