Be the Referee: Soccer Handling
By
Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator
September 5, 2024
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Soccer Handling - Listen
In soccer, a kicked ball that inadvertently touches a player’s arm is not a handball. If a ball is kicked at someone’s face and they instinctively put their hand in front of their face to block the ball – that is also not a handball. There was no intent.
Handball – or handling – is called when the touch with a hand or arm is deliberate.
However, if a ball glances off an offensive player’s arm and goes into the goal, the goal is not allowed. Even if the touching was accidental or inadvertent, it’s no goal. If the touching leads to an immediate goal-scoring opportunity, then it’s also whistled for handling.
As long as the inadvertent touching doesn’t lead directly to a goal, it’s play on.
Previous 2024-25 Editions
Aug. 24: Football Holding - Listen
PHOTO Westland John Glenn and Sterling Heights Stevenson players pursue the ball during their matchup this season. (Photo by Douglas Bargerstock.)
Flashback 100: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris
September 27, 2024
It's been a summer of firsts for Abby Tamer.
The 2021 Dexter graduate and current University of Michigan student-athlete became the first from her high school to qualify for the Olympics and the first Wolverines field hockey player to represent Team USA.
At the Paris Olympics, Tamer led Team USA in scoring, tallying two goals over five pool play matches. She started all five at forward.
In high school, Tamer led the Dexter club field hockey team to state titles in 2019 and 2020, scoring 117 career goals and earning numerous accolades. She was twice named the Michigan High School Field Hockey Association's Player of the Year (2019 and 2020) and was a 2019 National Field Hockey Coaches Association First Team All-American. Her mother, Keely (Libby) Tamer, had played field hockey at Michigan, and her father, Chris, had played ice hockey at Michigan and for 11 years in the NHL.
While at Dexter, Tamer also played soccer, helping the Dreadnaughts to MHSAA District titles in 2018 and 2019. (Her junior season was canceled due to COVID-19, and she graduated early as a senior and enrolled that spring at U-M.)
Girls Field Hockey will become an MHSAA-sponsored sport starting with the 2025-26 school year.
Follow us on Instagram, X, Facebook, and TikTok for more weekly "Flashback 100" photo features and additional content celebrating our 100th anniversary.
Previous "Flashback 100" Features
Sept. 20: Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6: Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read
PHOTOS At left, Abby Tamer plays field hockey for Dexter, and at right she takes the field for Dexter's girls soccer team. (Photos courtesy of Ryan Maki Photography.)