Be the Referee: Kickoff Goal

By Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director

September 27, 2022

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 – Kickoff Goal - Listen

We’ve got a 2-1 soccer game at halftime, and the trailing team is set to kick off to start the second half. The teams get lined up and number 11 from the trailing team gives it a healthy boot. It flies, untouched by any other player, and gets past the goalkeeper into the back of the net. They start celebrating, thinking they’ve tied the game at 2. But should they be?

Can a team score directly from kickoff? They can. There are a number of ways soccer teams can score. A goal can be scored directly from a kickoff, a corner kick, and a direct free kick.

Goals cannot be scored from an in-direct free kick or a throw-in. But from a kickoff? Count it!

Previous Editions:

Sept. 20: Soccer Timing - Listen
Sept. 13: Volleyball Replays - Listen
Sept. 6: Switching Sides - Listen
Aug. 30: Play Clock - Listen
Aug. 23: Intentional Grounding Change
- Listen

Be The Referee: Wrestling Tie-Breaker

January 16, 2020

This week, MHSAA officials coordinator Sam Davis discusses an addition this winter to the tie-breaker criteria for dual wrestling meets.

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 - Wrestling Tie-Breaker - Listen

In a dual meet in wrestling, if the team score is tied at the conclusion of all 14 weight classes, there are criteria in place that are used to determine a winner. The list is quite extensive, and has expanded to 17 tie-breakers this year.

The newest addition to the list is the sixth tie-breaker to be used – and it is the team giving up the least number of forfeits. Part of the rationale behind the addition is to encourage schools to field wrestlers in as many weight classes as possible to promote participation.

The first tie-breaker continues to be the team penalized the fewest number of team points for flagrant misconduct or unsportsmanlike conduct; and the last tie-breaker continues to be a coin flip.

Past editions

Jan. 9: Pregame Meeting - Listen
Dec. 19: Alternating Possession - Listen
Dec. 12: Ratings - Listen
Dec. 5: Video Review Success - Listen
Nov. 28: 
More Injury Time - Listen
Nov. 21: Football Review - Listen
Nov. 14: Sideline Safety - Listen
Nov. 7: Officials Playlist - Listen
Oct. 31: Most Important Line - Listen
Oct. 24: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
Oct. 17: Catch Momentum - Listen
Oct. 10: Golf Rules Changes - Listen
Oct. 3: No Tackle Box - Listen
Sept. 26: You Make the Overtime Call - Listen
Sept. 19: Swimming Finishing Touch - Listen
Sept. 12: Curbing Gamesmanship By Substitution - Listen
Sept. 5: Football Safety Rules Changes - Listen
Aug. 29: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen