8U Official

Youth referees

7U and 8U games are perfect to help youth referees start their officiating journey. Youth referees may referee games where they are at least two years older than the oldest player on a team, so 10U players and up can officiate these games.

Getting youth referees started on these more simple games will also free up your older, more experienced referees for the more difficult games. The 8U Referee course is also considerably simpler than the Regional Referee course.

Help your youth referees be successful both by training them on the differences between the 7U/8U game rules and other age divisions, as well as teaching and mentoring them to have a confident presence out on the pitch.

Rules

These rules minus additional commentary provided here can be found in the 8U Match Guidelines and 8U Program Knowledge chapters of the AYSO 8U Coach Manual, available in the Document Library from AYSO etrainu.

The 7U/8U game has the following major differences from other divisions:

Size 3 ball
Small fields (15-25 yards wide, 25-35 yards long)
Small goals (4' x 6')
Small team size: 4 vs. 4
No goalkeepers or penalty area.
- This also means that there are no penalty kicks at this level.
- Fouls awarded closer than five yards to the goal should be moved out five yards from the goal.
No offside.
There are often no Assistant Referees (ARs) at this level.
- There is also no offside, and the fields are small, so less of a need for ARs.
- Depending on the field condition (faint/crooked lines) and your confidence level, you may ask the coaches to have someone on the sidelines (a Club Linesman) to help you out by indicating when the ball goes out of play.
- While ARs are not typically provided, it is not a requirement to not have them. New ARs may also build up experience in the low pressure environment of a 7U/8U game.
No heading the ball.
- Heading doesn't become legal until 12U/14U (depending on whether or not the region has a separate 11U division), so they have at least 3+ more years to go until that's allowed!
- If they intentionally hit the ball with their head, it is a foul.
- If they unintentionally hit the ball with their head, or they get hit in the head, it is not a foul. However, you may want to stop the game to check on them, especially checking for signs of potential concussion.
Not every touch of the ball to the hand/arm is a handball offense.
- Especially at this age, don't penalize protective actions.
- Look for instances where the player is intentionally playing the ball with their hand/arm (not including the shoulder above the armpit), rather than simply being hit in the hand/arm with the ball.
When the ball goes out over the touchline (the sideline), region rules may allow a player from the team that did not touch the ball last to either throw, pass, or dribble the ball in. Be sure you are familiar with the rules that your region plays under.
All free kicks are indirect free kicks (no scoring directly from the kick).
- Players on the opposing team should be at least 5 yards from a player on a restart, rather than the standard 10 yards.
  - Maintaining an exact distance might be difficult for players and is less important than simply ensuring that they give the kicking player enough room to safely kick the ball.
While players will make mistakes and fouls should be called, intentional and mean-spirited misconduct rarely happens at this age and yellow/red cards should not be shown. Instead of showing cards for more serious or persistent offences, you may work with a player's coach to get them a "time out," and ask them to help teach the player how their behavior is negatively affecting the other players and the game.

Training for new referees

These guidelines should be taken as general recommendations; adapt your refereeing to the experience level and needs of the teams that you are officiating.

Remember that the kids in 7U/8U games are 6-7 years old. Almost all of them have just started playing soccer this year or within the last 1-2 years. It should be expected that they will frequently make mistakes and either not know or not remember the rules. And not only the players will be new to the game; many parents and even coaches will often be new to the game and not understand.
The most common fouls at this age level are kicking, tripping, pushing, holding, handball, and playing in a dangerous manner (dangerous play). Many of these fouls will be the result of inexperience or clumsiness, not malice.
Especially for youth referees, the way you behave will influence how you're treated by coaches, parents, and players. Stand as tall as you can be, use a loud clear voice when you give instructions, and use a confident (not soft, not earsplitting) whistle. These things, along with studying and applying the Laws of the Game properly, will help you gain the respect and trust of the players and spectators. Remember that you are the referee, and you have every right to be confident as you manage the game.
If you're having trouble helping a specific child understand appropriate behavior, or you feel unsure or overwhelmed, remember that the coaches are also there to teach and support. It's okay—even recommended—to ask for help if you need it. Especially remember that just like for the players, it's okay for you, the referee, to occasionally make mistakes. If you have questions after a game, try to record the details of what you're unsure about and contact your referee administrator or mentor for more assistance.
Just like in older divisions, referees shouldn't feel the need to stop the game for every minor offense. Call fouls that give unfair advantage to the fouling team and stop play for suspected injuries, but when minor offenses occur, focus more on keeping the game flowing for the enjoyment of the players and the spectators rather than ensuring every single offense is called. When minor offenses occur that didn't seriously endanger or negatively affect the game, consider using your voice rather than your whistle, without stopping play, to give quick instructions and corrections (like, "keep your arms down," "be careful where you kick," etc.).
Don't assume that the players (or coaches and parents!) will understand either what has happened or what should happen next. If there is confusion from players or coaches, explain loudly, clearly, and briefly about what happened (a foul occurred, ball went over the line and came back in, a goal was scored, etc.) and what will happen next (indirect free kick for Yellow team, throw-in/kick-in for Blue team, a kick-off for Orange team, etc.). Even when you make the correct signal as a referee, not all the kids will understand the signal, so make the signal and use your voice (at a volume they can hear!) to help them understand.
You don't need to use your whistle for everything, like when a ball clearly goes over the line out of play. Reserve your whistle for when it's needed, like starting play for halves or after game stoppages, calling fouls, and when the ball goes over a line but it's not obvious or quickly comes back in (out and back in is still out!).
As referee, it's your job to help keep the game safe, fun, and fair. However, there will still be a wide range of skill levels and some team pairings will not always be balanced. Be encouraging and helpful to the players you're officiating, especially if they're struggling. Smile. Show appreciation when they do things well. This will help them to see you as more than just someone who tells them when they've done something wrong.
Don't be surprised to see more crying during the game than you might be used to, even from a player you may have just called a foul on who didn't get hurt. Remember that this is an age where many of the kids still have relatively high sensitivity to being told they're doing something wrong, and so being whistled for a foul may affect them more than older kids who might just shrug it off. Simply be kind and remind them that all the whistle means is that something happened that wasn't fair or safe, and that it's okay to make mistakes.