The smell of fresh cut grass. The shine of a freshly painted line. The glisten of a recently groomed shale diamond. Spring sports must be in the air! While these things might not excite all sport enthusiasts, they certainly make for routine water cooler discussion here at the office.
Whether this is your first season with the ESSC playing Outdoor Soccer or you have been playing for years, you may have noticed we don’t have Referees or GCs watching over games (the exception is our GC’d Soccer League, but more on that later). There are a few main reasons why Referees or even GCs are not present at Outdoor Soccer games, which we will explore below!
1. ESSC leagues are self-officiated
Ahhh the good ol’ advantage rule. It’s designed to avoid unnecessary stoppages and in turn, improve the flow of the game! Here’s the official rule from our rulebook:
The Advantage Rule refers to an instance when a foul occurs and the result is that the team fouled against is not disadvantaged by the play and therefore there are no consequences and the play continues.
Let’s break it down, shall we?
While nets have not been mandatory for ESSC Outdoor Soccer leagues in the past, all teams will be required to have a net starting this Spring 2016 season. Teams who do not provide a net at their game will automatically receive a zero sportsmanship rating. We are not looking to make any money from net sales, as they are sold at cost, we just want to improve the league experience and overall feel of the game for all teams. Net packages can be purchased online at the time of registration, or purchased at any equipment pick-up date.
