Taking the Whistle
A practical guide for anyone asked to run a Mini Roos game
The Part Nobody Tells You
Someone taps you on the shoulder. The club is short a Game Leader this weekend. You coached for years — surely you know the rules well enough.
And then the dread arrives.
Not the rules themselves. The spotlight. Getting something wrong in front of forty people. The coach on the far touchline who appeals every second decision. The parent who is absolutely certain about offside.
When I was coaching, I never had to referee. The coach is always excused — they are managing the team. Then my son moved clubs. People looked at me as the experienced one. Someone handed me the whistle and walked away.
What I discovered is that the dread and the difficulty are two separate things. The dread is real. The difficulty, it turns out, is not.
Mini Roos was designed to be run by people exactly like you. The rules are deliberately simplified. The role is deliberately called Game Leader, not referee. Your job is not to perform the Laws of the Game. Your job is to keep the children safe and keep the game moving.
This guide will help you do that. Find your age group, read the section, and trust yourself.
How to Run the Game — A Practical Guide
A few things are true at every age group before we get into the specifics.
The rules that never change
There is no offside. Not at any age group in this guide. If a player is camping permanently up front, tell them to move — but you never blow your whistle for offside. When someone appeals for it, the answer is one word: no.
Every free kick is indirect. This is the rule that surprises people most. The ball must touch another player before a goal can count — even from a free kick right outside the box. The only exception is a deliberate or serious foul inside the penalty area, where a penalty kick is awarded instead.
Distances are smaller than you think. Five metres is roughly five adult paces. Ten metres is ten paces. You do not need to measure. Step it out visually, ask players to move back, and trust your eye.
Substitutions are rolling. Any time, even while the ball is in play. The player coming off must leave the field first.
Shin guards are mandatory. Check before kick-off. If a child has forgotten them, they do not play until the problem is solved.
“When you blow your whistle, say what it was for. A push, a hold, a handball. One short sentence. At this age, the whistle is a teaching tool as much as a control mechanism.”
Under 8 and Under 9 — 7-a-side
Seven-a-side on a small pitch with a size 3 ball and twenty-minute halves. Goals are small — three metres wide. The penalty area is five metres deep and twelve metres wide. The penalty mark is eight metres from goal.
That is all you need to know about the format. Everything else in this section is about reading what is happening in front of you.
Offside — there is none
Children at this age will stand in front of the opposition goal. The coach will shout for offside. Parents will look at you. Do not blow. Tell the player to move into an onside position and get on with the game. You are not penalising them — you are directing them. There is a difference.
Fouls — most of them are not
At U8–U9, the vast majority of contact is accidental. Two children running for the same ball and colliding is not a foul. A hand that brushes another player during a challenge is not handball. A clumsy tackle that gets the ball first and the player second is borderline at best.
The question to ask yourself is not did contact happen, but was it dangerous or deliberate? If the answer is no to both, play on. Give the advantage to the attacking team and keep the game moving. Stopping every collision to award a free kick teaches children that football is about free kicks, not football.
The moments that always get a whistle: a genuine shove to the floor, a kick at a player rather than the ball, a hold that stops a player moving. These are clear, they feel wrong even at this age, and stopping them quickly sets the tone for the whole game.
Free kicks — setting them up
All free kicks are indirect. The ball must touch another player before a goal can count. Most children at this age will not know this. Tell them: someone else has to touch it first.
Opponents need to be five metres away — roughly five paces. Ask them to move back. Give it a moment. You do not need to measure it precisely, but you do need to make the effort to create the space. Do not let the kick be taken with defenders standing on top of the ball.
The penalty area and goal kicks
The penalty area is small at this age — five metres deep, twelve metres wide. For goal kicks, opponents must be ten metres outside it. That means they are standing fifteen metres from goal. It feels like a lot of space. It is correct.
Hold the restart until they are back. Say ten metres, or take ten paces — players understand that more easily than an abstract distance. This is the restart most Game Leaders rush, and it is the one that creates the most unnecessary chaos.
The goalkeeper
The goalkeeper can handle the ball anywhere inside the penalty area. They must release it within six seconds — by throwing, rolling, or placing it on the ground. They cannot punt or drop-kick it from their hands. If they do, give an indirect free kick from where they were standing.
If a teammate deliberately kicks the ball back to the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper picks it up, that is also an indirect free kick. The key word is deliberately — a deflection or a clearance that happens to go backward is not a back-pass.
What to let go at U8–U9
Almost everything that is clumsy, unintentional, or the product of children still learning to control their bodies. Messy tackles. Ball-to-hand handball. Players who drift into offside positions because they do not know better yet.
Your job is to protect the fun of the game, not to referee it into submission. When in doubt, play on.
Under 10 and Under 11 — 9-a-side
Nine-a-side on a larger pitch with a size 4 ball and twenty-five minute halves. The penalty area is ten metres deep and twenty metres wide. The penalty mark is eight metres from goal.
The format is bigger, but the principles are the same. What changes is that the players are older, faster, and beginning to understand the game — which means they will test your decisions more.
Offside — still none, but they will ask
By U10–U11, children have started watching senior football. They know what offside is. They will appeal for it. Some coaches will appeal for it loudly.
The rule has not changed. There is no offside at this age group. Say it clearly, say it once, and do not revisit it. If a player is permanently stationed three metres in front of the goalkeeper, tell them to move and explain why. That is the extent of your obligation.
Fouls — a slightly higher bar
Players at this age have better coordination and more physical presence. The tackles are harder and the challenges more purposeful. This means you will need to make more genuine foul decisions than at U8–U9.
The principle is the same — dangerous or deliberate — but the threshold for dangerous is slightly lower because the contact is more significant. A shoulder charge that floors a smaller player, a sliding tackle from behind, a hold that stops a counter-attack: these need a whistle. Clumsy, accidental, ball-first challenges still do not.
Penalties in the area
For deliberate or serious fouls inside the penalty area, you award a penalty. The mark is eight metres from goal.
Set it up properly. Goalkeeper on the line. All other players outside the penalty area and at least five metres behind the penalty mark — that is thirteen metres from goal. Do not allow the kick until everyone is in position. This will feel slow. It is correct.
The penalty is a big moment for children at this age. Taking a moment to set it up properly is not pedantry — it is giving the situation the weight it deserves.
Free kicks and distances
Opponents are five metres away for free kicks and throw-ins, ten metres from the penalty area for goal kicks. Five metres is five paces. Ten metres is ten paces. Step them out if you need to — players at this age respond well to a clear, physical instruction.
What to let go at U10–U11
Ball-to-hand handball where a player cannot move their arm in time. Honest challenges that go slightly wrong. The occasional tug of a shirt in a challenge that has no meaningful effect on play.
What you should not let go: persistent cynical fouling from the same player, deliberate elbowing, or any challenge that puts a player at genuine risk of injury. These need to be addressed clearly and immediately.
Under 12 — 9-a-side, extended rules
Still nine-a-side, same pitch dimensions and ball size as U10–U11. Twenty-five minute halves. The format is identical — but the rules have moved closer to the senior game.
The fouls list is the same as the full Laws of the Game. The players are bigger, stronger, and more aware of the rules. They will use that awareness to their advantage.
Offside — still none, even here
This is the one that catches people out at U12. The players look like they are playing a proper game. Coaches and parents expect proper rules. And the offside rule still does not apply.
Goals can be scored from an offside position at U12. If you give a goal, it stands, regardless of where the scorer was when the ball was played. If someone challenges this, you are correct. Move on.
Fouls — reading intent more carefully
At U12, players are big enough that reckless challenges cause real harm. Your threshold for intervention should be lower than at the younger age groups — particularly for challenges from behind, high boots near another player's face, and shoulder charges that have more shoulder than ball in them.
The fouls list at U12 includes impeding the progress of a player — obstruction, in old money. A player who deliberately stands in the path of an opponent without playing the ball is impeding. This one is rarely called at grassroots level but it is in the rules and worth knowing.
Penalties at U12
Same procedure as U10–U11: eight-metre mark, goalkeeper only, all others outside the area and five metres behind the mark. The difference at U12 is that the players are physically capable of hitting the ball hard and accurately. Take your time setting it up. The goalkeeper deserves a fair chance.
The back-pass rule
If a teammate deliberately kicks the ball back to the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper handles it — indirect free kick from where the goalkeeper was standing. The kick does not need to be intentional in a cynical sense; if a player clearly plays it back with their foot and the goalkeeper picks it up, that is sufficient.
A deflection off a defender, or an attempted clearance that inadvertently goes to the goalkeeper, is not a back-pass. Use your judgement on intent.
What to let go at U12
Honest physical challenges where both players go for the ball. Minor shirt-pulling during set pieces where no advantage is gained. Handball where a player genuinely cannot avoid the ball.
What you should not let go: anything reckless or endangering, deliberate time-wasting (goalkeeper holding the ball for longer than six seconds), and any conduct — from players or touchlines — that is threatening or abusive.
“You will not get every decision right. Neither does any referee, at any level. What matters is that you are consistent, calm, and clearly running the game for the benefit of the children.”
How Coaches and Clubs Can Support Game Leaders
The practical guide above is the easy part. The harder part is what happens on the touchline.
A parent or volunteer who has agreed to run the game is doing something the club needs. They are not a professional referee. They are not obliged to tolerate appeals on every decision, raised voices, or sustained pressure from coaches who disagree with a call.
What good clubs do
Brief coaches before the season. One conversation — here are the rules, here is what a Game Leader needs from you, here is what is and is not acceptable on the touchline.
Treat Game Leaders as volunteers, not officials. A word of thanks after the game costs nothing and makes a significant difference to whether that person agrees to do it again.
Normalise imperfection. A missed call at U9 football is not a crisis. Treating it as one tells children that results matter more than experience — which is precisely the wrong message.
Redirect complaints upward. If a coach or parent has a genuine concern about how a game was run, there is a process for that. It does not involve standing three metres from the Game Leader and making that concern known in real time.
What coaches specifically can do
Coaches are often the loudest voices on the touchline and, as a result, carry the most influence over how players behave around officials. Children watch their coaches. If the coach grimaces, sighs, or turns to the assistant when a decision goes against them, the children notice.
This is not about being passive. It is about recognising that the way a coach responds to a decision shapes how their players will respond to authority for years to come.
Do not appeal decisions. Not loudly, not quietly, not by implication. If you disagree, stay still.
Acknowledge the Game Leader before and after. A handshake and a thank you takes five seconds and sets the tone for the entire fixture.
Model the standard you expect from your players. If you want children who accept decisions and get on with the game, you need to be the first person who does exactly that.
The bigger picture
Youth football at this level runs on volunteers. Every club has a list of jobs that only get done because someone agreed to do them without being paid. Game Leader is one of those jobs.
When the experience of running a game is an unpleasant one — when the touchline is hostile, when coaches appeal, when the debrief afterwards is a list of complaints — people stop volunteering. And when people stop volunteering, games do not get played.
“The Game Leader is not there to get every decision right. They are there so the children get to play. That is worth protecting.”
Clubs that understand this build a culture where running the game is seen as a normal part of belonging to the club — not an ordeal passed to the newest or most obliging parent. That culture starts on the touchline, with the coaches who are already there.
Appendix — Quick Reference: Rules by Age Group
For reference only. Everything you need to run the game is in the sections above.
-
Maximum 4 substitutes.
Ball — Size 3.
Game length — 20-minute halves. Minimum 5-minute half-time.
Pitch (best practice) — 45m x 35m.
Goals — 3m wide x 2m high.
Penalty area — 5m deep x 12m wide.
Penalty mark — 8 metres from goal.
Offside — None. If a player is permanently in an offside position, direct them to move. Do not blow your whistle.
Free kicks — All indirect. The ball must touch another player before a goal can count.
Penalty in the box — Awarded for deliberate or serious fouls inside the penalty area. Taken from the 8-metre mark. Goalkeeper only on the line. All other players outside the penalty area and at least 5 metres behind the mark.
Throw-in — Both hands, from behind and over the head, part of both feet on or behind the line. Opponents 5 metres away. No goal directly from a throw-in.
Corner kick — Ball in the corner arc nearest to where it crossed. Opponents 5 metres away. A goal can be scored directly from a corner.
Goal kick — From anywhere inside the penalty area. Opponents must be 10 metres outside the penalty area. The ball must exit the penalty area before it is in play. Hold the restart until they are back.
Goalkeeper — Can handle the ball in the penalty area only. Must release within 6 seconds by throw, roll, or placing on the ground. Cannot punt or drop-kick from the hands. If a teammate deliberately kicks the ball back and the goalkeeper handles it: indirect free kick.
Kick-off and restarts — Pass to a teammate from the centre of the halfway line. All players in their own half. Opponents 5 metres away. The ball must touch a teammate before a goal can be scored.
Substitutions — Rolling. Any time, including while the ball is in play. Player coming off must leave before the substitute enters.
Match results — Not published publicly.
Points tables — Do not exist at this age group.
-
Maximum 5 substitutes.
Ball — Size 4.
Game length — 25-minute halves. Minimum 5-minute half-time.
Pitch (best practice) — 65m x 45m.
Goals — Maximum 5m wide x 2m high.
Penalty area — 10m deep x 20m wide.
Penalty mark — 8 metres from goal.
Offside — None. If a player is permanently in an offside position, direct them to move. Do not blow your whistle.
Free kicks — All indirect. The ball must touch another player before a goal can count.
Penalty in the box — Awarded for deliberate or serious fouls inside the penalty area. Taken from the 8-metre mark. Goalkeeper only on the line. All other players outside the penalty area and at least 5 metres behind the mark.
Throw-in — Both hands, from behind and over the head, part of both feet on or behind the line. Opponents 5 metres away. No goal directly from a throw-in.
Corner kick — Ball in the corner arc nearest to where it crossed. Opponents 5 metres away. A goal can be scored directly from a corner.
Goal kick — From anywhere inside the penalty area. Opponents must be 10 metres outside the penalty area. The ball must exit the penalty area before it is in play. Hold the restart until they are back.
Goalkeeper — Can handle the ball in the penalty area only. Must release within 6 seconds by throw, roll, or placing on the ground. Cannot punt or drop-kick from the hands. If a teammate deliberately kicks the ball back and the goalkeeper handles it: indirect free kick.
Kick-off and restarts — Pass to a teammate from the centre of the halfway line. All players in their own half. Opponents 5 metres away. The ball must touch a teammate before a goal can be scored.
Substitutions — Rolling. Any time, including while the ball is in play. Player coming off must leave before the substitute enters.
Match results — Not published publicly.
Points tables — Do not exist at this age group.
-
Ball — Size 4.
Game length — 25-minute halves. Minimum 5-minute half-time.
Pitch (best practice) — 65m x 45m.
Goals — Maximum 5m wide x 2m high.
Penalty area — 10m deep x 20m wide.
Penalty mark — 8 metres from goal.
Offside — None, even at U12. Goals can be scored from an offside position. Direct players to move if they are permanently in an offside position. Do not blow your whistle.
Free kicks — All indirect. The ball must touch another player before a goal can count.
Penalty in the box — Awarded for deliberate or serious fouls inside the penalty area. Taken from the 8-metre mark. Goalkeeper only on the line. All other players outside the penalty area and at least 5 metres behind the mark.
Throw-in — Both hands, from behind and over the head, part of both feet on or behind the line. Opponents 5 metres away. No goal directly from a throw-in.
Corner kick — Ball in the corner arc nearest to where it crossed. Opponents 5 metres away. A goal can be scored directly from a corner.
Goal kick — From anywhere inside the penalty area. Opponents must be 10 metres outside the penalty area. The ball must exit the penalty area before it is in play. Hold the restart until they are back.
Goalkeeper — Can handle the ball in the penalty area only. Must release within 6 seconds by throw, roll, or placing on the ground. Cannot punt or drop-kick from the hands. If a teammate deliberately kicks the ball back and the goalkeeper handles it: indirect free kick.
Back-pass rule — If a teammate deliberately kicks the ball back to the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper handles it, award an indirect free kick from where the goalkeeper was standing. A deflection or an unintended clearance that goes backward is not a back-pass.
Kick-off and restarts — Pass to a teammate from the centre of the halfway line. All players in their own half. Opponents 5 metres away. The ball must touch a teammate before a goal can be scored.
Substitutions — Rolling. Any time, including while the ball is in play. Player coming off must leave before the substitute enters.
Match results — Not published publicly.
Points tables — Do not exist at this age group.
