Etiquette on the field????

In academy soccer (girls)(U6-U10), is it common practice for both teams to take a knee when any player gets hurt on the field?

My daughter has been playing for 3 years now (U9) and I have always seen this happen. But we were playing on Sunday and when one of the opposing team player got hurt, our girls took a knee. But the courtesy was not returned.

Not only was it not returned, but apparently the coach told one of their captains to go around and tell their team members to stand up while one of our girls were down.

I was taken back, because I thought it was common practice....

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Taking a knee goes away as the players get older. I'm guessing the kneeling started to get itty bitties to settle down and be still when a player was injured. Older coaches want players to stay loose, and the players are generally respectful enough to be quiet and give the refs and staff room when a player needs attention. At least this is what I think happens... correct me it I'M wrong.

taking a knee is for little kids to keep them from crowding around, getting in the way so they can see. By U9 there should be no need for taking a knee

Some see it as etiquette, others don't. Some regard it as foolish, others as a tradition. Nobody seems to know where it started. It goes away as players get older because coaches would prefer the athlete stays loose.

I have no problem with a coach who instructs his kids to take a knee, but nobody should have a problem with a coach who doesn't. It doesn't mean they are disrespecting an injured opponent, just not buying into a questionable at best practice.

I do have a problem with a referee instructing both teams to take a knee as one did in a recent tourney. Not his job.

As the kids get older this goes away. You'll "never" see a select team go down on one knee.
As they get older you'll even see the girls huddle up and talk about the game as the injured player is getting attended to.

Ok...I see everyone's point...I was just taken back.

I guess at this age...I really don't see them huddling together and talking strategy amongst themselves.....but when older...I totally see they could.


thanks everyone for your comments.

If a stranger forgets to hold the door for you when entering a store, do you stand outside the door acting irritated until somebody comes back and opens it for you? Or do you just go in and move forward with your life?

We've had strings about this same topic before. Taking a knee is a nice thing to do (I heard it started with peewee football) but that's it. Taking a knee is a relatively new thing. When was the last time you saw the USWNT take a knee during an injury?

Acting respectful, and giving the injured person all the space they need, should be enough. Serious (ambulance) injuries can take a long time and 20 minutes is a long time to be on your knee. If emergency services were needed, the first thing they'd do is tell the kids to get off their knees and get the hell out of the way.

Smart coaches use the quick 2 minutes to bring their kids over to the sideline, get them out of the way, keep the focus, get a quick drink of water, and make a coaching point or two. Having them jog over to the coaches' sideline keeps the kids loose and it helps certain kids from getting "coached" by their parents.

If players have been racing down the field and their heart rates are racing as well, it is better for their health to remain standing and stay loose vs. coming to a complete stop and sitting down. Once seen as a showing of sportsmanship and etiquette is now being replaced with what is better for the rest of the players on the field. Respect can still be shown. As they get older, the opposing players generally huddle up and compose themselves as a team.

Nothing new to add that hasn't already been said, but you typically see these posts from parents whose kids are on the cusp about to transition to select or older competitive age groups. For the first time they are running into teams that don't take a knee, and initially see it as disrespect until they realize it's just part of their kids growing up. Ulittles do it, but high level U9-U10 teams begin to huddle up on injuries. Rec teams may do it a bit longer, but by the time they're teenagers no one takes a knee.

First of all, yes, you will see some select teams taking knees, and, when you do, it is meant as a show of respect. While it perhaps began as a way of settling younger players, like anything else, it's evolved over time, at least for some coaches and teams. No, there's nothing wrong with players alternatively, quietly gathering and talking strategy, or even respectfully getting a drink while the injured player is being attended to, but I personally like this symbolic gesture when I see it. I'm also not sure how much value is gained from the mid-field or sideline discussions that some seem to be advocating here. Those should be on-going and happening anyway.

wow girls soccer must be really different. I have never seen a boys select team take a knee

Injuries are a great opportunity for substitutions.

Even at U04, U05, U06, & U07 a coach really doesn't need all the kids on a knee gawking at another kid who's frantically writhing around on the field in painful tears. Kids that age are empathizers. When that happens, most of the kids are thinking, "I don't want that to happen to me!"

Have any of you ever seen a ULittle team suddenly knee while the ball is still live? Or heard parents from the sideline scream to the kids to take a knee while the ball is still in play and because of that one of the teams instantly goes down on a knee while the other team keeps playing? (I can't be the only one that's seen this happen. As a coach you're stuck there thinking, "Huh... What just happened?")

bigtex75081 wrote:If a stranger forgets to hold the door for you when entering a store, do you stand outside the door acting irritated until somebody comes back and opens it for you? Or do you just go in and move forward with your life?

We've had strings about this same topic before. Taking a knee is a nice thing to do (I heard it started with peewee football) but that's it. Taking a knee is a relatively new thing. When was the last time you saw the USWNT take a knee during an injury?

Acting respectful, and giving the injured person all the space they need, should be enough. Serious (ambulance) injuries can take a long time and 20 minutes is a long time to be on your knee. If emergency services were needed, the first thing they'd do is tell the kids to get off their knees and get the hell out of the way.

Smart coaches use the quick 2 minutes to bring their kids over to the sideline, get them out of the way, keep the focus, get a quick drink of water, and make a coaching point or two. Having them jog over to the coaches' sideline keeps the kids loose and it helps certain kids from getting "coached" by their parents.

Not sure about that. I saw a coach/team do that once and the injured player got up and walked off the field with her coach. The Ref restarted the game and they walked it into the goal while the other team smartly huddled up.

soccersounder wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:If a stranger forgets to hold the door for you when entering a store, do you stand outside the door acting irritated until somebody comes back and opens it for you? Or do you just go in and move forward with your life?

We've had strings about this same topic before. Taking a knee is a nice thing to do (I heard it started with peewee football) but that's it. Taking a knee is a relatively new thing. When was the last time you saw the USWNT take a knee during an injury?

Acting respectful, and giving the injured person all the space they need, should be enough. Serious (ambulance) injuries can take a long time and 20 minutes is a long time to be on your knee. If emergency services were needed, the first thing they'd do is tell the kids to get off their knees and get the hell out of the way.

Smart coaches use the quick 2 minutes to bring their kids over to the sideline, get them out of the way, keep the focus, get a quick drink of water, and make a coaching point or two. Having them jog over to the coaches' sideline keeps the kids loose and it helps certain kids from getting "coached" by their parents.

Not sure about that. I saw a coach/team do that once and the injured player got up and walked off the field with her coach. The Ref restarted the game and they walked it into the goal while the other team smartly huddled up.

Ouch... Did the coach take too long returning his players to the field or something? Ouch...

Gunner9 wrote:Some see it as etiquette, others don't. Some regard it as foolish, others as a tradition. Nobody seems to know where it started. It goes away as players get older because coaches would prefer the athlete stays loose.

I have no problem with a coach who instructs his kids to take a knee, but nobody should have a problem with a coach who doesn't. It doesn't mean they are disrespecting an injured opponent, just not buying into a questionable at best practice.

I do have a problem with a referee instructing both teams to take a knee as one did in a recent tourney. Not his job.

It started in peewee football in the 80’s, as everyone mentioned it was done to keep control of the players on the field and to keep them away from the injured player. It had nothing to do with respecting the injured player. It is now just another politely correct action that you have to do and if you do not do it you are a poor sport.

EPL Fan wrote:

Gunner9 wrote:Some see it as etiquette, others don't. Some regard it as foolish, others as a tradition. Nobody seems to know where it started. It goes away as players get older because coaches would prefer the athlete stays loose.

I have no problem with a coach who instructs his kids to take a knee, but nobody should have a problem with a coach who doesn't. It doesn't mean they are disrespecting an injured opponent, just not buying into a questionable at best practice.

I do have a problem with a referee instructing both teams to take a knee as one did in a recent tourney. Not his job.

It started in peewee football in the 80’s, as everyone mentioned it was done to keep control of the players on the field and to keep them away from the injured player. It had nothing to do with respecting the injured player. It is now just another politely correct action that you have to do and if you do not do it you are a poor sport.

sorry i think it teaches empathy, especially in academy. now when you get to select i can understand not kneeling. I think anything that encourages good sportsmanship is a good thing especially considering how unsportsmanlike girls soccer is....

if only empathy was that easy to teach. It teaches you nothing but to take a knee when someone says too. But if we want the girls game to have better sportsmanship just start with the sideline and the parents.

go99 wrote:if only empathy was that easy to teach. It teaches you nothing but to take a knee when someone says too. But if we want the girls game to have better sportsmanship just start with the sideline and the parents.

as usual i disagree with you. learning to care whether someone is hurt is a good value. it all starts with small things. whatever "important" thing a u8 coach needs to say could probably wait, take a knee.....

soccersounder wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:If a stranger forgets to hold the door for you when entering a store, do you stand outside the door acting irritated until somebody comes back and opens it for you? Or do you just go in and move forward with your life?

We've had strings about this same topic before. Taking a knee is a nice thing to do (I heard it started with peewee football) but that's it. Taking a knee is a relatively new thing. When was the last time you saw the USWNT take a knee during an injury?

Acting respectful, and giving the injured person all the space they need, should be enough. Serious (ambulance) injuries can take a long time and 20 minutes is a long time to be on your knee. If emergency services were needed, the first thing they'd do is tell the kids to get off their knees and get the hell out of the way.

Smart coaches use the quick 2 minutes to bring their kids over to the sideline, get them out of the way, keep the focus, get a quick drink of water, and make a coaching point or two. Having them jog over to the coaches' sideline keeps the kids loose and it helps certain kids from getting "coached" by their parents.

Not sure about that. I saw a coach/team do that once and the injured player got up and walked off the field with her coach. The Ref restarted the game and they walked it into the goal while the other team smartly huddled up.

Yeah, okay. I would be very curious to hear the details on this one. You're stating that the ref stopped play with his whistle for an injury. So what was the re-start? It would have had to start with a whistle followed by a drop ball, goal kick, free kick, or whatever after the injured player completely left the pitch. A coach would have to be fully clueless to keep his team huddled for that long and with the ref signaling the re-start.

I agree with BigTex. An injury stoppage is a good time to take care of things. Taking a knee is lame and right up there with the parent-tunnel after a match. A round of applause after the player is scraped off the turf is sufficient.

Etiquette is for boarding school. No place for it on the pitch.

Xara wrote:I agree with BigTex. An injury stoppage is a good time to take care of things. Taking a knee is lame and right up there with the parent-tunnel after a match. A round of applause after the player is scraped off the turf is sufficient.

Ah, the parent tunnel. First time I saw this was in a Dallas Cup game circa 1986 in a U14 semi-final game. The team from Mexico (CD Guadalajara or CF Monterrey, I don't recall exactly) had just beaten the Gunners, who also happened to be their host family. The parents that had accompanied the Mexican team (about half) formed the tunnel and asked both teams to run through it. As it was explained to us by one of the Mexican moms, it was symbolic to remind the players that they were all still kids with loving parents who would always view them as their "babies", and that they viewed the host families as extensions of their own in this case. I thought it was very cool. So, perhaps parent tunnels are lame, but so potentially is singing happy birthday, giving hugs, and dresing up for Halloween. The thoughts of these things bring back good memories for me though. Maybe that means I'm not cool, but I've never really worried about having a cooler-than-thou attitude anyway. Thanks for the trip down memory lane - or "memory lame - as the case might be.

Xara wrote:

soccersounder wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:If a stranger forgets to hold the door for you when entering a store, do you stand outside the door acting irritated until somebody comes back and opens it for you? Or do you just go in and move forward with your life?

We've had strings about this same topic before. Taking a knee is a nice thing to do (I heard it started with peewee football) but that's it. Taking a knee is a relatively new thing. When was the last time you saw the USWNT take a knee during an injury?

Acting respectful, and giving the injured person all the space they need, should be enough. Serious (ambulance) injuries can take a long time and 20 minutes is a long time to be on your knee. If emergency services were needed, the first thing they'd do is tell the kids to get off their knees and get the hell out of the way.

Smart coaches use the quick 2 minutes to bring their kids over to the sideline, get them out of the way, keep the focus, get a quick drink of water, and make a coaching point or two. Having them jog over to the coaches' sideline keeps the kids loose and it helps certain kids from getting "coached" by their parents.

Not sure about that. I saw a coach/team do that once and the injured player got up and walked off the field with her coach. The Ref restarted the game and they walked it into the goal while the other team smartly huddled up.

Yeah, okay. I would be very curious to hear the details on this one. You're stating that the ref stopped play with his whistle for an injury. So what was the re-start? It would have had to start with a whistle followed by a drop ball, goal kick, free kick, or whatever after the injured player completely left the pitch. A coach would have to be fully clueless to keep his team huddled for that long and with the ref signaling the re-start.

I agree with BigTex. An injury stoppage is a good time to take care of things. Taking a knee is lame and right up there with the parent-tunnel after a match. A round of applause after the player is scraped off the turf is sufficient.

I could care less about taking a knee.

But there is no time-out in soccer big guy. The 99s LHGCL Qualifier, Sting vs the old Texas Stars. Sting player fouled and hurt in the corner near Stars goal. Star's coach decides to pull his team over to the far touchline to "take care of things". Sting player gets up and walks off with her coach, exits over the goal-line. Free kick to Sting. Ref starts play. Sting plays it to a teammate, who walks it in, while all 11 Star player's are frantically sprinting back towards the play

soccersounder wrote:

Xara wrote:

soccersounder wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:If a stranger forgets to hold the door for you when entering a store, do you stand outside the door acting irritated until somebody comes back and opens it for you? Or do you just go in and move forward with your life?

We've had strings about this same topic before. Taking a knee is a nice thing to do (I heard it started with peewee football) but that's it. Taking a knee is a relatively new thing. When was the last time you saw the USWNT take a knee during an injury?

Acting respectful, and giving the injured person all the space they need, should be enough. Serious (ambulance) injuries can take a long time and 20 minutes is a long time to be on your knee. If emergency services were needed, the first thing they'd do is tell the kids to get off their knees and get the hell out of the way.

Smart coaches use the quick 2 minutes to bring their kids over to the sideline, get them out of the way, keep the focus, get a quick drink of water, and make a coaching point or two. Having them jog over to the coaches' sideline keeps the kids loose and it helps certain kids from getting "coached" by their parents.

Not sure about that. I saw a coach/team do that once and the injured player got up and walked off the field with her coach. The Ref restarted the game and they walked it into the goal while the other team smartly huddled up.

Yeah, okay. I would be very curious to hear the details on this one. You're stating that the ref stopped play with his whistle for an injury. So what was the re-start? It would have had to start with a whistle followed by a drop ball, goal kick, free kick, or whatever after the injured player completely left the pitch. A coach would have to be fully clueless to keep his team huddled for that long and with the ref signaling the re-start.

I agree with BigTex. An injury stoppage is a good time to take care of things. Taking a knee is lame and right up there with the parent-tunnel after a match. A round of applause after the player is scraped off the turf is sufficient.

I could care less about taking a knee.

But there is no time-out in soccer big guy. The 99s LHGCL Qualifier, Sting vs the old Texas Stars. Sting player fouled and hurt in the corner near Stars goal. Star's coach decides to pull his team over to the far touchline to "take care of things". Sting player gets up and walks off with her coach, exits over the goal-line. Free kick to Sting. Ref starts play. Sting plays it to a teammate, who walks it in, while all 11 Star player's are frantically sprinting back towards the play

After reading this I was left wondering…
1- Did the ref say, “Let’s go coach!” and the coach blew him off? (Some coaches will intentionally field their teams later than necessary to make a statement or to get some type of mental edge over the ref and opponent.)
2- What had the coach done to irritate the ref prior to that happening? Refs tend to be pretty fair-minded until you irritate them to the point of anger. (If the ref didn’t give a warning that the whistle was about to be blown, that ref was then trying to make a statement, “I’m in charge of this game and this joker is about to learn that right now.”)

soccersounder wrote:

Xara wrote:

soccersounder wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:If a stranger forgets to hold the door for you when entering a store, do you stand outside the door acting irritated until somebody comes back and opens it for you? Or do you just go in and move forward with your life?

We've had strings about this same topic before. Taking a knee is a nice thing to do (I heard it started with peewee football) but that's it. Taking a knee is a relatively new thing. When was the last time you saw the USWNT take a knee during an injury?

Acting respectful, and giving the injured person all the space they need, should be enough. Serious (ambulance) injuries can take a long time and 20 minutes is a long time to be on your knee. If emergency services were needed, the first thing they'd do is tell the kids to get off their knees and get the hell out of the way.

Smart coaches use the quick 2 minutes to bring their kids over to the sideline, get them out of the way, keep the focus, get a quick drink of water, and make a coaching point or two. Having them jog over to the coaches' sideline keeps the kids loose and it helps certain kids from getting "coached" by their parents.

Not sure about that. I saw a coach/team do that once and the injured player got up and walked off the field with her coach. The Ref restarted the game and they walked it into the goal while the other team smartly huddled up.

Yeah, okay. I would be very curious to hear the details on this one. You're stating that the ref stopped play with his whistle for an injury. So what was the re-start? It would have had to start with a whistle followed by a drop ball, goal kick, free kick, or whatever after the injured player completely left the pitch. A coach would have to be fully clueless to keep his team huddled for that long and with the ref signaling the re-start.

I agree with BigTex. An injury stoppage is a good time to take care of things. Taking a knee is lame and right up there with the parent-tunnel after a match. A round of applause after the player is scraped off the turf is sufficient.

I could care less about taking a knee.

But there is no time-out in soccer big guy. The 99s LHGCL Qualifier, Sting vs the old Texas Stars. Sting player fouled and hurt in the corner near Stars goal. Star's coach decides to pull his team over to the far touchline to "take care of things". Sting player gets up and walks off with her coach, exits over the goal-line. Free kick to Sting. Ref starts play. Sting plays it to a teammate, who walks it in, while all 11 Star player's are frantically sprinting back towards the play

Hilarious.........That's why I prefer taking the game ball with you to the huddle.

No prize for guessing who was the Ref in that game? I bet it wasn't 'Yours Truly'....