BLOW-OUT POLICY
Spokane Rapids mission is about participation, teaching basic soccer skills, good sportsmanship, and team play. The objective of the Spokane Rapids is to provide an atmosphere in which players can enjoy the game for its own sake without an undue emphasis on winning or losing.
Accordingly, blow-out games are contrary to the objectives of Spokane Rapids, and coaches shall make reasonable efforts to avoid blow-outs.
A. DEFINITION: For the purposes of this rule, a blow-out situation shall be deemed to exist in a Spokane Rapids league game at any time and under any circumstances when the goal-differential between the two teams playing reaches 5 or more goals.
B. REQUIRED ACTION: At any time that a blowout situation begins to develop, goal differential of 5 goals, in a Spokane Rapids league game, the coach of the dominating team shall actively endeavor to preclude increasing the goal differential.
C. Please note: All blowouts shall be sent to the club for their review and action. Persistent blowouts by individual teams will be dealt with by the Club and Spokane Rapids.
D. Spokane Rapids recognizes that a coach cannot definitively control all of the dynamics of play in any given game, but the coach of the dominating team shall at a minimum make the following efforts to relieve the blow-out situation and preclude increasing the goal differential:
The coach of the dominating team shall rotate player positions on the dominating team so as to assign goal-scorers to positions on defense and goal.
The coach of the dominating team shall direct players on the dominating team to play with an objective of ball control rather than scoring. Examples:
- Getting 5 passes in a row prior to trying to score.
- Everyone must touch the ball before the next goal is scored (can be consecutively but doesn’t have to be).
- Having the team play back to their own goal keeper at least once prior to going forward.
- Any shot taken must be from outside the penalty box.
- All shots must come from using the weak foot.
E. The coach of the dominating team shall take any other actions that he or she deems to be reasonable under the circumstances and within the spirit of this Rule.
Spokane Rapids also recognizes that a coach of the non-dominating team shall take the following action to help with the actions on the field.
The coach of the non-dominating team shall add one player to the field. If the goal differential increases by another goal, the non-dominating team shall add an additional player and so on.
If the non-dominating team scores and reduces the goal differential to within 3 goals the non-dominant team may take a player off the field.
If the score difference is more than 10 at half time, the team may shorten the second half to 10 minutes if agree upon by both coaches and referee.