I ran across a great post on the Region 22 Coach’s Blog. In it, the Regional Commissioner for Region 22 explained that coaches should not tell their players to take a knee when a player is injured.

When I first got involved with AYSO back in 1991, I saw coaches command their teams to take a knee when a player went down and the referee stopped play. It seemed like a strange custom to me, but it is one that lives on. In the past three weeks, my ACT team has been in three tournaments. In each tournament, a player has gone down briefly, and in every case, the opposing coach told his players to “take a knee.”

As the RC for Region 22 explained, this custom probably arose from the fact that a player who is injured but still walking can take a knee to signal to the referee that play should be stopped so the injury can be tended to. The custom may have been started by coaches of very young players who tend to gravitate toward an injured player and make it hard for the adults to tell what’s going on. By having them take a knee, at least they are not getting in the way.

However, if you are coaching U8 and above, I think it is safe to tell your players that if someone is injured, they should leave the injured player alone and take care of themselves. Taking care of themselves can mean going to the touchline for a drink, but the player must not leave the field; someone on the side should toss the player a water bottle. Taking care of themselves, may mean walking around to keep the muscles loose, especially on a cold day.

Finally there is no reason why the players can’t use the injury time to improve their play. Among experienced players, you will usually see the fullbacks and goalkeeper get together and discuss what’s working and what’s not as well as other knots of players talking about the game. I believe it would be inappropriate for the coach to call his team over for a strategy session while a player is down with an injury, but there is nothing unsporting about the players talking among themselves, getting water, and keeping the muscles warm. That’s a much better use of the time than taking a knee.