Sports – Heidi Scott (Illinois)

Tips for Indoor Soccer Players

The owner of Schuyler Brown Land Title in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, Heidi Scott served as a tax attorney with the Illinois Department of Revenue. Outside of work, Heidi Scott, enjoys coaching indoor soccer.

Although it involves fewer players, indoor soccer is a great way to play soccer in limited spaces. Here are tips to enjoy the sport:

1. Keep the Ball Down

Although aerial passes are very common in soccer, it is better to keep the ball down when making passes indoors. Besides reducing the chances of giving the ball away to the opposition, keeping the ball down reduces the chances of getting the ball out of play.

2. Use the Walls

Aside from reducing the number of stoppages, the indoor pitch walls can prove beneficial to the play’s passage. Consider using them to your advantage. You can bounce the ball on the barriers to get it past tough opponents.

3. Quick Feet

The small size of the pitch makes indoor sports a very fast-paced game. You are often left with just a split second between receiving the ball and passing it on to a teammate. The one-touch technique involves passing or shooting the ball with a single touch once you receive it. Mastering the one-touch technique is beneficial as it gives your opponents less time to close in on you.

4. Shoot More

Unlike the outdoor version, the limited size of the pitch means that you won’t always find large pockets of space to exploit while playing indoor soccer. Consider shooting more often.

An Introduction to Yellow Card and Red Card Penalties in Soccer

Based in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, Heidi Scott is the owner of Schuyler Brown Land Title, a role that involves the preparation of real estate deeds and transfer documents, as well as real estate title examinations. Heidi Scott previously spent 16 years as a tax attorney with the Illinois Department of Revenue. Outside of her professional activities, she engages with the community as a coach with the K&L Arena indoor soccer league.

In the sport of soccer, yellow cards and red cards, collectively known as penalty cards, are used to denote certain rules violations and penalties. Yellow cards indicate lesser offenses, while red cards are more severe and result in the immediate removal of the offending player for the duration of the game. Not only is the player ejected from the game, but their team is barred from replacing the player, resulting in a player advantage for the opposing team. A player that receives two yellow cards in the same game is penalized with a red card and removed from play.

A yellow card is typically issued in instances of unsportsmanlike conduct, repeated rules violations despite warnings, and delays to the resumption of play. A player may also receive a yellow card if they enter or exit the field of play without a referee’s permission.

Red cards, on the other hand, are issued in cases of violent conduct or severe fouls over the course of play. Egregious conduct, such as spitting on another person or using abusive language and gestures, can also result in a red card. Furthermore, a player that denies an obvious goal-scoring attempt by intentionally handling the ball or making a hard contact foul can be penalized with a red card.

An Introduction to Soccer Substitution Rules

Heidi Scott has spent more than 12 years as the owner of Schuyler Brown Land Title, a real estate title and document services provider based in Mt. Sterling, Illinois. Outside of work, Heidi Scott enjoys engaging with various community organizations, including spending time as an indoor soccer coach at K&L Arena in Quincy, Illinois.

Soccer coaches are tasked with managing a number of strategic objectives over the course of a game, including lineup management. Unlike many sports, such as basketball and football, soccer places strict limits on when and how often substitutions can be made.

At any given point in a game, soccer teams have seven players on the sidelines, waiting to act as substitutes for the 11 active players. However, teams can only make three total substitutions in a game. Furthermore, the active player that is substituted cannot return to action. These two rules force coaches to carefully consider which 11 players should start the game, which players should be substituted, and when they should be substituted.

Substitution rules become more important and complex when a player is ejected from the game, as teams are not afforded a free substitution to replace this player. If the goalkeeper, for example, is given a red card, coaches must decide between using a substitution to put a backup goalkeeper onto the field and playing at a significant defensive disadvantage.

It should be noted that there are various exceptions to standard substitution rules. For instance, exhibition and pre-season games often follow an unlimited substitution policy, allowing coaches to get a look at all of the players on their rosters. And recently, the COVID-19 pandemic led FIFA to temporarily amend substitution rules so that teams can make five total substitutions. Finally, youth and school soccer leagues typically allow for many more substitutions compared to professional leagues, often observing the unlimited substitution rule.

Understanding Penalty Shootouts in Soccer

Heidi Scott has owned Schuyler Brown Land Title, a real estate deeds and transfer documents services provider in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, since 2008. Between 1999 and 2014 she also served as a tax attorney with the Illinois Department of Revenue. In addition to her work in real estate law, Heidi Scott spends time giving back to the community, including her work as a youth soccer coach at K&L Arena in Quincy.

In various levels of competition, it is not uncommon for a soccer game to end in a draw. Major professional leagues, such as the Premier League, track draws alongside wins and losses, favoring a point system to determine team rankings. That said, championship games and knockout tournaments, such as the World Cup, must determine winners and losers, which is often accomplished through a penalty shootout.

The rules of a penalty shootout, which takes place only after all stoppage time and extra periods have failed to yield a winner, can vary, but they tend to follow a similar format. In short, teams alternate penalty kicks on goal, which are taken 12 yards from the front of the goal, for five rounds or until victory has been guaranteed for one team. If teams remain tied after a best of five shootout, the shootout continues until one team pulls ahead. Teams line up on the same end of the field for a shootout, with goalkeepers taking turns defending the same net.

There are a number of additional rules dictating how a shootout plays out. For example, five shooters are selected prior to the start of penalty kicks. After all five have made their shots, teams must field every available player that was on the pitch at the end of the game, including the goalkeeper, before they can repeat kickers.