Understanding Soccer: Offsides

Everyone knows the basis of offsides in sports. In hockey, an offensive player may not cross the blue line into the attacking zone before the puck does. In football, a player cannot cross the line of scrimmage before the ball is hiked. However, in soccer, offsides is completely different. The line for offsides in soccer technically floats up and down the field. Look at the diagram below:


The blue forward is in an offside position because the ball (the white dot) has not been kicked yet and he is past the last defender before the goalkeeper. However, if the offensive player is in line or in front of the last defender, then he may run past the defense once the ball is kicked. The whole offsides rule is a judgment call because if the referee feels that the offsides player is not involved in the play, then the referee will let the teams play on and not blow the whistle.