One of the main differences between high school and club soccer is the duration of the game and its clock operator. Every game (or mostly every game) will have a person manning the clock. Most of the time, it will be on a football-style scoreboards, however at times, usually at the Middle School/Freshmen or Junior Varsity level, it can be a portable clock on a desks in the middle of the field.
In high school score, you stop the clock for a five reasons:
- Goal
- Player injury (if referee deems severe enough and will need some time for player to be treated)
- Caution (yellow card) or disqualification (red card) event
- Penalty kick
- Discretion of head or center referee
The clock operator restarts the clock only when the ball is legally put back into play (though often an uneducated timekeeper restarts when the referee signals for the restart).
The referee has the authority to order a clock readjusted if it is seriously out of sync with the referee’s time. A stadium clock MUST be used as the official time if (a) there is a stadium clock and (b) it works.
Substitutions
A new rule in 2020-21 occurs when substituting. Usually you do not stop the clock when substitutions are happening. However, in the 2020-21 NFHS Soccer rule book, it now a states a new, small caveat:
The clock shall be stopped when a substitute by the team in the lead is beckoned onto the field in the final five minutes of the second period. (7.4.3)
Length of Match
The length of a match is as follows:
- Varsity: 40 minute halves
- Junior Varsity: 35 minute halves
- Freshman / 9th grade: 30 minute halves
Half time interval is 10 minutes unless opposing coaches mutually agree to a different length. (7.2.1)