UNOFFICIAL RESPONSE RE PASS TO GOALKEEPER

Question:
Can you dribble the ball rather than kick it on a goal kick and can you ever pass the ball to your goalie at any time?

Unofficial answer:
First of all, we do not provide interpretations or guidelines for events occurring in high school matches. Such matches are controlled by different rules than USSF's Laws of the Game. What follows assumes the events in question are occurring in a USSF-affiliated match.

No, you are not allowed to dribble the ball on a goal kick. It must be kicked from the designated place, the goal area, and must then clear the penalty area before anyone else can touch or play the ball. Worse, if the kicker kicked the ball out of the penalty area and then played it again before anyone else did, the player would be guilty of a "second touch" violation (indirect free kick for the opposing team where the kicker played the ball again).

Regarding your second question, yes, any player may pass the ball to the goalkeeper. It's what comes next that may cause the problem. If the goalkeeper plays the ball in any way OTHER than by touching it with his/her hands, it's okay. However, if the goalkeeper HANDLES the ball in any way, there could be a violation of the Law depending on how the teammate passed the ball back to the goalkeeper. If the pass was deliberately from the foot, the handling by the goalkeeper could be what is often called a "passback" offense (indirect free kick) but, if the ball was passed with any part of the teammate's body other than the foot, there would be no problem.

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