Futsal Is Not Ready For Me

Last night, I attended a meeting to review the Futsal Laws of the Game.  I signed up to referee in the local Futsal league.  My good friend, and referee, did it last year and he encouraged me to come out and give it a try.
Wow, I'm in big trouble.  I had no idea the laws are significantly different from outdoor soccer.  If you're interested, all the information you'll need is right here. I have a feeling this is going to feel like my very first game.  I'll be completely overwhelmed for the first few games and then start to feel more comfortable as time goes on.  Undoubtedly, I will have some stories that will be sure to entertain.  Stay tuned...

Interesting Tournament Experience

There's a pretty big tournament in this area that I've worked a couple of times.  The games are always competitive and the organization is decent.  This year, I didn't put in for it as both my sons were playing so we were quite busy.  A few days before the tournament, I get an email from the assignor.  The implication of the email was that he was short of referees and really needed more.  I sent him an email saying I could work the Sunday of the tournament if he put me at a particular facility (were my son was playing).  I got a reply within 10 minutes confirming I was assigned, so I guess he really was in need.
On Sunday, I arrive at the facility at the appointed time.  Most tournaments I work the assignor will send you your specific field assignment a few days before the tournament.  This assignor asks that you report at a specified time to a central location to get your assignments.  So there I was, standing in the crowd of referees while the names are read and officials leave for their field.  We get to the bottom of the list, and I don't have any assignments.  My name is on the list, but apparently they had a field closed and didn't need me at this facility.  Unbelievably, they ask me to go to another facility that's a few minutes drive away.  The guy standing in front of me is not the assignor I sent the email to explaining why I need to be at this facility, so I didn't make a big deal of it.
I jumped into my car and headed over to the other field.  These facilities are actually in the outer edges of a city and I don't know the area very well, so I made a wrong turn and it took me a little longer than I had hope.  I was getting a little frustrated.  I finally get to the facility, park and walk to the tournament headquarters, only to find out they don't need me until 9:20.  Yes, this day was just going down hill.
I reported to my field and met the referees I'd be working with.  I ended up doing 3 games on the field.  My first center was a U-18 girls game.  I ran a line on a U-15 boys game and then did the center for a U-15 boys semi-final match.
The U-18 girls game went fine.  There were really no issues to speak of.  The field was slick so we had some issues with players making tackles that could easily be perceived as reckless.  I had a few talks with some of the players to point this out and all went well.  Given the schedule, we really didn't have much time for a thorough pre-game talk.  I would have preferred to have one since I had never worked with any of these officials, but the "quick and dirty" version had to suffice.

During the game in which I was an AR, I made an observation.  The referee that had the center was definitely one of those "likes to pick fights" referees.  You know the type I mean.  It's the guy that doesn't know what "trifling" means.  Any player talking to him is either immediately cautioned for dissent or is given some kind of angry retort meant to intimidate.  It's too bad really, because he seems to be a pretty good official, just kind of mean.
Later in my 2nd game, I had a small issue with him.  During my pre-game with the players, one of the goalkeepers asked me to check the hat which they intended to wear on the field (the sun was shining in the direction of one of the goals).  It was one of those runner hats.  It didn't look unsafe in any way to me, so I allowed it.  About midway through the 2nd half of the game, the referee in questions start waving at me and pointing at his head and then at the goalkeeper.  Obviously, he was trying to indicate the goalkeeper's hat.  I yelled to him "Thank you, I inspected it earlier" to which he replied, loudly "OK, it's your decision, " clearly trying to imply that this was some sort of huge mistake.  I couldn't believe he had done that, but there it was.  Fortunately, I was in a pretty good mood and was able to forget about it almost immediately.  Looking back on it now, it's pretty annoying as he openly questioned my decision in front of players and perhaps the near-bench coaches.

It's Been a Slow Fall

If you live in my area of the country (mid-Atlantic states), you know how much bad weather we've been having.  Once again, my Sunday games were canceled.  However, my assignor called and asked my son and I to report to a different field to work with a 3rd referee that had been assigned to do his games alone.  Interesting, because that tells me that my assignor doesn't have as many active referees as I thought.  Anyway, we did just that and managed to get in a couple of short sided games (U-9 and U-10).  I always enjoy these games, as they are usually fun and have very little stress associated with them.
One observation I have is that the coaches seem to misbehave in the short-sided games more often than the coaches of the older teams.  However, they misbehave i a different way.  They complain about calls far more often, but in a way that is less offensive  than their large field colleagues.  The dissent you get from these coaches is more of the nature of the guy you see in the stands at professional games that is always yelling at the officials.  It's part of the experience for them.  While it is dissent, it's almost comical in the lack of soccer knowledge that it displays.  Do you notice the same thing?
Substitution Problem
It's a pretty typical problem.  Generally speaking, the substitution procedure is not enforced in youth soccer.  Therefore, most teams don't really have a good idea how it works.  Because it is typically not enforced, it's tough for the next referee to enforce it as they teams feel that "it wastes time."  Of course, many referees don't add lost time either, exacerbating the problem.
Apparently, I can't count.  At least I can't count accurately up to 8. Because the teams were being sloppy with their procedure, I was being careful to count the players on and off as the game went.  I was the AR on the team side and I see that as part of my job.  At one point, I noticed one of teams counting the players, during play, and call one of theirs off the field.  I walked up and counted the players with the coach.  I counted 8...2 times.  To make a long story short, the referee counted the players at the next stoppage and counted 9.  What's really annoying for me is I also counted the players at the last substitution and got 8.  I think I'm getting old.
All of this brings me to my thoughts on youth soccer substitutions.  The US Soccer Development Academy has substitution rules that are different from the typical youth rules.  In the Development Academy, substitutions are allowed on any stoppage of play.  However, the academy also has limited re-entry rules.  Once a player comes off, they cannot re-enter the field until the next half.  I think this does two things.  First, it causes coaches to really think about their substitutions instead of taking advantage of the "revolving door" rule we have now.  I've had games were there were substitutions every 4-5 minutes.  Academy games have perhaps 1 or 2 substitutions per half.  Second, I think it formalizes the substitution procedure.  Because of the limited re-entry rule.  Players present their passes when they come on for a substitution.  Since they must present their passes, it slows the process down and makes it so the player can't just run on the field.
I guess the argument against the academy way of doing things is you could argue it's harder to get players adequate playing time.  I don't know if I buy into that though.  I think it improves things because coaches can no longer break up playing time into 5 minute chunks.  It improves the flow of the game for the fans as well as the players.  It makes the game far easier to manage, in my opinion, for the referees.  What do you think?  Send me a comment and let me know.  Is there a downside to this I'm not seeing?

Bad Weather, Slow Weekened

I live in the mid-Atlantic states.  We had some awful weather this weekend, so there really wasn't much going on.  The local high schools were giving the PSAT (a standardized test for college admissions) so there weren't too many young referees around to do recreational games.  The assignor that my younger son works with called me and asked me to do a game as he was in a jam.
When I got up on Saturday morning, I fully expect everything to be canceled.  It had rained all Friday night and the temperature was barely 40°F.  I went to the recreational website, just to confirm...what!?  The games are on?  I gathered up all my things and headed to the field.
Upon arrival, I noticed a lack of...well...anyone.  I was sure they'd never get enough players to have a game.  About 15 minutes before game time I got out of the car and walked over to the field.  It was raining steadily and still in the 40's.  There were coaches there and a handful of players.  This being recreational soccer, we stood around for a little while to see how many players would actually show.  I was quite surprised to see they ended up with about 16.  The coaches asked if I'd be OK with playing a half field game with cones as goals or playing shortened halves.  I told them either was fine.  Normally, I'd never do that, but the recreational rules make it clear they want the games to be played and it doesn't really matter how it gets done.  After some discussion, the coaches decided to go with full field, but shorteded (20 minute) halves.
We started the game with the players looking pretty miserable.  Most of them were very cold and wet.  Most had big jackets on and gloves and hats.  You could tell the experienced soccer players as they only wore hats and gloves.  The game went well and after a short while it was obvious the boys were enjoying themselves.  This is what soccer should be like.  The kids were getting a game in while some of their "softer" buddies were in their nice warm houses.  Nobody seemed to care who won, they were just out playing for fun.
It rained the rest of the weekend. All my competitive games were canceled, so that was it for the weekend.  Maybe next weekend we'll finally get some games done.

New Club In Town

OK, the new club is not in my town, but my assignor does have a new club as of the Spring.  Actually, he has 2 new clubs!  My older son and I put in for games this weekend but we only received one, at this new club.  In talking to a few friends, I have heard this club can be a tough place to do a game.  The coaches have a reputation for being mouthy as do the parents.
Early Sunday morning, I got a call from my assignor telling me that our 3rd referee has not responded to his assignments.  The assignor went on to tell me that this guy, if he shows up, is not to work the game and I am to tell him that.  Great.  First, I don't understand guys that put in for games and don't follow through with their commitment.  I realize bad things happen sometimes, and I know this assignor will certainly forgive any legitimate excuse, but how do you just ignore assignments?  This guy won't be working for this assignor anymore.
So my son and I get to the game a little early.  We had never been to this field, so we left a little earlier than required just in case we couldn't find it.  It turned out to be easy to find.  (An aside:  car GPS units are the greatest thing ever invented!)  We checked the field and do a couple of laps to warm up.  My son points out that, while the home team has been at the field since we arrived, there is no sign of an opposing team.  That can't be good.  It turns out, they got confused and went to another field at another club.  Fortunately, that field was on the way to the correct field.  They arrived about 15 minutes after the game start, well inside the leagues 30 minute grace period.
Just as we start the game I realize I never asked a parent to run the sideline for the missing AR.  This isn't that big of a deal because, to be honest, I'm not convinced a club linesman is worth the effort.  Even if you instruct them to not show direction or offside, they inevitably try to do it anyway.  Naturally, this leads to ill will went you wave them down and show a different direction.  This was a lower level U-13 boys game on a relatively small field, so I felt pretty good about being able to do it myself anyway.
Oddly enough, about 10 minutes or so into the game, the home team coaches started giving my AR a hard time about his offside calls.  You might have guessed we'd have problems on the no AR side of the field.  Nope.  It seems the home team was trying an offside trap, but not timing it very well.  I kept making eye contact with my son with that questioning look ("Are you sure they weren't off?) and he gave me the subtle shake of the head ("No way.")  Good enough for me.  It became clear pretty quickly that what I had heard about this team was indeed true and that I'd have to start on my "Ask, Tell, Remove" routine.  At the next goal kick, I held play and walked to within about 15 yards of the bench.  I politely asked the coaches to "cool it" so we wouldn't have any problems.  One of the coaches started with "But you guys have already made 3 bad calls!"  I cut him off with "Coach, I will not be asking next time.  You coach your team and I'll referee the game."  Apparently it worked and they got the message, because I didn't hear anything at all from them for the rest of the game.
One thing that is tough when you don't have a certified AR on the touch line is watching for balls that cross the goal line momentarily.  Even if you have a club linesman, this is tough. You really don't want to take their input on this because it is a game changing decision.  I had one in this game.  The visiting keeper made the initial save on a very hard shot.  He bobbled the ball in the air right on the goal line.  I was maybe 15 yards out, but did not have a good angle to see if the ball had crossed the line.  Fortunately, during his juggling act, I noticed an instant where the ball was clearly behind the post, not next to it.  Goal!  In changing my diagonal, I had given up a little angle on the play and ended up behind the ball, rather than to one side.
It turned out to be a fun game.  The home team won by a good margin, but the visiting side had a few players that really could play the game well.  It was interesting to watch.

Good League Games

Wow! What great weather we had this weekend, in the Mid-Atlantic area, for our league games! We could not have asked for anything better.
One of the assignors I work with called me late last week and asked me to work a couple of recreational games. My younger son (13, grade 9) works this league so he figured I'd be there anyway. Apparently, he's having a hard time getting the young referees out to do games. He assigned my older son (16, grade 8) to work a game as well. I had 2 6th grade boys games. They were a lot of fun. If you ever feel yourself getting burned out by officiating games, go out and do a couple of short-sided games at a recreational level. They are fun and really low stress. This league wants the referees to take advantage of "teaching moments" and instruct the players, so I had a few chances to educate the players on the Laws of the Game.
My older son and I put in for Sunday league games and we were assigned with another real quality referee to 3 games. We had U-12, 14 and 16 boys games. I can't remember the last time I had high school age boys in the Fall season. In New Jersey, the high school age boys usually don't play competitive soccer in the Fall. Their high school teams don't like it so the club team coaches don't do it.
I had the middle for the U-16 game. In checking in the teams, we noticed the visiting team (yellow) players were generally much bigger than the home team (red) players. We went through the player passes and realized that many of the home team's players were playing up a year. Oh boy.
It was pretty obvious from the whistle that this was going to be a one-sided affair. Yellow was much bigger, faster, and handled the ball better. I have to give the red team credit though, they hung in there for quite a while before the first goal. The first half went well. I had a few opportunities to control the game with my voice and I noticed the other AR was doing the same. He's really good and I know I can count on him. Both AR's were calling appropriate fouls and it seemed we were all on the same page.
By the half, the game was a bit lopsided (3-0). The teams had sort of settled into a playing pattern. I did notice that yellow was still playing quite aggressively. I thought this a little odd given the score. Early in the 2nd half I had to have a few stern conversations with yellow for border-line tackles. Again, I felt this was strange for a one-sided game.
Late in the 2nd half, red managed to get the ball down the left side of the field. Their attacker attempted to put a ball in front of the goal from around the intersection of the penalty area line and the goal line. The ball went over the right shoulder of the defender and he reached up and knocked it down with his hand! A peaceful game went to kaos in about 4 seconds as the red team's coaches were screaming for a send-off! I was positioned around the top of the penalty area. I blew the whistle hard and walked quickly toward the offending player. In my mind, I though of sending him off for a second, and then realized this was not an obvious goal scoring opportunity. I cautioned the player and pointed out to him how close he was to being sent off. After the caution, I had to give the red team's coach a quick "Sit down and be quiet!" as he was going ballistic. Red converted the penalty kick for a goal.
After the game, we talked about that play. My son said he felt that I made the right decision while my other AR said he wasn't so sure. In reviewing the "Advice to the Referee" later, I found this:

The send-off offense for deliberate handling, number 4 under the seven send-off offenses, "denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a goalkeeper within his own penalty area)," does not require any particular alignment of players for either team, but simply the occurrence of the offense under circumstances in which, in the opinion of the referee, the ball would likely have gone directly into the goal but for the handling.

The infraction the yellow player committed was certainly cheating and it was certainly unsporting behavior, but by this definition, it was not denying a goalscoring opportunity.  In my opinion, this ball was not going directly into the goal in a thousand tries.  It just was not going to happen.  I think I did the right thing.
I think I've said this before, but this is another example of how you cannot "fall asleep" during a game that seems like it has settled down.  Things happen when you least expect them, even in an "easy" game.  You must always be on your toes and paying attention.  Also, notice the quote above doesn't say "don't bother sending off if it's a lopsided game."  As much as I might have found it distasteful, I would have had to send this player off had that attempt on goal been likely to go in.
As a side note, I lost one of my favorite flip coins.  I think it flew out of my pocket when I was getting my book out.  Where do you keep your coin so that won't happen?  I'm just wondering what other officials do.

The Season Starts

Well, as predicated, it was an exhausting weekend. However, it went much better than I had expected and I feel really good about my performance!
I did 17 games this weekend, including 6 middles. Yes, I know, it's a ton of games.

Too many games?
Some readers really blasted me for accepting a tournament that schedules so many games for a referee crew on a single day. A few mentioned not doing "justice to the game." I was quite surprised by the reaction.
The only thing I can say is this. I understand where you are coming from but realize that, in this state and this area, if you are not willing to do both days of a tournament, you don't work. Most tournament assignors will favor the guys that want to do both days. My choice comes down to working...or not working. I choose to work.
Would I rather work 5 or 6 games instead of 8 or 9? Of course. However, since this was not an option, I chose to work instead of staying home.

This is exactly the reason I argue for increasing one's overall fitness. I did notice that, at the end of the both days, I was fresher than my crew mates. Some of that is age, but much of it is definitely overall fitness.
Generally speaking, the 2 days went really well. The weather was wonderful. The field, being turf, was perfect. The guys I worked with were pleasant enough. The coaches and players behaved themselves. The only downside to the weekend was the combination of game schedule and tournament rules.
The tournament specified that playoff games need a winner and the winner would be decided by 2, 10 minute, "golden goal" periods and then kicks from the mark (KFTM). We had 4 playoff games on Sunday and 2 of them went all the way to KFTM. This put us approximately 1:20 behind schedule. Our last game was schedule to go off at 7:25pm but didn't start until 8:45. That made for a very long day.

Mr. Nice Guy

One of the guys I worked with was a "Mr. Nice Guy" referee. In personality, he is genuinely a nice guy. Being a referee is somewhat of a social event for this type of official. Nice guy referees tend to make the law up as they go to fit their view of what is just and right on the field. Unfortunately, I believe that referees with this type of personality are a bit naive to what is going on around them. They see the positive side of everything and fail to be cynical of events on the field. Don't be that guy.
Our rotation put Mr. Nice Guy in the middle for a U-14 boys game. I knew one of the teams had a very aggressive style of play and the game could end up being challenging from a match-control viewpoint.
Sure enough, the game started getting a little chippy. I had a very aggressive trip occur right in front of me, about even with the top of the penalty area. I looked Mr. Nice Guy in the eye and patted my pocket as this was obviously cautionable. He waved me off with a big smile! Oh boy. 4 minutes later, another player from the same team put an even more aggressive tackle on an opponent. The players nearly went to fists but I intervened using a very light and firm tone of voice as I was close to them. I separated the players, directing the offender toward the referee. I think he realized he had to show the card on this one, and he did. I'm not sure this incident would have happened had Mr. Nice Guy realized earlier the temperature of the game was rising.
My most challenging match of the weekend was a U-14 boys game between one of the better teams in the area (red) and an up and coming challenger (white). It turns out the game had some meaning as it was a "must win" game for red to win the tournament. The game was scrappy from the kick off with the teams fighting for every ball. I pushed myself to be on top of play as much as possible as it was obvious I was going to have to be firm and make quick decisions in this one. I had some firm talks with a couple of players after hard fouls and managed the game without resorting to cards for some time. I did show one caution in the game as a player on red didn't get the memo. It was an exciting game that ended with the weaker team (white) managing a draw.
During the second half, red's coach start complaining about calls a few times. After the 2nd or 3rd time, I held play at a restart and ran to within 10 yards of the bench. As the coach started to speak I held up my hand and said "Don't say anything. I'm asking you to behave yourself in the technical area. If I have to come over again, I will dismiss you." I then ran back onto the field and started play. I didn't hear another word from him. It turns out the assignor was standing behind the benches at the time. He later came by and said that I had done a great job of handling the situation and he would use the example to other referees.
I did have one call I made this weekend that might be of interest. I actually made an "impeding the progress of an opponent" call! I never thought I'd actually make that call. We had a through ball go across halfway and head toward the opposing goalkeeper. The goalkeepers team mate followed the ball in, closely followed by an attacker. I noticed the defender actually look back at the attacker, change direction into his path and then run a quick zig-zag pattern in front of him. The ball was 20 feet away. I didn't think I'd see an example of this, but there it was, right in front of me.
I made an interesting discovery this weekend. Dunkin' Donuts has a drink called a "Coffee Coolatta." It is truly a miracle of science! It's kind of an icy, coffee drink. There must be a ton of caffeine in those things. I had a large during one of my breaks. I was razor sharp for 2 or 3 more games. Good stuff!