Tales of a Soccer Referee

Real Referee Shoes

2011-11-16T12:36:00.001-05:00

As referees, I think it is time we get realistic about our footwear selection. Selecting a pair of shoes to referee in is difficult as there just aren't many shoes available that meet both our cosmetic and performance requirements.
So what makes a good referee shoe? We have to worry about two broad categories of requirements. First, the shoe has to look appropriate for a referee. If you refer to the Referee Administrative Handbook, you'll find a section called "Standards of Dress and Appearance Official U.S. Soccer Federation Referee Uniform." In that section, appropriate referee shoes are described as follows:

"BLACK SHOES: (may have white manufacturers design) with black laces"

There isn't much room for interpretation in that. Our shoes must be black, but can have some white in them.
Regarding performance, I want to address a myth here. I think we would all agree that we are not players. We have no reason to kick the ball. So why do we often wear shoes designed for players? Players don't normally run more than 1 game in a day. I have often done 7 in a day. Player shoes are designed for touch on the ball. We don't kick the ball, ever. Player shoes should be light weight, so they often don't have much in the way of comfort features. Wearing player shoes as a referee never made much sense to me. Yes, we require some traction on wet fields. That said, I think a referee shoe needs to be more like a trail running shoe, supporting our primary active on the field...running. It is really tough to find a pair of shoes that meet these criteria. There just aren't a lot of shoes that come in black anymore. There are plenty of trail running shoes I could use for refereeing, but few come in black. I have never found a pair of turf or soft ground shoes that had any kind of comfort features. They often have no support and no cushion.

My referee shoe

I was discussing this problem with my sons and they pointed out NikeID.com. Nike Id is a program offered by Nike, the shoe manufacturer. The program allows the creation of semi-custom shoes by the customer. The website allows you to select from a subset of the various Nike products, customize the product features and then order your creation.
Pictured, you will see the referee shoe I created. It is a Nike Air Pegasus+ running shoe. I added a trail running outsole and a "trail mesh" upper. I then selected black for most of the colors, with the exception of the company logo and the sock liner. I even added my initials to the tongue, in place of the Nike logo. I visited a local retailer to try on a similar model to confirm my size. It seems this model sizing runs similar to other running shoes.
It took about 2-3 weeks for the shoes to be manufactured and delivered. First, I wore them around the house and out on a few errands to break them in a little. To be honest, they really didn't need it. They were comfortable from the moment I put them on.
I used them for 4 games this past weekend. I really like them. My feet didn't hurt as much as they often do after a bunch of games. The shoes are really light and have great arch support and cushioning (maybe a little too much for me?) The fabric seems like it will clean up easy. The build quality of the shoe seems excellent.
The price of this particular model was $115. At first, I thought that was kind of expensive. After all, you can get other "referee shoes" for $70 or $80. Then it occurred to me that I pay about $130 for my running shoes, and I buy 2 or 3 pairs of those in a year. When you look at it that way, it is a pretty good deal.

Success for the Young Referees

2011-10-25T14:07:00.001-04:00

This will be a short post and serve as a quick reminder of the obligation we have to help young referees.
This weekend, I worked 2 games (U-11 and U-12) with a couple of high school age referees. I've worked with them both before. One is 18 and relatively new. The other is 15, but has been around longer and seems a more savvy referee.
When we arrived at the field, I expressed my preference for them to do the games today. The 18 year old had never done a large side game, so it was a great opportunity for her. I worked with her enough to know she was ready. The 15 year could easily handle the U-12 game. I'm happy to say they both did really well. The older referee seemed a little uncomfortable at first, but she did a fine job. I offered a few words of advice on positioning at the half. She adjusted and it seemed to help with her seeing a little more contact on the field. Her biggest problem seems to be self confidence. It improved over the course of the game.
The younger referee did a great job on the U-12 game. In fact, he made a terrific non-call. From a corner kick, the defending team clearly handled a ball close to the goal line, and he saw it. However, the ball headed toward goal so the referee "swallowed the whistle" just long enough for the ball to cross the goal line! I was happy for him and he seemed proud of his decision.
I believe they both left that field as better referees. As more experienced referees, I think it is important to try to help younger referees. I often wonder why there isn't an official role for older referees to work with younger referees.

A Real Disappointment Makes Me Suspicious

2011-10-17T09:23:00.000-04:00

So far this season, I've had pretty easy games. Generally, I will be assigned 2 or 3 games on a Sunday. One of them is usually a U-little, short-sided game. The others are U-11's or 12's.
This weekend, I was sent to a club in the area that is relatively new compared to some of the other clubs. They have been around for 2 or 3 years. It seems they are going through growing pains in that the same individuals seem to be more than one team. Their facilities aren't great. They don't use much in the way of paid trainers and their knowledge of the game is somewhat below average. We had a U-9 game, a U-11 game and a U-12 game. I was assigned with two young referees. One is a high school senior and the other is a college freshman. The senior is a decent referee. She needs a little more confidence, but is solid. The college referee is very good. He is one of the best ARs I have had.
We worked the games as usual. Everything went very well. In fact, the games were completely unremarkable. The only controversy we had was finding an extra sand bag to put on the back of one of the short-sided goals. I'm not sure any of the coaches present, on either side, said more than a dozen words to us. It was a completely routine day of games. The high school senior worked the U-9 game. I did the U-11 game and the college freshman centered the U-12 game.
Later that night, I received an email from our assignor. The coach of the U-12 game send him an email stating we were "horrible" and that we "missed 3 blatant hand balls" and there was "tons of pushing and shoving. He actually said the club prefers a certain referee and "his crew." More on that later. Our assignor was looking for feedback, so I replied with comments similar to the above.
As some of you know, I work hard to try to be a quality referee as do the individuals I worked with this weekend. We don't always get it right, but we try to do the right things for the players. I am disturbed by this coach's actions. It would be one thing if there was some controversial call that occurred with which he disagreed. However, in this case, there was absolutely nothing to speak of. I was AR1 in the game. I didn't sense any disagreement from either team.
2 weeks ago, I worked games at the same club. In one of the games, the home side was completely dominating the visitors. I was AR2 in the game. During the half time break, AR1 made the comment that he had "encouraged" the home side coach to take a player off the field to make the match more fair. He seemed proud that he had familiarity with the coach. I was appalled that he had done this and expressed my concern that this was something he really shouldn't be doing. It brings into question a referee's neutrality/impartiality. This particular referee lives in the same town. Going back to the email to our assignor, the referee mentioned specifically in the complaint as being preferred is also in the same town. Perhaps I am cynical, but I am starting to wonder if perhaps this club is trying to lobby for "home" referees. Yes, I recognize this is a tenuous connection, but it seems strange to me that a coach would express a preference for a referee that happens to live in the same town.
I really hope my assignor noticed this point.

Let's Get Going

2011-09-02T08:21:00.000-04:00

It's been a long summer off. I haven't done anything in the way of games as I was training for a charity bike ride with my son. We didn't have any time for games or running.
I've spent the last 3 or 4 weeks getting my running legs going again. I put in for a Labor Day weekend tournament and was accepted. Unfortunately, I will doing short-side games both days. On a side note, for those of you that are assignors: How do you decide where to put referees in your schedule? Do you look at grade and experience or is it based on something else? I don't mind doing short-sided games at all, but honestly, it does make me question why I put in all the time and effort to get upgraded to 7. It seems that assignors just don't care about grade. I don't understand that.
Given that I want to make grade 6 some day (before I'm too old to pass the fitness test), I have asked to be assigned to some adult games. Unfortunately, I have not figured out how to get the adult assignor to respond to me. I tried email. That doesn't seem to be the right communication channel for him. More on that at another time.
Assault and Abuse
I came across this article on the web. It describes a very disturbing incident involving the assault of a football referee in Sarasota county, Florida. Here's another article that links to other stories of referee assault. Do you think referee assaults are becoming more common? Or are they just making the news more often? I don't have an answer. I believe there has been a decline in abuse from coaches, but I've seen an increase in problems with players. Refer back to my 2011 State Cup post. Those were some abusive players. Occasionally, you will have teams that just do not want to play, but only want to instigate some sort of confrontation. It is the referee's job to try to prevent that from happening, but through that prevention (by enforcing the LOTG), you may become the target of abuse and maybe even attacks.
Fortunately, the USSF has a policy for dealing with referee assault and abuse. It is in the Referee Administrative Handbook. See Policy 531-9. It defines assault and abuse and also describes how to report it. I encourage each and every one of you to report these issues when they occur. It's the only way it is going to stop.

Referee Fired for Wearing Hijab

2011-06-22T07:33:00.000-04:00

Wow, you can't make this stuff up. Check out this news article. Apparently, the Quebec Soccer Federation has upheld a local soccer association's decision to fire a teenage referee for wearing a religious head scarf while refereeing soccer. The local association says they are "only following FIFA rules that say hijabs are a choking hazard." Perhaps for players, but for the referee? I looked on the FIFA site. All I found was this article about an IFAB meeting. At the bottom, you'll notice that the IFAB decided the hijab is addressed by Law 4 (Players equipment). Obviously, this does not apply to referees. What are your thoughts on this issue? For me, I say she should be allowed to referee. I don't see a problem.

2011 State Cup

2011-05-23T15:39:00.000-04:00

I had a really interesting weekend at our State Cup. I came away feeling very good about my performance. The last time I was there, I didn't do well. I feel like I made up for my previous poor showing.
I had a schedule of 3 games on Saturday:

4th Official on a U-17 boys Semi-final
Referee on a U-16 boys Semi-final
AR1 on a U-15 girls Semi-final

On Sunday, I worked as

an AR on a U-15 boys final
an AR on a U-16 boys final

I have made an observation about our State Cup tournament. I'm not sure it holds true for other states, but I think I'm correct in evaluating ours. Teams often have problems related to misconduct when they get to the semi-final and final rounds. In my state, the games before semi-finals are played at the home team's field. The referees are selected by the local assignor. The semi-final and final games are played at a central location and the referees are selected by the state committee. Teams are accustomed to getting away with misconduct and irresponsible behavior in the technical area during their league games as well as the early state cup games. I have seen it with my son's teams. However, when a team arrives at the later games, they are getting referee crews were hand selected for their experience and high caliber of officiating. Generally speaking, misconduct does not go unnoticed.
As a youth soccer referee, we don't often get to work as 4th officials. The position can be really boring...or really challenging, depending on the teams and their behavior standards. It gives one a great opportunity to use one's man-management skills. It is not easy if you are not used to it. When team staff are starting to get out of control, the 4th official must apply whatever skills they have to distract the attention of the individual to them and away from the referee. The 4th official must be a calming influence. When necessary, the 4th official must apply the "Ask, Tell, Remove" policy. Some teams are accustomed to screaming and yelling in the technical area (see the above paragraph). It sure is a rude awakening when they discover they have a crew that won't tolerate abuse.
My U16 semi final went well. I thought I did a really good job, and the assessor seemed to agree. He had a few things to point out, but they were tips for improvement, not "you got this wrong."
One of the lessons I want to impart here is that sometimes, teams just don't come to play soccer, even at a game as important as state cup. One of my teams did not come to play (white). It was obvious from the first whistle. We had overly physical, cynical play from the start. Again, perhaps this team was used to officials that let this sort of thing go. I am not one of those officials. The first half was an exercise in management skills. The first few rough tackles were reward with a one-on-one conversation about how that sort of thing was not going to be tolerated. Those conversations were followed by a caution. By the end of the first half, I had already had one conversation with a previously cautioned player that started with "Please don't think for a second that I won't give you the 2nd caution..."
I had a conversation with the crew at the half and expressed my concern we were going to have a tough 2nd half. The overly physical team was down 2-0 and already had 2 cautions. They had little to lose so the game could go either way.
It turns out I was prescient. Early in the 2nd half, we had a tackle or two that resulted in more conversations. About midway through, one of the previously cautioned players started with very vocal dissent. He received his second caution (after having been talked to twice before) and his second off. This cooled the temperature of the gamed noticeably for some time. Oddly enough, when the team started concentrate on the game, they had more success. The game eventually got to 3-2. White was still in the game. Late in the game, one of white's forwards felt he had been fouled (he clearly wasn't) and I expressed my disagreement. White responded with an abusive statement. I stopped play and sent him off immediately. As a referee, you must be willing to make the tough decision. It is not about being "hard" or "tough." It's about enforcing the LOTG appropriately in order to make the game more enjoyable for all participants!
There was a funny incident related to the send off. While I was writing in my notebook, one of the opponents asked me what I had sent the player of for. I told him what the player had called me. He said "I don't think that about you at all Sir!" I had to chuckle at that one.
As I mentioned, the next day I had a couple of AR assignments. The U-15 game was a tough one! Not so much for me, but the referee. He had 7 cautions and 4 send offs. Yes, you read right...4. One each for Serious Foul Play, Denies a goal scoring opportunity by foul, second caution and abusive language. The abusive language was after the final whistle. The player approached the referee and screamed all sorts of profanities at him. For a moment, I thought he might be physical with him, but it didn't happen. It was a tough game, but I thought the referee handled it as well as he could. Again, sometimes, teams don't come to play.

Me? Really?

2011-05-14T20:29:00.000-04:00

It's been a bit of a whirlwind couple of days. First, I was selected to work my state's National Championship series semi-finals and finals. I am scheduled to referee a semi-final game, run lines in two semi-final games and be the fourth official in another game. The next day, I will be an AR in 2 final games. Needless to say, I'm very pleased.
So you can imagine that I was quite overwhelmed when I finally received an assignment to referee a USSF Development Academy game! I have worked as an AR on 12 or 14 of these games over the last 2 years or so. I have never been the referee in one of these game and I have been hoping I'd eventually get one. Well, it happened!
Development academy is USSF's premier youth games. The clubs that qualify to the academy must meet very rigid standards. The games themselves have an extensive set of rules that must be followed. For example, there is a specific brand and model of ball that must be used. The referee manual specifies the inflation pressure of the ball (I'm not kidding!) The game reporting standards are quite high and detailed. These are, in my opinion, the best youth games you can do.
When you are assigned, you typically get two games. The first game is U-18 and the second is U-16. Teams at each age level are from the same club. Presumably they travel together. They are typically coached by the same set of coaches. My experience has been that the U-18 game is officiated by a State Referee while the younger game is done by a grade 7.
The game I worked today was terrific! I had two excellent AR's. One is a grade 7 that I met when I was upgrading. The other is a grade 5 that I've never met, but he was very helpful, offering a great deal of advice at half time.
The thing that is amazing about these games is how fast they are played. They are even challenging as an AR. You cannot lose concentration for a moment or you will miss something. I have not experienced this level of play anywhere else. Getting accustomed to this speed of play is not easy. I really didn't feel completely comfortable until 20 minutes into the first half. I suppose if you do these games often, this isn't an issue, but that was my experience. Also, you get a lot of chatter from the players. They are very advanced players, so you will see all the things you hear about in certification. There is simulation. There is dissent. Players will give you subtle feedback on a regular basis. The players will try to get any advantage they can. You have to manage free kicks to avoid any delays on restarts. It is quite a challenge. You must have great fitness so you can keep up.
Needless to say, this game was great preparation for my state cup game next week. We also had a meeting this morning (it was a busy day) to go over some points of emphasis for state cup. What I found interesting was an observation that I heard from two different people today. At the meeting, one of the presenters, a national instructor, pointed out that controlling the technical area can be critical at state cup. His thoughts are that this is a problem because the coaches are accustomed to being able to "game" the referee at their local field. When they get to state cup, they end up dismissed as they are dealing with a higher level of official that will not tolerate irresponsible behavior in the technical area. In discussing the state cup game with the referees I worked with today, they said similar things! So, it sounds like state cup will not be quite as challenging as it relates to the level of play. It seems there will be more of a need to exercise match control, so I'll need to think about that.

New Faces and Ugly Weather

2011-05-04T09:06:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, I was assigned to a girl's college showcase in the area. The tournament takes place over several sites. I was assigned to different sites on each day, which is something new for me.
I have stated in other posts that one needs to be careful, especially when you are new, about following the advice and example of other referees. Be sure the advice or example is sound before you adopt it as your own. Case in point from this weekend: I was on a four man crew and we had mostly U-17 girls all day. It seemed we probably had the higher quality brackets as well as I recognized a few top 5 ranked teams in the mix. I worked with 3 guys that apparently work together all the time. One of the guys was a relatively new referee, having been certified only a couple of years. The other two guys had been around for some time. One was even a State Referee Emeritus. For those of you that are not familiar with this grade, it is only attainable by referees that have been a State Referee for 3 years or more. It basically means you are no longer a State Referee, but you were for quite some time.
The last guy I have seen around before. He's very experienced. I noticed that the newer guy clearly looked to the other two for guidance. Apparently, they worked together often in league games and he respected their ability.
In observing the other three, I noticed something interesting. The young guy had new uniforms. He had a very positive attitude. He called an excellent game. The more experienced guy (the one with the grade 8/7 badge) was put together well. He called a solid game, although he looked like maybe he had lost a step or two (I found out later he was recovering from a major medical problem). My expectation would be that the State Referee Emeritus would be the one setting the example. Not in this case. This individual barely spoke a word to me. I watched him running his line in the first game. He wasn't staying even close to his offside position. He seemed like he was easily distracted by the other games and the parents on his side of the field. I had the second game and he was my AR. I immediately noticed that his mechanics were so poor I was not completely sure what he was trying to signal at times. I felt like I had no help on that end of the field. Watching him do the center wasn't any better.
My point is this: Just because someone has experience and rank doesn't mean you should use them as a role model. When you are new, you might see that emeritus badge and assume this is a good example for a referee. That is not necessarily the truth. At one time, he must have been very good. You don't get to that grade by being a terrible referee. However, it seemed to me like he had given up and was ready to (should?) retire.
That evening, I noticed the weather report for the next day looked, well, awful. It seemed unlikely we were going to get the day in. Sure enough, I awoke to the sound of rain. You can't assume things, so I proceeded to the days assignment. We waited around a bit as the tournament was on a delay. I finally received a field assignment and quickly got the field. The rest of the crew arrived and we got started. From the start, it was obvious we were not going to get the full slate of games in. It was about 50 deg and raining almost constantly. We got through two games and they tournament was ended. I was not disappointed. By that time, I was absolutely soaked and getting cold, even though I had all my cold weather gear on.

Starting Again

2011-03-21T12:14:00.000-04:00

The horrible Winter we experienced in the Northeast appears to be over. Time for soccer!
I have had a bit of a slow start to the season. I was not invited to a tournament that I have done several times this year. It seems the number of teams attending the tournament is down significantly (20%+). I wonder, is it the economy? Are teams forgoing tournaments they deem to be optional?
The good news is I managed to get a single day at the boys version of the same tournament this past weekend. We had U-16 boys all day. It was windy and cold, but I got games! That's always a plus. I ended up doing 2 in the middle and 4 on the sides. That first tournament of the year is always tough! My feet are still sore.
We had a very interesting situation arise that brought up a question about the Laws of the Game. I was in Assistant Referee in the match. The ball went out of play for a corner kick with seconds left. The player taking the kick retrieved the ball and was running back with it when the Referee whistled for half time. There is no added time allowed in this tournament. I turned toward the player and held out my hand waiting for the ball. He put it on the ground, kicked it away and said "Go get your own ball!" Obviously, there is no question of misconduct. He was sent off for foul and abusive language.
When we started the 2nd half, the referee asked me if the team now plays short. I told him absolutely, they do. We played the rest of the game that way. When talking about the send-off with the tournament assignor, he criticized us for making the team play short. I politely insisted that was the correct action. The question is this: Does this team play short in the 2nd half?
Let's see what the various documents from the federation say. First, we know this player is to be sent off for foul and abusive language. ATR tells us, in section 12.29:

A player who commits any of the following actions will also be sent from the
field:
...
• Uses offensive, insulting, or abusive language (including nonverbal language or actions)

The added emphasis is mine. It seems the real question is when does this person cease to be a player? Was he a player after the whistle blew for half time?
Again, referring to the ATR, we find this is section 3.4:

Regardless of other deviations from the correct substitution procedure which the referee may allow, a substitute becomes a player for purposes of determining the consequences of misconduct when the substitute enters the field after being beckoned by the referee. When the substitute has become a player as a consequence of meeting this requirement, the player being replaced ceases to be a player.

That seems pretty clear to me. A player ceases to be a player after they have been substituted. In other words, one is still a player at the end of the half.
It took some time, but I also found this item: http://www.askasoccerreferee.com/?p=2034
AskASoccerReferee.com is an official USSF site, so this is definitive advice. The team plays short.

What's Really Going on Here?

2010-11-15T07:31:00.000-05:00

I took a weekend off to watch my son play at a tournament. I've made some observations that got me thinking about how and what we evaluate on the field to make decisions to manage the game.
I observed a game in the morning in which I noticed something odd about the officials match control. In this particular game, the white team was clearly more physical, but less skilled than the other team. The green team had far more skill with the ball, but seemed to be slightly less physical. The temperature of the game was clearly going up slowly but surely over the time that I watched. White was getting increasingly physical, even grabbing at the back of no less than 3 players on breakaways. What surprised me is there was neither an "Advantage!" from the referee nor a whistle. White obviously noticed they could get away with more, so they increased the aggressiveness of their challenges. At one point, I observed a scissors tackle on against a green midfielder that was shielding a ball into touch. No foul. Suddenly, the green midfielder turned on the white player and went nose to nose with him! I heard him say something like "that better not happen again." The center barely made a move toward the players to get things under control. At that point, the AR motioned the player over. I was close enough to hear him admonish the green player for his behavior.
Let's examine what was happening here. By my observation, I see white playing increasingly aggressive, testing the limits with the referee. The referee seemingly does nothing to show white exactly where the line is, so they keep testing. At some point, we reach the green team's limit on what they will tolerate, so they lash out. The referees punish the green team.
I am of the opinion that what one sees on the field is merely one way to evaluate what is happening. The apparent frustration of one team should be noticed. Perhaps the frustration is because we, as officials, are missing something that is happening. It could be green is just getting outplayed, or it could be that white is indeed playing unfairly. In the latter case, it is just a matter of time before green takes justice into their own hands as they see that the referee is either unwilling or incapable of dealing with the problem. This is one of the reasons we see major incidents in some games. In the game described above, the only caution issued in the game was for an "f-bomb" uttered by white after blowing a decent opportunity on goal. We have to have our priorities right. This is a U-15 game. Where I referee, you are going to hear language on the field that is not directed at anyone. Worry about the big things, like the temperature of the game.
The federation has a directive that is aimed at this sort of thing. It is titled Game Management Model - Foul Selection and Recognition. It discusses the idea of promoting game flow, versus the need to call fouls and control the game. Check it out.

Why do they call them "Free Kicks" anyway?

2010-10-21T07:56:00.000-04:00

I managed to have a 3-game day last weekend. I was on a crew with 2 young referees. Both did a fine job.
Generally, I try to offer new referees some help with things I notice during a game. It is usually along the lines of "You're doing a great job. You might want to keep an eye on..." Some new referees are not willing to hear this and completely ignore it. If you are one of those guys, realize it is a team effort. Any feedback for improvement is useful. You can accept or reject input from other referees. That's your choice, but do so at your own peril. Most referees have something to offer you for improvement.
It's frustrating when other referees are not following the rules of the competition, or the Laws of the Game, for that matter. It makes life more difficult for everyone. I understand we often do games from several different leagues and many different tournaments. How often do you actually read the rules of the competition? As a referee, you often work your league games for the same league and assignor for many years. Do you try to read the rules for your league at least once a season? You must! Leagues are always changing rules in very subtle ways. Every week, I will hear things from coaches related to these rule changes. In some cases, the rules did not change. However, last week's referee is getting the league rules confused with some other league or tournament they have worked. For example, the league I work has slightly different rules for throw ins in the short-sided games. Players get one retake for a foul throw before the ball turns over to the opponent. I cannot tell you how many times I have had coaches tell me that "last weeks referee" didn't do it that way. I re-read the rules of the competition. This is how our league wants to game played. Go, right now, and download your league's rules. They are usually found on the leagues web site. Give them a quick read and follow them to the letter!

I had some interesting issues with free kicks in a U-14 boys game. In the first 10 minutes, I called a foul at mid-field. As a side note, I am one to encourage quick free kicks. I will often point to the spot of the foul and start moving away, keeping my eyes on the attackers in case they want the ceremonial free kick. In this case, as I'm moving away, 2 defenders set themselves up maybe 6-7 yards from the ball. The attackers take the kick, but as they do, one of the defenders lunges forward, blocking the kick. I immediately stopped play, signaled for a retake and cautioned the players. Some thought that was harsh, but there is this from "Advice to Referees:"

On the other hand, when the attacking team has exercised the option to restart play quickly and the opponent closer than the required distance moves toward the ball and performs an act that makes a difference in the play, such as blocking the kick, that player has committed an offense that must be dealt with firmly in accordance with the Law. After the referee has cautioned the failure to respect the required distance, the original free kick must be retaken as required by Law 13.

Clearly, we are to caution this behavior based on this writing.
Later in the game, I had a very similar situation. In this case, it was a delaying the restart as the attackers never tried to put the ball in play. The player (from the same team incidentally) was maybe 5 yards from the ball. As the attacker started to run up for the kick, the defender stuck his foot out. The attacker pulled up. I whistled and tested the player for his ability to identify the color yellow. Turns out he saw it just fine. I was a little surprised the lesson had not been learned, but they are 14 year-olds.
Speaking of free kicks, I had a situation that you coaches out there might want to consider. A red attacker came free around halfway. He dribbles straight in on goal. The goalkeeper comes out to meet him just outside the penalty area. The attacker attempts to flick the ball over the keeper as the keeper slides in front of him. The keeper does make contact so I call the foul (yes, I considered DOGSF. Too far out in my opinion), point to the spot and start moving away as the attacker looked like he would go quickly. He's caught the defense napping. He puts the ball down, takes a few steps back...and his coach tells him to wait! Wow! This was an easy goal. The keeper had not moved back into the goal quickly. The attacker would have just kicked the ball into the net. From a referee view point, this is why we encourage the free kick. When you award a free kick, get out of the way and see if the players want to go quickly.

The Rules Do Not Apply To Him

2010-10-11T12:54:00.005-04:00

Wow, I had an interesting weekend. Just when I thought I didn't have much left to write about...
I received a 3 game assignment this weekend, which I haven't had for some time. I've been getting quite a few 1 game assignments. We had U-11, U-12 and U-14. I was assigned with my younger son as well as another referee that I've worked with on a few occasions. What a great day for soccer! We had perfect weather and a really nice field. You have to love that.
The first 2 games went really well. My son did the U-11 game. He's developing into a fine official. I had the U-14 game and that went well too. The field we had for the day was not unusually long, but it was very WIDE. Note to self: Do a little more running during the week. I felt like my conditioning isn't what it should be. I did fine with the 14's, but I will suffer when the college showcases come in November.
The interesting situation arose with the U-12 game. The home club was set up to help under privileged kids from a nearby small city have an opportunity to play competitive soccer. I've worked with teams from this club before. The players are skilled and always play hard. When checking the player passes for the team,
I asked the trainer for his pass. He told me the coach, who had not yet arrived had them. "No problem," I said, I'll come back in a few minutes and collect them. I noticed the coach arrive so I went over and asked for the coach passes. The coach tells me he doesn't have them. Our local rule is "No Pass, No Play."
I explain to the coach that we may not be able to play as the league does not allow anyone without a coaching
pass to be in the technical area. I went and talked to the center referee who had the same position as me. While we are talking, the coach approaches us and gets quite beligerent and rude, calling us "a joke." (Coaches: if you are reading this, that approach is not the best way to get someone to try to help you out when you make a mistake). Not only that, but he brought up the fact that the club is for under privileged kids, the implication being that somehow we are being mean to the kids. Keep in mind, he's the one that didn't bring his pass. I mention to the referee that I'm willing to give our assignor a quick call to double check that there is no way around this. We agreed and I made the call. It turns out the league is fine with it as long as one of the carded coaches from the other team is willing to monitor the opponent's bench. It's an odd arrangement, but workable. So we ended up doing the game. The referee even allowed the offending (offensive?) coach to be in the technical area which he is clearly not entitled to do without a pass. The coach later apologized for his behavior.
The interesting thing about the ordeal is during the conversation, the coach mentioned a few times that
he has a national license etc. I pointed out that it doesn't matter since he has no coaching pass. However,
I did have the feeling I had seen this guy before. On the way home, my son realized who he was. He coaches a division 1 college team! Unbelievable.
The lesson here is this: Make sure you know your local Rules of the Competition inside and out. Follow the rules and you can't go wrong. Do not be swayed by those that bend the rules for their convenience. They will not be there when you have to defend your position and decisions.

Yes, I'm still around

2010-10-01T07:59:00.000-04:00

I have just a short updated that is really intended to reaffirm that I'm still around and I'm still a referee.
I haven't been posting much because...well...I haven't been getting many games. Is it me or are there less games available this season? I got turned down early in the season for 2 tournaments that I have always worked. Part of the problem was my fault. I had not put in availability right away, so I ended up at the back of the line. However, the assignor made it clear that the participating team count had declined significantly this year. I have had a few league games this season, but I'm only getting 1 or 2 games a weekend (usually the number is 2 or 3) and they have all been small sided. Is the economy hurting tournaments? Have the number of U-14 and under teams declined?
Send me your comments! Tell me if you have noticed a significant decline in teams going to tournaments. What's going on with your league? Are there fewer teams? Make sure you include your state so we know where your are located. Thanks.

Player Card Games

2010-09-12T16:54:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I had a single U-11 game at a local club. The game was part of a league I only work occasionally. It just turned out that I was available and the game was being played pretty close to my house.
When I arrived, I noticed the home club had their entire team at the field (in other words, plenty of players) while the visitors were clearly short handed. The visitors had enough to start, but we gave them 5 minutes extra to get another player or two to the field. They started the game with 8 (In my state, we play full sided, 11 players for U-11). The game ended up very one-sided. At the half, the home team was up 5-0.
The rules of the competition say players arriving after the start of the 2nd half may not enter the game. At half time, my AR pointed out that another player had arrived at the bench, but he had yet to see a player pass for the player. I indicated that we should keep an eye on the situation and we started the 2nd half. About 18 minutes into the 2nd half, the coach calls for a sub. My AR waves me over. He points out that the coach has given him a player pass, but the picture is clearly not the player standing at halfway. I take the player pass over to the coach. I pointed out that all players must have a pass and that the pass in my hand clearly did not belong to the player in front of me. He mumbled something about giving me the wrong pass etc. He was caught and he knew it. Extra points go to my attentive AR, a young kid.
So what's the lesson I'm trying to convey here? I guess there are two things: First, coaches will try to get away with anything you can imagine. That's not to say that all coaches will try to cheat. That is not the case. However, there are coaches that will try to get away with cheating if they can. Second, it is easy to try to play Mr. Nice Guy and accept this player on the field since the team is playing short. Incidentally, this player looked way under age too. I'm guessing he was 9 and was probably the little brother of another player. Unfortunately, you would be in big trouble if something happened to said player. In the court room at the civil suit, you'd be asked about checking player passes etc. Not good.
You must pay attention to these details and take all of the rules, including the administrative ones, very seriously. I put a note in my match report regarding the incident. I also sent an email to the assignor with details of the incident.

U-Littles

2010-08-29T21:17:00.000-04:00

Those of you that follow my blog know I took a while to get to grade 7. There was the politics of even getting considered. There was a couple of state cup tournaments and an ODP tournament. Several assessments and almost 2 years later, I got upgraded. I put in for a tournament for this past weekend, my first as a 7. You'll never guess what my assignments were...2 days of short-sided and the U-littles! Ironic, isn't it? It turned out to be fun and its always a good way to start the Fall season. My son worked with me as well.
The interesting thing about the short sided game is you will often see situations that never occur at the older levels. For example, you will see goalkeepers handle balls kicked by their teammates on a regular basis. You will often see balls mishandled on the goal line (so run that ball out when you are an assistant!). There are any number of awkward and ugly tackles just because the kids are clumsy. In short, you still have to know the Laws of the Game inside and out. In fact, maybe more so for the little ones. Also, you will often have teaching moments that you can take advantage of. For example, I had a goalkeeper make a save. The opposing team backed off, expecting him to distribute the ball. He knelt down, put the ball down (almost having it roll over the goal line for a corner) and tied his shoe. He then picked it back up and distributed the ball. I let it go. At the half, his coach and I took 30 seconds to remind him that he can't put the ball down and then pick it back up. The coach was very appreciative and I think I managed to teach this kid something about the laws. That's always a good thing.
We did have a really funny comment from a coach that left one of my assistants barely able to hide his grin.
I awarded a free kick for a goalkeeper handling the ball just outside the penalty area. I'm standing to the left of goal at the top of the penalty area, with my back to the coaches. One of the coaches yells "Is it direct or indirect?" I reply direct. He says "Your hand is not up so I wasn't sure." I look across the field at my assistant. We exchanged completely puzzled looks...and then nearly lost it on the field. Inside my head I'm saying "My hands is not up for a reason..." Too funny.

New Season Coming

2010-07-28T09:40:00.000-04:00

It is that time again. Time to prepare for the upcoming season. I take the summer off from being a referee and do the things I don't get to do during soccer season.
As the Spring season comes to an end, I usually switch my fitness activities from a running emphasis to a cycling one. I do this week long, 500 mile charity bike ride in the middle of the summer, so I have to prepare for it. Now that the bike ride is over, I'm switching back to running, slowly but surely, in preparation for the new Fall season.
I'm the kind of person that needs a goal to get motivated, so I put in for a couple of early season tournaments. If I don't commit myself, I can put off training harder, so I have to commit.
My first run in a month or so was...well...ugly. I have the cardio fitness. My legs, however, want to pedal a bicycle, not run. My regimen consists of 2 or 3 walk/run workouts. I'll run about a mile or so, and then I'll walk until my legs don't hurt. I'll resume running until my legs tighten up again. I continue this through my usual 5k route. Eventually, I get back to being able to run the entire route again. Once I've done that, I might do some longer runs and some speed work. I like to be able to run 5 miles below a 9:00/mile pace. I find that gives me the fitness required to do games as high as U-20.
I will be working with my older son and, at some point, my younger son as well. He's been a grade 9 for a couple of years and will be taking his grade 8 class in late August. I have my own tournament crew!
I'm looking forward to the Fall season.

Referee Criticism

2010-06-11T08:25:00.001-04:00

I came across a video of Alexi Lalas discussing the quality of referees, specifically MLS referees compared to other leagues. It got me thinking about the position of a referee and how we are completely open to criticism by observers that, for the most part, are completely biased and are generally lacking in any understanding of the LOTG.
Most of my readers referee youth soccer matches. I'll guess the average reader of this blog has been a referee for a fairly short amount of time (less than 2 years) and works mostly U-16 and below games. I know there are a few of you that work much harder games as some of you have contacting me with advice as well as constructive criticism (thanks, by the way). Undoubtedly, we've all experienced criticism from fans, coaches and players. I think this criticism can result from three major categories:

A mistake in application of the LOTG or Rules of the Competition
A disagreement with a judgment call or decision
Ignorance of the LOTG

The first one is easy to fix. Know the LOTG inside, outside, backward and forward. Regardless of what games you are doing, you have to know the Laws. There is no excuse for not knowing. Know your competition rules. Don't do a game in a particular league or tournament if you are not willing to review their rules before the game. It's easy and prevents all issues related to this problem. If you want to be particularly knowledgeable, go to the US Soccer store and get a copy of "Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game."
The second item is interesting. Realize early in your career that very few participants in a soccer match are unbiased. I'd venture to say the number is usually 3. Coaches, players, parents and other observers always have an opinion about every call you make. When you make a call, you will usually upset about 50% of the people observing the game. That's just the way it is. Since that is immutable, make sure you are making the best calls you can by knowing the LOTG (see above), being fit enough to be in a good position to make the call, and by doing the best you can with foul recognition and the like.
Also related to number 2 is the idea of view point. You are the only one on the field with your view. That goes for your assistants as well. Realistically, in a perfect situation, you are only going to have 3 legitimate views on a given play. Most of the time, you'll have 1 or 2. You have to make the call on those views since the others (coaches, parents, players) don't count. Keep in mind, that doesn't mean they didn't see something you didn't. That different view on a play is the basis for a lot of referee criticism. Do the best you can with what you see and don't worry about the rest. You can only call what you see.
From personal experience I can tell you that most coaches and nearly all parents and players have never read the Laws of the Game. Even if they have, they certainly haven't read any of the documents available to interpret the laws. Many coaches and almost everyone else at a game rely on their understanding of the laws, developed over years of being around the game. This understanding includes the many myths of the game (no spin on the ball during a throw in, no foul if players gets the ball first, etc.). I've never understood why coaches don't read the laws. I just don't get that. Did you know there is a watered down version of the laws available? It's called "Laws of the Game Made Easy" and is sold by the US Soccer Federation. Would things be a little different if all parents and players had to read this book? It's hard to guess.
So, the next time you are working a game, remember the only thing that is important is you do the best job you can. You are not there to please the spectators and coaches. You are there to provide a safe, fair game for the players. That is your only role. The other stuff is not important.

It's OK, Because the Player is Talented

2010-05-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

I wasn't going to put in availability this weekend. My older son's team made it to the state cup quarter finals and my younger son's team had a tournament. I got an email from my assignor basically saying he was short of referees AND he had a number of older teams playing, so he needs some experienced officials. I relented and put in for Sunday after getting the OK from my son to miss his game.
Our scheduled had us doing a U-14 girls league game, a U-18 women's state cup game and a U-18 men's league game. The games are played a few towns over. I had worked with one of the other officials before. The other was new to me.
I ended up doing both of the U-18 games. To be honest, I was wondering how I was going to perform, doing two long, fast games, back-to-back. It turned out OK. I guess my conditioning is better than I thought!
The first game for me was the U-18 state cup game. I like doing these games because there is a little more pressure to perform well, and I think good officiating is noticed and appreciated in these games. Unfortunately, the game turned out to be rather one-sided. The winning team had some real skill.
The second game was the U-18 men. One of the ARs mentioned to me that he had the same team last week and ended up sending off a player. Great. As usual with the 18's, we had to wait for a little while for players to show up. Again, this turned out to be a one-sided game. The visitors had some really good ball-handling skills. In fact, they were kind of fun to watch. Unfortunately, when you have a team like that playing against a weaker team, you can almost guarantee some issues.
The first half was fairly clean. The 2nd half was when the home team's frustration started to show. I sensed it coming. The away team used their skills and really was showing up the home team. That's a warning sign. I had a hard tackle early in the half that I cautioned right away. I started to notice a pattern of fouls against one of the away team's midfielders. A few minutes later, there was another hard tackle on the same player. I immediately cautioned that one as well, this time for persistent infringement. At that point, the home team coach started in on me about the cautions. He actually implied that the rough tackle was somehow justified because this midfielder was "show boating." Really? That's the first time I had heard that one! Playing well may be annoying, but it's not an infraction in the Laws of the Game.
Another interesting comment I heard again demonstrated that perhaps the home team needs to review the LOTG. After getting up by 5 goals, the visitors started just kicking the ball around. The repeatedly took the ball into the corners and just stood there. One of the home team players pointed this out to me as time wasting. Again...Really? I politely suggested he go in there and challenge for the ball.
Adding time in a one-sided game is always dicey. Sometimes the losing side wants all their time. Sometimes you're better off just ending the game to prevent any more embarrassment. You have to get a sense of what is the best option for that particular game. In this game, one of the visitors went down with a leg cramp. To be honest, I'm not convinced it was real, but you it's hard to say. The home team actually asked me if I was keeping track of the lost time. They made it clear, they wanted to try to get a goal, so I added all the time at the end. Again, be aware of the atmosphere of the game before you add time in a lop-sided match.
Fortunately, the game ended without a major incident, although we did have 4 cautions.
I received an interesting comment from the visiting coach after the game. The league has an optional referee rating on their web page. He said he felt we really controlled the match well and wanted to make the league aware of us. That's always nice.

Upgrade Soon

2010-04-22T08:58:00.001-04:00

7! I can't really describe the happiness, and relief, that I feel today. I finally passed my grade 7 assessment, so I should be upgraded shortly. It's been a nearly 2 year long endeavor and I've gone through quite a few lows to get here, having failed 2 assessments along the way. All of that said, I've really made a lot of improvement over the last 2 years as well. The entire process has exposed me to a higher level of officiating that I would not have otherwise experienced.
In my state, the upgrade process happens like this:

Submit your game log for inspection
Register for the upgrade class and pass the written test
Pass the fitness test
Pass an upgrade assessment

The process seems so simple, doesn't it? Yeah, right. That's what I thought. Before continuing, I should point out that the upgrade process is described in detail in the Administrative Handbook. Everything you need to know is in there. Your state may implement the process differently, so work closely with your state committee.

Submit Your Game Log

You do keep a game log, right? You should be logging every game you do. I use Google Docs to keep mine. Any spreadsheet application will work. You can even use a piece of paper. Whatever method you use, log your games, even if you have no intention of upgrading. You never know. Your log should include the date and time of the game, both team names, the location of the game, the names of the other referees, your role in the game (AR, Referee, or 4th) and the final score. You can probably dream up a few other things you might want to track. In order to upgrade, you're going to need this. Currently, the 8-to-7 upgrade requires 75 games as the referee and 25 games as an assistant.

Upgrade Class

Next, you have to get 5 hours of "Intermediate Level Training." In my state, there is a formal "upgrade class." I understand that some states have an intermediate class, open to all who want to attend. Whatever the case may be, you need the 5 hours. You must also pass the written test with a score of 85% or better. I've never understood why new referees only need a 75%. It seems to me, 80% or 85% for new referees isn't asking for a lot. I got a 99% this time. That perfect score is eluding me. I always get within 1 or 2 points and then zone out on some ridiculous question!
The content of the class itself is more advanced than what you'll experience at your annual re-certification. You probably won't see any review of the LOTG. You will see presentations on more abstract topics like game flow and player management. If you can get the intermediate class, do it. It's worth it. The content will make you a better referee, regardless of your desire to upgrade.

Fitness Test

I find many referees are terrified of the fitness test. In reality, it's not that hard. For grades 7, 6 and 5, there are 3 parts of the fitness test:

12 minute run (Cooper Test)
50m dash
200m dash

First, a 12 minute run, or "Cooper Test", is performed. Basically, you run around a track for 12 minutes, and you are measured on the distance you are able to cover. At my age, I am required to run 2000m, or 5 laps, on a track. It's really not that hard. That amounts to about 9:30 per mile pace. That bar is pretty low. This year, I managed about 2500m. My first time through, I went a little further, but I realized there wasn't any point to that and I think it hurt my sprints.
After the long run, there are 2 sprints; One is 50m and the other is 200m. My requirements are 9.0 seconds and 40 seconds, respectively. I do OK on the 200m, beating the time handily, but I struggle a bit on the shorter sprint. I really need to concentrate on going all out to make sure I get that time.

Assessment

Ah, the assessment process...the bane of a referee's existence...
If you've never been assessed, I suggest trying to get one done. Basically, it works like this: You contact your State Director of Assessment with the details of a game you are going to referee. They send out an assessor and this person watches the game. After the game, you have a post-game debrief where the assessor will give you feedback about your performance. You then receive an assessment form. Upgrade assessments have a score that indicates whether or not you passed. Developmental assessments do not indicate a score, but are very useful in getting an idea of the things you need to improve.
In the case of an upgrade assessment, the game can be deemed un-ratable, meaning you didn't fail, the game just wasn't adequate to get a good idea of your abilities. Because assessments can be tough to arrange for some, this can be quite frustrating. For an upgrade, the game must be U-17 or better, with 45 minute halves and you must have ARs. In my area, there are not that many of those games, so they aren't easy to get. Once you get it, you have to get the assessor out to see it. That is not guaranteed. So, to go through all that and have the game be un-ratable is tough. Fortunately, it didn't happen to me. However, I know MANY referees that have had un-ratable games.
Last year, I failed two assessments. For upgrade, you are required to pass one. If you fail it, you must pass two. That's why I had two. My first one was at state cup. Honestly, I had a horrible game. I was so focused on the assessment that I made myself very nervous and didn't do well at all. Also, I don't think I was ready. I didn't have enough U-17+ games under my belt. A few months later, I had another assessment on a U-20 game that honestly, I felt I should have passed. The thing about assessments is they are very subjective, just like refereeing a game. That second failure ended my upgrade effort last year.
Interestingly enough, when I did the ODP tournament last spring, I received several developmental assessments. Two of the assessors actually asked me why I wasn't a 7 yet! It just shows you that the process can be frustrating, but you have to stick with it and keep going. I'm proof of that.
Starting in 2010, there is a new assessment grading system in place. I don't know all the details, but the new form is clearly based on the 2009 directives and is far less subjective, in my opinion. I had my passing assessment this year on a U-19 game. The game wasn't that hard (it was rated "easy"), but hard enough to be ratable, fortunately.
So, there is is! I'm finally done with the requirements for my grade 7 upgrade. In the next couple of weeks, I have to be sure to follow up with my SDA to make sure the "administrative upgrade" paperwork is done, but that should be it.

Why?

Some people have asked me "What does the upgrade get for you?" That's a really good question. The reality is I probably won't get to grade 6. The game requirements are such that I'd probably have to start doing adult games instead of youth to get to the required game count any time soon. I'm not sure I'm willing to do that. I'm in my 40's. Although my fitness is excellent, I'm going to start slowing down at some point, so I have a time window to get the game requirement done. I think getting the 7 upgrade has done a few things for me. First, it is the "stamp of approval" I personally needed for taking this job seriously and making an effort to do it right. Second, it gives me the opportunity to become an assessor and maybe work with new referees and help them along. Last, it gives me additional credibility to get better games when going to assignors that I haven't work for previously.
Going forward, to keep my new grade, I have to take the fitness test every year. Some see it as a hassle, but I see it as a reason to keep my fitness up. Some states require a maintenance assessment each year as well. I don't believe mine does.

Working with Another New Referee

2010-04-20T15:50:00.000-04:00

Last weekend (yes, I'm a little behind), I spent 3 games working with a good friend of mine that I had not seen in a while and a new referee. Long time readers know I like to work with new referees. I think it's important to get them started in the right direction. I think a positive first couple games for a new referee goes a long way in getting retention numbers higher. I also think it's important to have someone that (presumably) knows what they are doing to get rid of a new referee's bad habits right away, before they become permanent.
This young lady did a good job. She was my AR for our first game. Like all newly certified teenagers, her mechanics were tentative as she was unsure of herself and clearly was horrified at the idea of making a mistake. I got the impression fairly quickly she knew the laws pretty well and just lacked confidence. We tried to build her up at half time and we noticed some improvement in the second half. My buddy, working as the other AR, noticed she seemed to be getting caught up watching the game when the ball got close to her and he pointed out that she needed to stay on her offside line, given that offside is her first priority. She adjusted to his advice and did better.
For the second game, my friend was in the middle and I was an AR. We noted more confidence in her mechanics. She was taking a second to come square to the field and give a better signal. This seemed to give her a chance to get her direction right in her mind as well.
We had one list game. I was the referee again. This was the oldest teams of the day (14 year old boys) and the speed picked up a little bit. This new referee did well. She even signaled for a couple of fouls and she was correct.
By the end of the three games, she was clearly mentally tired, but she still had a smile on her face and seemed happy with the day. Hopefully, she sticks with it and we see her again soon. With any luck, we'll get her in the middle on a short sided game and see how she likes it.

Good Day at the College Showcase

2010-04-07T09:13:00.000-04:00

I worked a really nice college showcase over the Easter weekend. Going into the tournament, I wasn't sure how it was going to work out. I had come down with a nasty cold earlier in the week and it was unseasonably warm. I was very concerned how I was going to hold up. Fortunately, for whatever reason, I did not get assigned on the Friday of the tournament so I only had one day to worry about.
As is the custom at this tournament, we received our field assignment upon arriving at the facility. I was put with three very experienced referees, one of which I had worked with before. At these higher level tournaments, it's always good to be with a quality crew because you can learn so much and expose yourself to other styles of game management. Always be an observer when working with others. You can sort out the good and bad, but it's all good for your experience.
We had eight games scheduled for the day. Someone likes me somewhere, because I was again scheduled for one of the bracket final games (in this case, U-17 boys). After running my first two games on the side, I decided I felt decent (not great) and I'd make it through the day without passing out on the field!
As I mentioned earlier, I was working with quality officials. The thing I noticed is how their game styles differed. One guy had mechanics that were very, very crisp. It was almost like he was used to working games in large stadiums where you have to be a little more theatrical with your mechanics so they can be seen from distance. Also, he was very (maybe overly?) polite to everyone on the field. I'd very much like to see him do a very physical, nasty game to see if he operates the same way and keeps that persona. I think he might.
Another of the guys on the crew was very particular about things on the field. He was bordering on "Blade of Grass Syndrome." Kicks had to be taken from the exact spot of the foul and he called some things I thought were trifling. That said, both of these guys were quite successful. It shows you that different styles work for different officials. I think you have to find your style that works for you. It's helpful to see others work to discover your own personal style.
As is my nature, I go find my teams about 25 minutes before game time. Remember, in a tournament, you almost never have enough time between games. Most of the tournaments I work allow about five minutes. In a four person rotation, you should be off right before you're in the middle, so there is no excuse for not having your teams checked-in and ready to go as soon as the current game is completed. I collect the passes, make a cursory inspection of players equipment, remind the coaches about the duration of the halves and the tournament substitution procedures, collect a game ball and do the coin toss. When the current game is done, we are walking onto the field. The only thing we have to wait for is the two assistants to get some water and we're ready to go.
My first middle of the day developed into a decent game. The two teams played well and it was a competitive match. It was a one-goal differential most of the match so my decisions were critical in that they could effect the outcome. At one point in the game, we were heading toward white's goal. I was about 10 yards out from the left side of the penalty arc, almost directly behind the attacking player, heading toward the left corner flag. As the attacker crosses the penalty area line, he is halted by two defenders, standing about four feet apart. They kick at the ball. The attacker takes an obvious (to me) dive to the ground, rolls over and holds his arms up as if to say "Did you see that foul?" Every match has that "moment of truth" decision. This one was easy. I yell "Get on your feet! I'm coming back to you!" as the ball heads toward the touch line. The ball is played out and I immediately caution the player for Unsporting Behavior (simulation). The funny thing is, as I'm writing the details down, one of the attacker's OWN TEAMMATES sidles up next to me and says "Sir, that was the worst dive I have ever seen." Having not been fooled by the simulation, I felt like I had earned the respect of the players.
During one of the games were I served as an assistant, we had a serious injury. A player was fouled (careless trip, nothing serious). When he fell to the ground, he apparently separated his shoulder. He was down on the field for some time, being dealt with by the tournament medical staff. In a situation like this, it is important to note all the pertinent facts on the game card like the time of the injury, the player's number and any associated misconduct that might have occurred. Leagues and tournaments have insurance for these situations. If a claim is made, your game card will be used to validate the injury occurred on the field, during play. Don't forget to file a complete game report!
The last game of the day was also my last game in the middle. It was the final for the U-17 boys. From the kick off, I knew this was going to be a good game. Both teams moved down the field like gazelles, which was not good since I was just getting over a cold and I had already worked five games. Fortunately, I'm the kind of person that can gut it out and go hard anyway. It is one of my strong points.
Given the importance of the game, both teams were trying to get every call they could. I think I did a good job managing the flow of the game by being very selective with fouls. Neither team seemed to mind and played through the trifling stuff. I met the occasional appeal with a quick word and moved on.
I will often attempt to manage players with a few words or a formal conversation before I go to the cards. I find this to be effective in most cases, and this game was no exception. The game was well under control through the first half. In the second half, things got only slightly warmer and a caution at mid-field for an off the ball shove quickly calmed things down. The push occurred almost right next to me as I was getting wide to see play, which had moved toward the goal. A red defender shoved a white attacker while red was playing the ball in white's penalty area. I blew the whistle for the foul and showed the red player the card. Red's coach yells out to me that I can't move the ball all the way out to mid field for the foul! WHAT!? I didn't expect that from a fairly high level coach, but you hear it all when you are a referee.
Late in the game, white is down by a goal and playing hard to get the draw. Red gets through at mid field and dribbles to the top of the right side of white's penalty area. He beats the defender, and turns in toward the goal. He is then tripped from behind. Let's see:

Defenders to beat? none.
Direction to goal? check.
Distance to ball? check.
Distance to goal? check.

Off went the defender. He didn't seemed that surprised and neither did anyone else. After the game, the coach unexpectedly said he agreed with me on the decision. You don't hear that often.
I felt like I had a couple of really good games. Lately, I have felt like my experiences over the last few years are really starting to pay off and I'm doing some solid officiating. That's a good thing, but I won't lose sight of how quickly that can change. Thanks for reading.

Challenging Tournament Weekend

2010-03-23T08:15:00.000-04:00

I had a great weekend working a large tournament in the area. With the decidedly Spring-like weather and good soccer, I couldn't have asked for more.
I was originally scheduled to work a tournament site that hosts the younger boys games, but at the last minute, I was moved to the site with the older teams. I wasn't going to complain as I need the field time with the bigger boys.
In one of the games in which I was an AR, we had an interesting bit of play. The white team came through alone about 30 yards out, making a run toward the left side of the goal. The keeper came out to meet him and the attacker flicked the ball toward the right post. He didn't get all of it and it slowly bounced toward the post. A black defender got to the ball and instead of clearing it, kicked it straight up in the air. Naturally, the keeper caught it coming down. I popped the flag immediately. The referee looked at me a little confused and came walking over. I told him this play falls under the "deliberately kicked to the keeper" part of Law 12 and that it was an indirect kick to the attackers. There was much protest as the defenders felt it wasn't a "pass-back" etc. The indirect kick resulted in a goal.
I was a bit nervous about my decision, until I check the "Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game." Section 12.20 tells us this:

A goalkeeper infringes Law 12 if he or she touches the ball with the hands directly after it has been deliberately kicked to him or her by a teammate. The requirement that the ball be kicked means only that it has been played with the foot. The requirement that the ball be "kicked to" the goalkeeper means only that the play is to or toward a place where the ‘keeper can legally handle the ball. The requirement that the ball be "deliberately kicked" means that the play on the ball is deliberate and does not include situations in which the ball has been, in the opinion of the referee, accidentally deflected or misdirected.

So, in this case, the defender deliberately kicked the ball. Obviously, it was kicked to where the keeper could legally handle the ball. We have to get away from calling this a "pass back" because that results in too much confusion. This surely falls into the category of Myths of the Game.
When I was in the middle, there was 2 plays that were interesting when compared. I got a lot of grief from one of the coaches on this. In one case, we have a high ball come in on red's keeper. Two gray players are in front of him and to either side. As the ball comes down, the keeper reaches over the players and catches the ball before they can head it. On the way down, he hits one of the gray players shoulders and that player falls to the ground. All player eyes were on the ball. To me, there was no hint of foul play. About 2 minutes later, red is attacking and they come free at the top of the penalty area. Gray's keeper comes out. As red shoots, the keeper slides through the attacker. This is not red tripping over the keeper. This is the keeper sliding through the legs of the attacker. I whistle hard and point to the spot. The difference between the two plays, in my opinion, is the first case is the keeper playing the ball and inadvertently getting a player. The 2nd play is the keeper taking the ball, or the player, or both in a careless fashion. After the game, the coach ripped me pretty good. His take was I needed to be "consistent" etc. I've never understood that. We penalize the team that commits the fouls without regard for making the count event out. I feel confident I made the correct decisions here. That said, it did get me thinking about how much leeway we give to keepers. Do we let them get away with too much? Do we do our best to make sure we protect them when necessary, but punish them when they take advantage of their position? Give that some thought. The laws make it clear that keepers are just like any other player, aside from their ability to handle the ball.
The next day, I was with another crew on an adjacent field. I knew right away this was going to be a better day. These guys were in real good shape, and based on the first game (I watched as I had the 2nd middle), they were also very experienced.
The 2nd game of the day was my first in the middle. The game started pretty well, but it was clear one of the teams was weaker. About midway through the half, I started to get a lot of complaining from that team's bench. So much so that I gave the coach the "stop sign" hand and a run by saying "Enough coach!" I was trying to be patient as it seemed they were getting frustrated. Going into the 2nd half, all was going pretty well. There was a routine careless charge in front of the benches which I immediately called. Naturally, it was against the complaining coach's team. The coach just starts screaming "what is the call? WHAT IS THE CALL?" I stopped play and motioned the coach onto the field. I started the "Ask, Tell, Remove" procedure outlined in the 2009 directives by saying "Coach, I'm asking you to calm down. I've already talked to you once." Well, this guy was incensed I guess (by a trivial careless foul call). He wouldn't stop. I had enough, so I dismissed him. I admit, I probably could have given him one more chance, but I've seen that back-fire previously. The level of anger in this coach made it clear to me he wasn't going to get better, and I sensed he was getting his players wound up as well. This is not good so off he went. Interestingly enough, I got a little push back on that one from the assignor. Personally, I'm starting to wonder if maybe the assignor is paying a little too much attention to the tournament organizers and the political aspect of the tournament and not enough to the behavior of the teams and coaches, but that's another post for another day.
About 5 minutes later, there was a reckless tackle by the same team. It seemed to be a routine caution right up until the player told me "You're f-ing terrible!" Yeah, it seemed to meet the criteria of "Public/Personal/Provocative" so off he went. Fortunately, it was right in front of my AR as well, so he heard it. I noticed his (remaining) coach didn't seemed surprised at all when I went to the back pocket. That's usually a sign that the player has been there before.
The big news of the day was I was given the U-16 final game! I guess I've been doing these tournaments long enough that the assignor recognizes I don't screw up too badly!
The highlight of the game for me was I had that "ah ha!" moment with a player and cautioned him for persistent infringement. I noticed his pattern of fouling pretty early. He was the white team's right back. His play was kind of ugly when challenging for the ball near the flag. Lots of arms over shoulders and hands on jerseys etc. I talked to him after the 2 foul (and 1 or 2 triflings that I let go). He committed another foul at about half way. I called him over and was able to point to each spot on the field where he had committed all the fouls. When you are able to do that, everyone on the field is OK with the caution and also knows you are paying attention.
It turned out the be a really interesting game. The under-dog team went on to win, stunning the favored side! It was a well played game and I felt like it was one of my better outings. That's a nice way to end a tournament!

Stormy Spring Opener

2010-03-15T08:25:00.001-04:00

I finally got out on the field this weekend. To be honest, I didn't think it was going to happen. I live in the mid-Atlantic region. We were hit by rain and wind on Friday and Saturday that honestly had me contemplating building an ark in the back yard. Seriously, it was really nasty.
Fortunately, my Sunday games were scheduled for a high school turf field, so I knew field conditions would not be an issue. However, I did not completely anticipate the issue of getting to the field. The high school is about 25 miles from my house, through relatively rural towns.
As is my habit, I time it so I arrive at the field at least 30 minutes before the game. In this case, because of the distance, I decided to get there 40 minutes early. That was a good decision. The storm had caused so much chaos that it took me much longer to get to the field than usual. One small town got hit hard by the storm. There were downed trees literally everywhere. I was detoured 3 times going through town. I saw drooping utility lines in many places. Traffic was tough on those 2-lane county roads. Between two of the towns there are about 10 traffic lights. Only 1 was functional. It was chaos. The lesson here is you must anticipate how long it will take to get to the field and plan accordingly. Fortunately, I got there about 25 minutes before game time. One of the teams was running significantly late so it worked out.
We had 3 games on Sunday, U-13 girls, U-19 boys and U-11 boys. I always tell my assignor to send me wherever he needs me, regardless of distance. I don't mind driving. It was obvious why he sent me to this field. One of the guys I worked with was a solid referee, but clearly did not have the fitness to run with U-19 boys and the other guy was a brand new official and only about 17 years old.
We kicked off the cob webs pretty quickly in the U-13 game. It was very windy so we had to work a little harder to communicate on the field. Everything went well. We did have one issue I wanted to mention. Just before the game started, I asked the guy in the middle about half-duration. He said "35 minutes." Since I didn't have the game card, I took his word for it. It turns out this age plays 40 minute halves. This was discovered at half time. The correct solution is to get the teams right back on the field for the remaining 5 minutes, then break for the half. This referee decided to do a 45 minute second half which is not the correct solution. Section 7.3 in the "Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game" says this:

If the referee ends play early, then the teams must be called back onto the field and the remaining time must be played as soon as the error is detected.

Obviously, this could have been handled better. I should have pushed harder for the correct solution, but I am reticent to be seen as a "know it all." Otherwise, the game went well.
I am really starting to enjoy doing the older boys games. I was looking forward to this test of my fitness. I hope to upgrade to grade 7, so getting a U-19 game is a big deal. Also, they are few and far between in this area. The game was fairly straight forward. The first half went well. Play was fast, but not as fast as the Super Y League games I did in the summer. My fitness was better than I had expected and I was able to keep up with play just fine. It was a well matched game, arriving at the half, 3-0 in favor of the visitors. In the second half, the home team managed a goal and I thought the game would get more competitive, but they ended up giving up a few and the game eventually ended 6-1. A few positives came out of the game. I mentioned in the Fall I was having positioning problems. I was getting in the way of the players too often. The issue seems to be better and I managed to stay out of the way for the most part. I find it's actually a benefit to be further from play in the older games than I would be in the younger games. Being further away (20 yards) gives you a wider view of what's going on and allows you to keep out of the way.
Also, I felt good about my ability to set boundaries for the players early. There was a few aerial balls early on that I yelled "Straight up guys!" while the ball was in the air. In one case, a player went over the back of another. I called the foul and said to the player "I said straight up..." That was the last time I had to mention it for the rest of the game. Proactive refereeing works.
The third game of the day was good. The new guy that we worked with had never done a game in the middle. He had a few on the side. I encouraged him to do the last game. We talked for a few minutes before. I just told him to run flag to flag and call the simple, obvious falls. Leave the rest to us and he'd be fine. I gave him a whistle and let him borrow one of my watches and coin (Yes, he's a young guy and doesn't have all his stuff yet). He did pretty well. His position was a little awkward. He had his back to his AR's a little too often. At the half, I told him a trick someone told me. When you cross mid-field, always run along the left side of the center circle. This forces you to get wide enough. I also told him to try to stay behind play a little more and keep his chest square to the goal line so he can see play and his AR at the same time. It worked really well. His 2nd half was much better. He even made a couple solid foul decisions. I really enjoy working with new referees. I think I can make a significant contribution doing this if the opportunity comes up.
It was great to get out on the field again. Let me know how your Spring season starts!

Spring 2010

2010-03-10T08:02:00.000-05:00

Well, it's finally here! No, I'm not referring to Spring. That's a few weeks off. I am talking about the impending Spring season. I live in the Northeastern United States. The amount of snow we had this year was unbelievable so I can assure you I'm ready for soccer.
Last night we had our pre-season, local league meeting for referees. It went well, although I would say these meetings are most useful for the referees that are not going to show up in the first place. The state committe was there reviewing some points of emphasis which I found useful. The league reviews issues about filling out game cards and the like, but the neglect to review competition rules. You would think they would take advantage of having everyone in the same room. The referee assignors go over things like showing up to the field properly dressed and how to make nice with coaches. Again, these items are really not for the 80% that show up at the meeting. They are targeted to the 20% that do not.
With all the bad weather we've been having, I've been working like a crazy man to get my fitness level to an acceptable level. It has been tough between missing days because of snow covered roads, family schedule conflicts and just plain laziness. That said, I'm back up to 3 or 4 miles of running so I should be OK.
I put in availability for the first weekend (3/14), but the weather forecast is not looking good. I'm guessing we'll be rained out. Sooner or later, I'll be back on the field!

2010 Recertification

2010-01-12T08:10:00.000-05:00

That time of year has rolled around once again. I attended the 2010 recertification this weekend.
I don't look at recertification as a hassle or something I just have to get through. I see it as an opportunity to see friends, off the field and to spend some time talking about something we all enjoy: the beautiful game. I'm always interested in what the instructors have to say at recertification. It gives one an indication of the kinds of things we, as referees, aren't doing well.
This year's certification was formatted a little different than previous years. First, we went through the procedures for handling infractions on penalty kicks. Apparently, this is a really big problem as we went through this last year as well. It seems that referees don't understand the indirect free kick result when the attacking team breaks the rules. Here is a table that I found in the "Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game":

Consequences of an Infringement of Law 14
Who Infringed?	Ball goes into goal	Ball does not go into goal
Attacker	Retake	Indirect Free Kick at Spot of Infringement
Defender	Goal	Retake
Both Attacker and Defender	Retake	Retake

I think the key "take away" from this is the indirect kick results when the attacking team infringes and the ball does not go into the goal. What happens to the ball otherwise is irrelevant. For example, if the goalkeeper makes a save, it's still an indirect kick for the defenders. If the ball goes over the goal, out of play, it's still an indirect kick.
After this quick review, we took our test. The test is funny. I'm happy to say I always score very high...but I never get 100%. It drives me crazy. There is always 1 or 2 questions I don't read carefully, or that are worded strangely enough to cause me to get them wrong.
It appears there isn't much that has changed with the LOTG this year. I found a few very minor things that probably won't affect anyone doing youth games. There is a change regarding the certification of youth fields. There is a change to the procedures for kicks from the mark as it relates to excluded players. It seems they cannot participate once they are excluded. I suppose this refers to them possibly getting back on the list due to a goalkeeper injury. There's also a change to the Technical Area section. I couldn't figure out what changed here but I found another web site that says a section was deleted that specified the person has to sit down when they are done with their tactical instructions. Again, nothing of real concern to the youth referee.
(Not Really) New Assistant Referee Mechanics
We reviewed the new "flag across the hips" mechanic again. Apparently, referees in my state didn't get it last year when we reviewed it. Are you familiar with this new mechanic? It is used in 3 situations:

When an Assistant Referee indicates a foul, the mechanic is used to tell the referee the foul occurred in the penalty area.
When the referee calls a foul, the assistant referee uses the mechanic to tell the referee the foul occurred in the penalty area.
During a penalty kick, the assistant referee uses the mechanic to indicate the goalkeeper came off the goal line.

The flag is held horizontally across the thighs. AskASoccerReferee.com has a good explanation here.
So there you have it. I'm certified for another year.

Wrong Way Referee

2009-11-30T13:03:00.001-05:00

This weekend, I worked one day of a large, boys, college showcase tournament. I've worked this tournament before. It's always good because you typically have the older ages and the players (for the most part) are on their best behavior as they are trying to impress the many college coaches that show up to scout.
In the morning, we meet with the assignor at a central location to get our field assignment, game cards and tournament ball (why do they always get a lousy ball?). He makes the announcement that we are to run the opposite diagonal because the fields are getting beat up. Oh boy! If you've never done this, I cannot express how confusing it is.
I've only run the reverse diagonal (running toward the right-side corner flag, with your leading AR on your left) for a 1/2 game, about a year ago. I got to run it for 2 complete U-17 boys games on Saturday and I was the AR for 3 more games. It's amazing to me how something so simple can screw up a perfectly good referee. For the first 1/2 of both games, I felt really uncomfortable and had a hard time finding good positioning. I got hit by the ball no less than 3 times in 2 games. I finally figured out I was lagging too far behind play and not getting wide enough. I felt out of place all day, even though I greatly improved in the 2nd half of both games.
I was not the only one. My colleagues seem to be struggling a bit as well.
As an AR, it's still awkward. It's odd sprinting down the field, looking right to see the offside line! Try signaling offside with your left hand. It just doesn't feel right! Next time you have a lower level game, run the opposite diagonal to see what it's like.
What is your definition of abusive or insulting language? We had a game in which one of the coaches started in on the officials within the first few minutes of the game. They were not particularly abusive, but I would call the action dissent. I was the team-side AR on the game. I asked the coach at least 2 times to stop with the questioning. At one point, when I was down by the corner flag, I saw the coach engage in a heated debate with the opposing coach. I sprinted down the line and got in front of him. I gave him the "Coach, I have had enough. Stop now." He apologized and I walked away. As I'm walking away, he yells at my back that the other team is "a bunch of cheats." In my little world, calling anyone in a soccer game a cheat is abusive. Soccer has a tradition of sporting conduct, and calling anyone a cheat is at least insulting. I immediately called the referee over and told him what happened. He tells me to give the team one more chance. Doh!
Guess what? At the end of the game, we had a mass confrontation because this same coach was mouthing off to the opposing team's players! Just a reminder, when your AR tells you a coach has to go, they are probably right.
So what do you do if you have a tree hanging over the field and the ball hits it? We had just this situation on our field. Hint: It's not a dropped ball situation. I found this in "Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game":

(c) Pre-existing conditions
These are things on or above the field which are not described in Law 1 but are deemed safe and not generally subject to movement. These include trees overhanging the field, wires running above the field, and covers on sprinkling or draining systems. They do not affect one team more adversely than the other and are considered to be a part of the field. If the ball leaves the field after contact with any item considered under the local ground rules of the field to be a pre-existing condition, the restart is in accordance with the Law, based on which team last played the ball. (Check with the competition for any local ground rules.)
Note: The difference between non-regulation appurtenances and pre-existing conditions is that, if the ball makes contact with something like uprights or crossbar superstructure, it is ruled out of play even if the contact results in the ball remaining on the field. Where there is a pre-existing condition (such as an overhanging tree limb), the ball remains in play even if there is contact, as long as the ball itself remains on the field. Referees must be fully aware of and enforce any rules of the competition authority or field owner regarding non-regulation appurtenances.

Yes, this surprised me too. I think the best practice here is to remind the teams ahead of time how this is going to be handled. I never thought I'd actually see this situation, but upon observing the other fields, I noticed there were 2 or 3 fields with trees overhanging one goal area and 1 field with a tree near halfway.

Futsal Is Not Ready For Me

2009-11-18T08:59:00.000-05:00

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

2009-11-16T13:15:00.001-05:00

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

2009-10-26T09:15:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-19T08:05:00.000-04:00

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

2009-10-05T08:09:00.000-04:00

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

2009-09-21T08:20:00.002-04:00

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

2009-09-08T07:26:00.007-04:00

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!

Oh, This is Going to Hurt

2009-09-01T09:57:00.004-04:00

Hello again!
I've been off for some time. The effort I put out in the Spring sort of burned me out a little, so I've stayed off the pitch for most of the summer. I'm back now and I'm refreshed.
This coming weekend, I'll be working a large Labor Day weekend tournament. I just received my assignments and my schedule falls into the "be careful what you wish for" category. The good news is I'm on one of the fields with the high-level teams. The assignor for this tournament is familiar with me and he knows I've been working quality games lately. The field is turf too, so it should be a little easier on the legs. The bad news is my first game is 7:45am and my last game is...7:45pm. Ouch. We do have a break in there for dinner, but it is a very long day. I'll probably end up working about 7 games on Saturday and another 7 on Sunday.
That said, I'm still looking forward to working!

New US Soccer Website

2009-08-07T09:23:00.002-04:00

The US Soccer Federation has launched a new website. It looks pretty nice, but there's a good chance I have some broken links in my blog, so let me apologize for those in advance. If you find any, please send me email.
There are some improvements. It's easier to get to some of the "more traveled" materials for referees. Here are just a couple links of interest:

Week in Review

Referee Directives

Position Papers

Check out the new site and see what you think!

Thunder and Lightning - Time for a New Gadget

2009-06-19T09:35:00.009-04:00

Bad Weather

I was an AR on a game this past weekend where we had a small storm blow through. We saw it coming toward us and, as is normal for this area, we were on alert for any lightning. Seeing none, we played through. The rain started and got fairly heavy a few times. At the start of the 2nd half, the rain had let up some. 10-15 minutes into the 2nd half, the rain started up again. At one point, a parent told me she saw lightning. I pointed it out to the official doing the game. He asked the other AR as well as both coaches if they had seen it. They said "no," so he continued with the game. We actually heard thunder a few times, off in the distance.

USSF Policy

I'll point out right away, before you send me a scathing email, that we should have discontinued the game as soon as we heard thunder. That was in the back of my mind, but I confirmed it when I got home and re-read the USSF position paper on bad weather. There it is, in black and white:

If you can't see the lightning, just hearing the thunder is a good
back-up rule.

Review this paper if you have not seen it before. It's an important safety rule.

Time for a Gadget

Having realized that I come across severe weather on a regular basis and taking notice of the mention of "lightning detection" equipment in the USSF paper, I decided to do a little searching around and see what these nifty devices might cost someone.

I found there are a bunch of devices available, costing from many thousands of dollars, down to less than $100. Being the "gadget guy" that I am, I decided to give one a try.
I purchased a StrikeAlert Personal Lightning Detector. It cost me about $75, including shipping.

Preliminary Testing

As soon as the device arrived, I unpacked it and read through the instructions. It is very simple to use. You turn it on by either pressing and releasing the power button (silent mode), or holding the power button until the device beeps.

All you have to do is carry it around. It's quite light and has a clip on the back. I haven't tried it yet, but I can see keeping it in a back pocket or giving it to one of your AR's. If it senses a lightning strike, the device beeps (if it is in "beep" mode) and lights a lamp indicating the distance from the lightning strike. There are four ranges on the device. The two most distant have amber lights while the two closer ranges have red lights.

Since we've had a ton of storms blowing through my area, I've had a couple of chances to try it out. I can't yet say that it definitely works, but I can say it's doing something. Last night, I decided to go for a run. I took this gadget as it looked like it was going to rain very soon. Sure enough, I hadn't even gone a mile when the skys opened up. At about 1.5 miles, I heard two beeps, indicating lightning at 12-24 miles. Later on, I heard 3 beeps, indicating lightning at 6-12 miles. I never heard thunder or actuallly saw the lightning, but I will say lightning indications corresponded with an increase in wind and rain. The storm was clearly getting closer.

My preliminary testing says this thing might actually work. That said, would I clear a field based solely on these results? Not likely. I need more testing. I'll post more once I get a chance to test it with visibile lightning.

More (Girls) National Championship Series

2009-05-04T08:02:00.004-04:00

This past weekend, I attended my 2nd weekend of the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series here in my state. This weekend, it was the girl's chance in their quarter final match ups.
I was assigned to be the senior AR on 2 U-18 games. In our state, the quarter final games are played at a central location. It happens to be a local college campus. The U-17 and U-18 games are played on the school's turf fields, while the younger girls play on the campus grass fields. That became an important distinction this weekend. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it felt like an honor to be selected for the U-18 games.
The other AR was one of the guys that assisted me in my, well, difficult game last weekend. The two officials selected to rotate between the middle and the 4th spot were both female referees. I have worked with one previously, but was unfamiliar with the other.
When you get to a level where you are being assigned to college stadiums with turf fields, you might think you don't have to do the basics like thoroughly check the field. On the contrary, these responsibilities never go away. We found several issues with the facilities that we had to resolve before the game. Placement of corner flags is always sketchy. Make sure they are right. In our case, the nets were not clipped on the goalposts in every spot, so we had to take care of that. Also, check for items (practice goals) that might be located a little too close to the touch line for safety. Stadiums tend to have lots of barrier fences. Always get more than 1 game ball. At least 3 is best to avoid awkward delays in the game.
Weather conditions were not ideal for the players and officials alike. It was a cool, rainy day. The first game of the day was between two very good teams. You would expect that given that we are now in the quarter final round, but that really hasn't been the case with my state's tournament. In fact, quite a few of the games at the boy's quarter finals were a bit lopsided.
The official in the middle called a quality game and everything went off without much in the way of issues. The rain wasn't a real big problem, just annoying. Turf fields have their downsides, but all-weather play is not one of them!
We had a two hour break between games. The stadium is about a 1/2 mile from the grass fields, so we just sat in our cars to occupy our time. During the break, the rain really picked up. We found out later that the grass field games had been canceled for the day. The rain was unrelenting.
We headed back to the stadium about 45 minutes before the start of our 2nd game. I was looking forward to seeing the official for this game work as I had heard she was really good. In conversation, I discovered she was really young. In fact, she was the same age as most of the players, although she looked a few years older to me. It turns out, she is a really good official! I was completely impressed by her ability. The game was not all that challenging, but she clearly knows what she is doing. She's going to move up quickly. I'd really like to see her in a more challenging game.
We had an interesting observation with our 2nd game. Given the rain, we had to hunt for our teams a bit. One was hiding in the covered entry area of the stadium. We checked them in right there. The other team was found in the parking garage adjacent to the stadium. 35 minutes before the game, they did not yet have their player passes! The manager was "on his way" with the passes. He arrived about 10 minutes before a National Championship Series game. I don't get that. The rules of the competition are clear. No pass=no play. Was this some sort of gamesmanship? If so, I can't figure it out. I suspect it was just very poor planning.
As I mentioned previously, this game turned out to be quite one-sided. The team with the late arriving passes was very good. They moved the ball exceptionally well. The other team was out played from the start. In fact, I would estimate 85% of the game was played in their end of the field. The only thing that kept that game close was their goalkeeper making some great saves!
From an officiating viewpoint, the conditions were tough. The rain was incessant. We were soaked the moment we took off our warm-ups. The rain didn't stop for an instant the entire game. Fortunately, the temperature was just high enough that we were not terribly cold. Between the weather and the one-sided aspect of the game, one had to really concentrate on the game and keep the mind from wandering. Most of the game was played in front of me in the 1st half. The 2nd half had me leave my position at halfway maybe 5 times!
That's the end of the quarter finals. I have to wait and see if I'll be assigned at the semi's and finals. I believe I'll get something for semi's as I've made it known I still want my assessment done. We'll see.

More (Boys) National Championship Series

2009-04-29T07:34:00.007-04:00

It occurred to me over the last day or so that I really didn't pass on anything constructive about my first state cup experience, and I have to apologize for that. My stated purpose for this blog is to try and pass on things I experience and learn, so I'm going to make good on that.

Importance of Pre-Game

How often do you deliver any kind of pre-game talk when you are the referee? I suspect many of you give the 30-second, "stay on your offside line, don't let me screw-up" talk. I'm referring to a real thorough pre-game discussion. For an example, check out the pre-game article on AsktheRef.com.
My pre-game talk is far from perfect. Here are just a few of the things I talk about:

Make eye contact all the time
Don't worry about "my area/your area." Make calls based on who had a better view.
Watch the players behind my back.
You may come on the field and set up ceremonial restarts.
What do we know about these teams?
Let's review the competition rules

In my opinion, the foundation to being a quality referee is to take seriously your obligation to know the Laws of the Game inside and out, backwards and forwards. You cannot be a good official without knowing the laws. Implied in that opinion is knowing the rules peculiar to whatever competition authority you find yourself working under. For example, if you go to a tournament, and they only want substitutions on goal kicks that occur in even numbered minutes, so be it (Before you ask, I have not come across anything that bizarre). You know the rules and you follow them, or you should not work the competition.
For my first state cup game as the referee, I had AR's that I did not know. My 4th official was a guy I have worked with at USSF Development Academy games. I noticed during my pre-game that he seemed more interested in the game on the next field over than what I had to say about our impending game. I politely asked him a few times to focus on me. I reviewed all the things above and more. During the game, he tried to get me to substitute players on the opposing teams throw-in, which is directly against competition rules. In hindsight, I should have absolutely insisted he pay attention to what I was saying before the game. You must assert yourself in these situations, even if the team member is more experienced than you.
If you read my previous post, you know my game didn't go as well as I had hoped. I take some of the blame for that. I probably could have clamped down on some of the more minor stuff. As one of my colleagues pointed out in his comments, perhaps I was taking too many risks for the sake of game flow. Check out the Game Management Model 2009 directive from the USSF if you don't know what I'm referring to. The more I think about it, my demeanor changed as the stress level of the game rose. I think the game would have gone much better had I talked to the players more often. In addition to more frequent talks, my tone should have been more "I need your help with this" than "You need to change your behavior now." Things go much better if you are the coolest head on the field.
I can't stress enough the direct relationship between your fitness and the quality of your game. I believe my fitness to be very good relative to other referees doing the same types of games as me. Even with my fitness level, I was struggling in parts of the game to be as close to play as I really wanted. It was a very hot day (93° F) and this takes it's toll on you. You must work on your fitness if you want to do better games. I try to run 3-5 miles at least twice a week. I'll often do it 4 times a week. Occasionally, I'll go to the track and do intervals to maintain my speed.

Fourth Official

Being the fourth official was interesting. It is not something, as youth soccer referees, we get to do very often. As the referee, having a quality fourth official is invaluable as it takes much of the "noise" off your shoulders and allows you to concentrate on the game. The responsibilities of the fourth official are outlines clearly in the USSF's "Guidelines to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials." If you don't have this publication, buy it. Once a year, review the book. Pay special attention to the items that refer to the fourth as you never know when you might get to do this.
It was an interesting experience because I got to observe the game without the direct responsibility of making any calls. I don't want to give you the impression that I was sitting in a chair, sipping a cool drink. It's not like that. You must pay strict attention to the game as the referee needs to know what you saw in the even of an incident. This position is also an exercise in man management when team staff gets a little worked up. You must learn to be calming, yet assertive at the same time. You must also be clear with your instructions to the players. As they come up to half way, I immediately walk to them, ask them to tuck in their jersey, observe their shin guards and lack of jewelry and indicate where I'd like them to stand while I wait for the next opportunity to get them in. Most of all, do not let them go on the field until their teammate comes off. This is the law and you must follow it. For more on managing the technical area, check out the 2009 directive, "Managing the Technical Area."

Interesting, but Disappointing

2009-04-27T07:43:00.004-04:00

Normally, I don't write entries that have a negative feel to them, but I will have a hard time hiding my disappointment in this posting.
I attended our National Championship Series quarter finals yesterday. I was assigned the middle for one of the games and asked for my upgrade assessment. I attended a mandatory meeting last week. I researched the teams I knew I was getting and even went through some of the new sections in "Advice" publication. I put in quite a bit of time to be sure I was ready for my game. I went to the fields the night before to make sure I knew where they were located. I arrived at the field the day of the game several hours early so I could watch the previous game. All of this was done to properly prepared for my assessment...which didn't happen. Apparently, someone failed to ask assessors to come to the games in time for them to be available, so none were there. I don't really understand that. I assume state cup games are scheduled many months in advance. My next two weekends, I only have lines, no middles. I spoke with one of the committee guys and tried to express my disappointment. He said he'd get me a game for the semi-finals. We'll see. For those of you that have gone to these types of tournaments, does this sound a little unusual?
To make it worse, my game was...well...trying. The summary is this: 3 cautions, 2 send-offs. Yeah. The first half went really well. 9 minutes into the second half, there was a tackle right in front of me. By my view, the player with the ball fell and landed on the ball. The defender was standing over him. As the attacker was getting up, the defender stomped on his thigh. In my view, this was a clear send off. In hindsight, I probably should have stopped play immediately, but as I mentioned, the attacker was getting up. Anyway, that was the catalyst for the game to go down hill. The team with the send-off was generally getting outplayed to begin with and them playing a man down tipped the scales. After that, it was nothing but dissent and debate.
In fact, I had spoken to one of their players about his constant comments at least 2 times. Late in the 2nd half, he was taking the ball into the opponents half when he was fouled. As we stopped play, he shoved the defender. I cautioned him for it and he proceeded to call me...something not very nice. That was the 2nd send off.
It was a tough game. The feedback I received from the others was maybe I was not clamping down on the small stuff and that caused the violent conduct send-off. I accept that maybe I should have been a little tighter, but I will not accept that I am somehow responsible for a players actions. I didn't make him stomp on that player's leg.
It was a tough weekend and I'm disappointed and a bit disillusioned. I feel like I could have done a better game, and I really feel like I'm going to have a tough time getting this upgrade assessment.
Let me know if you have had similar circumstances.

Invitations

2009-04-07T15:53:00.005-04:00

I'm very excited to say I've received invitations to not one, but two important tournaments! The first to arrive is an invitation to work state cup and the 2^nd is an invitation to work the Region 1 ODP tournament.
At first, I thought my attendance at the recent upgrade class put me on the list for state cup, but I found out later my league assignor recommended me to the committee. The invitation makes it clear that it does not mean you'll get a game. I'm going to accept and see what happens. The invitation does ask that you indicate your need for an upgrade assessment, so perhaps I'll get a middle in a quarter final game to satisfy my assessment requirement.
I can only assume my upgrade class attendance did get me on the radar for the Region 1 tournament. Although I don't know much about it, I'm really looking forward to that one as well. There are a couple of pre-match meetings involved and we are representing our state, so it's an important tournament. As always, I will be doing my best both on, and off, the field.
Both tournaments are a great opportunity to work high-level games with very skilled referees. It is a bonus if my attendance at either event results in a positive assessment that finishes my upgrade process. Even if that doesn't happen, I expect to gain a great deal of experience just by attending and observing the other officials. I'm really excited about both events and I'm sure I'll have quite a bit to write about after they occur.

Putting Together My To-do List

2009-04-05T09:41:00.004-04:00

I had my first U-19 boys league game yesterday. The teams were not playing in one of the highest divisions, but sometimes, it's the lower ranked teams that can be more problematic.
In general terms, the game was not particularly challenging. Red only had 1 or 2 available subs and black had none. It was a very, very windy day, so it was going to be tough for the teams to put together more than a couple of passes and I suspected their play might be a little slower than normal, given the lack of bench relief. Most of the tackles in the first half, and for much of the 2^nd half, were clean. In fact, very few were even close to foul play. That said, there were some things that should have grabbed my attention. For example, one player on black was playing quite aggressively. For the most part, his play was trifling at worst. I used my best man-management skills in talking to him once or twice to let him know I was watching and he needed to dial his play back some. In hind sight, I should have been calling more of his play foul, and probably could (should?) have cautioned him for persistent infringement.
The only incident in the game, which I probably could have avoided, was a bit of a mass confrontation in added time of the 2^nd half. The rough player mentioned above came in hard on a red player, charging him off the ball. I was maybe 15 yards away. Red responded with a hard push to the back. I blew the whistle and made my presence immediately known by coming to the spot and commanding players to separate immediately. I cautioned the red player for the push to the back, but failed to caution black. Again, in hindsight, I failed in this regard.
The positive result of this match is I've identified the areas I need to concentrate on in preparation for being assessed. I need to work on foul recognition. I think I need to start cautioning earlier, or set the bar a little lower for what I think qualifies as a caution and I need to pay much closer attention to who did what in a mass confrontation situation. If you have suggestions for ways to improve in these areas, let me know. For now, I have my to-do list and I need to start checking these items off.

Upgrade Class

2009-03-28T19:44:00.008-04:00

I attended my grade 7 upgrade class today. I'll get all the drama out of the way: I passed both the written and fitness tests!

On the fitness test, I managed 1.61 miles in the 12 minute run (otherwise known as a Cooper Test), 33 seconds in the 200 meter and around 8 seconds in the 50 meter. I was pleased with those times. The requirements for my age, for this upgrade, were 2000 meters on the Cooper test, 40 seconds in the 200 meter and 9 seconds in the 50 meter. For those of you interested, you can find this information in the Referee Administrative Handbook, available from US Soccer.
I was really surprised by the number of guys I saw struggling in the fitness test. There were about 25 of us in the class. As I was going around the track, I noticed about 5 guys that I was pretty sure were not going to make it. I have no idea what their finishing distance was, but I'd be really surprised if they didn't have to retake the test. I find that kind of surprising because, if you know are interested in an upgrade, and you know there is a fitness test, why would you not adequately prepare for it? More importantly, an upgrade implies you want to do higher level games. Fitness counts a great deal as you move up.

I was very pleased with my results on the written test. I scored a 99%. I misread the only question I got wrong (duh!), otherwise, I could have had that elusive 100%, but in the big scheme of things, I'm OK with that. It was an incredibly stupid mistake, but I'm happy I passed. Unfortunately, one of the guys I have worked with did not pass. In listening to him talk about what went wrong, it became obvious to me that, while a seemingly knowledgeable referee, he has not read/studied the law book in a long time. In fact, after the test, during a break, I was looking something up in my copy of "Advice to Referees" and he asked me where I had found that book! Again, like I mentioned above in regard to the fitness test, if you are interested in upgrading you must do everything you can to prepare. Getting past re-certification is not enough.
Perhaps the information I keep referring to is not obviously found on the US Soccer site. There is a Referee section in the US Soccer Store. In that section, you will find various publications. I strongly encourage each and every one of you to buy the following:

Laws of the Game
Referee Administrative Handbook
Guide to Procedures
Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game

You should absolutely have all of these publications. You should read and re-read each of them. You should have them in your bag at all times. Trust me, you will be a much better referee because of your effort.
Going back to the upgrade class, we went over several of the 2009 Directives. In particular, we spent time on "Contact Above the Shoulder" and "100% Misconduct: Tactical and Red Card Tackles." We went through an exercise were we watched video clips and had to indicate on a worksheet foul/no foul and the type of misconduct, if any. I did really well no the foul/no foul section, but apparently I need some work on misconduct identification. For the most part, I'm too lenient, but it some examples I was too harsh. I have to concentrate more on improving my skill in this area.
We received a really good presentation on the directive for "Free Kick and Restart Management." I can see why emphasis has been placed on this topic. How many times have you seen a player conveniently tie their shoe in front of a ball during a free kick? I love that one. In my game, that one doesn't even get a warning. That is an instant caution. Be sure to review all of the 2009 directives. There is good information in these documents that will help you on the field.
Here's a good tip I picked up during this discussion. When you go to a ceremonial restart, you are to tell the kicker to wait for the whistle. You hold your whistle up, and point to it while saying the words. We were warned to hold the whistle at eye level and never above. Why? Because holding it over your head could cause observers to think you are indicated an indirect free kick! That would not be good, so be careful with your "wait for the whistle" mechanics.
Now I have to prepare for assessment. The day after the class, my assignor (who is trying to help me prepare) gave me a U-19 boys game, along with two fine ARs. After completing our 2 preliminary games, we got together on the side of the field. I gave them my best pre-game, which they thought was pretty good. I checked in the first team and then, while walking over to the other team, I noticed really ominous storm clouds. Uh oh. Sure enough, just as the other coach got done passing out the player passes, we saw lightning. We went into "clear the field, 30 minutes" mode immediately. You guessed it by now: We never started the game. We even had a little hail within the 30 minute wait period. I hope this is not a fore-shadowing of my upgrade process. I have another U-19 boys game scheduled for next weekend, so we'll see how that goes. I think I may ask for the assessment in April. If anyone has good assessment tips, please leave a comment and let me know.

Score Sports Referee Wallet

2009-03-19T08:00:00.003-04:00

For a while now, I've been looking for a data wallet that is a step up in quality from the wallets that most of us use. You know the one I'm talking about. They are made of very thin vinyl and last about a season before some of the little pockets separate from the wallet itself.
I stumbled onto a pretty nice referee data wallet on the Score Sports website. Score Sports is a maker of various sports equipment and has an extensive line of soccer uniforms, equipment and even referee uniforms if you don't want to use the recommended supplier.
The data wallet (product number 773) is made of black nylon and has gray trim. The wallet has internal stiffeners that make writing on it much easier than the typical vinyl variety. The wallet is designed with a pocket on front and back to hold your misconduct cards. When you open the wallet, you'll notice the clear vinyl sleeves used to hold your game card from moving around. A magnetic closure keeps the game card from coming out and keeps the wallet closed in your pocket. The magnet is strong enough to hold a flipping coin against the side of the wallet. The quality of the material suggests this wallet will last a very long time.
The product is designed a little bigger than your normal vinyl wallet. At first, I thought it would be annoying to have this in my pocket, but in all honesty, I didn't really notice it at all. It's a little heavier than the vinyl variety as well, but it was not a problem for me. The quality of the writing surface made up for any negatives.
Here's the best part: It can be had for under $3. Unfortunately, Score charges (for me) almost $12 for shipping. I think they are in CA, so my shipping cost is probably the worst case scenario. I ordered a couple of them for friends of mine since the shipping was the same. If you are looking for a quality wallet, this might be the end of your search.

Weekend of Soccer - Part 2

2009-03-15T17:22:00.010-04:00

More Learning at the US Development Academy Games

On Sunday, I worked two more US Development Academy games. At the risk of repeating myself, this is some good soccer!
The crew for this weekend was an interesting contrast to other weekends. The highest rank official is a grade 6 (State Referee) and the other is a 7. Both are much younger than me. On past weekends, the officials were of the same grade, but typically around the same age or a little older. For the record, I'm in my early 40's.
Typically, development academy games consist of two games on the same day. The teams are from the same club. The first game is U-16 and the second is U-18. In my area, they are played on our finest local college fields, both of which happen to be artificial turf stadiums. So far, I've been the lowest graded official and assigned to the AR-2 spot every weekend.
I made an interesting observation. While the 7 was very put together, I noticed the highest grade referee had some, well, anomalies in his uniform. He was wearing unapproved socks and a short sleeve jersey with a long sleeve base layer that didn't quite match the color of the jersey. Even the shorts where a little questionable. I was quite shocked by this as I've heard the acceptable uniform list emphasized over and over again. It was a disappointing observation. It just goes to show you that referee grade is not always the best indicator of quality.
The games went OK, although there was some notable problems. In the first game (U-16), I would say the young guy did pretty well, with maybe 2 exceptions. Early in the game, there was a "one to beat" situation. The attacker got fouled from behind about 3 yards outside the penalty area. He had one defender still in front of him, but he was heading toward goal. Personally, I though it was denying a goal scoring opportunity. I think the middle thought so after the fact. We talked a little about it at the half. After the game, I heard him talking to a guy that had come out of the stands. This guy must have been another referee as I heard him ask "What did you see on that play..." Late in the game, there was some controversy over a defender handling the ball in the penalty area. The defender and attacker fell together just outside the goal area. Their backs were to me, so I saw nothing. The middle was on top of the play. He said there was contact with the ball, but he saw it as ball-to-hand, not the other way around. The attacking team's coach really ripped him over it and kept at him after the game. At one point, the coaches wandered away for awhile. They came back a few minutes later and started on him again. Foolishly, I stepped in the middle (it was obvious the young guy was getting tired of it) and just said words to the effect of "You've had your say. He's explained his opinion. Nothing else needs to be said so let it go." It didn't go over well, but I'm not going to stand there and watch a coach dig into a colleague.
I felt really good about my performance. Given my age and experience level, I feel like I put in a top notch AR performance. I'm always on my offside line. I stay with the players even at full speed. I never take my eyes off the field. At this level, you will often get outbursts from the players. You must have thick skin and avoid flaming any emotional fires by choosing your response, if any, carefully. The players will often challenge you with statements like "Who kept them onside ref?" You have to have an answer like "#5 and #3." Sometimes saying nothing at all is better.
The 2nd game was challenging in quite a few ways. First, the official that did the middle in the first game asked me to take the senior AR spot. He had had enough from the coaches from the first game and needed a break from the berating. I was glad for the opportunity to take a shot at the team side of the field. These games have limited substitutions so there is some work to do over there. You are truly doing both the AR job and the 4th official job.
Being a U-18 game, play is quite physical. This is were reading the players becomes important. For the most part, the players were not complaining in the 1st half of the game. However, the coach of the team right behind me...was. Every time two players came together on the field, this guy was bending my ear. I largely ignored his comments other than a few "I understand coach" type replies. As the half wore own however, the game became an example of why some of the trifling stuff matters. The game was getting increasing physical. Player frustration was starting to be demonstrated. The emotion of the game was rising.
In the 2nd half, things started tense right away. Contributing to the temperature rise, the referee had some hard tackles pretty close to him that perhaps could have been called fouls. Things were getting a little ugly. At one point, I made an offside call that was close, but definitely correct. I was in my correct position during fast moving play. The forward receiving the infraction had an outburst, directed at me, that involved some profanity. The middle said nothing. I found that quite disturbing because, even if you don't see this as dissent (I did), you must make a show of having a stern talking to the player starting with the phrase "My assistant is completely off limits..."
In hindsight, the middle should have started to notice the rising emotion and started to clamp down on physical contact and some dissent. I think that would have gone a long way to controlling things. Instead, his management of the game stayed on course. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't completely appropriate for this particular game.
As tense as this game was, there was some good news. The representative from the federation took me aside and commended me on a job well done in both games. Although he's not there specifically for the referees, he does make overall game comments, which can include performance of the officials. He made a point to tell me the federation would be made aware of my performance. That made me feel pretty good, especially as I enter my grade 7 upgrade effort.
Fortunately, the game ended without any serious incident, but you could feel the pressure on the field during play. I can see how games at this level and age can blow up in your face if you aren't paying attention to the overall player temperature.

Weekend of Soccer - Part 1

2009-03-15T16:43:00.005-04:00

A Day at the Girls Tournament

I spent Saturday this weekend at a local tournament. This was the weekend for the girls. As some long time readers know, I tend to favor the girls game somewhat. In my opinion, the female players focus on playing the game, not on going after each other or yelling at me. Of course, there are exceptions to that rule...and I found 2 teams that define that exception.

The day started out well. Our schedule started with the U-13's and 14's for the first half of the day, then we went to the 16's and 18's. In total, we had 8 games and 4 referees, so I ended up doing 6 games with 2 in the middle.

As I get more experience, and move closer to upgrading, I find I'm far more confident in the middle, especially with the younger ages. Much of that confidence comes from really knowing the Laws of the Game. If you want to be a better referee, know the Laws backwards and forwards! Anyway, my first game in the middle went very well. I felt like I had total control and that we did a really good job. The players got a completely fair, well officiated game, and that's what it's all about.

During one of the games I was an AR, we had an incident that really illustrates how important it is to constantly make eye contact with one another. In the afternoon, we had the U-18's. The game was a well played game with some rough contact being had by both teams. Generally, there was nothing terrible, just aggresive challenges. There was a challenge for a ball around halfway on my side of the field, right in front of the parents. The attacker was facing her own goal, waiting for a ball to come down. A defender came in from the side and slightly behind, challenging for the same header. The defender jumped into the attack quite aggressively and knocked the attacker down. My view was of the back of both players and I put the flag up right away. The ball went out of touch on the play, but the middle did whistle the foul. The parents went nuts! The attacking players went nuts! The challenge was pretty rough. Unfortunately, at that moment he chose to engage the parents in debate, not seeing me pat my pocket like a wild man trying to get him to issue the caution. We talked later and he admitted to being distracted by the parents. Try to remember in your games that the parents really are inconsequential. You are there for the players and the players only!

Later that day, I had my 2nd middle. It started out as a really well played U-16 game. It was physical but not overly so. The white team went up pretty quickly, 2-0. Frustration was brewing on the blue side. I was getting some dissent, resulting in one caution in the first half.

Because the game was physical, I made an extra effort to always be close to play and to make sure my view on the play was good. I think the biggest problem that started to develop was the parents were getting into it. I've noticed that parents of female players seem to be more sensitive to physical play, even though the players seem fine with it. Toward the end of the 1st half, there is a challenge around halfway, just inside the touch line on the parents side. A defender slid in on an attacker, getting the ball with one foot and the defender with the other. The ball goes out of play, but I whistle for the foul from 10 feet away. The parents go absolutely crazy. One guy in particular is really giving it to me. I'm not sure what was going on there. Like I said, the game was tough, but not out of control. He was ridiculous enough that I told him to leave and made it clear that we were not restarting until he did. Now, I'm well aware that referees really don't have authority over spectators, but the parents don't really know that so off he went. I think the parents got my none too subtle message.

At half time, both of my AR's stressed that I was doing a very good game. Their thoughts were it was just two emotional teams, playing a tough game.

In the 2nd half, blue starting clawing there way back. It was a constant struggle back and forth with every call resulting in moaning. Again, I can't stress enough how you must be keeping up with play to sell your calls in games like this. Eventually, blue goes up 3-2. White ended up getting booked twice in the 2nd half. Both times were reckless challenges, resulting in cautions for unsporting behavior. I'm sure much of it was frustration with getting beat.

Naturally, the game ended with controversy. With about 1:30 left, blue put a through ball in on white's goalkeeper. The blue attacker chased it in and I knew a collision was likely. The keeper kneeled down and covered the ball with the attacker about 3 feet away. She tried to pull up, but ended up falling over the balled-up keeper. This was not a foul but merely two players challenging for the same ball. The keeper got injured (slightly) so I called the coach out immediately. Wow, did I get some emotional outbursts from the 'keeper's team mates. Time was running out while the coached tended to the player. The tournament rules did not allow for added time. Since they were down by 1, they were not happy.

On a positive note, one of the dissenters during the game apologized right afterward. She came over and shook my hand and said she was sorry for giving me a hard time. I told her to forget about it. It's all good. Interestingly enough, the coaches never got involved. The emotional stuff came strictly from the players.

I guess if I can pass anything on from this experience, it would be a couple of things. First, try to ignore parents as best you can. If they become a problem, deal with them unemotionally and quickly. Second, be on top of play. It sells calls and helps with outbursts. If you are having trouble with this, improve your fitness. Finally, when you feel like you are getting stressed from the emotion going on around you, do whatever you have to do to calm yourself. If you are calm and confident in your abilities, you will control the situation and have a better game.

Friendly Weekend

2009-03-09T08:05:00.004-04:00

I was asked to work a local club's friendly tournament. It wasn't a tournament from the standpoint of the teams paying a lot of money and having a large number of teams at a big facility. No, this was a local club that asked 8 teams to come together, throw enough money together to have referees and play a bunch of full-time scrimmages to get ready for the upcoming season. Knowing that I'm looking to be assessed this season, my assignor was nice enough to ask me to work one of the two fields while he was on the other.
This turned out to be a great way to start the season. Before these games, I didn't have any recent opportunities to be in the middle for anything above U-12. I've been doing US Soccer Development Academy games, but I'm always the 2nd AR on those games. I did a youth tournament a week ago, but they were all U-11 and U-12 games. So these games allowed me to knock some of the rust off and get a great work out in the process as we worked without assistants. I haven't done that in a long time!
Give that these were "friendlies", the atmosphere was pleasant. I really didn't have any issues to speak of, except for one sarcastic coach, but she was easily ignored. It was a great chance to concentrate on positioning and tuning up the eyes to follow the action. I was pretty tired after 4 games, but I'm happy to have been out on the field. For being friendly games, the players really made an effort on the field. Much of the action was exciting!
As the day went on, my assignor offered some good tips for my anticipated assessment. He pointed out that I should make sure the referee crew is not wearing the same color as either team, or either goalkeeper. I have to admit, I would not have thought much about the goalkeepers. He suggested that I make sure my uniform is perfect and that I'm not wearing anything not deemed acceptable by US Soccer (which I never do anyway). Also, he suggested I wear two watches. I've never done this because I usually work with assistants and at least 1 is backing me up on time. This was told to him once and he felt it was important for an assessment game. These are great tips and they really got me thinking about things that might be imporant in an assessment. It's good to have someone in your corner that wants to help you out.

Referee Summit

2009-02-26T07:42:00.003-05:00

I had an interesting experience a few nights ago. A few of the assignors for the youth league that I often work decided to have a referee meeting at a local meeting hall. Attendance was optional, but I'm always looking for opportunities to learn so I went. There were 3 assignors involved. One is the assignor I normally work through. Another is a guy that I previously worked for and know pretty well as I work a large youth tournament through him and my youngest son gets his games through him. I have also worked for the third assignor. Recently, I became aware that this third assignor is recognized by the league as a "regional assignor," which apparently means the first two guys loosely report to him.
I've never been to a meeting like this, so it was pretty interesting. The agenda was designed such that all three assignors spoke about a few topics. League representatives were also present to talk a little about the kinds of things that happen behind the scenes related to referees.
The first speaker talked generally about how to get assigned to games. I've described the league's assignment process in other posts, so I won't repeat it here. However, he made some really good points about some things that a referee should consider. First, make every effort to never turn an assignment back. Once you get an assignment, do all you can to make sure you honor it. I don't think anything annoys assignors more than having to assign a game more than once. The speaker also made the point that the assignors consider many things when making assignments. They look at your age, experience level, past performance and physical fitness when deciding what games you'll be doing. Since they look at those things, you should be too! He also pointed out something that I have often thought about: Realize that everything you do on the field is being watched and in some cases, recorded. If you do things that are outside of acceptable practices for your league and/or USSF, someone will report it. Examples might be running a 2-whistle, high school type, system in a USSF game or wearing an inappropriate uniform. This assignor also talked about the importance of doing a proper pre-game, including field inspection, player equipment and card checks etc. A point of emphasis was checking the anchoring of your goals, which cannot be emphasized enough. You must check the field, including the goals, before every game. He reminded us that we are required to be at the field at least 30 minutes before game time.
The second speaker talk about items that, perhaps, were targeted at newer officials. He reviewed all the points related to uniforms. I'm always surprised by this, but he pointed out that you really shouldn't be wearing things that are not part of the uniform. As an example, he said that he often sees the younger referees wearing a short-sleeve jersey with a "hoodie" sweatshirt underneath. This is really not acceptable. I would say most referees are making enough money to buy a long-sleeve uniform jersey and find some warm piece of clothing for underneath that will remain hidden. He showed the acceptable socks (there are 3 styles) as well as examples of appropriate shoes and not so appropriate shoes. Hopefully, this talk will have some effect on guys that show up to games looking unprofessional. If you are one of those officials, realize it just hurts the image of the entire crew and makes match control that much more difficult.
The third speaker was the assignor I typically use for league games. He spoke mostly about our administrative duties. Before the game, our league requires getting the game card from the home coach, collecting game fees and checking player passes. Note the emphasis on "Before the game." (You do collect your game fees before the games, right? You really don't want to ask for money after a controversial game.) He emphasized the need to hold the player passes for the duration of the game. In the event of a sending off, we retain the player pass and send it to the league. I wouldn't want to have to ask a coach for the pass after the game.
I was glad for the opportunity to get some face time with the various assignors in my league/area. As should be expected, these types of meetings often address issues with a small number of officials, but the issues cause problems for all of us. Many people might view the content of this meeting as somewhat of a waste of time, but I disagree. We all need to be reminded of the basics. After all, if we were all doing our job perfectly, there would be no need for these meetings in the first place.

More Great Games

2009-02-23T07:36:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, I worked another set of US Soccer Development Academy games. It seems these games are always scheduled in pairs. The clubs have 2 teams; one U-16 and one U-18. From what I gather, they play games within a pretty large area. In my case, the drive time radius for the teams can be up to 6 hours! If you are doing that, you are playing some serious soccer.
The first time I worked these games, I was the last guy at the field, so I made a point to show up earlier this week. It turns out it still wasn't early enough. I met up with the referee for the U-16 game. I was honest about being new to these games. It turns out he's a grade 8 as well, but he's been doing games for much longer than me. So I guess it's all about experience, not necessarily about your grade. Anyway, he pointed out that I should plan on getting to any US Soccer game at least 1 hour before game time. To be honest, I'm a little surprised that my assignor didn't send me a list of things to do for these games, but that just goes to show you that you are ultimately responsible for yourself. Since this referee was empathetic to my position, I was sure to ask him some other things that I was trying to figure out regarding administration of these games. Always use a willing resource when you find one!
Our third crew member, and also the referee for the U-18 game, was really late. I thought perhaps he had some other games going on, but I didn't hear him mention an excuse. I was a little disappointed by that as this is a State Referee. I guess I hold those guys in pretty high regard, given there grade. It turns out he's a really good referee. I learned quite a bit from watching him work. Both encounters show that the badge doesn't necessarily tell you everything about the referee.
For those of you that live in warm climates, I'm jealous. Wow, the weather was brutal for these games. The temperature was fluctuating in the mid-30's and there was a howling wind coming through the stadium. Not only that, but we had periodic showers and snow showers. Yes, we were in shorts. You don't do these games in warm-ups. Actually, you shouldn't be doing any games in warm-ups. You know it's cold when your teeth are chattering incessantly while you are running the line.
It's interesting to note that I felt far more comfortable this week than last. It seems that your brain needs a game or two to adjust to a higher level. I experienced that when I first started (doing short-side U-little games) as well as when I did my first couple of games at U-15 and above. This week, I didn't feel like I was barely keeping up with the game. I think I did a pretty good job. I was a little early on an offside flag, but I was still correct. I got all my directions right without getting "direction stupid." I even started talking to the players a little bit when they were in my area. You do talk to the players, right? I've noticed the referees at this level will often admonish the players when they are doing wrong, but not wrong enough for a whistle. You'll frequently hear things like "knock it off over there" or "hands down gentlemen!" I mentioned this in my last post, and I'll mention it again because I think it's important. As an AR, you can help the middle with things like "Red #5, get off his jersey!" It warns the player and let's the referee know where he should be looking.
I'd like to, once again, make a few comments about being a good Assistant Referee. Too many referees do not take the role or AR seriously enough. I've seen that, at the upper levels, a good AR is invaluable. Being a good AR doesn't just mean getting offside or ball out-of-play right. It's the little things like taking initiative and getting the game balls squared away for the referee. Making sure the referee has everything he needs while doing check-in (put a spare pencil in your pocket). Do you make sure your uniform is neat, clean and up to par before going to the field? That makes the crew look professional and garners respect. During the game, you must be on your offside line at all times. Coaches, and players, at the higher levels will call you on it if you're not. You must watch everything at once. You must pay attention to the other AR when the ball is away from your half so you can mimic his or her signals as necessary. You must watch the players when the referee is otherwise occupied (ie, talking to a specific player, dealing with substitution) so if something happens, you can report facts. Next time you are an assistant, try to think about all the ways you can make yourself useful to the referee. It is appreciated and only helps to build your reputation as a quality official.

Moving up in the World

2009-02-15T16:38:00.006-05:00

Upgrade Time

There has been lots of referee activity in the last couple of weeks. First, I got myself enrolled in the state's only grade 7 class for 2009. Every day, I would check the state committee website, waiting for the announcement of the class. As soon as I saw it, I contacted the youth referee administrator and reminded him that I really want to be in the class.

I had spoke with him directly at this year's re-certification, so he remembered me. He told me to send my game log to the committee and they would confirm my eligibility for the class. Some of you long time readers have probably noticed my tendency to document things. I have a nice, neat game log that I keep in a worksheet on my computer. It has columns for the date, time and location of the game. I record the teams, the score, any misconduct in the game, as well as the age level and gender of the players. Well, my record keeping paid off. I was able to send that game log right to the committee after the youth referee administrator asked me to do it. I received a reply the next day that I was indeed eligible and I could register. The registration opened up this weekend and I'm in. Even if you don't intend to upgrade, be sure you are keeping good track of your games. It could come in handy. Also, if you are interested in moving up, you need to be your own advocate and speak up. Tell any of the administrators in your state when you get the chance.

US Soccer Development Academy Games

In anticipation of upgrading, I contacted the local adult league assignor in hopes of getting a few games and maybe getting in the middle for a game to have my assessment. To upgrade from grade 8 to 7, you must be assessed. I didn't think I'd hear anything for some time, but much to my surprise, I was asked to work 2 US Soccer Development Academy games.

These are very high level games with U-17 and U-18 boys. Naturally, given my grade and experience, I'm the junior assistant on the games. The funny thing is, to accept the assignments, I had to get a login to the US Soccer game officials site! I didn't even know there was such a thing.

A few days after the first assignment email, I received 2 more. I now have 6 of these games scheduled. It seems these games are played on the finest fields available in the area. In my case, the games are on 2 college campus turf fields.

I worked the first two games today. Wow, these are big time. The first thing I noticed is one needs to arrive early to these games. I was there exactly 30 minutes before the game and both of the other referees were already there checking teams in. One of the guys on the crew is a State Referee (5).

There is a significant amount of paper work involved as these games are limited substitution and records must be kept in regard to what players came into the game and at what time.

I was very glad I had a bag full of new uniforms as it seemed important to the other guys that we match exactly. They took great care in looking and acting professionally. Many of you know how important I think those impressions are when working games. We even did the ceremonial procession to the middle of the field! It was pretty cool.

The games were tough. I've done quite a few U-17 games at tournaments, but these games were very fast and aggresive. You could not lose your concentration for a second. I suspect it will take a few games before my brain adjusts to the tempo. It felt like I was doing my first game all over again. Fitness is absolutely key. In order to stay on your offside line, you must really hustle. These guys can fly down the field, so game fitness is very important. Also, they are not afraid to open their mouths so you must be able to defend your calls with a quick explanation with details like "#12 kept the attacker onside" or "#4 touched the ball AFTER it crossed the goal line."

I got a really nice tip from the other guys on the crew. They suggested that I sternly talk to the players that were getting out of line, but not necessarily committing fouls. For example, they had me say things like "Blue #7, get your arms down!" That way, the middle could keep an eye on the situation and the players relized we are not push-overs and are paying attention. It worked pretty well.

It was truly a great day on the field. I learned some things. I worked with really high level guys and I took a significant step toward upgrading to grade 7.

Re-certification Topics

2008-12-14T18:58:00.009-05:00

I attended my re-certification class this weekend. To me, it's interesting to see what topics are discussed at the clinic as it indicates where the state committee is seeing problems. Compared to last year, this year's clinic was broad in its coverage of topics.
As is done every year, we reviewed changes in the LOTG. You should review the USSF memorandum and the memorandum supplement on changes right away.
There are significant language changes to Law 1, but let's face it, we don't get too worked up about the ball, other than it being inflated properly and in good condition, do we? It seems the changes in the LOTG are often more applicable to the professional game.
In the "Dealing with Injured Players" section, the USSF tells us, among other things, that we need to more quickly evaluate injured players and make the decision on stopping the game or not. We should not depend on teams to do this on their own. It bothers me when I see a referee, who is honestly trying to teach nuances of the game, insisting that a obviously confused team kick the ball into touch. This happens when a player is laying on the ground, injured in some way. My opinion is, if you think the team should kick the ball out, you think the player is seriously injured. In this case, you should stop the game immediately and go with the drop ball.
Check out the interesting comments about Law 5 in the memorandum supplement. It clarifies something that I've thought about on occasion. Many referees will not end a game while the ball is not in play. They wait until the ball is put into play, and then blow for the end. My philosophy is to stop the game when it is over, regardless of what is going on on the field. I had a very wise referee once ask me "Is it fair the defense should have to defend longer than necessary?" If you think about it that way, it makes a lot of sense.
We are now told, as assistant referees, that we should indicate offenses when we have a better view, rather than being closer. Hopefully, if you are my assistant, you are doing that already!
The wording in Law 12 with regard to tackling has been changed. How many times have you heard "but he got the ball first!" yelled from the sideline after a player performed a slide tackle that wiped out the opponent as well? Now, we are told to merely look for a player that "tackles an opponent."
Moving on to the revisions of the "Interpretations of the Laws of the Game," you'll notice an interesting underlined section. It's the reminder that advantage can only be applied to violations of Law 12, or in other words, fouls and misconduct. There can be no advantage on things like offside infractions, throw-ins etc. This is important to digest as I see it on the field on a regular basis.
At the very end of the memo, we see the International Board reminds us that, as part of our game management skills, we should use some common sense and warn players who fail to respect the required distance for both throw-ins and corner kicks. They seem to acknowledge that blatant violations need to be caution, be we should use our ability to merely provide a stern look and warning. Our re-certification instructor pointed out this skill applies to free kicks as well.
Like last year in my state, penalty kicks were covered. Apparently, penalty kicks are a real problem. I gather there is a problem with referees not getting the restart correct when infractions happen during a penalty kick. It's really pretty simple. If the defending team cheats, its a goal if the ball goes in the net. It's a retake if it doesn't. If the attacking team cheats, it's a retake if the ball goes in the net. It's an indirect free kick if it doesn't. Here's the part I didn't realize. Let's say the attacking team comes into the penalty area just before the ball is kicked. Let's also say the shooter puts the ball way over the net. The restart is still an indirect free kick. The fact that the ball went over the goal out of play doesn't change the indirect free kick for the infraction. I hadn't thought about that before. By the way, if both teams cheat, it's a retake. Take some time to review Law 14 in your law book. Also, check out the training materials on FIFA's website.
We received a very well done presentation on dealing with bench issues. It seems the inspiration for this might have come from some of the materials I've seen for the Intermediate clinic (upgrade to 7). My key "take-aways" from the presentation will help me in my games. Our instructors pointed out that showing up to the game on time and looking professional will help avoid some of the problems one might experience with team benches. Also, they pointed out to be sure to walk directly over the both coaches and introduce yourself. It gives the impression that you are aware that the game is not about you. It's about the players.
After the game starts, you might have to deal with bench problems. As with player dissent, you must learn to ignore dissent from the bench that does not erode your authority in anyway. I'm referring to an occasional emotional outburst that disappears quickly. Try to avoid confrontation when confrontation is not necessary.
When it becomes necessary, stop play (if it's not stopped already) and inform the bench that you will be reporting the behavior. This is equivalent to a caution for a player. Make sure you follow through. Your game report must include all the facts. Also inform them that continued behavior will result in a dismissal, which is equivalent to a player send off. You must follow through with this. If you do dismiss bench personnel, do not start the game again until they are out of your ear and eye range. I did this once, and it was a real problem. If they refuse to leave, you simply terminate the game. Remember to include all details in your game report, as well as the offending personnel's coaching card. Obviously, a short paragraph describing this lengthy presentation makes it sound so simple. This situation can be highly emotional and confrontational. I think the key is to maintain your professional demeanor through the process. You cannot be overly emotional as this just escalates the situation. Our instructions reminded us of these key skills.
So that's my summary of this years re-certification. I've read some comments on a referee forum that suggest face-to-face re-certification is a waste of time. I'm not sure I agree with that opinion. It's only once a year and it's an opportunity to gain knowledge from the more experienced officials in your state. Take advantage of it by going in with an open, eager mind. Ask questions. If you find yourself a little bored, realize that you might be one of the more experienced officials and you can offer anecdotal situations to illustrate the instructors main points of emphasis.

Shortest Tournament Day Ever

2008-11-30T11:56:00.003-05:00

Weather
I woke up this morning about 20 minutes before my alarm clock was to go off. I could hear outside that it was already raining, even though the weather forecast the night before said it wouldn't rain until mid-day. I put in, and was assigned, to a boys winter college showcase tournament. Fully expecting to see the tournament was canceled, I got up and checked the website. According to the website, the tournament would play through showers. Great. Large, aggressive boys on wet, slippery, cold fields. I arrived at my assigned location in plenty of time and met up with my good friend. We chatted for a while, not believing we were actually going to get any games in. It was raining pretty steadily and there were already a few standing puddles around the field. We received our field assignment. I had the 2nd game in the middle, so I was off the first game.
Young Referee
I wondered over to my field around mid-way through the first half, after checking to see if I might be need elsewhere first. I ran into the assignor, who was coming from our field. He came over to me and asked me to go stand behind a young referee on our field and coach him a little on foul recognition. I did just as he asked and noticed right off he was being a little lenient. The referee was about the same age as the players. I found out later that he still plays. In talking to him a little, he seemed to think the rough play was nothing "he couldn't play through." It was an interesting comment as it lead me to believe his judgement was being influenced by his playing rather than what he knows is right as a referee. I pointed out that letting some of these obvious fouls go could result in the game getting out of control and he really needed to tighten up in order to help the center referee. I'm not sure how much I helped, but I hope I got him thinking and looking at the game from a different view point.
Right Diagonal
The tournament asked that we run a right diagonal in an attempt to save the fields. I'm referring to running the field toward the right corner flag as you enter the attacking half of the field, instead of running toward the left flag, which is the direction most of us choose. If you've never done this, don't underestimate how hard it really is. The first 4 minutes of the game I felt really awkward. It took me a little while to figure out just where I should be running and where my AR would be standing. Oddly enough, it made it much harder to remember which way the team's were playing. I recommend running a game with this opposite diagonal maybe once a season. I'm glad I had this experience, but it was stressful. I doubt anyone actually noticed, but I sure felt like they might! That will get you on your toes very quickly.
The good news (or bad news, depending on your viewpoint) is the tournament shut everything down 25 minutes into my first game. It was disappointing because I had not refereed at this age group in quite some time, but it was definitely necessary to ensure the safety of everyone involved. The fields had really become slippery and nearly unplayable.
So, that's it for my Fall season. I'll probably post a couple of times between now and March as things come to mind. Feel free to shoot me an email if you are looking for a sounding board on any referee issues.

Pleasant Tournament

2008-11-28T16:20:00.002-05:00

I had a really nice day today refereeing a modest area tournament. It's a pretty big tournament, but not particularly exclusive. Originally, my son was to work with me. He had a conflict and could not do the tournament. The assignor kept me assigned to a younger age field anyway. We had a day full of U-11 and 12 boys and girls teams. My crew consisted of all younger referees (15-20), one of which I had worked with before.
I did 4 games today with 2 in the middle and 2 as an AR. It was the kind of day that makes me glad I pursued getting certified. We had no problems with parents, coaches or players. All of the games were well fought, and, for the most part, pretty competitive. Although it was cold, the weather was tolerable. There were no serious injury and all the players looked happy leaving the field.
I worked with a guy today that, if he continues, will be a really good referee. He's 20 and takes the job pretty seriously. His uniform was neat and clean. His shoes were clean and well maintained. His knowledge of the game was very good and his mechanics, both in the middle and as an AR were excellent. I spoke with him for a few moments about how impressed I was and encouraged him to pursue an upgrade. It was nice to work with him.
The only mar on the day was a parent that had to prove that adults are ruining the game for kids. I'll give you the short version of the story. I was the AR for this game. At the very start of the game, there was a person having a bit of a heated discussion with the near coach. I overheard much of the conversation. It seems this person had concerns about certain players getting enough playing time. The guy was really giving it to this coach and was relentless. After 4-5 minutes, he backed off and sort of hovered behind the player bench. At one point, I quietly asked the coach if this individual was a coach (ie, he has a coaching pass) or a parent. I pointed out that he cannot be in the technical area if he is not carded to the team. At half time, this guy starts in again on the coach. The referee and I got involved as the debate was getting a bit heated. We pointed out that the subject of the argument was none of our business, but the parent would have to leave the technical area. Well, this guy takes his daughter, and her player pass, and decides to leave. The look on this little girl's face said it all to me. She was crying and did not want to leave her team mates. A few of the other players noticed it as well. Apparently, this parent had lost sight of the fact that it is about the child and their desire to play soccer, not about the parent's desires or hurt ego because their child doesn't play as much as they think she should. It's hard, but as adults, we cannot lose sight of the fact that this game is about the players, not about the coaches, parents, or referees.
Time for Upgrade Thoughts
I wasn't sure I was going to make it this season, but I did. I now have enough games as a referee (75) to register for the upgrade, or Intermediate clinic. In my state (New Jersey), it's in March. I've already made some noise with the State Youth Administrator, so hopefully I'll get in. We'll see.

Final League Games for the Season

2008-11-23T18:53:00.007-05:00

I put in for games on this, the "make up game" weekend for the league we work. I ended up with 3 games assigned. On arrival at the field, we decided I would work the first game, a U-13 boys match, we would flip a coin for the middle game (U-11 boys) and then a colleague would work the final, U-14 boys match.
Given that it was about 30° out, these were fairly young players, and this was the last weekend of the season, I didn't expect much trouble from these games. Interestingly enough, the first game turned out to be a pretty exciting one. As you do a lot of games, you soon realize you need to expect anything in any game. For example, 3 minutes into this one, the red team's forward committed a reckless charge against the opposing goalkeeper. Where did that come from? Is this game important to one or both of the teams? Is this a rivalry game of some sort? I thought to myself "this might be interesting." Obviously, he earned a caution for his effort. I was thinking there might be more to this game than I understood, but when I took him aside, it was pretty clear he knew what he did and it was more from being 13 and clumsy, rather than any kind of malice. Other than that incident, the first half went well.
At the half, one of my colleagues seemed a little bored with the games. He seemed disappointed that we were doing games at a middle to lower skill level. His comment got me thinking. What do you consider a "good game" to referee? Most of us are fans of the game as well as being a referee. When I evaluate the quality of a game, I look at it in the context of the players age and skill level? Did the players get a fairly officiated, sporting game? Did they seem to play up to or beyond their skill level? To me, that is a "good game." I do not look at a game between lower ranked teams, or younger age groups, as a boring game. It's a game that needs quality officiating so the players can, hopefully, meet or exceed their current skill level in a fair environment. Always remember, most of the time, your current game is the only one the players are going to get this week. Do your best because it is important to the players.
The 2nd half was played quite well. The teams were equally matched and played hard. Play was aggressive, but fair. There was an additional caution at the very end for a reckless tackle, but all in all a great game! Afterward, the coach of the visiting team made the comment that we were the best crew he has seen all season! You have to like that. He appreciated that we stayed out of the game, only interfering as necessary. I felt like the players got the game from us that they deserve.
Shoes Pay Off
Regular readers know I just purchased new referee shoes. They paid off at this game. I wore the turfs to the game, reasoning it was very cold out and the field would be very hard. I started the first game still under this assumption as I was the 2nd official to arrive and had not walked the field because my colleague had done the pre-game check. Minor mistake. About 25% of the field was very slippery and muddy. I had not noticed it because it was on the opposite side from where we put our bags down. At half time, I switch to my newly acquired studs and I was good to go! They made a huge difference. OK, they are probably not necessary if you are newly certified. I'm just suggesting that, as you do more games, you consider having 2 pairs of shoes in your car so you are better prepared.

Back to the Game

2008-11-21T08:14:00.004-05:00

Tournament Time
Now that I got that marathon business out of my system, I'm getting back to doing games before the season is over. I had quite a few games this weekend. On Saturday, I worked a day of a girls showcase tournament. The tournament is a pretty big one that I worked last year. It's scheduled over 3 locations for 2 days. The tournament is positioned as a "college showcase," and I have observed quite a few coaches wandering around with clipboards. For the most part, the play is high-level and the referees are top-shelf.
I was looking forward to this tournament because I hadn't worked one in a while. The summary is this: The weather was brutal and I only got 4 games out of an 8 hour day.
This tournament started out like the last one I worked for this assignor. I was told to be at the morning referee meeting at 7:30am. I was there, only to find out my first game was scheduled for 9:15. As you can imagine, that's annoying. It's even more annoying when it is 25° out and the wind is blowing between 15 and 20 mph! I report to the field for the 9:15 game and work as an assistant. I'm 3rd in the rotation, so I have the next game off. I return for my game as the center. I get both teams checked in...only to find out that the assignor has, for some reason, replaced me as the center with another referee that just showed up at the field. I'm working as an assistant again. What's worse is the new addition has disturbed the normal rotation. Now I'll be doing my first center after coming off a game as an assistant. Great! I'm as flexible as the next guy, maybe more so, but I find this type of disorganization really annoying.
During the game as assistant, there is a ball that is bouncing toward the corner flag opposite my position. I watch it very carefully and I clearly see it hit the flag and go left, for a throw-in. The center signals for a corner. When she glances over at me, I give her the throw-in motion trying to tell her she's making a mistake. She holds her hand up in a "I've made my decision" motion. Normally, I don't bother getting the center's attention on something like this, but I was absolutely positive it was a throw in. The corner nearly resulted in a goal. It's just my opinion, but if you have an assistant that is trying to tell you something, you at least go over and do a quick "sanity check."
I finally got in the center for my next game. First, I'll point out that I actually did the game in shorts. Did I mention it was windy and 25° out? Seriously, it was brutal out there. The wind was so strong it made the games a bit strange. The teams had a very tough time getting the ball out of the down-wind end of the field. Unfortunately for the teams, the games were almost ridiculous.
At one point, one of the teams played the ball to a forward and she broke free of the defense. She was off to the races! I followed about 15 yards behind her as she entered the penalty area. She got about 5 yards in where the goalkeeper met her. She actually managed to get around the goalkeeper, but the goalkeeper grabbed her ankle on the way by, pulling her down. This was a pretty easy call. Loud whistle, point at the spot, the goalkeeper protests, etc. She was actually quite lucky. The attacker had not been heading directly to the goal, otherwise I would have sent her off for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. All the other checks were met, only direction to the goal was not established. If you are interested, US Soccer offers a position paper on obvious goal scoring opportunities.
My fourth, and last, game of the day was also a center. This one was pretty uneventful, although all of the players were obviously ridiculously cold. That's probably why the games were kind of tame. I'm not convinced the players wanted to be there.
Interesting Game Statistics
I own a nifty GPS watch that I use for running and cycling. In addition to keeping track of all kinds of data like speed, elevation and heart rate, it also keeps track of where I've been. I've always wondering how much ground a soccer referee covers in a game, so I wore the watch during the tournament.
First, let me point out these were shortened (30 minute half) tournament games. Also, as I mentioned above, they really weren't typical games. The wind was blowing very hard toward the end of the field at the bottom of the picture. The ball stayed in that end much of the time. If you look carefully, you can see my path is concentrated in that end of the field.
The watch returned some interesting information. In these games, I covered about 1.5 miles per half. that seemed a little low to me, but as I mentioned above, the games weren't typical. I also wore the watch as an assistant. I ran about 1 mile per half as the assistant.
I think it would be interesting to gather a little more data here. What do you think? Do you have interest in some numbers for various age games?

Suntrust Richmond Marathon

2008-11-17T08:02:00.002-05:00

Well, I did it. I ran a marathon. I can say, without a doubt, that is the hardest athletic endeavor I've ever undertaken. I managed 4 hours, 36 minutes on a very warm, windy day. The course was hillier than I expected too. Those of you that live in the North Eastern United States know there was significant rain in the area. Believe it or not, not a drop fell on the race, which I left me grateful. Running that far in the rain would have been terrible.
The odd thing about the day is I did not experience any unusual pain whatsoever. Naturally there was plenty of discomfort as my legs got tired, but I was very worried about typical runner injuries like shin splints or knee pain. I had none of that. I didn't experience any cramping (thanks Hammer Nutrition!). Trust me, there was plenty of that going on. There were many, many runners either dropping to the asphalt in pain or standing on the side of the road stretching out some very angry muscle. I feel very fortunate to have avoided that situation.
OK, back to refereeing. I've sent in my availability for the usual college showcase tournaments we have in this area for November. We'll see what I get. Thanks for reading.

Under the Lights

2008-11-10T08:17:00.008-05:00

I only managed one game this week. With the marathon training, I can't really do a day's worth of games after having run long distance. My assignor sent out a request for Friday night availability, so I jumped on it, along with my older son.
On most of the weekends I'm doing league games, we get an odd number of assignments, meaning they cannot be split evenly among the crew. Most of the crews I work with are happy to split the money evenly and they use a game of chance to pick who is doing the middle (We usually draw pieces of paper with numbers written on them). Lately, I have not had much luck in this regard. I've been doing quite a few sidelines. In fact, it is so obvious, one guy I worked with 2 weeks ago insisted I do the middle because he noticed the luck of the draw had not gone my way in some time. It's all good though, as I take a lot of pride in being a good assistant.
The Friday night game was the first game I have done at night, under lights. I never realized that outdoor field lighting can be tough on a referee. Depending on the team's jersey colors, it can be tough picking out teams in the heat of action from 40 yards away. Be aware of that if you do a night game.
It had for a few days before this game, so the field was really wet. Going back to my earlier post regarding shoe selection, it became obvious to me why every referee should have a set of studded shoes in their car. This field was quite loose. For whatever reason, the line I was running had some significantly muddy areas. Without studded shoes, I would have been in big trouble. These teams (U-13 boys) where playing the ball up and down the field quickly so I was sprinting down the line a hand full of times. It would have been treacherous without some traction.
In regard to the game, it was a pretty good one. The teams were middle of the road skill-wise, but quite evenly matched, making the game hard fought and exciting. My colleague in the middle, who I have not worked with previously, was quite good and was a pleasure to work with.
We had two calls I thought were significant. The first was a trip in the penalty area, but it wasn't really a tough call. It was fairly obvious and the whistle and my flag went at the same time. No argument from either side here. I thought we demonstrated good team work and confidence in our decision. The other call was a little more interesting. The red team came free around half way with 2 attackers. The attacker with the ball was coming straight up the field about 5 yards to the left of the left goalpost. His team mate was coming up the center of the field. As they came into the penalty area, the attacker without the ball moved slightly ahead into an offside position. As the ball was passed to this team mate, a blue defender managed to sprint up in between them and toe the ball...into his own goal.
Arguably, I blew it. I popped my flag the second I saw the pass. The center waved me down and allowed the goal. I think I could argue this one both ways. In my opinion, the player was guilty of offside because they were interfering with an opponent. The Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game states:

"Interfering with an opponent" means...making a gesture or movement which...deceives or distracts an opponent

Running onto a ball in front of the goal seems to qualify as a movement that distracts an opponent. However, you might see it as the attacker not guilty of offside because they had not played the ball. It was an opinion matter and the center called it the way he saw it.

"Run Forest, Run"

2008-10-31T08:06:00.003-04:00

As some of you long time readers know, I do a lot of running outside of soccer. I'm not a great runner, but I think I have very good fitness. What I mean is I'm not going to win many races (although I did win my age group in a duathlon last year!) but I'm very fit and I really enjoy running and cycling. This summer, I decided I really wanted to try to improve my running, so I registered for a 1/2 marathon in Philadelphia. A good friend of mine signed up as well. I found myself a training schedule on the web and followed the program pretty closely. We did well in the Philadelphia event, finishing in just over 2 hours. Again, we are not talking about any world records here, but I was pretty happy with that time. If you've never done an event like this, I encourage you to consider it. Not only is the concentration on running great for your referee fitness, but these events can be great fun as well! We had a great time!
After finishing the 1/2 marathon, I had all this fitness and nothing to do with it, so I did the natural thing: I signed up for a full marathon! Yes, I must have been out of my mind. On November 15th, I'll be running the Suntrust Richmond Marathon.
For those of you that don't know much about marathon training, most programs are 15-20 weeks in length and involve some sort of regular increase in mileage up to about 3 weeks before the event. One then tapers their mileage to allow the body to heal from training and rest for the upcoming effort. Most marathon training schedules have you peak at a long run of 20 miles. I did my 20+ mile run last weekend. Being complete honest, it was easily the hardest thing I've ever done, although I managed to average 9:45 per mile. I felt pretty good up to about 17 miles, but beyond that, it was tough. I've asked around and apparently this is completely normal for all first-time marathoners. Now I'm tapering my mileage for the event. I hope to get under 4:30, but in reality, I just want to finish it.
The biggest hurdle for most long distance runners seems to be trying to stay healthy. Injury is a real threat with any running endeavor and long distance running in particular. I struggled with shin splints for a few weeks. I've had persistent plantar fasciitis as well. Along with these issues, I've had all kinds of interesting aches and pains that come and go, but all of this seems to be part of being a real runner. As I taper for the event, many of these issues are starting to fade and I'm hoping all will go well in the marathon. Wish me luck! I'm probably going to need it.

Working with my Assignor...or not

2008-10-31T07:58:00.006-04:00

For the first time, my assignor was going to be one of the referees on my crew. I've met him a couple of times, although our meetings have been at tournaments where he was working and one of my sons was playing. This was to be the first time I had spent any substantial time with him. We were assigned to two girls games, ages 14 and 15...and he didn't show up. Actually, he assigned someone else to take his spot. That was kind of a disappointment. I was looking forward to working with him. Too bad.
I ended up doing the U-15 girls game. OK, technically it was a U-16 girls game. Apparently, the league combines the age group when there aren't many teams. We had one U-15 team and one U-16 team. The game went pretty well. These are not very skilled teams. In fact, it is sort of unusual to have high school age players playing in the Fall season. I work at this club often and the games are always enthusiastically played, for sure. The players and coaches are pleasant so its a pleasure to work this club's games.
There wasn't much in the way of difficult calls or ugly challenges. I issued one caution when a player decided to recklessly charge another player just after the ball had gone. She knew she was getting the caution the minute I blew the whistle. Interestingly enough, she was bordering on a persistent infringement caution later in the game. I gave her a stern verbal reminder of the first caution and she seemed to cool off a bit for the rest of the game.
At one point, I had two players trying to occupy the same space, about 30 yards out from the goal. They were both running after the ball and got their feet tangled up. I didn't see any foul play. However, when the players went down, one of the girls sort of shouted in pain and seemed to grab her leg. Thinking she was seriously injured, I stopped play right away. Apparently, she was just frustrated about going to the ground. By the Laws of the Game, the restart is a dropped ball. Needless to say, I got quite a few questions about that one after the game. In hindsight, my whistle was probably a little premature, but I was looking out for player safety so I don't feel too bad about it. It is just another example of how a referee can be well within the laws, but casual observers can think you are a nit wit. I think its important to realize that much referee criticism comes from not only an ignorance of the Laws, but also the lack of communication beyond the players on the field. I did say to the players something like "We stopped because I thought one of the players was injured so we will restart with a dropped ball."
Fox Sonik Whistle
I bought a new whistle. I have a hand full of whistles in my bag. There are a couple of Fox 40 classic's in there (you do have a Fox 40, right?), a Fox Pearl, an Acme Tornado, an Acme T2000 and now, a Fox Sonik.
The Fox 40 classic seems to be the standard whistle for soccer referees. It is a pea-less whistle, meaning it doesn't have that little cork ball rolling around inside. I'm told the pea can be a real problem in cold weather. The classic is loud and piercing and works well on the soccer field. the Fox Pearl is one of my favorites because it is similar to the classic, but has a lower pitch. This comes in handy when you are close to another field. The players can differentiate between your whistle and your colleague's on the next field.
I haven't used the Acme whistles too many times. They are similar to the Fox whistles, but I need to try them a few more times to have an opinion.
Every time I need to order some new referee item, I pick up another whistle. I saw the Sonik on the website, so I ordered it. It is kind of expensive, so I had high expectations. The Fox website claims the Sonik produces up to 125 decibels of sound and is recommended for "large arenas." It's a 4 chamber whistle, as opposed to the other Fox whistles which are 2 chamber. By comparison, the Pearl is described with a maximum of 90 decibels and the classic is at 115 decibels.
I used the Sonik this weekend. One of my AR's told me he was not impressed with the whistle's sound power. From my end, it sounded about as loud and shrill as the classic, but my colleague said he thought a classic was better. So there you go. If you are going to get a Sonik, be aware of this potential problem. Honestly, I think the Sonik merely requires just a bit more wind to get it to produce maximum volume. Perhaps another game with the whistle is in order.

Referee Needs a New Pair of Shoes

2008-10-15T09:19:00.011-04:00

The maker of my preferred shoe, Spot Bilt, no longer exists. Since my current shoes are starting to show signs of wear, I've started the search for new shoes.
My thoughts are that referees are not players, so we should not be wearing player shoes. You've probably noticed that there are, unfortunately, very few manufacturers making referee-specific shoes.
The Referee Administrative Handbook tells us that referees should have

BLACK SHOES (may have white manufacturers design) with black laces

The design and styling of player shoes often call attention to themselves, being brightly colored and using materials that attract attention. In the majority of cases, these shoes are not acceptable for referee use. Aside from the cosmetic aspects, player shoes are normally not designed for all-day comfort either. Generally, players only need to participate in a maximum of 2 games in a day. I've done as many as 7 games in one day.
In my quest for a new shoe, I tried the Diadora Referee TF. I was ordering some new things for my boys and I noticed this shoe on the website. They were priced less than $50 and I've seen many of my colleagues using these shoes, so I thought I'd give them a try. The shoes arrived and I was pleased with the styling of the product. They are nice looking referee shoes. They are made of a material that should clean up easily. They are available in all black or black with white accents. Unfortunately, they seem to be made for narrow feet. I wear a size 10 and my foot width is measured as size D, which is very average. I found these shoes to be cut way too narrow. They had to go back. If you have a narrow foot, these shoes may be worth trying.
I've seen quite a few referees wearing "old school" Adidas player shoes, so I went to the local sporting goods store to give them a quick try. Specifically, I'm referring to the Adidas Copa Mundial. Oddly enough, I never even tried them on. I noticed another Adidas shoe that had all the cosmetic characteristics of a referee shoe. I'm referring to the Adidas AdiPURE TRX FG (firm ground) and TF (turf).
I tried on the FG version and they felt pretty good. They seemed to be wide enough for me and I've always wanted a pair of firm ground shoes for those loose fields, so I purchased them. When I got home, I looked up the turf version (the store didn't have them in my size). I picked them up, on sale, online.
Cosmetically speaking, these shoes are perfect for referees. They are mostly black, with a small amount of white. The FG version is even available in solid black.
As far as fit is concerned, these shoes seem to run true to size. I purchased the shoes in my measured size. They are soccer shoes, so expect the fit, especially in the width, to be a little snug.
The first time on the field with these shoes was interesting. First, I didn't realize how much traction you get with firm ground studs. I couldn't believe how much better these shoes performed, compared to my previous turf shoes. They gave me great confidence on a soft, damp field. On the down side, they tore my heels up a little. I ended up with a nice blister. The second time out, however, was better. Given that these shoes are made of natural material (kangaroo leather), they have a break-in period. If you get them, I suggest wearing them around the yard. Take the dog for a walk a few times and wear these shoes. Run in the local park for a little while. Do whatever you have to do to get through some of the break-in period in a controlled, non-game, situation. As a side note, you do keep blister bandages in your referee bag, don't you? If you don't, buy a box today and throw it in there with your other small stuff.
I have yet to wear the turf shoes in a game, but I've already noticed a small difference in the feel of the shoes. The upper seems to be identical between the shoes, but the absence of the stud base makes the turf shoes slightly more comfortable.
In summary, I find the Adidas AdiPURE FG and TF to be a good choice for referees. They have the look desired by referees and seem to perform well on the field. It remains to be seen how comfortable they will be in a full-day tournament situation. Perhaps I'll post a follow-up when I find out.
See my last post regarding referee shoes.
UPDATE (11/10/2008): I have had a chance to work a few more games in these shoes. I'm starting to like them even more. The blistering has gone as the material "broke in" a little. They are definitely feeling more comfortable and I'm getting the benefit of having both turf shoes and studded, firm ground, shoes in my kit bag.

Make the Call

2008-10-06T07:51:00.007-04:00

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. I just haven't had the opportunity to put in for too many games. As frequent readers of the blog know, I do a lot of running and bicycling. I recently decided to train for a 1/2 marathon. I completed the Philadelphia Long Distance Run in mid-September, managing a time of 2:03. It was a great time and I encourage all of my readers to consider doing something like this. If anything, it will certainly get your endurance up to new levels. Since the 1/2 marathon went so well, I plan on doing a full marathon in November, so I've continued my training. I'm currently up to 16 miles.
This weekend, I got in 5 games. I was assigned to an unusual Friday night game this weekend, as well as 4 games on the usual Sunday. The Friday night game went real well. I worked with a referee that I've worked with a few other times and I highly respect. The other official is a high school age official that the first referee apparently knows pretty well. Before the younger guys arrival, the older official asked if I would be OK with putting the younger guy in the middle to get him some experience. That's one of my philosophies so I was good with it. This kid did a great job! I was very impressed with his ability. He knows the Laws of the Game and has good foul recognition. He blows the whistle like he means it and runs the game like he takes it seriously and is not just there for the money. I can't say that about most referees of this age. Again, I was impressed!
Sunday's games were interesting, to say the least. We had a U-15 girls match at a local community college field, and then 3 younger boys games at a different facility. I did the middle for the girls game and it went really well. I've had both teams before. The home team is very well coached and the players are respectful. Basically, this club's game are uneventful.
I did make one controversial call, but I felt good about it. The visiting team's forward had the ball at the top of the home team's penalty area. A defender came from the right, slid and tackled the ball away. It was a very clean tackle in that the defender got the ball, but she ended up with the forward's ankles between her knees. Instead of turning and watching the ball go away, I kept my eyes on these two players and sure enough, the defender rolled on the ground, in a "scissors move," bring the forward down. Based on the reaction, I was the only person at the facility that saw it. Even my near assistant didn't see what happened. I was literally 6 or 7 feet away and was glad I watched behind the play. This is an example of having the courage to make the call even though you are the only person that saw it. This is the source of a lot of complaining because most people at the field watch the ball and don't see the same things that referees do.
After the girls game, we did our quick drive across town to the other facility to continue our day. The first boys game went on without much in the way of events. The U-14 boys game, however, was a different story. For the most part, it was a clean, well played game. There were 1 or 2 players the referee had to speak with, but it didn't seem like anything was getting out of control. About mid-way through the 2nd half, the home team scored. I was the AR on the opposite end of the field, so I pulled out my notebook to note the goal time. As I put it away, I noticed the visiting team yelling about someone kicking their goalkeeper and the goalkeeper was laying on the ground holding the middle of his back. The referee walked back to the goal area to check on the keeper. After he called the coach onto the field, the other AR motioned to the referee. They had a short conversation and the referee walked back toward the center circle, reaching into his pocket at the same time. I walked onto the field and asked the teammates of the injured goalkeeper to walk away from the halfway line. I knew the referee was about the send someone off and I did not want to allow any opportunity for interaction between the teams. Sure enough, the referee found the offender and sent him off. Again, make the call you know is right. The referee freely admitted he did not see the misconduct, but the AR did and you have to go with that.
Any send off is going to generate controversy. It's just that simple. I don't care how egregious the offense, it seems like all parents and most coaches think a send off is too harsh. In this case, there was a lot of yelling because neither I nor the referee saw the offense. However, the other AR saw it and was adamant that this was a case of violent conduct. He's a high school age official, but I've worked with him and he certainly was not making it up. This is exactly why we have 3 officials and we work as a team.

Score Sports Offers New Stripe Pattern Jerseys

2008-09-04T08:18:00.003-04:00

When I first was certified, I purchased some of my alternate jerseys from a copy called Score Sports. Their quality is pretty good and their prices are excellent. I saved a few dollars and got decent alternate jerseys. Since both of my sons are certified, this seemed like a good source for relatively inexpensive jerseys. The quality is not quite what Official Sports offers, but it is acceptable.
When the jersey striping pattern was changed, Score Sports was not as much of an attractive alternative, but that's all changed. Score Sports now offers the new striping pattern on their jerseys. Browse their website and see what you think.
There is one thing I noticed about their jerseys. The yellow jersey is more yellow than the gold color supplied by Official Sports.

There's No Substitute for Correct Procedure

2008-08-29T08:19:00.006-04:00

Lately, I've become a stickler for the correct substitution procedure. I was reading through "Advice to Referees" and came across section 3.4. Now, I've read the entire publication a couple of times, but this time a particular line caught my eye:

Referees who deviate from the formal process by which a substitute becomes a player - whether in the interest of saving time or because the steps are thought to be too complex and cumbersome - do so at their own peril and will eventually discover that the Laws of the Game specify the procedure for very good reasons.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to do anything that has the word "peril" associated with it. In all seriousness, I think the substitution procedure is the area where most youth referees get sloppy. In my area, I have not seen any referee enforcing the correct substitution procedure (let me know if this is not the case where you are). Typically, substitutions work like this:

Referee stops play

Coach yells "Sub!"

Substitutes run onto the field, directly from the bench, yelling their relieved teammates names

Referee restarts play.

We all know this is not the way it is supposed to go. For starters, the substitutes are to be waiting at the halfway line BEFORE the next substitution opportunity. They need to be ready to go in the game. The good referee will be aware of their presence, usually aided by the assistant referee on the team side of the field. At the next opportunity, the coach requests the substitution ("Sub!").

After the referee grants permission, the appropriate players are to exit the field. One thing youth players are not aware of, or don't consider, is they are to exit the field at the nearest point. They are not supposed to go directly to the bench from the far corners of the field. This is something you may want to remind the players of in your pre-game talk. After the players are off the field, the substitutes are beckoned onto the field, becoming players. Be aware of the substitute that does not enter the field. This often happens when there is a throw in on the team side of the field. The thrower is being removed from the game and replaced by a substitute. The substitute must step on the field before they become a player. Of course, all of this is spelled out in Law 3 under the "Substitution Procedure" heading.

Recently, I decided to start enforcing the procedure to see what would happen. Because most teams are conditioned to do the procedure incorrectly, I always announce my intent, in a friendly way, before the start of the game. I usually say something like this to the coaches at the start of the game:

Coach, let's make sure we have a proper substitution procedure today. If you could help me by making sure your subs are at the halfway line when they want to come in I'd appreciate it. Also, they should stay there until the players come off the field. As a reminder, players can, and should, exit at the nearest touch line.

I usually say this during the pre-game talk in the presence of the players. That is usually enough to get them pretty close to doing it right. At the first substitution, the players might start to run right on the field as soon as you blow the whistle. This is what they are accustomed to. Inevitably, the coach has either not mentioned it to them or mentioned it without any enthusiam. So, at the first sign of a substitution, position is everything. You need to run to the halfway line and be pretty close to the team benches so you can blow the whistle a couple of times and "remind" the players that they must wait at the touch line for the players to come off the field. This usually does the trick for the entire game. For the most part, this strict enforcement has been met without complaint. I have heard a few gripes about it "slowing the game down," but you can point out that you'll be adding time for substitutions as allowed for in Law 7.

Naturally, this brings up the problem of tournaments that do not allow the referee to add time. You cannot just go ahead and add time in tournaments that specify no time will be added. As some of my earlier posts have noted, you must keep your games on time. Since you agreed to the assignment, you also agreed to the rules. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about it. The good news is you didn't write the rules, you are only enforcing them.

The results have been very positive. I feel like the game is more under my control. Yes, there can be a little friction with the coaches, especially when it is a close game and they have frequent substitutions, but most of them understand the value. To some extent, it does slow the game down, but it doesn't waste game time. They are really two different things. Following the procedure can allow for high emotions to be somewhat diffused, adding to your game control. Following the substitution procedure is one less thing that can go wrong in a game. Try it and you'll be a better referee for it.

Time for Soccer Again

2008-08-24T18:03:00.003-04:00

It's that time again. I've been diligently reviewing my copy of the Laws of the Game and Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game. My son has started his soccer practices, so I have some free time on my hands.
Speaking of my son, he got certified as a grade 9. Now we have 3 referees in the family. It's working out pretty well for my older boy. Hopefully, my younger one will have the same experience.
So, I started my fall season by working a local late summer tournament (or did I end my summer season?) The assignment process was a little strange. I put in my availability about 3 weeks before the tournament, only to find out there was a new assignor. I didn't get any response from that assignor until about 5 days before the tournament. I had already assumed I probably wasn't going to be working. The response, addressed to many others as well, basically said we'd be getting our assignments late in the weeks because of some problems with the tournament folks. That's fine with me, as long as I know I'm working. Before the week had ended, we went through 2 completely different assignment schedules. I also noticed, by reviewing the tournaments game schedules, that there seemed to be far fewer teams this year. I guess some of the assignment confusion came from the tournament losing teams.
This is the first time I've worked a tournament where we were assigned as a 3-referee crew, with no breaks, but we got done earlier in the day. If you read my blog, you know I typically end up doing 6 games in a day, over an 8 game schedule. Usually, the 4 referee crew allows for having 2 games off. We worked 5 straight games on Saturday and 6 straight games on Sunday. I think I like getting done earlier in the day and working with no breaks. It is hectic, for sure, but getting home well before dinner is nice. However, I think if you are going to schedule referees this way, you have to make sure you have field marshals of some sort and that they are competent. We really didn't have help with getting teams ready to play (checking and collecting passes, herding them to the benches etc.) but it worked out ok. It's just tough to stay on schedule, although we managed to pull it off.
I was assigned as the referee for the U-15 girls championship game. What a great game that ended up being! These teams played a very competitive, clean game and it was exciting to watch. Unfortunately, it started out with a big negative: One of the girls seriously damaged her knee in the first few minutes. We had to call an ambulance. If you have a serious injury in one of your games, get that coach on the field quickly and get out of the way. Once it is obvious the injury is serious, be sure to send someone to notify the tournament officials as well.
After the medical incident we restarted. The tournament allowed the girls to play the full game since we didn't have a subsequent game. The teams played through the first half with no score. The second half went scoreless until about 3:00 left. There was a pretty obvious deliberate handling (2 hands!) in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick. Believe it or not, the girl missed!
At that point, I was positive we were going to kicks from the penalty mark. Actually, I was kind of hoping we would as this would allow me to officiate the procedure for the first time. Like I wrote above, this was a great game. One of the teams score with 30 seconds left. Unbelievable!

Good Tournament, Bad Spectators

2008-06-23T07:50:00.008-04:00

It was a long weekend.
I worked another premier level tournament this weekend. I've worked for the head assignor a number of times in the past, but not this particular tournament. The tournament has several locations and I was assigned to the main location at a local university. As is my practice, I arrived early, only to find that campus police were not allowing anyone to drive to the parking lot next to the fields. I had to walk about 1/4 of a mile with my bag, cooler and chair. This wasn't an ideal start to the weekend, but I could deal with it. For whatever reason, this assignor does not give you your field assignment until the morning of the tournament, so I waited around with the other referees. When we got our assignments, I discovered I was assigned to a satellite location in a local park, about 10 minutes drive from the university...and our game schedule started about 2 hours later than the other fields. If you are an assignor, please read this and take note. There were only 8 of us going to this park. It would have been nice to get an email telling me to go straight to the park. Gas is $4.00 a gallon and I could have stayed at home, out of the heat, for another 2 hours. I understand assignors are very busy and it's a hectic day, but a little courtesy goes a long way.
I ended up with only 4 games for the first day of the tournament. As I mentioned, I was sent to a satellite field with a shortened schedule. The guys I worked with seemed ok and we had a pretty good day. I had two middles for the day. Both of them were U-17 boys, so it was a satisfying day in that I felt challenged by the games.
It was a little trying because, being away from the main location, we had no support at all. That means we were on our own for food and water. If you are going to do tournaments, invest in a rolling cooler! They have a handle and two wheels and are very easy to move across grass fields. Fill the cooler with water bottles, sandwiches of your choice and bags of ice. In my opinion, it is a mistake to count on being able to get food and water at a tournament. Sometimes there is none available. Sometimes there aren't enough referees to ensure you will get time off. You must be prepared for these things.
When I arrived home and checked my email, I found the parking permit sent by the assignor...at 3:00am that morning. I guess I have to start checking my email before I drive to tournaments.
Day 2
I arrived at the university even earlier on day 2 in anticipation of being sent to the satellite site again. Armed with my newly found parking permit, I was able to get much closer to the fields. I received my assignments. I was located at the university, but I was sent to a field away from the others, on the other side of the campus. Since my car was close this time, this wasn't much of a problem.
Arriving at the field, I noticed a few things. First, we were without any services. There was no food or water in close proximity to the field. Second, and worse, we had no field marshal assigned to our field. Third, there is a parking lot behind one of the goals that allows balls to roll forever.
Getting around the parking lot wasn't much of an issue. As the referee, you just need to ask the home team for 2 balls. Typically, spectators will chase the run-away balls for you. Not having food and water is not a problem either since you should always go to tournaments prepared for this situation. It happens all the time. Not having a field marshal proved to be an issue.
Our first and second game proved to be near-disasters. I can't put my finger on what happened, but we had all kinds of problems with spectators. By the end of the first game, we had called on the radio the tournament provided for us and asked for a field marshal to come to the field. The referee had asked a parent to leave the field area. The parent lingered in the parking lot, making the referee understandably nervous. We were disappointed to find that the field marshals were not quite as assertive as we would have liked, but the parent did eventually leave. I'm not going to say the first two games had the best officiating I've ever seen, but they were certainly called fairly and with pretty good skill. I don't understand what causes people to become unglued during youth soccer games. I don't understand what mechanism causes people to behave in a disrespectful and aggressive way like I saw during this game.
Things went well for the only middle I had on day 2 of the tournament. It was a U-15 boys game. I made it clear at the coin toss that we did not have a much of a tolerance for dissent (as things had been going badly in other games) and that my expectations is we would be spending our time playing soccer. It seemed to work. The players got the not-so-subtle message and played a great game.
Later that day, we had further issues during the game which I was off. I was sitting in my chair between the teams, about 20 feet behind the benches. Normally, I'd choose a place to "set up camp" much further from the team benches, but the layout of this field did not lend itself to this practice. There was a no-call situation that raised the temperature of one of the coaches. I could see he was questioning the assistant referee in a leading way, trying to get the assistant to agree with him. As he should, the assistant basically refused to answer the coach in any meaningful way. So the coach heads in my direction and starts asking me if a certain scenario is a foul or not. Now, I've been doing this long enough to realize that a coach will never describe a situation as it really happened and one should never give an opinion about a game situation because of the risk of undermining a colleague's authority. So, as pleasantly as I could, I pointed out to the coach that I cannot comment on a game in which I am not directly involved. This guy starts calling me all kinds of nasty names and storms off very angrily. I just don't get it what makes people do that. Had I been involved in this game in anyway, this guy would have been immediately dismissed. Arguably, he could have been dismissed anyway because his behavior certainly could be called irresponsible.
In doing just a little research, I've come to the conclusion that this is problem experienced in many parts of the country, across a variety of sports. Check out the "Citizenship Through Sports Alliance". They put together a National Report Card that is interesting reading. Here is just one article I found that talks about this problem. So what's the solution? What do you think? Send your comments and let us know.

Assignment etc.

2008-06-09T08:49:00.004-04:00

The season is winding down. I put in for games and was assigned to one U-12 and one U-13 boys game. It's been really hot lately in my area (95°+). I realize this is probably common sense, but do you make sure your teams are drinking enough water when playing in extreme heat? Do you make sure your colleagues are drinking enough water? Do you watch out for players that don't look right and might be succumbing to heat stroke and the like?
One minor but interesting controversy we had this weekend involved the so-called "offside trap." One of our U-13 boys was playing a team that has significantly more skill. Apparently, there coach decided they would trap this very fast, aggressive team offside. This is always an interesting tactic in my opinion, because it seems very few coaches recognize that doing this tactic poorly results in a unfortunate situation for their goalkeeper. This coach was quick to imply I wasn't staying with that 2nd to last defender and I don't understand Law 11. He also pointed out he is a referee. Since I was working as an assistant, I kept my mouth shut and the center handled him nicely.
How does your assignor work? In speaking with my colleagues this weekend, I realized there is some controversy going on in my area. Our assignor does not specify working the middle for any games. We get a list of games and a list of people and we work it out amongst ourselves. I'm a believer in playing some sort of "game of chance" to decide, among the interested parties, who is getting the middle for a certain game. Perhaps we flip a coin, or draw from pieces of paper with numbers on them. However, there are a few people in our area who take it upon themselves to decide they are doing the middle for the game they want. The less assertive among us end up not getting middles. Please, send me mail and tell me how your assignor works. If I get enough responses, I publish some statistics in a future entry.
In regard to referee pay, our league specifies the middle gets twice the amount of an assistant. Among the crews I work with, I would say half end up dividing the fees evenly and half get paid whatever the league specifies. Again, the crew will decide before the first game.

New Assistant Referee Signals

2008-06-03T21:54:00.003-04:00

The US Soccer Federation has introduced some changes to accepted Assistant Referee mechanics. The announcement was made on May 14 in a memo to all National Referees and State Administrators.
I find the memo a little confusing, but I'll tell you what I think it says. It seems we are given new mechanics for communicating that a foul has occurred in the penalty area. The previous signal was to hold the flag, pointing down, directly in front of the body. The new signal is to hold the flag horizontally across the hips to signal a foul occurred in the penalty area. The same new signal is also used to communicate when a goalkeeper has moved forward on a penalty kick. Check out the announcement and send me your interpretation.

You Can't Always Choose Your Crew

2008-06-02T11:53:00.009-04:00

I returned to a tournament I worked last year. I like the assignor and the tournament is generally well run. My recently certified friend was assigned to the same crew as me and we were given a field at the central location for the tournament. After inspecting the schedule, I realized we were given reasonably high-level games as well.
He Scares Me
The weekend started off a little strange before we even got on the field. My friend found me in the parking lot and told me the assignor had called him and apologized in advance for one of the guys he put on our crew. He said he didn't have a lot of choice as he was running short of guys and had to use him. You know it can't be good when you hear those words.
We arrived at our field to find our 3rd and 4th crew members. I met the referee in question and he seemed ok, although he struck me as having a somewhat awkward personality.
I had the first assignment in the middle and the game went pretty well. I was late in spotting 2 offside flags which kind of irritated me. I'm working on that and it happens more often than I want. I think my positioning might be part of the problem. Anyway, the guy we had been warned about was working as my assistant. He did reasonably well, although some of his calls for the ball in and out of play were sketchy. I did not have great confidence in his decision making ability so I decided I would pay much more attention to that side of the field. We all blow a call once in a while, but it was a little more than that.
Later on in the day, he had his first middle. It was one of our younger age groups of the day. My concerns were realized in that I observed poor foul recognition. I was off for this game so I had the benefit of watching from the comfort of my lawn chair. It only got worse later in the day in his second middle assignment. I watched the first half. I noticed a disproportionate reaction to player dissent. It was an older boys game. There was the normal amount of player rumbling. This guy seemed to have only a loose grip on his temper while interacting with players. Later on, things went bad. Several players were sent off. I observed some of this from a distance (getting something to drink) so I can only comment on what was told to me later. Apparently this official overreacted to a player questioning a call of some sort and seemed to lose control of the match after that. The assignor was called over and he did his best to smooth things over with the players and coaches. From my vantage point, the officials body language told me he might have some anger management issues. He was waving that red card around like he was quite angry.
Now here is my dilemma. This guy made me really nervous. It's one thing to be dicey with foul recognition and maybe not know the laws inside and out, but I sensed some sort of deeper problem when observing his reaction to players. Frankly, he scared me a little. I think I'm going to contact the assignor with my concerns. I'm not sure I'd want him working my kid's games.
Deliberate Pass to the Keeper
During my 2nd middle of the first day, we had a great moment of team observation. I was moving directly behind a group of players. The defending team was following a through ball heading back toward their keeper. A couple of opposing players were in pursuit. As the ball approached the edge of the penalty area, I observed the leading defender tap the ball into the waiting goalkeeper's hands. It was very subtle. As the whistle went up to my mouth my AR's flag went up. Nice. We both saw it, even though it was very quick. In fact, the goalkeepers coach made lots of noise about the call. Sorry coach, we got this one right. It was an example of perfect position as well as solid team work. You have to like that. Check out US Soccers position paper on this very issue.
It's really easy to get lazy when you are an assistant referee, isn't it? Some games just coast along without much for you to do. It's easy to allow your attention to drift elsewhere. Sometimes you don't run quite as fast as you normally might in a particular situation. I had 2 reminders this weekend of how important it is to run a ball all the way to the goal line. Both times, the attacking team took long shots that were on goal. In one situation, the keeper deflected the ball down to his feet, only to have it roll toward the goal line. He fell on it, but too late. I saw it cross the goal line and immediately brought the flag up. The second time, the keeper had the shot come right at her, but it was moving so quickly she caught it in her hands and turned toward the goal. In this case, I was right on the goal line. When she turned, the entire ball was over the goal line. Goal! I'm glad I wasn't sleeping on these.
Weather
On the first day of the tournament, we had some thunderstorms roll through. Did you know US Soccer has a position paper out on weather??? Neither did I. I found it accidentally. Check it out. It's worth reading since we will often be in a situation where we have to watch out for the safety of the players as well as our crew. US Youth Soccer has published lightning safety tips on their site.
All things considered, it was a pretty good tournament this year. Last year, we had a couple of send-offs and a few coach dismissals. It was blazing hot as well. This year I put up one caution to a coach (Yes, we caution coaches here. Don't ask.) that couldn't take my warnings for what they were. Other than the incident I described, the other games went very smoothly. It was a pretty good weekend. I even received my first tournament coin. Actually, I have quite a few that have been given to me, but this is the first one I received as a result of working the tournament.

Learning with the 11's

2008-05-17T18:29:00.006-04:00

I only managed one game this weekend. Sometimes, life just gets in the way of my referee schedule.
I ended up in the middle for a U-11 boys game. The teams are not particularly skilled, so you have to watch out for things that less skilled players tend to do. Pushing, holding and the like spring to mind. These teams are fairly evenly match so it was a back-and-forth kind of game. I'm not saying it was a challenge to keep up with play, but I did really have to pay attention. I refer to this type of play as "the scrum" where you get 4 or 5 players in a small group wildly kicking at the ball. There is an inevitable kick in the shins in there.
In my mind, there were three interesting situations in this game. The first involves assistant referee position and the team aspect of refereeing. The second involves knowing the law and making the best call you can within it. The third underscores the importance of your viewpoint on the field.
At one point, the red team plays the ball into green's penalty area. The green team is failing to clear the ball so it's bouncing around a bit. One shot goes off a defenders foot and shoots up in the air, coming almost straight down near the goal line. The goalie bobbled it a couple of times from hand to hand with his back to me. To me, the ball looked like it had to be over the goal line. I looked to my assistant. I was glad to see he was right on the goal line watching play carefully. Up went the flag for a goal! It doesn't sound like much, but the key take away here is he was in the proper position to make the call. Nice stuff! I could not be sure where the ball was, so I looked to my team mate and was rewarded!
Another interesting situation occurred, resulting in my awarding a penalty kick. Again, there was a "scrum" situation on the left side of green's penalty area. Red falls down and makes a few pokes at the ball with his foot. As he's getting up, green puts a forearm on his back, pushing him down to the ground. I was 20 feet away and immediately blew the whistle and pointed at the spot. The green coach was not happy and wanted the call for "dangerous play" since red played the ball on the ground. Now, we all know that playing the ball on the ground is not necessarily an infraction. In fact, the "Advice to the Referee on the Laws of the Game" says, in section 12.13,

Merely committing a dangerous act is not, by itself, an offense (e.g., kicking high enough that the cleats show or attempting to play the ball while on the ground.)...The act becomes an offense only when an opponent is adversely and unfairly affected, usually by the opponent ceasing to challenge for the ball...

It's important to realize that many things coaches and players say are because of the various myths about the laws that exist.
The third item of the day involved me having the right viewpoint and position on the field to make the correct call. I think having the "best" position is a skill, with a little luck thrown in too. In this situation, red played the ball into green's penalty area, from the right side, to a forward standing about on the penalty spot. He struck the ball. It hit a defender directly in front of him in the knees and bounced back at him. As it came off the ground, one of his outstretched hands pushed it back toward the ground, not unlike one might dribble a basketball. As it came back down, he shot it into the net. I blew the whistle before he had struck the ball and pointed up field. After the game, my assistant told me he was screened from view and it was a good thing I had a good view on the play.
It was a good weekend. I learned a lot and had a great time working with two quality assistants. All that happened in only 1 game. What could be better?

Some Time with the Big Guys

2008-05-10T19:09:00.006-04:00

Spring is always tough for me as I have 2 sons that still play, so I can't do games every weekend. This weekend, I had 3 games assigned. 1 was canceled due to the terrible weather we had on Friday night. Fortunately, the other 2 were still on. I was a little apprehensive since we only had 2 games. Someone wasn't going to get a middle, which is unfortunate. The games were U-11 and yes, U-19 boys. This was the first time I was assigned above U-17, so I was looking forward to it.
As is my custom, I arrived 30 minutes before game time at the field for the U-11 game. It payed off. One of the guys assigned with me, who I've worked with before, was already at the field. We flipped a coin for the 2 games available that day. I lost, so he took the U-19 game. Oh well, being an AR for the game is fine too.
As you do more and more games (I have 117, after today), you'll come across situations where you really need to manage the situation with some common sense. Today, the away team had a bunch of players get lost. You should know, ahead of time, the rules for your league regarding the minimum number of players and the grace period for late teams. You don't want to have to look them up. We started about 15 minutes late, but it all worked out.
The first half of the U-11 game was pretty exciting. It was a well played game with both teams effectively moving the ball. Most of the play on the field was fair, although I saw something I hadn't seen before. One of the teams had an interesting tactic used when an opponent would get by them with the ball. They would run behind them and fall. On the way down, they would clip the ankles of the player with the ball. Yes, that drew quite a few whistles and "Advantage!" calls. They quickly found out I wasn't going to see it as "accidental." The 2nd half was not quite as good. The wheels fell off for one team and the game became a little lopsided.
After the U-11 game, we quickly drove down the street to get the the Big Ones. I made some interesting observations about the big guys. First, they are in no hurry to start the game. As a referee, you really need to light a fire under them and get the check-ins done and get the teams on the field. The referee doing the middle did some things, as this guy often does, that I don't think I want to imitate. He tends to talk down to the players. He often warns them of particular things during his pre-game talk. I don't like this and I think it breeds some contempt among the players. The idea of giving them a laundry list of "don'ts" before the game strikes me as disrespectful. Avoid it if you can. Try and think about how what you are saying during your pre-game sounds to the players.
All in all, I'd say the U-19 game went pretty well. There were a handful of cautions, but I suspect that is pretty normal for the older guys. They play quite aggressively and can get mouthy at times. Match control skills are critical. I'm confident that, when the time comes, I can handle this type of game. I only missed it by a coin toss!
As I've mentioned before, I think there is more to being a good AR than most referees think. When you are an AR, do you do everything you can to make the referee's job easier? For example, make sure you take the initiative before the game and check the goals. Go get the game ball and verify the pressure with the gauge you have in your bag (you do carry a gauge, right?). During the game, are you mechanics as described in the "Guidelines and Procedures" book? Make sure they are correct. Also, do you watch your part of the field, even during stoppages in play? It's not very helpful to be looking at the same thing as the referee. Make sure you are looking at all areas, trying to spot signs of trouble. When it happens, be prepared to give the referee a full description of what you saw, presenting only the facts.

Referee Game Log - I want your input

2008-05-09T10:23:00.006-04:00

Outside of being a referee, I'm also a software developer. I often look at my personal computing needs through the eyes of my profession, and I see a need for a decent game log for soccer referees. Currently, I keep track of my game data in a simple spreadsheet. It works ok, but it's not really useful for reporting and it's hard to find a particular game. I think a well designed game log would be very useful for several reasons:

Yearly USSF recertification form asks for your game count

Upgrading has a game count requirement

Type-written game reports are neater and often more consistent

Easier to keep track of fees, mileage etc. (assuming the right software features)

Send me your wish list! I'm interested in what you'd like to see in a referee game log! What do you do now? What kinds of information do you want to track? Should it be web-based? If I actually write this, would you be interested in testing it? Thanks.

Rational Parents Gone Bad

2008-05-04T19:04:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, I didn't have any games with this weekend. The good news is I got to attend my son's game!
Being a referee, and always wanting to learn, I always have something to do at my kid's games. I watch the referees doing the game and try to learn (both good and not so good) from them. This weekend was no exception. My older son's team drew an excellent official for their game. They played one of the more skilled teams in their league and, apparently, one of the more physical as well. As I predicted in the beginning parts of the game, there were many cards. The referee called the game pretty tight as one might do with older boys. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing he might have had the home team before as he seemed to be trying to keep a lid on their rough play. Anyway, he called a good game under tough circumstances. I admired his ability to control the game. He asserted his authority early and kept it through the game.
After the game, I had a somewhat disturbing incident.
As I waited for my son, the 3 officials were exiting the field nearby. One of the opposing teams fathers approached the center referee and said to him "Was this your first game?" in an obviously mocking tone. The referee replied with some remark about how the parent should get certified. I couldn't help myself. I don't know if it was the sight of another official getting harassed or the flippant attitude of this obviously ignorant parent. I chimed in with a rather stern "Leave him alone! You should consider reading the Laws of the Game." The parent replied with something about the referee not being able to tell time as my son's team scored in added time (The game ended in a draw). Of course, I said, "It's called added time. You really should read about it." So this guy replies...wait for it..."Hey, I'm a coach. I know the game." My reply was "That's exactly my point." and I walked away.
Before you send me a million emails, I realize I probably should not have gotten involved. Then again, how many times do we see people ignore something like this. It's just wrong to hassle a referee. I don't care whether they called a good game, or a "bad" game. It doesn't matter. No parent, coach or player has any right or reason to hassle a game official. After thinking about it on the way home, I decided it was the right thing to do. I didn't get involved only because I'm a fellow official, I got involved because the incident was just plain wrong.

Helping Out a New Referee

2008-04-21T12:59:00.004-04:00

This weekend, I only had 1 game scheduled and it was a short-sided, U-9 game. The good news is I was assigned with a newly certified friend of my son. I've worked with her before. She's been one of my Assistant Referees a couple of times and she has done a pretty good job. Since we were assigned a short-sided game, I decided it was time to practice what I preach and help out a new referee.
When we arrived at the field I asked her if she thought she was ready to do the middle. She looked at me with a little fear evident on her face. I told her it was time, and assuming the other referee agreed, she'd do the center and we would coach her through it. I had not worked with the other guy before, but I mentioned it when he arrived and he whole-heartedly agreed that we should run the lines.
Fortunately, it worked out pretty well. The game turned out to be a good one for her as there wasn't any controversy or particularly difficult calls. She did very well. Her first time in the middle was no different than most in that she seemed to lack some confidence, but her application of the laws was solid. All in all, I think she's off to a good start and will only get better going forward.
After the game, we coached her a little on some things. We pointed out she needs to blow the whistle likes she means it and make sure her field mechanics are confident rather than tentative. Going forward, we assured her she would have to concentrate less on foul recognition, leaving more time to think about game management and better mechanics.
Hopefully, her success will continue and she'll remain an active official.

Another Learning Weekend

2008-04-14T08:23:00.004-04:00

Just when you think you are getting good at this thing, something unexpected happens that causes you to go back to the books!

I had two games this past week: u-13 and U-14 girls. As I've said before, I've noticed some referees really don't like being assigned to the girl's games. I enjoy them. It's a different kind of game, but the enthusiasm of the girls is contagious. Also, the skill level is amazing.

Deliberate Handling

I'm not a big fan of referees asking the players, during the pre-game talk, "Are there any questions?" You have to be careful what you wish for. I've picked up this habit lately. Naturally, I had a player ask me about "hand balls" related to girls protecting themselves. I gave the generic "It must be deliberate handling of the ball, not merely instinct or the ball hitting the hand" and left it at that.

Naturally, this very issue came up during the game. In the U-14 game, a ball was played in the air toward the halfway line. It traveled about 20 yards in the air. The receiving player chest trapped the ball down using her arms crossed against her chest. Sorry, but in my opinion, this doesn't fly in a U-14 game. I called the foul and their coach immediately started in on me. My thinking is, at U-14, these girls know how to trap a soccer ball without getting hurt, especially when it is passed from some distance. You don't see the Women's US national team doing it, right? I got thinking about this on the way home and did a little research. Here are a couple of sources I found that address the topic:

Stupid Mistake

Yep, I made one. We had a situation where the attacking team had a throw in, close to half-way, on their end of the field. The ball comes in and the attacker carries the ball across half-way and sends it diagonally toward the corner of the penalty area. The ball comes down and is recovered by the defense. At that moment, I notice my AR's flag is up. Thinking she is signaling offside for the long pass, I wave her down as the defense plays the ball back to half-way. The ball is taken back by the original attacking team. They make a couple of passes and score. My AR waves me over. She tells me the attacking team substituted a player without my permission on the throw-in. Normally, this would be a no-brainer for me. The thing that got me was both teams were playing down 1 player. Apparently, one of the teams could not field 11 players, so the other played short. I allowed the goal, thinking this was only a problem when a 12th player was discovered on the field. I now know I should have disallowed the goal and started with an indirect kick from the goal area, after cautioning the player that came on without permission (I did issue the caution). Fortunately, the goal did not make a difference in the game. The thing that is frustrating is I put a lot of time into studying the laws and the accompanying publications only to make a silly mistake. I guess we all make mistakes and the key is to learn from them.

On Our Own

2008-04-05T18:51:00.004-04:00

This weekend had 2 league games in store for me. I could only do Saturday, so I was assigned to a U-10 and a U-13 match. Fortunately, I was assigned with my newly certified friend that started his referee career doing a U-17 boys game!
My typical schedule for league games is 2 or 3 games in a row, usually starting around noon. Sometimes I'll have to switch facilities for one of the games, but the travel is usually quite short. Today was the most unusual schedule I've had to date. Our first game was at 11 am, and our 2nd game was at 4 pm! Very unusual, and not terribly convenient, but it's better than having no games.
As I've mentioned in the past, I find the short sided games (U-10 and under in our state) to be really refreshing. After having a day full of teenage boys a couple of weeks ago, it's nice to have the little ones. If you really pay attention to them, they can be really entertaining. The thing I find interesting about the younger games is you actually need to pay more attention to the game. Don't go in thinking you can rest and take it easy because the players are 9 years old! You'll quickly find out the younger games is where your knowledge of the laws will get challenged. Look for frequent 2nd touches on free kicks and goal kicks that don't make it out of the penalty area. That stuff happens all the time.
An interesting, and all too frequent, thing occurred before the 2nd game of the day. The game was scheduled in a rather affluent town in my area. As is my habit, I always check the goals before a game, even if there is a game before mine. Surprisingly, one of the goals was not anchored in any way. I say it was surprising because this was not a run-down, poorly maintained facility. This was a well cared-for field in a nice park. I quickly mentioned it to the home coach. His assistant immediately pointed out that the previous game had taken place without a problem. This is the kind of pressure you will experience, but you must never play a game without the goals being adequately anchored! Please, don't be the one to give into the pressure. It's not OK to play a game with the field in this condition. In this case, we improvised. We grabbed a nearby field hockey goal and positioned it on it's back with the heavy end lying on top of the ground-level bar on the soccer goal. Problem solved and the game was played!

Big Weekend at a College Showcase

2008-03-22T20:41:00.005-04:00

I had a big weekend working a day at a boy's college showcase. There were two great things about it. First, I managed to get in 7 U-17 boys games! Second, my good friend, who was recently certified, got to do his first tournament and we worked together.
For a few months, I've really felt like I was ready to move up the age groups a little bit. I haven't had much in the way of the older games, so I was looking forward to getting a few assignments. I put in my availability for this college showcase and I was selected. We had an entire day of U-17 boys scheduled! Typically, I'll end up doing 6 games of an 8 or 9 game schedule. We work a crew of 4, so you have a couple of games off. Well, this morning, one of our crew members was late so I wound up with 7 games for the day with 2 middles. Nice. I really felt like I did a good job today so it was pretty satisfying, although I am totally exhausted!
As a new referee, I think you have to understand how to choose your sources of performance feedback. In other endeavors, you can sort of trust that the feedback you are getting has at least a hint of truth in it. I'm not convinced that's the case with soccer. For the most part, we had good teams with good coaches and parents today. But some of the teams were...well...lacking in some of these categories. As a referee, you need to be able to filter out some of this negative feedback. Realize that coaches and parents, for the most part, are not knowledgeable about the Laws of the Game and are certainly not going to give an unbiased opinion about your performance. You are much better off if you seek feedback from colleagues you know to be trustworthy and knowledgeable. If you are able to realize this early, you have a better chance of sticking with refereeing. At the half of most games, I'll meet with my ARs at mid-field. Typically, there isn't much time, especially if you want to try and get some food and drink. I've developed the habit of immediately asking "How are we doing in this game?" Get that feedback to make sure your game situation is what you think it is.
My recent re-reading of the "Advice to the Referee" came in handy this weekend. I was an Assistant Referee on the coaches side of the field. We had a free kick. The team chose to take the kick quickly, hitting an opposing player in the back, as he was retreating, about 5 yards away. The coach was immediately screaming for a caution and a retake. I pointed out to him that the player was retreating. Those of you that have read it know that "Advice" tells us (section 13.3) that in this situation, the kicking team cannot claim infringement of the required distance because they chose to take the kick with the player that close. This seem to satisfy and calm the coach, although I'm sure he looked it up when he got home!
If you read my earliest posts, you'll take note my first few games were U-9 and U-10 girls. I worked those games on my own, without the benefit of knowledgeable ARs. Recently, I talked my good friend into getting certified. He is in excellent condition and knows the game well as he played as an adult. The last few weeks, we've been putting in availability together for league games, but he hadn't been assigned. I guess there weren't any games available that the league assignor felt appropriate. We put in our availability for this college showcase. Honestly,
I never thought he'd get called. Even if he did, I was sure "Lines only" would be next to his name on our assignment sheet. Well, he got called AND he was assigned 2 middles! This is not the way I would have wanted to start my referee career. Fortunately, he came into the day with the right attitude. He was like a sponge the first couple of games, watching his colleagues and obviously making mental notes. When his time came, he did reasonably well, considering his experience level (zero!) His first game in the middle can be described as awkward. It wasn't bad, just awkward.
Fortunately, he had relatively easy teams in that there didn't seem to be any trouble makers or particularly aggressive play. By the end of the half, he had improved some. We spoke with him at the half and made some corrections. His second half was better. Later in the day, he had his 2nd middle. Surprisingly, he made a huge improvement. I thought he looked like he had 10 or 20 games under his belt. It's nice to see a guy start off well, knowing he's going to end up being a solid official.
So there you have it. Another nice weekend running the field and learning how to be a better referee. I got some experience with the older players and helped my friend get a good start in his career. Let me know what your first game was like! Your comments are always welcome!

Here we go!

2008-03-16T19:00:00.005-04:00

That time has come again! I started the Spring season this weekend by doing a day of a local girls college showcase tournament. It ended up being a pretty good day for me with 2 games in the middle and 4 on the lines. It was pretty clear the younger girls were scheduled in my time slots. I had a U-15 game and a U-16 game. It's a start, although I want to try my hand at the U-17-u-19 ages so I can start thinking about my upgrade to 7.
I really felt like I did a pretty good job and didn't make much in the way of mistakes. As some of you may know from reading my blog, I've been trying to concentrate more on making eye contact with my assistants as I've missed a few flags in games. This tournament showed I have made improvements in that area. I felt like my positioning was better and I was keeping my eyes on the ARs.
In one game, I had a player go down in her own penalty area. The ball was played off to the corner and I saw it go over the touch line. In hindsight, I think I gave the ball to the wrong team after we got the fallen player squared away. It just goes to show that you need to keep every detail in your mind. Fortunately, it wasn't a huge mistake but merely something I need to remember.
One thing I found myself pondering at the end of the day is how to deal with players that basically collide going for the ball. I had that happen in one of my games. I felt the ball was basically 50/50 and the girls merely collided trying to get to the ball first. One of the girls got a little banged up and I restarted with a dropped ball. I asked my AR about it at the half and he said he would have went with a foul. So how do you do that if you see it as a 50/50 ball? Both players have the right to go for the ball. I guess it's one of those "opinion of the referee" calls.
The other referees I worked with were pretty good. There was one odd thing though. One of the guys didn't have a gold jersey with him! How do you go to a high-level tournament without a gold jersey? He seemed to be a pretty experienced guy too. It bothered me a little. In the 2 games I was referee, he wore a USSF sweatshirt instead of a jersey, even after one of the guys offered him a short-sleeve gold jersey. It looked sloppy and unprofessional. Yes, I believe those things do matter. You can't expect people to take you seriously if you don't look like you are taking your job seriously. It invites dissent.
The next day, I had some league games scheduled. I could have put in for the 2nd day of the tournament, but I feel some obligation to my league assignor so I made sure to keep the day open for his games. I was originally scheduled for 3, but 2 were canceled, apparently for a lack of players. I ended up with the middle for a U-13 boys game. Again, this game went real well. I was assigned with 2 very competent officials. I've worked with one of them a few times and he's a real professional, pleasant guy. The other referee proved to be very good too. I'm told she's a grade 7 and has been doing this for some time.
The game had a minor coach problem that I shut down pretty quickly. After a foul called by one of the ARs, I heard one of the coaches say, loud enough so I could hear it, "this is why referees should play the game." As I ran by, I said to the coach, "Take it easy coach, we don't need any of that." He said "I'm allowed to disagree with you" to which I replied, rather quickly "Yes, but you are not allowed to dissent." That seemed to make it clear to him that I wasn't to be trifled with as I didn't hear anything from him for the rest of the game. I felt good about it because I dealt quickly with the problem without having to resort to being rude, or disrupting the game by getting out the notebook (we card coaches in this state)
All in all, it was a good weekend. I put in my availability for another college showcase next weekend. Hopefully, I get some older age games.

Uniform Update

2008-02-16T09:17:00.003-05:00

I'm sure quite a few of you have ordered the new uniforms. Obviously, Official Sports is having a tough time getting them out the door. In fact, there was even a notice on their website pointing out that shipments of the new uniforms would be delayed. Good for them for being up front and honest!
I just thought I'd put this short post up to give readers an idea of the delay. I ordered 2 new jerseys on December 1, 2007. Today is February 16, 2008. Yesterday, I received a call that 1 of the jerseys was shipping and the other was back ordered. So, by my math, that says the current back log is at least 10 weeks. Hopefully, things will pick up as more of the jerseys are manufactured.

Spring is Coming

2008-02-14T13:01:00.008-05:00

In my area of the United States (mid-Atlantic), the youth soccer season will be starting again shortly. My email in-box is already getting requests for availability for a handful of early Spring tournaments, so it is time to prepare for the coming season.

I gather that most referees really don't do much in the way of preparation, other than attend a recertification class. I prefer to do things a little differently. My preparation involves some education, physical improvement as well as some common sense items.

Education

Yes, I attended my recertification class. It seems, at least in my state, that there was an emphasis on dealing with infractions that occur during penalty kicks. I'm told someone got it wrong at one of our state cup games. Since this is where the state committee wants me to spend some of my time, I've reviewed the materials several times.
Before every season, I like to re-read three key documents. They are:

The new version of the Laws of the Game

Advice to the Referee on the Laws of the Game

Guidelines and Procedures

Reading the Laws of the Game once or twice a year should be a no-brainer for all referees. After all, it is the basis for what we do. I'm always surprised when I hear other officials talk about the laws in a way that convinces me they've never actually read them. If you think about it, it is possible to be a youth referee without having to read the laws.

The "advice" publication is the greatest. It's the book that US Soccer publishes (ok, it's really more of a "booklet") that explains what the laws really mean, according to the federation. It deals with most, if not all, of those tricky situations that we all have to deal with at one time or another. To me, reading and understanding "advice" is critical to being a good quality official. If you are following what is in "advice" you are not likely to be considered a referee that is "making it up as they go." For me, that is all the motivation I need.

The Guidelines and Procedures booklet should be read by all referees just to remind them what an Assistant Referee is supposed to do and what they are supposed to look like. My personal estimate is something like 40-60% of the referees that run a line for me have poor mechanics. I'm probably guilty of it on occasion too. It's not that hard to get right, and by reading the Guidelines and Procedures once or twice a year, we are reminded of good mechanics on the field. Looking the part on the field goes a long way in avoiding controversy and dissent. The guidelines book also reminds us of our administrative duties as referees. If you are not doing your administrative duties correctly and thoroughly, you are not doing your job.

All of these documents, and quite a few more, can be found on the US Soccer website. Did you know these documents are available in nice, printed booklet format too? Go to the US Soccer store and pick them up. They are very inexpensive and make a good addition to your referee bag.

Physical Preparation

I start taking my running more seriously about now. The fall season isn't a problem for me because I run most of the summer anyway. I slack off a little in the winter though, so I've been building up my run recently. I concentrate on running more consistently, as well as working on some specific things like endurance and speed. Lately, I've taken to doing some side-stepping, in preparation for being an assistant, as well as running backward. It's time to get the body used to the physical exertion that comes with running 2 or 3 games on a spring weekend. An injury can end your season real quick, or at least make the rest of it very uncomfortable.
Being physically prepared goes to selling your calls as well. It is much easier to sell a controversial call if you are 10 yards from the incident, rather than 30 yards away, huffing and puffing, trying to catch up to the play. I don't know about you, but I do not want to be accused of being a "center circle referee."

Other Things to Consider

When was the last time you changed the battery in your watch? Get it done before the season starts. It is cheap insurance. Take all your uniforms out of your bag and wash them. They probably smell a little musty from being in the garage all winter. How do your shoes look? It only takes about 5 minutes to polish them up a little. Do you have enough game cards and some extra pens/pencils in your bag? While the uniforms are out of it, why not wash the inside of your bag? I don't know about yours, but mine ends up with some grass and dirt floating around in there after a long season.

What do you do to prepare for the season? Send your comments and let me know! Thanks.

New Uniforms for Referees

2007-11-20T18:21:00.002-05:00

The green jersey has been released! Most of you know by now that the new jersey was featured at this past weekends MLS final. For those of you that have not seen it, I've included a picture.
Not that anyone has asked for it, but I feel obliged to share my feelings. I'm disappointed. First, I was kind of hoping the color would be a little more like a forest green. This green is a little too bright for me. Secondly, I don't see any reason to change the actual design of the uniform. Why not leave the stripes alone? What's done is done and we have to live with it. The first question I had in my mind was "when do I have to invest in new uniforms?" It turns out that does not have to happen anytime soon. A recent memo from the USSF says:

In the future, OSI will only sell the new uniforms, but the old striping pattern is still USSF-approved and acceptable to wear during games. In youth and adult amateur games, it is also acceptable for the crew to wear a combination of new and old uniforms. Referees are encouraged to purchase the new uniform when replacing their old version as the updated stripe pattern will be grandfathered into becoming the official referee uniforms of U.S. Soccer.

That seems reasonable. My yellow uniform is the OSI version, but my alternatives came from Score Sports. They are much cheaper and seem to look nice and wear well. As I replace (upgrade) them, I'll be ordering the new uniforms.
Did you notice the new socks? Yes, there is a new sock to go with the new uniform. The stripes have been moved down to about mid-shin. I guess I don't mind the new socks as much as the redesigned uniform. On the other hand, I don't have nearly as much money invested in socks! The above mentioned memo says the 3-stripe socks are acceptable as well as the newer designs.
I've had my say. What do you think?

First Fall Tournament

2007-11-11T18:45:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was spent at a large, highly competitive tournament in my area. I did 11 games in 2 days ranging from U-11 to U-15. It was a good tournament, with some great soccer played.
Dismissed
Well, I guess it was bound to happen. I had my first dismissal today. It was a coach, and there is no doubt in my mind that he deserved it. He started with me on a perceived bad call. I gave him a "that's enough coach." Later, I put the opponent on the penalty mark for an ugly trip in the penalty area. The defender's body actually slid into the legs of the attacker with the ball. It was a pretty easy call. After dealing with the goalkeeper losing her cool over the cool, I had to deal with the coach. He earned a place in my book on this one. 2 minutes later, he completely lost it on a throw in call. That was it. I pointed to the parking lot.
In my mind, I was trying to figure out why I felt like I was having some problems early on with this game. One team seemed content to play the game and was quite calm. The other team seemed upset with every call I made. There was noticeable decent from this team. I found out later, the team giving me problems was in second place in the tournament. The other team was in first. I wish I had known that going in.
Before the first half was over, I ended up issuing 2 more cards. The first was for a cheap elbow thrown as two players were fighting for the ball at the touch line. Naturally, it was right in front of the troublesome team's bench. Apparently, they felt it to be an unfair call. The 2nd was for a Failure to Respect Required distance on a free kick. The player stood right at the ball after the opponent put the ball down. I felt this to be a match-control type of card. I wanted to make sure they were getting the message that I was having none of the nonsense. At U-15, they should know they must give up the 10 yards right away.
The thing that surprised me is that both of the players cautioned in the first half engaged in pretty serious dissent in the 2nd half, even after me reminding them they were already under a caution. I could have easily been justified in sending both of them off. A few of the outbursts were purely emotional and I managed to get through them without too much of a problem.
This was a tough game, but as always, I learned a few things. First, you must expect the unexpected. I went into this game thinking it would be the same as all of the other games. I was sadly mistaken and would have been better prepared if I had known the importance of the game to the teams. In tournaments, we often get caught up in getting through the games on time because the tournament administrators do not want games to run late. This is understandable, but one thing you don't want to skimp on is being sure you have all the cards necessary if misconduct should arise. In particular, be sure you have a card for each of the coaches on the sideline. In this case, I did, but I had not checked before the start of the game.
Now that I've done a few tournaments and a fair share of league games, I have come to a realization. In general, player and coach behavior is better in league games than tournament games. Perhaps it is the perception that the repercussions of poor behavior in a tournament are less than a league game.
Gamesmanship
I had my first real experience with gamesmanship. Perhaps I've experienced it before and just didn't notice. We had the same team in 3 of our games at this tournament. The coach of this team had 2 interesting tactics she used to try and get a little advantage for her team. First, every time there was a close ball in/out of play call on the touch line, she would noticeably throw her arm up in favor of her team and shout "blue ball!" I don't think it influenced any of us much, but it was distracting for sure. I had a senior referee point this out to me a while ago as being "irresponsible behavior." His thought was it undermines the referees authority, because if you call the throw-in in favor of this team, people think you are influenced by this practice. If you don't, you might be perceived as favoring the other team because of the gamesmanship. This practice needs to be dealt with.
The more serious practice of this coach took me by surprise. There were a few times the ball went out of play near this team's bench. The coach would toss the ball to one of her players that was positioned much further down the touch line than where the ball went out! At first, I thought maybe she was just confused, but she did it several times. Be aware of these subtle forms of cheating.

Give the Young Guys a Chance

2007-11-05T08:17:00.000-05:00

Often times, I find myself working games with a crew that has at least 1 member under the age of 18. My son is now a grade 8 referee, and he works games with me on a regular basis. Also, there are quite a few young guys working for my league assignor. Our assignor does not specify which team members are to be the referee for games. He leaves that up to the crew to decide on game day, with the exception of critical games, like state cup. We get a list of games and a list of referees that will be there.
So when we arrive at our first game, I often suggest we flip coins, or pick coins from a pile to determine who will do what games. I have heard senior referees suggest it is unwise to have a younger referee do a game where the players are less than 2 years younger. So, for example, we might have a 14 year old referee do a U-11 game, but U-12 or above is probably a bad idea. I tend to agree with this idea as it might be hard for the younger referee to garner the respect from the players required for effective match control. Other than the age difference, however, I cannot think of other reasons why I, as an adult referee, would try to restrict a younger referee from getting a particular game.
Lately, I've noticed some referees take advantage of younger referees on their crew. They show up, see they are with 2 young officials, and immediately take charge. I suppose this could be a good thing sometimes, but it seems to me that adult referees have an obligation to bring along younger referees and help them get the experience they need to become confident as game officials. It is unfair for an adult to take the center position for all of the days games just by virtue of being the only adult referee present. I'd venture to say most of us would not try to do that with another adult referee, so why would we do that when we are assigned with younger referees?
The next time you are assigned with a minor, consider their need for experience as well as your own. You can learn as much about the game assisting a young referee as you can being in the center. It's only fair, and as referees, we should be all about being fair!

Interesting Weekend - More Lessons

2007-10-28T20:21:00.000-04:00

Well, I knew things were going too well. I haven't had a problem with a coach in a long time, so I'm due.
Let me describe the scenario. We are in the 2nd half of a U-14 boys game. To give you an idea of the entire picture, I had a very minor dissent issue with one of the red team's coaches. My assistant made a solid offside call on a defender's deflection to an offside red player. This coach had a few things to say about it. I pointed out a defender deflection does not reset offside and the call would stand. He went on about it, but I ignored him.
About mid way through the half, a ball goes out of touch right in front of red's bench. This is on my half of the touch line. My assistant signals a throw in for red, but I overruled him as I was 10 feet from the play and saw the ball touch red on the way out. The same coach as above starts debating me on the call, pointing out the assistant pointed the other way. I responded that I was overruling him and the call would stand. That wasn't enough to satisfy the coach, so I booked him for behaving irresponsibly in the technical area. I showed him the card (yes, we show cards to coaches in NJ) and we played on.
About 7 minutes later, the red goalkeeper made a save. While he was on the ground in possession of the ball, the white team kicked at him, causing me to stop play for dangerous play. While getting off the ground, the goalkeeper taunted the white team about the call. I immediately showed him the yellow card for unsporting behavior.
Now that you have the background, I'll describe what happened. At the end of the game, both coaches confronted me coming off the field. The first coach continued the debate of whether or not I could overrule my assistant. He said I couldn't do that and he also identified himself as a referee. I pointed out that, as the referee, I had final say on all decisions on the field and he didn't have to agree with me. Then the other coach starts in on me about the caution of their goalkeeper. Apparently, he didn't agree that what I heard was taunting. I pointed out that it's my opinion that counts in relation to facts on the field. I also said the conversation was over as we were not going to arrive at any useful conclusions. Here's the part that bothered me. As I walked away, these guys followed me and persisted with their arguments! In thinking about this later, I could not come to any conclusions as to what these guys thought they were going to accomplish. It really doesn't make any sense. Thing about it: One issue boiled down to a ball in or out of play call. The other was misconduct, but only a caution and probably wouldn't amount to much when reported to the league. I've taken to trying to put myself in the coaches shoes to at least understand their motivations when debating calls. This one I don't understand. What do you think of this?

More Good Games

2007-10-20T18:51:00.000-04:00

I had 2 games today. I was the referee for a U-10 game and an Assistant for a U-14 game. They were both pretty good games and fairly uneventful, although I did make some observations as usual.
In the younger kids game, the emphasis was on teaching. Realize going in that the short-sided game always requires more teaching than usual, but today's game required more than the typical game. In the local league, you basically get 2 chances to get throw-ins correct. The referee is expected to point out the mistake the player made in the first throw-in. For whatever reason, we had an inordinate amount of bad throws. Also, both goalkeepers committed deliberate handling fouls. We warned the first keeper 5 or 6 times about coming out of the penalty area when he was distributing the ball. After these warnings, up went the Assistants flag. I had a short chat with the keeper about what went wrong. Later in the game, the other keeper just walked out of the penalty area with the ball in his hands. He forgot about the line! That is one of the reasons I enjoy the short-sided game. The unexpected is always happening.
The U-14 game was some kind of big rivalry. At least that's what we we're told. The actual game turned out to be kind of lopsided. There wasn't much in the way of notable events for this game. I am trying to figure out why coaches insist on standing in the way of the Assistant Referee. They know we're there. They know we need to move up and down the line. Hey, it's an exciting game. I don't blame them wanting to get a good view of the action. I had one trainer that insisted on standing with the touch line right between his feet. Yes, he had one foot on the field! Oddly enough, it's the same trainer I had a hard time with a few weeks ago. I politely asked him to step back, and this time he did. I guess the nice approach works sometimes!
I did notice today that one of the guys I work with regularly seems to want to find fault in every game. For example, after a coach came over to us, at the end of a game, and said we had done a good job, he commented that one of the coach's players need to be careful about his habitual pushing. This may be true, but call it in the game. This game was over. We didn't have a problem. Why start trouble? I'm going to observe this referee in the Spring season with the older players. I wonder if he has any game control problems?

Refreshing Game

2007-10-18T11:28:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I ended up with only 1 game last weekend through an honest mistake on my assignors part. It wasn't that big of deal, although reserving a large portion of ones day for a single game is problematic.
As is my pratice, I got to the field 30 minutes before the schedule game time. The home team coach arrived around the same time and his players arrived shortly after. Noticeably, the visiting team was absent.
One member of the crew pointed out that he had no interest in being the referee for the game, so the remaining referee and I flipped a coin and I ended up as the assigned center.
The appointed game time arrived without the visiting team. They arrived at the field 15 minutes into their 30 minute grace period. Apparently, they had played one day tournament elsewhere and did their best to get to the field.
It turned out to be a really good game. Both teams were skilled (for U-10) and played very well. The interesting thing about this game was there were very few fouls, and those that I did call were fairly minor. Not only that, but, after the game, it occurred to me that neither coach said a negative word to the referee crew, nor did any of the parents. How refreshing! We did the entire game and only had to concentrate on the play on the field. In fact, the coaches were nothing but polite and friendly. I guess it does happen on occasion. So if you are having some problematic games, try to relax. Your next game could be just like the one I had.

Disappointment

2007-10-12T07:48:00.000-04:00

It was bound to happen. I've read, and been told, that assignors will occasionally make a mistake with assignments. It finally happened to me. I had 3 games assigned this weekend. I received a mildly frantic phone call from my assignor. That is unusual just from the fact that we never communicate by phone. Turns out he read the schedule wrong and 2 of the 3 games I have for the weekend are actually on Saturday. Unfortunately, I can't work on Saturday. The good news is I still have one game for Sunday. I don't blame the assignor. Everyone makes mistakes and that is just the way it is.
The lesson in this is that everyone associated with soccer does the best they can. Sometimes mistakes are made and you just have to go with it. It's disappointing to only have 1 game for the weekend, but working with this assignor has been very good for me.

Long Weekend

2007-09-29T20:03:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, I was assigned 3 games. the first was a league game for U-8 boys. Me and another adult referee were Assistant Referees for a younger guy. The younger guy seemed a little, well, awkward. He was very tentative in the way he approached the game. Even the coaches commented a few times. They speculated that perhaps this was his first match at the center. I started to think the same thing. The guy really didn't call much in the way of fouls. I know how that feels. Sometimes, after thinking back over a game, I find myself wishing I had called a few more things. Anyway, there were indications this might be the guys first game in the center. At half-time, I was making some small-talk with him. I asked how long he'd been a referee. He said "3 years." I was shocked. I really believed this had to be, if not his first, one of his first games. It proves the theory another experienced referee had given me. He said that some referees have years of experience. Some referees do their first year, over and over again. I believe that now.
Other than the U-8 game, we had 2 NJ State Cup games. I was assigned to the center for the 3rd game of the day, and the other adult on the crew that day had the 2nd game. The 2nd game turned out to be a more competitive game than the 3rd, but I'm not complaining. I got to do a state cup game, after all! The great thing about this day of games was I got to work with a guy that I feel is a genuinely good, quality referee. Even when working as my assistant, he was impressive. He made good calls and had proper mechanics. It was refreshing and made me realize how much easier it is to do the center when you have good assistants.
In my state cup game, there was really only one play that was notable. For some reason, the coaches on one of the teams thought it was a good idea to waste a corner kick trying a little trick play. They had one of their girls put the ball down and put a tap on the top of the ball. Then another player went over and kicked the ball out of the corner circle. She followed the ball out of the corner and kicked it again. Tweet! Double touch. The coaches were not happy. The thing is, law 17 says "the ball is in play when it is kicked and moves." Advice to the Referee says the ball cannot be just tapped on the top. I think I got this one right. From my viewpoint, the ball did not move.
On Sunday, I had 4 games. We tend to get the same 4 teams when assigned to this particular club. There are 11, 12 and 13 year old boys as well as a U-9 boys team. I was an Assistant for 3 of the games and assigned to referee the 13 year old boys. I've worked with one of the other referees a couple of times. It seems we do a better job when we've worked with another official a few times. I guess you start to get used to each others style.
One observation I made this weekend is related to the experience of coaches, relative to their teams. It seems to me there is a correlation between the age and experience of a team, and the experience and knowledge of the team's coaches. It is probably obvious if you think about it. During the U-9 game, I had to ask the coaches of both teams to step back from the touch line several times. I can see the players being in the way. They are only 8 year olds, so that doesn't really bother me. I got a little exasperated toward the end of the game when I had to strongly insist that one of the coaches stay away from the line. This guy was actually standing on the touch line for much of the game. At this point, the coach says to me "I wasn't on the line!" The situation brings up quite a dilemma. Do you make a big deal out of it? After all, it's a U-9 game. On the other hand, if I miss a ball in/out or I'm not on my offside line, these same coaches will be sure to let me know about it. I discussed the matter after the game with the other referees. They pointed out it becomes a non-issue if the local club would paint a "spectator line" on the field. Perhaps that is the right answer.

New Season, New Assignor and a State Cup Game

2007-09-27T08:47:00.001-04:00

I decided on the assignor I want to use for the next season or so. He assigns for the same league I was working last season, but he has clubs that are closer to my home. Another referee made me aware of him at a tournament I worked in the late summer. Coincidentally, the assignor was working a tournament that my son played in, so I got a chance to meet him face-to-face. He seemed delighted to have a referee from my area because one of the clubs that is close to me has very few referees.
It appears I made a good decision. My first weekend of availability saw me working 4 games. I was the referee in 2 of the games and an Assistant Referee in the others. This is a big improvement over my previous assignor where I was getting 1 or 2 games (if I was lucky). Almost all of those games were as Assistant Referee.
This coming weekend, I put in availability for both Saturday and Sunday. Between the 2 days, I have 7 games assigned. 2 of them are State Cup games! The assignor specified that I do one of the State Cup games as the Referee. I'm really excited about this, as it seems to be an acknowledgment that he trusts I'm experienced enough to do a good job in this game. State Cup in NJ is taken pretty seriously, so it should be a great game! I'm really looking forward to it!

Looks Like Green is In

2007-09-25T08:30:00.000-04:00

I was just reviewing one of the many referee related websites that I visit. I noticed a reference to a new green jersey for 2007. I've been reading about the possible addition of a green jersey for some time now, but this time is different. Check out the 2007 administrative handbook. On page 34, where it describes the referee uniform, a green uniform is referred to as having "BOD approval." Looks like green is in!

Can You Ever Get It Right?

2007-09-09T20:22:00.000-04:00

Even though I worked a tournament 2 weeks ago, I consider today's game to be my opening game of the Fall season. It was a U-12 game from a local premier girls league. I have to admit, when I received the assignment, I was a little intimidated because it was being played at a local ethnic club. I have had other referees tell me games can be tough at this site as the club members take their soccer very seriously. Not only that, but I was by myself on this one. That's right. No assistant referees!
The game turned out to be pretty uneventful. It was well played. There were very few fouls, although I did end up awarding a penalty kick for a pretty obvious deliberate handling foul. It was so obvious, the offending side didn't even complain about it!
We made it to within 2 minutes of the end of the game with everything going smoothly. The home team stripped the ball from the visitors around the halfway line, made a couple of good passes and put the ball in the net. Suddenly, I had the visiting team yelling about an "obvious offside" and a "handball" by the home team. The possible offside just wasn't there. Since I was by myself, I was watching that carefully. It just didn't happen. The last pass before the goal was a chip over the receiving player. It came down over her shoulder and landed in front of her. It is possible she handled it, but I certainly didn't see it and I was a lot closer than any of the coaches, so I don't believe it happened.
The lesson I learned from this game is you will always have someone complain about something you did, or didn't call, in your games. I don't think it is possible to get through a game without complaining from one side, the other, or both. The next game referee was there when I came off the field. I asked him if he noticed anything and he said he did not. He's far more experienced than me so I trust his input. He said you cannot call things you do not see. He pointed out you cannot look at everything on the field at one time, so it is possible, in fact likely, that you will miss things on the field. You can't worry about it. I think that's good advice.

Tournament Schedules: What has been your experience?

2007-08-24T12:31:00.000-04:00

I really want your feedback on this post. How are tournaments done where you live?
I asked to be assigned to a tournament in my area, scheduled for this coming weekend. I received word that I would be working both Saturday and Sunday. Some assignors will ask what days you want to work, others won't. After doing a 2-day tournament in the Spring, I would have liked to avoid the back-to-back days. 2 days in a row is just brutal. Naturally, the forecast for this weekend is HOT!
As is typical, I'll be with a 4-person crew. We will work a single field, all day. Each person will end up doing 6 or 7 games, per day. Usually, the crew members will rotate through being referee and assistant referee. You end up getting every 4th game off to rest or eat and drink. Sometimes, you'll have a member of the crew that does not want to be the referee, so you might end up changing the rotation somewhat.
In examining the schedule, I've also noted the tight scheduling of our field. We have 1 hour slots for each game. Reading the rules, I find that the games are to be 60 minutes. You'll immediately note this allows no time for half-time or the switching of teams between games. We are guaranteed, no matter how we manage our field, to be seriously behind by the afternoon.
All of this leaves me wondering what tournaments are like in other parts of the world. Is everyone working this many games on a tournament weekend? What about game scheduling? Do you normally have enough time for the game or are all tournaments this hectic? Add your comments to this post and let us know! Thanks.

Preparing for the Coming Season

2007-08-13T16:09:00.000-04:00

Getting Assigned
Well, let me start with the obvious. You need to get games. As I write this, the Fall season will be starting in about 3 or 4 weeks. Of course, there are always tournaments before the season starts, so plan now what kind of games you want and get your name in with the appropriate assignor. Don't be afraid to send a quick email to a tournament organizer and get your name on their list. As I've said in other articles, you have to get your name on the assignors lists before you can expect to get games.
Mental Preparation
Being pretty new, I'm still not completely comfortable with making decisions on the field quickly, without hesitation. My concern is that some obscure, bizarre play will happen and I won't know exactly that to do. So, coming off of the summer break, I've been reviewing the various materials I keep on my laptop. First thing I do is re-read the Laws of the Game. The 2007 version is posted on the FIFA site. I've downloaded and reviewed it. It's really worthwhile to review the "Additional Instructions" portion of the Laws of the Game as well. It gets you thinking about the game.
Physical Preparation
If you read my posts often, you are aware I take the referee thing pretty seriously. I want to do the best job I can. Hey, we're getting paid for this! Also, the players prepared all week for the game so I should be prepared as well. In my mind, one of the most important things one can do to become a better referee is have good conditioning in order to keep up with play. I may not make perfect calls, but I don't want anyone to be able to say I'm a "center circle official" or I'm making calls while 40 yards from the play.
So how do I prepare? I run...often. That's all I can say. I was asked a few times last season how I stay in shape and keep my weight down. I even had one referee compliment my conditioning. In my mind, there isn't a substitute for going out and running on a regular basis. During a given week, I'll probably run about 4 or 5 times. Each run is between 2 and 3 miles. Every other week, I try to get in a long run of about 5 miles. My pace varies too. For the 3 mile runs, I usually go at about 8 1/2 minute miles. The longer runs are done at about 9 1/2 minute miles. Every so often, I throw in some speed work. I head to the local high school track. The workout starts with a 1 mile warm-up (4 laps on a standard track). After the warm up, I'll do some sprints. I usually do 200 meters off/200 meters on. That's 1/2 a lap at about a 7 minute mile pace and 1/2 a lap at about a 9 minute mile pace. Typically, I'll do 4 laps this way. After the sprints, I'll do another 2-4 laps at a slow pace to cool down.
I've seen plenty of referees that keep up with play and don't do the running that I do. I've also seen plenty of referees that really are not keeping up with play. It seems to me they consistently have more problems with selling their calls as the players and coaches notice.

Reflecting on My First Season

2007-08-01T08:25:00.000-04:00

Having completed my first season, I've started to think about many of the things I've observed and learned. After 39 games, I've learned quite a lot. My skills have improved significantly and I'm feeling more confident in my ability. I've started to observe various behaviors by others involved in the sport, and that has contributed to my successful season. This entry contains a summary of my thoughts and observations that didn't fit neatly into any other post.
Parents routinely embarrass themselves during games. It really is amazing to me that seemingly sane, educated people routinely make themselves look like fools during a youth sporting event. Most of the time, these parents really have no knowledge of the game and are merely venting emotion and frustration. Other times, I believe these people have some level of an abusive or controlling personality. I believe, for the most part, parents can be controlled by 2 techniques. Depending on the situation, a stern look/word toward the parent will often work to eliminate or at least control the situation. If that doesn't work, remember, it is the coaches responsibility to control their parents. If there is no cooperation in this matter, the match can be terminated.
I find myself wondering why coaches seem to think its a good idea to yell at, and otherwise abuse, soccer officials. Can they possibly think they have some influence over our decisions? My advice for dealing with unhappy coaches is to set the limits early in the match. The minute they cross your limits for irresponsible behavior, they need to receive a stern talking to and perhaps a caution. Do not let coaches abuse you. That behavior is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.
Some skills improve with your game count. Thinking back to my first few games, my biggest problem seemed to be signaling the correct direction for a restart! It was a struggle to remember which team was attacking in which direction. I remember being horrified at how slow my decision making ability felt. Now, I don't really worry about those things. They went away pretty quickly.
Evaluate each piece of advice you are offered by more experienced referees. Some of this advice is either not wise, or just plain wrong. There seems to be quite a few myths out there that are often propagated by officials. Realize that a more experienced referee is not correct by virtue of them having more experience. There are some very knowledgeable referees out there. Seek them out. Befriend them. Learn from them.
Think about and ensure your mechanics, especially as an assistant referee, are correct. Maybe I'm too conservative, but there was more than once this season that I noticed poor mechanics from an assistant and it bothered me. At first, I thought it was limited to younger referees, but I realized the problem comes from elsewhere. Assistant referee mechanics are not reinforced through the certification process. In fact, there is little in the US Soccer teaching materials that demonstrates assistant referee mechanics. Take a look at your "Guidelines and Procedures" manual and brush up on those skills. Good mechanics make selling your decisions easier and it makes the referee team look far more professional
On a positive note, it seems there is at least one positive interaction with a game participant for every negative one. We often emphasize the negative when we talk about being a youth soccer referee, but there are many opportunities to have good interactions as well. Try saying hello to a few of the players while they are warming up. Often, you'll find some very nice young men and women on the field!
There are some things I'd personally like to improve. Here they are, in no particular order:

Get better at positioning so I'm not interfering with play - there were times this past season, especially with the older players, where I felt like I was getting in the way once in a while. I need to work on this.
Be more careful about watching the Assistant Referees - There were a couple of times I missed offside flags. Concentrating on your assistants is a must.
Work toward getting more center assignments so I can think about upgrading - In looking up the upgrade requirements to go to grade 7, one has to work 75 games as a referee and 25 games as an assistant referee. At the rate I'm going, it will take an awful long time to get to 75. I need to speak with my assignor about this and figure out how to best make that happen.

Total Exhaustion

2007-06-05T08:26:00.000-04:00

I put my availability in for a large, local tournament some time ago. I was assigned to a 4-person crew for both days of the tournament. Our field was scheduled for 18 games in two days! This would be a big test for me.
For the most part, we used what apparently is a standard rotation of having the person coming off a break take the referee position. Once you are done in the center, you move one touch line, then the other and then to break again. When it was all over, I ended up in the center 5 times and did 8 games as an AR. I really enjoy officiating games, but I'm not sure I'll be putting availability in for more than 1 day of a tournament. 2 days is just brutal, particularly if it is hot. Day 1 of this tournament was 90 degrees. Day 2 was much better, but it rained for the 2nd half of the day.

This tournament offered a huge number of experiences and observations. I'm not sure where to begin and suspect I will edit this particular post many times.

Shoes Make the Man

I'll start with something very basic, and that would be footwear. If you've been reading my blog, you remember that I have some problems with shoes in the past. I recently changed to the Spot Bilt studded shoe. The shoe is actually made by Saucony and features a running shoe upper and a turf tread. It works much better (for me) than a turf shoe designed for players as it provides additional support and is generally a sturdier shoe. These shoes have worked really well for me on a typical weekend where I'm assigned 1 to 3 games. They worked pretty well for the tournament too, but I still ended up with a couple of very ugly blisters. I cannot tell if it is the shoes, the socks I'm wearing, or some other variable. If someone can suggest a possible remedy, I'd sure appreciate it.

Match Control

Of the 18 games we worked over the weekend, we had several that had parents or coaches that "cared too much." In fact, we had one coach go ballistic over a "ball out of play" call in the first minute of a game. The call was made about 60 yards from his position. That one was bizarre. We also terminated a game that had 4 minutes left. A parent was harassing one of the ARs. When the referee confronted the parent, they became abusive. Game over. I bring these things up because there seemed to be a correlation between the person in the center, and these match control issues. Do not misunderstand what I'm saying, these are good referees, but I did notice a couple of things that I think might contribute to the issues they were confronting.

One of the referees seemed to have a noticeably introverted personality. In fact, when I first met him, I walked up and offered my hand as a greeting. He almost seemed to not know how to react. I barely heard his "hello." He is a really nice guy, but quiet and perhaps lacks some social skills. I found myself wondering if this resulted in some issues for him as he didn't strike me as authoritative on the field. His decisions seemed weak. I think this was a personality issue, not necessarily a confidence or knowledge problem.

The other fellow seemed to have problems resulting from his habit of wearing a hat and dark sunglasses on the field. Personally, if it is really hot and sunny, I am not going to criticize you for wanting to get a little relief by wearing a cap and the glasses. I will not do it because it is not part of the uniform and that would bother me. It seemed the glasses came up several times when parents were complaining about calls. Clearly, the glasses did not have an effect on this persons ability to make a proper call, but it does invite the criticism, doesn't it? I say lose the glasses and hat and give everyone one less thing they can use to criticize.

More Experience

Through the luck of our rotation, I did get a few more challenging games. In particular, I had a fairly high-level U-15 boys game that went real well. One of the other referees on the crew even complimented my match control after the game. I felt good about the entire game. I had a 2 other games around the same age level, although they were girls games. They weren't quite as challenging as the skill and aggression levels were a little lower, but clearly they were great experience.

I did have one minor issue that bothered me. I missed an offside flag in a later game on day 2. The defense recovered the ball. As I turned to head up field, I noticed the trailing AR with his flag up and blew the whistle before he could get the flag down. We had to bring a ball back 40 yards, essentially removing the advantage from the attacking team. Fortunately, they were up by several goals and did not make a big deal about it. The coach asked me about it after the game and I admitted I missed a flag. In hindsight, I should have probably called it an inadvertent whistle and given a dropped ball. At least that would have kept the ball in the attacking end of the field. To be honest, I am pleased that, even after all those games, I did not make any terrible mistakes. I managed to keep my senses keen and do a good job, so I guess that's something.

Problematic Player

In one of our games, there was a player who was problematic from the start. He had a knack for dissent and was giving the referee some problems early on. Not surprisingly, he earned himself a card about half way through the first half. I did not think he would make it to end of the game. He had several more fouls called on him in the first half. At the break, the opposite AR mentioned to the referee that this player made a insulting comment, with racial overtones, as he was coming off the field during a substitution. The first thing I thought of was she really should have pointed that out when it happened. Once the restart happened, I think it would be tough to sell a send-off for this player.

I had met this player's coach back in March at a tournament with my son. After the game, I waked over and asked to have a word with him. I related the story as I wanted him to be aware of the problem, especially the racial part of the comment. His reaction bothered me. He didn't really seem bothered by the comment and he said his boys are "just starting to learn," whatever that means. Some people's priorities seemed to be out of order.

More Experience = More Confidence

2007-05-27T19:55:00.000-04:00

I got myself scheduled for one day of a local tournament. This particular assignor that I work with has been a little more conservative with my assignments. I often get line assignments from him. In fact, I get very few center assignments.
He called me for the tournament. I was assigned 4 short sided games in the morning. He also told me that he would like me to come by referee headquarters to "pick up the slack" for officials that might be injured or sick.
The thing about tournaments that makes them tough is the super-tight scheduling. This particular tournament allowed for 5 minutes between games and 5 minute half times. Since I was scheduled for short sided games in the morning, by myself, I knew it would be a real struggle to get food and water as required. Also, its a little stressful because you only have those 5 minutes to deal with the administrative part of the job. Since there are so many games scheduled, it is critical games start on time. A few delayed games, and you could have a field that is 40 minutes behind by the end of the day. I think I've probably stated this before, but one must be persistent with coaches to have them get their teams on the field when the match is supposed to start. I had an experienced referee tell me to just start my watch at the appointed time, whether the teams are on the field or not.
As I worked through my first four games, something occurred to me. I'm getting better at this! I feel more confident! The experience I've been getting has been paying off. I actually had a coach tell me I called a really good game...and his team had lost!
On a side note, I actually had a parent say something kind of nasty to me during the game. I should clarify, it was a U-8 game. Unbelievable! There are all kinds. Interestingly enough, one of the coaches walked over to the parents side of the field and made it clear the parents were not to say anything to me! Way to go coach! Also, the club representative for the parent with the mouth apologized to me after the game on behalf of his club. Classy. I have additional respect for that club.
Something occurred to me while I was working the small side games. I love being a referee for the little ones. I've had some opportunities to do some older kids games. Most of them go well, but some games are tough. The players can be difficult and the coaches and parents can be worse. For the most part, the little ones just want to have fun. They want to learn the game. They count on the referee to teach, as well as officiate. If the older games get you down, schedule yourself for a few small sided games.
I reported to referee headquarters as requested. I had a couple of cold drinks and spoke with my assignor for 10 minutes or so. A call came in from one of the tournament locations that a referee needed a replacement (It was very hot today, over 90 degrees). Off I went to the new location. I subbed in immediately for the ill official and completed that game. I did one more game with this crew as an assistant, and then they asked me to be the referee for the last game. Apparently, the referee in the center when I arrived had been in the center almost all day! I ended up doing a U-13 girls game. It was a great game and I think I did a real good job. I effectively dealt with a few nasty parents and called a very good game. OK, it wasn't the most challenging game ever, but the experience is paying off and I'm getting better with every game.
Next week, I'm scheduled to do a large, 2-day tournament in the area. I'm looking forward to it!

Courage with the Important Call

2007-05-19T20:31:00.000-04:00

I didn't get much in the way of assignments this weekend. I had two AR assignments. One is on Saturday while the other is on Sunday. Saturday's game was a real nail-biter. The game ended 0-0, and it was well played. There was lots of physical play, emotion and some dissent that drew a caution from the center. Both of the games I did were U-16 boys. These games were definitely faster than I'm use to and I had to pick it up to keep up with play.
In today's game, with only about 1 minute left. I made what I thought was going to be a controversial call. The ball was played through the defense, about 10 feet inside the touch line. The keeper came out and followed the ball toward the goal line. A striker chased the ball as well. As the ball approached the goal line, the keeper turned away from the ball and put his shoulder into the chest of the striker, rather than shield the ball and have it go out of bounds. I put up my flag immediately, much to the dismay of the keeper's team. The center came over and asked me what I saw. I explained it to him by merely presenting the facts. He confirmed the direct kick without question.
I think it's important to make the tough calls, regardless of the screaming and yelling that might result. You make the calls based on what you see. By the way, the strikers team failed to take advantage of the close-in free kick.
The 2nd game of the weekend, which was also a U-16 boys game, had some controversy in it. During our pre-game inspection, we noticed one of the goals had a net that was not tied down at the bottom along one side. That came back to bite us later. About 30 minutes into the 1st half, the center signaled for a penalty kick. I immediately moved to the prescribed position on the goal line. The center set up the kick, then positioned himself right in front of me on the goal line! The kick was taken. It was a low shot, very close to the post, opposite our positions. The center called for a goal kick, apparently ruling the ball went wide of the net. The shooting team screamed that it was clearly a goal and the ball had merely gone through the hole in the net. The center asked me what I saw. All I could tell him was it did not look like a goal to me, but I was screened from seeing the posts. I could only tell him that I did not see the net move at all. I think this is why following the contents of the "Guidelines and Procedures" manual is so critical. Proper positioning is so important and is specified in the document for a reason.
As I get more games, I've come to notice something important. Many referees make things up as they go. I'm not sure if this results from misinformation, ignorance of changes in the law, or some other reason. I hear more experienced referees say things that I absolutely know to not be true. Be wary of this if you are a new referee. It's very easy to be mislead.