Big Weekend at a College Showcase

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!