Real Referee Shoes

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.

Let's Get Going

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.
 

The Rules Do Not Apply To Him

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.

Under the Lights

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.

Assignment etc.

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.

Referee Game Log - I want your input

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.