New Faces and Ugly Weather

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

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.

Good Day at the College Showcase

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:

1. Defenders to beat?  none.
2. Direction to goal? check.
3. Distance to ball?  check.
4. 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

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!

The Season Starts

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

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

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

Mr. Nice Guy

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

Oh, This is Going to Hurt

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!

More (Girls) National Championship Series

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.

Time for Soccer Again

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

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.

You Can't Always Choose Your Crew

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.

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.

Learning by Doing - Tournament Participation

If you have been reading some of my other posts, you know that I've been somewhat concerned and frustrated with getting assignments and experience. There were some communication issues on my part and the weather was not cooperating on those weekends that I did get assignments. I was happy to receive a response from an assignor for a premier level tournament in my area. I've written about actively pursuing assignments by contacting various assignors in your area. It paid off for me. You have to be proactive and persistent!
My original schedule for the tournament was for 2 days. The 4-man crew to which I was assigned was scheduled for 8 games on Saturday and 5 games on Sunday. It became apparent to me that the 4 member team is a common arrangement. The 4 members are assigned to a particular field and the members work out the schedule for the day between them. It is usual for a particular member to work the center, then each touch line, then have a game off to eat and rest. It is done this way so the person just coming off rest is assigned to the center so they are rested and fresh.
My 4 person crew assembled on the field about 40 minutes before our first match. After checking the nets, and inflating the match ball, we worked out our schedule for the day. I was to be the first center referee, and then I would work each of the touch lines before getting a game off. Oddly enough, we were given the wrong size match ball. It's a good thing we scrutinized it before the game.
We had a quick pre-game conference before my first match. I asked the other guys to make whatever calls they felt necessary, with the exception of fouls in the penalty area, of course. I also made it clear that I was pretty new and I needed them to help me from doing anything awful.
The tournament committee was very clear that all games would have 30 minute halves and a 5 minute half time. They made it clear all games would start on time. In fact, we were to end games within 5 minutes of the scheduled start time of the next game. There were to be no late games. With that in mind, my crew was adamant with teams about getting their players out on the field for the kick off on time. Take note of this. If the tournament tells you something similar, they are serious. You must get those teams on the field, on time, and start the games. You have to be stern with the coaches on this issue.
We started my first match right on time. It was an advanced U-14 match, so I was excited to be out there. All went fairly well. I made a maximum effort to keep up with play and pay attention to fouls as to maintain control of the game. I tried to strike a balance between letting the teams play and maintaining control and I think I did a pretty good job. I thought all went well in the first half.
At the half time whistle, the 2 AR's met me at the center of the field. I was shocked when they wanted to know why I was ignoring their flags! Apparently, I had missed 2 or 3 offside flags. This was incredible to me. Needless to say, I promised to pay more attention. Lesson learned. You must pay attention to your assistants, looking at them often to make sure there are no raised flags. The 2nd half of my first match went much better. I should point out however, that it can be very tough to hear a coach asking for a substitution on a windy day when you are 50 yards away. Pay attention to the technical area as well. Glance over at each stoppage if possible.
Another first for this tournament was my first misconduct. A reckless tackle in the 2nd half had me showing the yellow card. I was very careful to stop the game (it was a foul so I had stopped the game anyway). Calling the player away from the others, I quickly explained to him why he was being cautioned and I noted all his information. I showed him the card and we restarted play.
The next 2 games were on the lines for me. As I've written before, doing the lines is tougher than it looks! It is critical to maintain proper positioning, which is even with the 2nd to last defender or the ball, whichever is closest to the goal line. At this level of play, things happen quickly, so constant concentration is imperative. Personally, I find getting direction of restarts right when on the line to be tougher than when I am the center. I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps I'm thinking too hard?
Learning from Others
In your mind, be critical of what you are seeing. Even experienced referees probably have a few bad habits. Since this was my first real experience working with others, I found that to be true. Just because an experienced official does something a certain way, that does not mean you necessarily want to do it too. As an example, consider my experience with misconduct during the tournament. As I noted above, I cautioned a player for a reckless tackle. I followed the recommendations from my class very carefully. While I was working the line for a later game, the center chose to caution a player for dissent. He showed him the card, but then I noticed he did not record any of his information! Thinking that I had merely missed the recording part of the procedure, I was careful to watch the next cautionable situation, and, sure enough, the center was definitely not recording any of the cautioned player's information. Personally, I think that's bad enough for a single match, because you could miss a second caution and not send off a player. It's even worse at a tournament, where cautions can carry over to other matches. It's part of your administrative duties and you are paid to do it.
I have come to the conclusion that, as a center, I'd really like my assistants to enforce proper substitution procedure. All of the guys I worked with at the tournament seemed to be ok with substitutes running onto the field well before their player was completely off. At this level, the big risk is ending up with too many players on the field. At the higher levels, you could end up dealing with misconduct by someone who is neither a player nor a substitute. Allow sloppy substitution at your own peril!
Equipment and Preparation
My shoes are terrible! There, I've said it. My feet hurt unbelievably bad at the end of the day. I'm a newly minted referee, so I purchased shoes similar to what I see other officials wearing. They are basically turf shoes designed for players. If you think about it, that's not really a good shoe for an official. Officials and players have totally different uses and expectations for a shoe. I'm not kicking the ball (At least, not on purpose!). A player's shoe is designed to be snug and provide ball control. Comfort is an after thought. This type of shoe is fine for 1 or 2 games. Try wearing them for 8 hours! I've already ordered an "official's" shoe, manufactured by Spot Bilt. These shoes are more like a running shoe, but with a turf tread pattern. I'm hoping the extra support helps me. Lesson learned.
If you are even mildy "hair challenged," be sure you put sunscreen on your scalp. I was surprised to find that, even on a cool day, you can get a pretty bad sunburn being on the field all day. I picked up a spray-on sunscreen. It's not easy to get it on your scalp, but it's better than nothing.
This one is important. Officiating at a tournament is a long, tough day of physical exercise. Make sure you are eating and drinking enough all day. I stashed a couple of energy bars in my bag. I managed to eat about 1/2 a bar for each half of a game. Along with a couple of big sips from my water bottle, this sustained me adequately for the day. I can see that on a hot day one could deplete their water or energy reserves readily. Be sure to take water and food as you don't have any time between games to get something from the concession stands.
Well, there it is. I feel like I really learned quite a bit from my more experienced crew members. My own experience taught me some things as well. Hopefully, this article will help you learn some things from my experience too.