10 year old killed by goal post
All of you check the field for safety problems before every game, right? Don't let something like this happen at one of your games. At one time or another, we have all neglected to check for goal anchors. Perhaps there is a game going on before yours, so you assume the referee on the field checked the goals. Maybe your previous game ran late and you're arriving at the field just before game time. Always check the goals before a game, no matter the circumstances. We are taught this in our certification classes. It's drilled into us. Let's make sure we are going each and every game.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
On the Hot Seat
This was a weekend for gaining experience, for sure. Through a different assignor, I was put on a field for 3 games with 2 other officials. This was the kind of weekend I wanted for some time. It is a chance to work with others AND to have several games in a row in order to hone my skills. We had a U-14 state cup match, and U-10 and U-12 league games. The night before, my thoughts were the two more experienced (my assumption) guys would want the U-14 and U-12 games and I would get the U-10s. Of course, I'm pretty new so I was OK with that idea and had prepared myself with this thought in mind.
As is my usual practice, I arrived at the field 30 minutes in advance of game time. The other officials arrived around the same time and we made our way to the field. We start discussing our games for the day. They both decide I should do the first game, which is the U-14 state cup game! I would later think they must have know what I was getting into.
The state cup match started and all went well through the 1st half. The game was physical so there were some fouls, including a few that approached being "reckless." I felt we called a decent 1st half by not allowing too much to go without a whistle, but still letting the game be played. There was one problematic player that I had a chat with. He would get a caution later in the game.
The 2nd half started out and was heated right off. The game was getting hot and I started to clamp down a little on the physical play. In hindsight, I probably could have clamped down even harder.
I've read that, in a post-game analysis, you can usually point to one incident in a game that caused things to get difficult. In this instance, it was an offside call wanted by the parents and coaches. The blue team played a ball from about 40 yards out up the right side of the field. I was just behind and to the left of the blue player with the ball and a white defender. When the blue player hit the ball forward, I kept my eyes on the 2 players for a second to make sure there were no fouls after the ball left. The pass went onto the foot of a blue forward and, simultaneously, I could hear the parental screams for an "offsides" call. I glanced at my AR and confirmed he had his flag down as blue put the ball into the net. Having had my eye on the players closer to mid field, I did not see any offside infraction and did not see any reason to disallow the goal. There was quite a bit of complaining coming from a particular group on the sidelines. Again, in my mind's analysis, I should have taken action right then to assert my authority.
A few minutes later, a white defender obviously pushed a blue striker in the penalty area. Great! My first penalty kick. When I pointed to the spot, that same troublesome group really got loud. At this point, before the kick, I walked to within about 20 yards of the sideline and told the parents I had enough and they were to be silent. I felt I need to do this in order to protect my AR, who was taken the brunt of the complaining. The penalty kick was taken and missed. Before the resulting goal kick, I walked to the white team's bench and asked the coach to get his parents under control. Unbelievably, he told me they were my problem and I should do whatever I needed to do!
We played the last 10 minutes or so of the 2nd half tied, 1-1. This match need a winner, so there was the possibility of extra time and kicks from the penalty mark. I found myself hoping for another goal as I really didn't want to get into any of the tie breaking procedures. Fortunately, white scored with about 4 minutes left and then game ended 2-1.
There are a few things I took away from this particular match. Deal with obnoxious parents early, and sternly. One needs to make it clear that things will escalate to an empty sideline quickly. It seems that if you don't deal with the one or two problem parents, you end up dealing with a mob mentality as others start to chime in with their opinion. It also seems to affect the players. The complaining on the field escalates along with the parental complaining. Also, for every game you officiate, know the responsibility of the coaching staff as it relates to their parents. Some leagues make the coaches responsible for the parents behavior and have specific actions the referee can take to deal with the problem.
The good news for the day was the next 2 matches, for which I was an AR, went rather well. We had the U-10 game after the U-14's. That was a little bit of stress relief. The U-12 game came off without a hitch as well. I worked with 2 good guys, and I learned valuable lessons in match control.
As is my usual practice, I arrived at the field 30 minutes in advance of game time. The other officials arrived around the same time and we made our way to the field. We start discussing our games for the day. They both decide I should do the first game, which is the U-14 state cup game! I would later think they must have know what I was getting into.
The state cup match started and all went well through the 1st half. The game was physical so there were some fouls, including a few that approached being "reckless." I felt we called a decent 1st half by not allowing too much to go without a whistle, but still letting the game be played. There was one problematic player that I had a chat with. He would get a caution later in the game.
The 2nd half started out and was heated right off. The game was getting hot and I started to clamp down a little on the physical play. In hindsight, I probably could have clamped down even harder.
I've read that, in a post-game analysis, you can usually point to one incident in a game that caused things to get difficult. In this instance, it was an offside call wanted by the parents and coaches. The blue team played a ball from about 40 yards out up the right side of the field. I was just behind and to the left of the blue player with the ball and a white defender. When the blue player hit the ball forward, I kept my eyes on the 2 players for a second to make sure there were no fouls after the ball left. The pass went onto the foot of a blue forward and, simultaneously, I could hear the parental screams for an "offsides" call. I glanced at my AR and confirmed he had his flag down as blue put the ball into the net. Having had my eye on the players closer to mid field, I did not see any offside infraction and did not see any reason to disallow the goal. There was quite a bit of complaining coming from a particular group on the sidelines. Again, in my mind's analysis, I should have taken action right then to assert my authority.
A few minutes later, a white defender obviously pushed a blue striker in the penalty area. Great! My first penalty kick. When I pointed to the spot, that same troublesome group really got loud. At this point, before the kick, I walked to within about 20 yards of the sideline and told the parents I had enough and they were to be silent. I felt I need to do this in order to protect my AR, who was taken the brunt of the complaining. The penalty kick was taken and missed. Before the resulting goal kick, I walked to the white team's bench and asked the coach to get his parents under control. Unbelievably, he told me they were my problem and I should do whatever I needed to do!
We played the last 10 minutes or so of the 2nd half tied, 1-1. This match need a winner, so there was the possibility of extra time and kicks from the penalty mark. I found myself hoping for another goal as I really didn't want to get into any of the tie breaking procedures. Fortunately, white scored with about 4 minutes left and then game ended 2-1.
There are a few things I took away from this particular match. Deal with obnoxious parents early, and sternly. One needs to make it clear that things will escalate to an empty sideline quickly. It seems that if you don't deal with the one or two problem parents, you end up dealing with a mob mentality as others start to chime in with their opinion. It also seems to affect the players. The complaining on the field escalates along with the parental complaining. Also, for every game you officiate, know the responsibility of the coaching staff as it relates to their parents. Some leagues make the coaches responsible for the parents behavior and have specific actions the referee can take to deal with the problem.
The good news for the day was the next 2 matches, for which I was an AR, went rather well. We had the U-10 game after the U-14's. That was a little bit of stress relief. The U-12 game came off without a hitch as well. I worked with 2 good guys, and I learned valuable lessons in match control.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Small Breakthrough
This past weekend, I only had one game scheduled. That's a little frustrating, as my learning curve has been slower than expected. I guess I can't complain too much though. My game this weekend was a U-18 state cup match.
The breakthrough in the title refers to my confidence level for this game. I was an AR, but I somehow felt like I actually knew what I was doing. My signals to the center referee were confident. I learned to pause for a second before signaling. All in all, I felt I did really well. This could be a result of lessons learned from my other games, my study of refereeing through books and websites, or, most probably, a combination of those things.
Every time I have a game, there is a lesson to learn. This game was no different. In this case, the lesson related to flagging offside infractions. I had a situation where an attacker, on the far side of the field, was in an offside position by several yards. Her teammate played a ball through the defense, straight toward the goalkeeper. My reaction was to wait to see what happens before putting up the flag. The offside positioned player had not yet touched the ball, and the ball was playable by the goalkeeper. The striker did get to the ball and I immediately flagged the infraction. The center referee spoke to me later and asked that I flag offside earlier. His take was as soon as the striker made a play for the ball, the stroke became involved in active play and the flag should be raised. I asked my instructor and he agreed. He did say that, in the event another striker, coming from an onside position, was making a play for the ball, the correct action is to hold the flag to see who gets to the ball first.
The breakthrough in the title refers to my confidence level for this game. I was an AR, but I somehow felt like I actually knew what I was doing. My signals to the center referee were confident. I learned to pause for a second before signaling. All in all, I felt I did really well. This could be a result of lessons learned from my other games, my study of refereeing through books and websites, or, most probably, a combination of those things.
Every time I have a game, there is a lesson to learn. This game was no different. In this case, the lesson related to flagging offside infractions. I had a situation where an attacker, on the far side of the field, was in an offside position by several yards. Her teammate played a ball through the defense, straight toward the goalkeeper. My reaction was to wait to see what happens before putting up the flag. The offside positioned player had not yet touched the ball, and the ball was playable by the goalkeeper. The striker did get to the ball and I immediately flagged the infraction. The center referee spoke to me later and asked that I flag offside earlier. His take was as soon as the striker made a play for the ball, the stroke became involved in active play and the flag should be raised. I asked my instructor and he agreed. He did say that, in the event another striker, coming from an onside position, was making a play for the ball, the correct action is to hold the flag to see who gets to the ball first.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Review: Jeffrey Caminsky's "The Referee's Survival Guide"
I've just finished reading The Referee's Survival Guide Practical Suggestions for Soccer Officials. This book, authored by Jeffrey Caminsky, is a fantastic resource for new referees.Mr. Caminsky is a state referee emeritus, an assignor and an assessor from Michigan. He has the qualifications and experience to provide great tips and insight into being a soccer referee and it shows in the book.
This 223 page book contains a variety of topic to help the soccer official. Starting out slow with information about getting certified and the absolute basics are included. Next, the author tackles specifics about being an assistant referee and the mechanics of being the center referee. More general topics are tackled next including thoughts about match control, dealing with dissent and what to do when things go wrong. Finally, the book gives a wonderful overview of the variety of personalities one will encounter as a soccer official.
I've always been a big reader. I love books and often purchase several books on titles I'm interested in, including being a soccer official. There are not many books on the topic, and even fewer that have been written recently. This book is not only timely, but the topic choice is perfect for the new, and maybe not so new, soccer official. The book is very well written and provides great insight into being an official. In particular, I found the section on foul recognition very useful. If you are a new official, this book is a must read!
Finally, you can buy a signed copy from the publisher! How cool is that? Check it out at the New Alexandria Press online store.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Knowledge Can Be a Bad Thing
This weekend, I had no assignments. I did a very high-level match around mid-week. I was the Assistant Referee (AR) for my assignor. That was quite an adventure, but I'll write about that story another time. Both my sons had games this weekend, so I was fortunate to have the time to attend both. My older son's game is the one that put me in a situation to see something appalling.
We arrived at my son's away game with time to spare. We received a pleasant surprise when we realized a female friend of his was playing before his game. We don't often get to see her play, so it was a nice opportunity. She plays for a premier-level U-13 team, so most of her games are good to watch.
As I was watching the game, I could not help but look at the game officials and I noticed some really disappointing things. First, as I walked to the field, I observed that both of the ARs did not have their shirts tucked in. That really bothered me as I have been instructed to always show up to the field looking neat and professional. Coincidentally, my father taught me the same thing.
As I watched, it got worse. The 2 AR's clearly didn't even want to be there. Their demeanor on the touch line suggested they were completely bored and the teams were lucky to have them there. It was a real shame. To be honest, I was embarrassed to be a referee. The thing that pushed me over the edge happened next. The AR on my side actually flipped open his cell phone and put it to his ear for about about a minute. I could not believe what I was seeing! He proceeded to do it again about 5 minutes later. I thought I'd seen everything, until my son pointed out that the opposite AR didn't even have a badge on his uniform.
It was unfortunate to watch. It was like a train wreck where you can't look away. I'm not sure I would have noticed the poor performance of the AR's (who turned out to be the sons of the center referee, by the way) before I was certified. OK, I would have noticed the cell phone during the match.
The entire event reminded me that, in spite of what you may be thinking, people are watching the officials and they notice professionalism, or the lack of it! The little things are important, if you want to be taken seriously. Be sure your uniform is in order. Make sure your mechanics on the field are professional. Most importantly, take all your games seriously. The players worked hard to prepare for the match, so the officials should do the best job they can too!
We arrived at my son's away game with time to spare. We received a pleasant surprise when we realized a female friend of his was playing before his game. We don't often get to see her play, so it was a nice opportunity. She plays for a premier-level U-13 team, so most of her games are good to watch.
As I was watching the game, I could not help but look at the game officials and I noticed some really disappointing things. First, as I walked to the field, I observed that both of the ARs did not have their shirts tucked in. That really bothered me as I have been instructed to always show up to the field looking neat and professional. Coincidentally, my father taught me the same thing.
As I watched, it got worse. The 2 AR's clearly didn't even want to be there. Their demeanor on the touch line suggested they were completely bored and the teams were lucky to have them there. It was a real shame. To be honest, I was embarrassed to be a referee. The thing that pushed me over the edge happened next. The AR on my side actually flipped open his cell phone and put it to his ear for about about a minute. I could not believe what I was seeing! He proceeded to do it again about 5 minutes later. I thought I'd seen everything, until my son pointed out that the opposite AR didn't even have a badge on his uniform.
It was unfortunate to watch. It was like a train wreck where you can't look away. I'm not sure I would have noticed the poor performance of the AR's (who turned out to be the sons of the center referee, by the way) before I was certified. OK, I would have noticed the cell phone during the match.
The entire event reminded me that, in spite of what you may be thinking, people are watching the officials and they notice professionalism, or the lack of it! The little things are important, if you want to be taken seriously. Be sure your uniform is in order. Make sure your mechanics on the field are professional. Most importantly, take all your games seriously. The players worked hard to prepare for the match, so the officials should do the best job they can too!
Monday, April 16, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Getting More and More Assignments
Being a relative new referee, I'm finding things out in regards to the administrative part of the job all the time. For example, it pays to throw your "please assign me" net far and wide. When I passed my certification test, I searched the web for all the local tournaments I could find. Most of the web sites for tournaments have a "Referees" link on the home page. This link will either start an email addressed to the assignor for the tournament, or it will take your web browser to a web page that will have said assignors email address on it. I took the time to send a handful of "I'd like to work your tournament" emails. Some of those emails are paying off as I've been asked to participate in a rather large local tournament. It's pretty exciting as the play should be very good, there will be many matches available for assignment, and its a chance to work on 3 person crews, instead of on my own as is my usual league assignment. I'm sure my league assignor will be less than thrilled when I let him know I won't be available, but I think its worth it to get some quality experience.
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