This weekend, I only had 1 game scheduled and it was a short-sided, U-9 game. The good news is I was assigned with a newly certified friend of my son. I've worked with her before. She's been one of my Assistant Referees a couple of times and she has done a pretty good job. Since we were assigned a short-sided game, I decided it was time to practice what I preach and help out a new referee.
When we arrived at the field I asked her if she thought she was ready to do the middle. She looked at me with a little fear evident on her face. I told her it was time, and assuming the other referee agreed, she'd do the center and we would coach her through it. I had not worked with the other guy before, but I mentioned it when he arrived and he whole-heartedly agreed that we should run the lines.
Fortunately, it worked out pretty well. The game turned out to be a good one for her as there wasn't any controversy or particularly difficult calls. She did very well. Her first time in the middle was no different than most in that she seemed to lack some confidence, but her application of the laws was solid. All in all, I think she's off to a good start and will only get better going forward.
After the game, we coached her a little on some things. We pointed out she needs to blow the whistle likes she means it and make sure her field mechanics are confident rather than tentative. Going forward, we assured her she would have to concentrate less on foul recognition, leaving more time to think about game management and better mechanics.
Hopefully, her success will continue and she'll remain an active official.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Another Learning Weekend
Just when you think you are getting good at this thing, something unexpected happens that causes you to go back to the books!
Stupid Mistake
Yep, I made one. We had a situation where the attacking team had a throw in, close to half-way, on their end of the field. The ball comes in and the attacker carries the ball across half-way and sends it diagonally toward the corner of the penalty area. The ball comes down and is recovered by the defense. At that moment, I notice my AR's flag is up. Thinking she is signaling offside for the long pass, I wave her down as the defense plays the ball back to half-way. The ball is taken back by the original attacking team. They make a couple of passes and score. My AR waves me over. She tells me the attacking team substituted a player without my permission on the throw-in. Normally, this would be a no-brainer for me. The thing that got me was both teams were playing down 1 player. Apparently, one of the teams could not field 11 players, so the other played short. I allowed the goal, thinking this was only a problem when a 12th player was discovered on the field. I now know I should have disallowed the goal and started with an indirect kick from the goal area, after cautioning the player that came on without permission (I did issue the caution). Fortunately, the goal did not make a difference in the game. The thing that is frustrating is I put a lot of time into studying the laws and the accompanying publications only to make a silly mistake. I guess we all make mistakes and the key is to learn from them.
I had two games this past week: u-13 and U-14 girls. As I've said before, I've noticed some referees really don't like being assigned to the girl's games. I enjoy them. It's a different kind of game, but the enthusiasm of the girls is contagious. Also, the skill level is amazing.
I'm not a big fan of referees asking the players, during the pre-game talk, "Are there any questions?" You have to be careful what you wish for. I've picked up this habit lately. Naturally, I had a player ask me about "hand balls" related to girls protecting themselves. I gave the generic "It must be deliberate handling of the ball, not merely instinct or the ball hitting the hand" and left it at that.
Naturally, this very issue came up during the game. In the U-14 game, a ball was played in the air toward the halfway line. It traveled about 20 yards in the air. The receiving player chest trapped the ball down using her arms crossed against her chest. Sorry, but in my opinion, this doesn't fly in a U-14 game. I called the foul and their coach immediately started in on me. My thinking is, at U-14, these girls know how to trap a soccer ball without getting hurt, especially when it is passed from some distance. You don't see the Women's US national team doing it, right? I got thinking about this on the way home and did a little research. Here are a couple of sources I found that address the topic:Stupid Mistake
Yep, I made one. We had a situation where the attacking team had a throw in, close to half-way, on their end of the field. The ball comes in and the attacker carries the ball across half-way and sends it diagonally toward the corner of the penalty area. The ball comes down and is recovered by the defense. At that moment, I notice my AR's flag is up. Thinking she is signaling offside for the long pass, I wave her down as the defense plays the ball back to half-way. The ball is taken back by the original attacking team. They make a couple of passes and score. My AR waves me over. She tells me the attacking team substituted a player without my permission on the throw-in. Normally, this would be a no-brainer for me. The thing that got me was both teams were playing down 1 player. Apparently, one of the teams could not field 11 players, so the other played short. I allowed the goal, thinking this was only a problem when a 12th player was discovered on the field. I now know I should have disallowed the goal and started with an indirect kick from the goal area, after cautioning the player that came on without permission (I did issue the caution). Fortunately, the goal did not make a difference in the game. The thing that is frustrating is I put a lot of time into studying the laws and the accompanying publications only to make a silly mistake. I guess we all make mistakes and the key is to learn from them.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
On Our Own
This weekend had 2 league games in store for me. I could only do Saturday, so I was assigned to a U-10 and a U-13 match. Fortunately, I was assigned with my newly certified friend that started his referee career doing a U-17 boys game!
My typical schedule for league games is 2 or 3 games in a row, usually starting around noon. Sometimes I'll have to switch facilities for one of the games, but the travel is usually quite short. Today was the most unusual schedule I've had to date. Our first game was at 11 am, and our 2nd game was at 4 pm! Very unusual, and not terribly convenient, but it's better than having no games.
As I've mentioned in the past, I find the short sided games (U-10 and under in our state) to be really refreshing. After having a day full of teenage boys a couple of weeks ago, it's nice to have the little ones. If you really pay attention to them, they can be really entertaining. The thing I find interesting about the younger games is you actually need to pay more attention to the game. Don't go in thinking you can rest and take it easy because the players are 9 years old! You'll quickly find out the younger games is where your knowledge of the laws will get challenged. Look for frequent 2nd touches on free kicks and goal kicks that don't make it out of the penalty area. That stuff happens all the time.
An interesting, and all too frequent, thing occurred before the 2nd game of the day. The game was scheduled in a rather affluent town in my area. As is my habit, I always check the goals before a game, even if there is a game before mine. Surprisingly, one of the goals was not anchored in any way. I say it was surprising because this was not a run-down, poorly maintained facility. This was a well cared-for field in a nice park. I quickly mentioned it to the home coach. His assistant immediately pointed out that the previous game had taken place without a problem. This is the kind of pressure you will experience, but you must never play a game without the goals being adequately anchored! Please, don't be the one to give into the pressure. It's not OK to play a game with the field in this condition. In this case, we improvised. We grabbed a nearby field hockey goal and positioned it on it's back with the heavy end lying on top of the ground-level bar on the soccer goal. Problem solved and the game was played!
My typical schedule for league games is 2 or 3 games in a row, usually starting around noon. Sometimes I'll have to switch facilities for one of the games, but the travel is usually quite short. Today was the most unusual schedule I've had to date. Our first game was at 11 am, and our 2nd game was at 4 pm! Very unusual, and not terribly convenient, but it's better than having no games.
As I've mentioned in the past, I find the short sided games (U-10 and under in our state) to be really refreshing. After having a day full of teenage boys a couple of weeks ago, it's nice to have the little ones. If you really pay attention to them, they can be really entertaining. The thing I find interesting about the younger games is you actually need to pay more attention to the game. Don't go in thinking you can rest and take it easy because the players are 9 years old! You'll quickly find out the younger games is where your knowledge of the laws will get challenged. Look for frequent 2nd touches on free kicks and goal kicks that don't make it out of the penalty area. That stuff happens all the time.
An interesting, and all too frequent, thing occurred before the 2nd game of the day. The game was scheduled in a rather affluent town in my area. As is my habit, I always check the goals before a game, even if there is a game before mine. Surprisingly, one of the goals was not anchored in any way. I say it was surprising because this was not a run-down, poorly maintained facility. This was a well cared-for field in a nice park. I quickly mentioned it to the home coach. His assistant immediately pointed out that the previous game had taken place without a problem. This is the kind of pressure you will experience, but you must never play a game without the goals being adequately anchored! Please, don't be the one to give into the pressure. It's not OK to play a game with the field in this condition. In this case, we improvised. We grabbed a nearby field hockey goal and positioned it on it's back with the heavy end lying on top of the ground-level bar on the soccer goal. Problem solved and the game was played!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Big Weekend at a College Showcase
I had a big weekend working a day at a boy's college showcase. There were two great things about it. First, I managed to get in 7 U-17 boys games! Second, my good friend, who was recently certified, got to do his first tournament and we worked together.
For a few months, I've really felt like I was ready to move up the age groups a little bit. I haven't had much in the way of the older games, so I was looking forward to getting a few assignments. I put in my availability for this college showcase and I was selected. We had an entire day of U-17 boys scheduled! Typically, I'll end up doing 6 games of an 8 or 9 game schedule. We work a crew of 4, so you have a couple of games off. Well, this morning, one of our crew members was late so I wound up with 7 games for the day with 2 middles. Nice. I really felt like I did a good job today so it was pretty satisfying, although I am totally exhausted!
As a new referee, I think you have to understand how to choose your sources of performance feedback. In other endeavors, you can sort of trust that the feedback you are getting has at least a hint of truth in it. I'm not convinced that's the case with soccer. For the most part, we had good teams with good coaches and parents today. But some of the teams were...well...lacking in some of these categories. As a referee, you need to be able to filter out some of this negative feedback. Realize that coaches and parents, for the most part, are not knowledgeable about the Laws of the Game and are certainly not going to give an unbiased opinion about your performance. You are much better off if you seek feedback from colleagues you know to be trustworthy and knowledgeable. If you are able to realize this early, you have a better chance of sticking with refereeing. At the half of most games, I'll meet with my ARs at mid-field. Typically, there isn't much time, especially if you want to try and get some food and drink. I've developed the habit of immediately asking "How are we doing in this game?" Get that feedback to make sure your game situation is what you think it is.
My recent re-reading of the "Advice to the Referee" came in handy this weekend. I was an Assistant Referee on the coaches side of the field. We had a free kick. The team chose to take the kick quickly, hitting an opposing player in the back, as he was retreating, about 5 yards away. The coach was immediately screaming for a caution and a retake. I pointed out to him that the player was retreating. Those of you that have read it know that "Advice" tells us (section 13.3) that in this situation, the kicking team cannot claim infringement of the required distance because they chose to take the kick with the player that close. This seem to satisfy and calm the coach, although I'm sure he looked it up when he got home!
If you read my earliest posts, you'll take note my first few games were U-9 and U-10 girls. I worked those games on my own, without the benefit of knowledgeable ARs. Recently, I talked my good friend into getting certified. He is in excellent condition and knows the game well as he played as an adult. The last few weeks, we've been putting in availability together for league games, but he hadn't been assigned. I guess there weren't any games available that the league assignor felt appropriate. We put in our availability for this college showcase. Honestly,
I never thought he'd get called. Even if he did, I was sure "Lines only" would be next to his name on our assignment sheet. Well, he got called AND he was assigned 2 middles! This is not the way I would have wanted to start my referee career. Fortunately, he came into the day with the right attitude. He was like a sponge the first couple of games, watching his colleagues and obviously making mental notes. When his time came, he did reasonably well, considering his experience level (zero!) His first game in the middle can be described as awkward. It wasn't bad, just awkward.
Fortunately, he had relatively easy teams in that there didn't seem to be any trouble makers or particularly aggressive play. By the end of the half, he had improved some. We spoke with him at the half and made some corrections. His second half was better. Later in the day, he had his 2nd middle. Surprisingly, he made a huge improvement. I thought he looked like he had 10 or 20 games under his belt. It's nice to see a guy start off well, knowing he's going to end up being a solid official.
So there you have it. Another nice weekend running the field and learning how to be a better referee. I got some experience with the older players and helped my friend get a good start in his career. Let me know what your first game was like! Your comments are always welcome!
For a few months, I've really felt like I was ready to move up the age groups a little bit. I haven't had much in the way of the older games, so I was looking forward to getting a few assignments. I put in my availability for this college showcase and I was selected. We had an entire day of U-17 boys scheduled! Typically, I'll end up doing 6 games of an 8 or 9 game schedule. We work a crew of 4, so you have a couple of games off. Well, this morning, one of our crew members was late so I wound up with 7 games for the day with 2 middles. Nice. I really felt like I did a good job today so it was pretty satisfying, although I am totally exhausted!
As a new referee, I think you have to understand how to choose your sources of performance feedback. In other endeavors, you can sort of trust that the feedback you are getting has at least a hint of truth in it. I'm not convinced that's the case with soccer. For the most part, we had good teams with good coaches and parents today. But some of the teams were...well...lacking in some of these categories. As a referee, you need to be able to filter out some of this negative feedback. Realize that coaches and parents, for the most part, are not knowledgeable about the Laws of the Game and are certainly not going to give an unbiased opinion about your performance. You are much better off if you seek feedback from colleagues you know to be trustworthy and knowledgeable. If you are able to realize this early, you have a better chance of sticking with refereeing. At the half of most games, I'll meet with my ARs at mid-field. Typically, there isn't much time, especially if you want to try and get some food and drink. I've developed the habit of immediately asking "How are we doing in this game?" Get that feedback to make sure your game situation is what you think it is.
My recent re-reading of the "Advice to the Referee" came in handy this weekend. I was an Assistant Referee on the coaches side of the field. We had a free kick. The team chose to take the kick quickly, hitting an opposing player in the back, as he was retreating, about 5 yards away. The coach was immediately screaming for a caution and a retake. I pointed out to him that the player was retreating. Those of you that have read it know that "Advice" tells us (section 13.3) that in this situation, the kicking team cannot claim infringement of the required distance because they chose to take the kick with the player that close. This seem to satisfy and calm the coach, although I'm sure he looked it up when he got home!
If you read my earliest posts, you'll take note my first few games were U-9 and U-10 girls. I worked those games on my own, without the benefit of knowledgeable ARs. Recently, I talked my good friend into getting certified. He is in excellent condition and knows the game well as he played as an adult. The last few weeks, we've been putting in availability together for league games, but he hadn't been assigned. I guess there weren't any games available that the league assignor felt appropriate. We put in our availability for this college showcase. Honestly,
I never thought he'd get called. Even if he did, I was sure "Lines only" would be next to his name on our assignment sheet. Well, he got called AND he was assigned 2 middles! This is not the way I would have wanted to start my referee career. Fortunately, he came into the day with the right attitude. He was like a sponge the first couple of games, watching his colleagues and obviously making mental notes. When his time came, he did reasonably well, considering his experience level (zero!) His first game in the middle can be described as awkward. It wasn't bad, just awkward.
Fortunately, he had relatively easy teams in that there didn't seem to be any trouble makers or particularly aggressive play. By the end of the half, he had improved some. We spoke with him at the half and made some corrections. His second half was better. Later in the day, he had his 2nd middle. Surprisingly, he made a huge improvement. I thought he looked like he had 10 or 20 games under his belt. It's nice to see a guy start off well, knowing he's going to end up being a solid official.
So there you have it. Another nice weekend running the field and learning how to be a better referee. I got some experience with the older players and helped my friend get a good start in his career. Let me know what your first game was like! Your comments are always welcome!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Here we go!
That time has come again! I started the Spring season this weekend by doing a day of a local girls college showcase tournament. It ended up being a pretty good day for me with 2 games in the middle and 4 on the lines. It was pretty clear the younger girls were scheduled in my time slots. I had a U-15 game and a U-16 game. It's a start, although I want to try my hand at the U-17-u-19 ages so I can start thinking about my upgrade to 7.
I really felt like I did a pretty good job and didn't make much in the way of mistakes. As some of you may know from reading my blog, I've been trying to concentrate more on making eye contact with my assistants as I've missed a few flags in games. This tournament showed I have made improvements in that area. I felt like my positioning was better and I was keeping my eyes on the ARs.
In one game, I had a player go down in her own penalty area. The ball was played off to the corner and I saw it go over the touch line. In hindsight, I think I gave the ball to the wrong team after we got the fallen player squared away. It just goes to show that you need to keep every detail in your mind. Fortunately, it wasn't a huge mistake but merely something I need to remember.
One thing I found myself pondering at the end of the day is how to deal with players that basically collide going for the ball. I had that happen in one of my games. I felt the ball was basically 50/50 and the girls merely collided trying to get to the ball first. One of the girls got a little banged up and I restarted with a dropped ball. I asked my AR about it at the half and he said he would have went with a foul. So how do you do that if you see it as a 50/50 ball? Both players have the right to go for the ball. I guess it's one of those "opinion of the referee" calls.
The other referees I worked with were pretty good. There was one odd thing though. One of the guys didn't have a gold jersey with him! How do you go to a high-level tournament without a gold jersey? He seemed to be a pretty experienced guy too. It bothered me a little. In the 2 games I was referee, he wore a USSF sweatshirt instead of a jersey, even after one of the guys offered him a short-sleeve gold jersey. It looked sloppy and unprofessional. Yes, I believe those things do matter. You can't expect people to take you seriously if you don't look like you are taking your job seriously. It invites dissent.
The next day, I had some league games scheduled. I could have put in for the 2nd day of the tournament, but I feel some obligation to my league assignor so I made sure to keep the day open for his games. I was originally scheduled for 3, but 2 were canceled, apparently for a lack of players. I ended up with the middle for a U-13 boys game. Again, this game went real well. I was assigned with 2 very competent officials. I've worked with one of them a few times and he's a real professional, pleasant guy. The other referee proved to be very good too. I'm told she's a grade 7 and has been doing this for some time.
The game had a minor coach problem that I shut down pretty quickly. After a foul called by one of the ARs, I heard one of the coaches say, loud enough so I could hear it, "this is why referees should play the game." As I ran by, I said to the coach, "Take it easy coach, we don't need any of that." He said "I'm allowed to disagree with you" to which I replied, rather quickly "Yes, but you are not allowed to dissent." That seemed to make it clear to him that I wasn't to be trifled with as I didn't hear anything from him for the rest of the game. I felt good about it because I dealt quickly with the problem without having to resort to being rude, or disrupting the game by getting out the notebook (we card coaches in this state)
All in all, it was a good weekend. I put in my availability for another college showcase next weekend. Hopefully, I get some older age games.
I really felt like I did a pretty good job and didn't make much in the way of mistakes. As some of you may know from reading my blog, I've been trying to concentrate more on making eye contact with my assistants as I've missed a few flags in games. This tournament showed I have made improvements in that area. I felt like my positioning was better and I was keeping my eyes on the ARs.
In one game, I had a player go down in her own penalty area. The ball was played off to the corner and I saw it go over the touch line. In hindsight, I think I gave the ball to the wrong team after we got the fallen player squared away. It just goes to show that you need to keep every detail in your mind. Fortunately, it wasn't a huge mistake but merely something I need to remember.
One thing I found myself pondering at the end of the day is how to deal with players that basically collide going for the ball. I had that happen in one of my games. I felt the ball was basically 50/50 and the girls merely collided trying to get to the ball first. One of the girls got a little banged up and I restarted with a dropped ball. I asked my AR about it at the half and he said he would have went with a foul. So how do you do that if you see it as a 50/50 ball? Both players have the right to go for the ball. I guess it's one of those "opinion of the referee" calls.
The other referees I worked with were pretty good. There was one odd thing though. One of the guys didn't have a gold jersey with him! How do you go to a high-level tournament without a gold jersey? He seemed to be a pretty experienced guy too. It bothered me a little. In the 2 games I was referee, he wore a USSF sweatshirt instead of a jersey, even after one of the guys offered him a short-sleeve gold jersey. It looked sloppy and unprofessional. Yes, I believe those things do matter. You can't expect people to take you seriously if you don't look like you are taking your job seriously. It invites dissent.
The next day, I had some league games scheduled. I could have put in for the 2nd day of the tournament, but I feel some obligation to my league assignor so I made sure to keep the day open for his games. I was originally scheduled for 3, but 2 were canceled, apparently for a lack of players. I ended up with the middle for a U-13 boys game. Again, this game went real well. I was assigned with 2 very competent officials. I've worked with one of them a few times and he's a real professional, pleasant guy. The other referee proved to be very good too. I'm told she's a grade 7 and has been doing this for some time.
The game had a minor coach problem that I shut down pretty quickly. After a foul called by one of the ARs, I heard one of the coaches say, loud enough so I could hear it, "this is why referees should play the game." As I ran by, I said to the coach, "Take it easy coach, we don't need any of that." He said "I'm allowed to disagree with you" to which I replied, rather quickly "Yes, but you are not allowed to dissent." That seemed to make it clear to him that I wasn't to be trifled with as I didn't hear anything from him for the rest of the game. I felt good about it because I dealt quickly with the problem without having to resort to being rude, or disrupting the game by getting out the notebook (we card coaches in this state)
All in all, it was a good weekend. I put in my availability for another college showcase next weekend. Hopefully, I get some older age games.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Uniform Update
I'm sure quite a few of you have ordered the new uniforms. Obviously, Official Sports is having a tough time getting them out the door. In fact, there was even a notice on their website pointing out that shipments of the new uniforms would be delayed. Good for them for being up front and honest!
I just thought I'd put this short post up to give readers an idea of the delay. I ordered 2 new jerseys on December 1, 2007. Today is February 16, 2008. Yesterday, I received a call that 1 of the jerseys was shipping and the other was back ordered. So, by my math, that says the current back log is at least 10 weeks. Hopefully, things will pick up as more of the jerseys are manufactured.
I just thought I'd put this short post up to give readers an idea of the delay. I ordered 2 new jerseys on December 1, 2007. Today is February 16, 2008. Yesterday, I received a call that 1 of the jerseys was shipping and the other was back ordered. So, by my math, that says the current back log is at least 10 weeks. Hopefully, things will pick up as more of the jerseys are manufactured.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Spring is Coming
In my area of the United States (mid-Atlantic), the youth soccer season will be starting again shortly. My email in-box is already getting requests for availability for a handful of early Spring tournaments, so it is time to prepare for the coming season.I gather that most referees really don't do much in the way of preparation, other than attend a recertification class. I prefer to do things a little differently. My preparation involves some education, physical improvement as well as some common sense items.
Education
Yes, I attended my recertification class. It seems, at least in my state, that there was an emphasis on dealing with infractions that occur during penalty kicks. I'm told someone got it wrong at one of our state cup games. Since this is where the state committee wants me to spend some of my time, I've reviewed the materials several times.
Before every season, I like to re-read three key documents. They are:
All of these documents, and quite a few more, can be found on the US Soccer website. Did you know these documents are available in nice, printed booklet format too? Go to the US Soccer store and pick them up. They are very inexpensive and make a good addition to your referee bag.
Being physically prepared goes to selling your calls as well. It is much easier to sell a controversial call if you are 10 yards from the incident, rather than 30 yards away, huffing and puffing, trying to catch up to the play. I don't know about you, but I do not want to be accused of being a "center circle referee."
Education
Yes, I attended my recertification class. It seems, at least in my state, that there was an emphasis on dealing with infractions that occur during penalty kicks. I'm told someone got it wrong at one of our state cup games. Since this is where the state committee wants me to spend some of my time, I've reviewed the materials several times.
Before every season, I like to re-read three key documents. They are:
- The new version of the Laws of the Game
- Advice to the Referee on the Laws of the Game
- Guidelines and Procedures
The "advice" publication is the greatest. It's the book that US Soccer publishes (ok, it's really more of a "booklet") that explains what the laws really mean, according to the federation. It deals with most, if not all, of those tricky situations that we all have to deal with at one time or another. To me, reading and understanding "advice" is critical to being a good quality official. If you are following what is in "advice" you are not likely to be considered a referee that is "making it up as they go." For me, that is all the motivation I need.
The Guidelines and Procedures booklet should be read by all referees just to remind them what an Assistant Referee is supposed to do and what they are supposed to look like. My personal estimate is something like 40-60% of the referees that run a line for me have poor mechanics. I'm probably guilty of it on occasion too. It's not that hard to get right, and by reading the Guidelines and Procedures once or twice a year, we are reminded of good mechanics on the field. Looking the part on the field goes a long way in avoiding controversy and dissent. The guidelines book also reminds us of our administrative duties as referees. If you are not doing your administrative duties correctly and thoroughly, you are not doing your job.All of these documents, and quite a few more, can be found on the US Soccer website. Did you know these documents are available in nice, printed booklet format too? Go to the US Soccer store and pick them up. They are very inexpensive and make a good addition to your referee bag.
Physical Preparation
I start taking my running more seriously about now. The fall season isn't a problem for me because I run most of the summer anyway. I slack off a little in the winter though, so I've been building up my run recently. I concentrate on running more consistently, as well as working on some specific things like endurance and speed. Lately, I've taken to doing some side-stepping, in preparation for being an assistant, as well as running backward. It's time to get the body used to the physical exertion that comes with running 2 or 3 games on a spring weekend. An injury can end your season real quick, or at least make the rest of it very uncomfortable.Being physically prepared goes to selling your calls as well. It is much easier to sell a controversial call if you are 10 yards from the incident, rather than 30 yards away, huffing and puffing, trying to catch up to the play. I don't know about you, but I do not want to be accused of being a "center circle referee."
Other Things to Consider
When was the last time you changed the battery in your watch? Get it done before the season starts. It is cheap insurance. Take all your uniforms out of your bag and wash them. They probably smell a little musty from being in the garage all winter. How do your shoes look? It only takes about 5 minutes to polish them up a little. Do you have enough game cards and some extra pens/pencils in your bag? While the uniforms are out of it, why not wash the inside of your bag? I don't know about yours, but mine ends up with some grass and dirt floating around in there after a long season.What do you do to prepare for the season? Send your comments and let me know! Thanks.
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