Closing out 2011

Some final thoughts on 2011.

1. Had an interesting experience with a CR running one of my son's games this past October (that I never blogged.)  He made a call on a foul, and someone on our side yelled "Geez".  Or possibly "Jesus".  I'm not entirely sure which.  So this CR comes over to the parents side and informs us quite loudly "I do not tolerate profanity at my games.  One more word and I'll remove all the parents."  Now of course *everyone* on my son's team knows I'm a ref (indeed, I often ref just before his game) so *everyone* starts badgering me with questions.  "Can he do that?"  Yes.  "Would you do that?"  The use of that term does not meet my definition of Personal, Provocative, and Public.  Public certainly - it was loud, but it wasn't Personal and it certainly wasn't Provocative.  So I would've let that go.  "Have you ever thrown a parent out."  Almost, on 3 separate occasions.  They certainly received the "you can watch the rest of the game from your car" spiel from me.  I cynically suggested we just start shouting "Allah" to see if he would react to that.

Seriously, if someone chooses to use their divine entity's name in vain, it won't offend me.  Do others care?

Respect Campaign from FA

One more post coming to close out the Fall Season.

In the meantime, I attended a mentoring session on how to handle Dissent.  While the session itself fell short (IMO), they showed this video from the FA "Respect Campaign:  http://youtu.be/r0qGeADPzAs.

It is well known that we lose a lot of young refs due to, well, obnoxious parents and coaches.  Perhaps USSF should borrow this idea from the FA and make it required viewing by all parents and coaches.

Bye Week

I took a self-imposed break in the Fall Schedule last weekend.  Well, there were no regular season games, but THREE big tournaments that, as usual, were sending constant email blasts looking for refs.

Side question to other refs - does your area have sufficient refs?  Reading other referee blogs, it's tough to tell.  Granted, the games available are generally youth games, but I receive last minute requests for Adult Amateur refs too.

The good, the bad, and you know the rest

I'll start with the BAD, go to the UGLY, then conclude with the GOOD:

• BAD:  I had a U-14 P1 Girls' game.  2nd minute into the game, Yellow coach complains I missed a handling inside the penalty area.  I had a decent angle, saw nothing.  No signal from my A/R (opposite site - alleged handling was in my quadrant).  More importantly, no one from the Yellow team screamed "hand ball sir!" (yes, we usually get plenty of 'help' from the players on the field with those calls).  So all I said to the coach is "didn't see it sir".  HE JUST WOULDN'T let it go.  10 min later I do call a handling and he says "well at least *they* got their handling."  I also had one crazy 5 min stretch in the 2nd half where there were many almost fouls, but I didn't call any.  Also had one mysterious downed girl that I didn't see the cause because I did not remember my previous lesson - take an extra second looking behind the play before moving on.

OK so my two lessons here:  Ask, Tell, Remove!  Also, don't forget to call fouls - even if they are trifling - to keep the temperature down.  So at the end the coach felt like we conspired against his team.  I was done with him at that point, but I did not REMOVE him (I should have).  The sad thing is I worked with 2 Grade 8 HS refs who both have potential to really progress as refs.  They both thought I did a great job, and both thought the coach was an *sshole.  So congrats coach.  Not only are you ignorant, but your actions cause other young refs to think "why bother."  If we see each other again and you start, you won't finish.

All wet

You have to live along the Colorado Front Range to understand that weather that is 'routine' along the East Coast (namely, steady rain) or in Cascadia doesn't happen too often here.  Well Mother Nature conspired to do just that, give us a light to moderate rain right after my Fr/Soph HS game started this past Wednesday.  Multiple weird things happened.

• It started raining 5 min after we started the game.  Rapidly became moderate in nature, then alternated between light and moderate.  Of course, I had my trusty garbage bag (we all do, right?) INSIDE my gear bag.  Lots of good that did.  Managed to get a chance to get it OVER my gear bag during a break after a goal.

Initial Chill of Autumn

Well after the hottest August in Denver history (I love how the weather folks make that sound.  Um, weather 'history' goes back to the late 1800s and if you consider the relocation of the official station, it's even less than that, but anyway...), we finally had some good soccer weather this past weekend.  So onto the good stuff.

• As warned, only had two Prez Cup games.  Ran CR on a U-13 Boys game.  Had one situation where there was going to be a footrace for a through ball, so the Yellow Defender made a strong shoulder challenge (before the ball) on the Blue Attacker and knocked the attacker down (although not maliciously).  Long whistle from me.  Yellow Defender kept going - no argument from him.  Thought about a booking for a 'tactical' challenge, but score was already 2-0 in favor of Blue, game temperature was comfortable, and didn't think the game needed the card.  So I kept it in my pocket.  No arguments from anyone, and my ARs thought I made the correct move.  U-14 and up I would have definitely issued the card.  There's no definition in the Laws for a 'tactical' challenge - we just use it for game management.  Am I doing the game disservice by not issuing the card to a U-13 player?

Kickoff!

The regular season has started!  The bumps and bruises from recent action:

• Injuries.  In my games this month I've seen a broken wrist, a knee injury, a possible concussion, a broken foot, and (in my son's game) a fractured shoulder.  I know soccer is a contact sport, and as referees we generally try to let the players "play through" contact, but when I see an injury my first thought is "was there a foul I could've called now or earlier to have prevented that injury?"

Cramping My Style

Highlights from weekend of Aug 6/7:

• We had hot (mid 90s) and dry (dp 30s or lower) weather here along the Front Range.  On Saturday, I had 4 consecutive games - AR, CR, AR, CR.  Late in the 4th my calves started cramping BIG TIME.  To the point where there was a moment I could barely walk.  Not a good way to run center, even if it is just U-12 Boys.  I must have consumed 100oz of water during those 4 games just to stay hydrated.  If someone has an excellent idea on what to take during the middle of a tournament (read:  15 min between matches max, so it has to be fast, preferably something I can add to water) I'd love to hear it!

Summertime

Wow Summer has flown by.  The first major fall tournament in Colorado is during the first weekend in August (actually there are 2 that weekend).  We start competitive play the weekend before Labor Day.  HS Soccer starts Sep 1.  Didn't summer just start?

Few musings from the summer:

• The ECNL Championships were held July 14-16 out here.  For the teams that were here, yes, you brought the humidity from your home state to Colorado.  Fortunately, the biggest monsoon we've had out here for quite some time decided to relax a bit during this tournament.  I only managed to get one game due to family commitments, and mine was called just 10 min into the 2nd half due to lightening.  I think the girls (it was U-17) were tired or affected by the altitude because the play was nothing special.  Well except for the one team's GK who could punt the ball just about to the opposite attacking third.  Tired out the CR for sure.

Impeding Progress

One of the fouls spelled out by Law 12:  An indirect free kick is also awarded to the opposing team if, in the opinion of the referee, a player impedes the progress of an opponent.

In one of my games this past weekend, I worked with a CR who's specialty is to call this foul.  I say 'specialty' because I've seen him do it in every game he's worked.  I also say this because he is about the only one who calls this foul.  He is 100% correct in his application of the law, the problem is the rest of us aren't; therefore, when it is called inevitably there is a howl from the coaches.  And in my game the call led directly to a goal, as the attacking team immediately took their IFK and scored (simple touch, then kick by player #2 while the defending team was confused).   A part of Law 12 that I need to watch for in my games, especially U-14 to about U-18.

Managing Coaches

Some observations about a few coaches that were in my games this past weekend...

• For my first game (AR1), one of the coaches was nattily attired in a fedora hat, dress shirt, slacks, shoes, and tie.  Not normally a coach's attire on a warm Sunday morning for a U-12 boys game.  So I had to ask the coach about his attire.  He is a minister/pastor and had to go conduct the 10a service (after the 8a game that is).  Well that's cool.  So I wondered how he would conduct himself on the sideline.  I also wondered when we missed a call if he'd summon some help from the divine entity who's word he was preaching.  The answer:  He was a class act.  Knew when to lean on his players.  Questioned one call, but very professionally ("Oooh, that was close sir.  Unlucky guys (aka players)").  His team did win by a good margin, but I think he generally conducts himself that way.

Penalty!

Three things of note from the big Memorial Day Weekend tournament, two of which involved PKs:

1. In one of my son's games, his team was (correctly) awarded a PK.  So the player took it, ball hits crossbar and rebounds directly to him.  He couldn't quite control the rebound, so all he managed was a weak shot and ultimately the keeper got the ball.  EXCEPT...the CR (and I for that matter) both forgot a minor thing.  Law 14 clearly says "...If, after the penalty kick has been taken, the kicker touches the ball again (except with his hands) before it has touched another player, an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team..."

   That makes total sense.  The same player cannot "double touch" any free kick, whether direct or indirect.  Of course, in this case the ball hit the 'woodwork' prior to the player committing the "double touch."  So an unusual double touch, but one nonetheless.
   
   

The Rain in Colorado

Well Mother Nature obviously read my last posting about how our Spring has been dryer than normal.  And She took offense.  So she started the rain (and a bit of snow) machine.  After 4 1/3" of rain in the last week, our fields are soaked.  You have to live along the  Colorado Front Range to know that, for us, THAT'S A LOT OF RAIN (outside of the summer monsoons).  The official rain gauge is at the airport which tends to be 'dry' in their measurements so to speak.  The result of all that rain is a scramble to get the Spring Season finales in knowing that some of the fields have been taken down.  It also results in last minute cancellations and no-show games.

The net result of all of this is that my first game in 2 weeks (other than parent A/R) was a CR for a U-17 game.  I've worked a handful of U-17 as AR, but never CR.  So going in, I was a bit nervous.

Spring Finals

Well our dryer than normal Spring has permitted the following to wrap up this past week, on schedule:

• Girls HS.  Post Season JV tournament.  Had a doubleheader in the 'consolation' bracket on Friday.  Very nearly issued a yellow card to a girl who didn't like the fact I saw her push with both arms the opposing girl.  I just said "don't argue with me!" and she got the message.  Turned out she was given a red card at the beginning of the tournament for dissent.  Otherwise, the soccer was pretty good, with both games - that only counted for pride - reasonably well played.

• Spring Regular Season.  Well almost.  Got some money for nothing (that would be a no-show) and an uneventful U-13 girls' game.

• State and President's Cup.  My U-16 boys game was the conclusion of group play.  In other words, it was meaningless in the standings.  Got to flash some yellow, teach a few others the fine art of dissent, but always felt like I was in 'control' of the game.

Oh but the U-15 Finals.  It would not be President's Cup without some controversy, and this was no different.

Somebody's Watching Me

Yes, this is Rockwell's one hit from the 80s (actually, EVER!) - and it was a hit solely because Michael Jackson provided backing lyrics.

It's also the truth when you are reffing.  Somebody is watching you.   Consider:

Ironman

No I am not participating in any triathlon.  I'm not a runner. :)

In my context, "Ironman" is what we call running a JV / Level 3 game all by yourself.  For those games, we generally run dual refs, but for some reason we were really short on HS refs last week.  I was surprised we were so short on HS refs considering there have been very few weather related cancellations.  I could understand if the schedules stacked up due to a lot of makeups due to rain or snow outs, but that hasn't happened this Spring.

NOTE:  We never run Varsity as an "Ironman."  At worst case, we'll run dual refs as opposed to double dual (i.e. 3 refs).

Tax Day

Well it's Tax Day.  Which reminds me that my 1040 will be more complicated next year due to all the different organizations paying me to ref soccer.

I had 5 games this weekend not including my usual parent volunteer AR for my son's home games.  Three of them were back in the State Cup, although they were for U12 girls (good), all of which were already eliminated from playoffs (not so good).  I worked with a good crew at the State Cup, so it was fun and I learned a few things.   So after technically being 1/4 of the way to working enough games for USSF Grade 7 qualification, here's my progress report.

Offside or not offside. That is the question.

Monday:  First, I'm going to whine about my knees.  OUCH.  They are killing me.  I am a mtn biker and skier, not a runner.  I have not had a good chance to train my legs since my cold in early March and the subsequent Spring Cup.  So I go week to week with some ailment.  Today, both my knees are killing me.  I hobbled through Continental's Houston hub today, which I think requires the most walking of any major airport in the US and has the least amount of moving walkways.  Maybe except for O'Hare, if you ever have the fortune of going from gate C23 to F11.

OK Soccer!  I had two HS games (one JV, one Level 3) and 3 President's Cup games this week.

Seeing Yellow

This weekend we had typical early April weather along the Colorado Front Range.  Namely, a record setting high temperature day (Saturday) followed by snow the next day (Sunday).  Welcome back Spring, we missed you.

This being a soccer blog and not a weather blog, let me summarize this weekend's trials and tribulations:

1. Worked a U-17 Div 2 Boys game on a turf field on Saturday as AR2.  Late in the first half, Team A's player has the ball near the penalty area, I look away to reset my offside, and out of my peripheral vision I see Team B (defender) take a good fall.  No call from me, no call from the CR, and lo and behold, GOAL.  Uh oh.  Parents are not pleased.  Literally 2 min later it is halftime.  So obviously we talk about the 'foul.'  I glanced away, so I saw the effect but not the cause.  CR was in a trailing behind position, so he didn't see an obvious push.  Trail AR said there 'could' be a foul.  Offside is my primary responsibility, but my lesson at the higher levels is to take a better angle or learn to count 'one' then reset.  This is so I can give better information to the CR.

Hi. I'm here to assess you.

Highlights from the State Cup.

• It took me 5 min in my first game (CR for U-13 girls) to realize this is the real deal.  The players are more talented, faster, and the game experience varies widely.  The only thing in common with the other games I've worked?  Each parent believes they know the Laws better than you.  Sigh.
• It is great experience working with other refs (including Grade 7 refs).  You learn things.  You see how they handle situations.  I ran my first CR game too much like I run my Option 1 games.  I did so much better on Sunday.
• Blowout games are not fun.  The parents and players vent their frustration.  I was 2nd AR on a 7-1 game.  All 7 goals were scored in the 1st half on my side.  There were 2 offside calls that I did not make (meaning they were not offside).  One was close.  The other was clearly not offside.  Shot hits off the crossbar, rebounds to an attacker, easy goal.  Keeper goes berserk.  I had a real good CR who gave the Keeper a good 'ol chewing out.  No card though.  CR and I review the play at half and we both saw the exact same thing - the attacker was onside when the shot was taken, so of course he is still onside on the rebound.

Meat Loaf

The "Meat Loaf" reference is to his song "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad."  This past weekend, I had two great games.  The third (which was my first)...well...

The first game was a CYS Option 1 U13 F game.  The particular home club for this game only supplies a CR.  So we ask for and get parent 'volunteer' ARs.  Sometimes you get a fully certified USSF ref, sometimes you get a parent who has "done this before."  At any rate, the rule is that we cannot consult the 'volunteer' ARs on fouls - just throw ins, GKs, corner kicks, and offside if they know the rule.  The U13 game went well for the first 65 minutes.  Nice flow, just a few fouls.  THEN came minute 66.  Team A, which was winning 1-0 had a breakaway.  I am trailing the play.  There was a collision in the penalty area for Team B.  The girls went down in a heap.  From my trailing viewpoint, I saw a fair challenge.  Play on.  Then it was obvious the girls were hurt, so I stopped play.

Back in High School

As I mentioned, I had my first two HS games this past Tuesday.  The games were JV and Grade 3 (generally frosh/soph) games.  So I get to the HS and the first thing I notice is, damn I am old.  OK more seriously, I notice the home team is wearing Gold and the visitors Black, which, coincidentally, is the only shirt colors I have.  The other Side Ref (that's what we're called in the Dual system) happens to be the same dude that was an AR in my first USSF game.  That's way cool because he is a HS coach and has run HS games, so he knows the ropes and, more importantly, helped me with expectations.  Also, he had an extra red jersey.  So on went the red jerseys - problem solved.

Put in the HS brain

Well this past weekend I had my first double no-show.  That's right, I show up to the field at 8:30 in the morning (30 min before game) and there isn't a soul around.  I double check my assignment, field location, then finally call the Assignor.  "You still get paid, you just have to note the double no-show in your report."  So I did.  The 2nd game (U-10 F Option 1) was played on time.  In Colorado, some groups only pay for a CR in the younger games (U-10 and under).  So you have to get two parent volunteers.  Some have reffed or played in the past, others...well...just tell me the direction the ball is supposed to go.  The key is managing coach's expectations on what will and won't be called by the AR.  Anyway, the U-10 F game went off without a hitch - and with the shorter field and 8v8 was easy on my legs.

Ref, you missed a lot of calls

I learned a lot of things in my first 6 games as a USSF ref.

1. Never ever ever work 4 consecutive games as a CR at a tournament unless you are under 29.  We had 5 min barely between games to get a refreshment, then it was onto the next game.  By the 3rd game, my right leg started to hurt big time.  By the 4th game, I had no sprint gear.  I could not believe it.  I expected some aerobic issues thanks to my nasty cold, but for my legs to give out?  Not in a million years.  I ski and mountain bike, I am used to punishing my legs.  Guess not good enough.
2. Did I say if you have good ARs your job as a CR is so much easier?  Did I say if your ARs are struggling you, as a CR, are going to look awful bad, especially if you are struggling a bit too?
3. A game on turf is a lot faster than a game on grass.  If, as a ref, you have good players on turf you better be on your toes.  If your players are average, you will get a lot of throw-ins as the players struggle to adjust to the speed of the ball on turf.  The turf shows who really is skilled and who isn't.
4. Girls' parents believe every time a girl falls there's a foul.  If it is their girl that falls, there needs to be a caution or a send off.
5. Every ref has a game where they wish they could just crawl under a rock and hide.

For me, that game happened in my 2nd game on Saturday.  A U-12 Girls "Bronze" game.  I was on a high coming off of a successful U-14 boys game.  Come on, I worked a higher U-12 Girls game the night before, I saw everything that could happen.  Um, I saw it as an AR working with a strong CR.  Not an inexperienced CR working with a bad AR and an inexperienced but at least trying other Grade 9 AR.

I tried encouraging my weak AR. "Give me an assertive, confident call.  Hustle.  Make strong signals because I need you to give me information."  I'm not sure if he was scared, had a big date that night, or just didn't want to be there.  UGH.  The game itself was choppy.  Started out 2-0, but the team that was up 2-0 had a GK that, let's just say was struggling.  First she let a real soft goal in.  Then there was a collision between her and a player on the other team, but the ball was loose (due to an error by said GK) and the GK does not get additional protection under the Laws.  So all of a sudden it's 2-2, the GK is crying to me that the other girl stepped on her hand, my weak AR saw nothing, some parents are up in arms, and all of a sudden it's dawning on me...this may look easy, but IT ISN'T.  So add a hard collision that actually was a fair challenge, another weak goal, a missed dangerous play on my part, and an indecisive AR, and I have a mutiny on my hands.  Fortunately the game ended 4-2 and at the end none of my misfortune mattered.  One parent of the losing team came up to me and apologized to me for the actions of the parents (which in all honesty I could not hear anyway).  So I'm filling out my game card and another person from the losing team walks by and says very strongly "ref you missed a lot of calls."  I just ignored him, but I chewed and chewed and chewed on it.  I should have at least inquired if he was a coach or parent, if the latter obviously letting it go.  But not the former.  That's over the line dissent and I would have noted it in my game report.

Eager to get the stench of the 2nd game out of the way, we started the 3rd game.  I had better ARs this time (one girl, one boy, both young Grade 8s), and I warned the U-12 girls of the lessons I learned the prior game.  Much smoother game, and only a handful of fouls.  I was redeemed.  Even had a laugh with the parents, as I was on that side of the field, the ball crosses the touch line, and no fewer than 6 parents signal the direction they think the ball should go.  I said "thanks parents, but I have a real good AR over here, and if I don't listen to her input, she's going to quit."  Next time I was over there, not one arm was raised.

So my last game is a U-11 Girls "Gold" game.  I had two young Grade 8 ARs, but they were eager.  Walk in the park, right?  No.  These girls were physical.  Pushing.  Shoving.  Wow.  I was shocked.  I learned that "Gold" level games are the cream of the crop for the age group and the players are significantly more skilled.  I nearly lost control of this game too, but I just started blowing my trusty whistle a lot in the 2nd half.  I hate "Free Kick soccer" (just recall the 2010 Men's World Cup Finals and you get the idea), but the girls didn't even flinch - it was as if they expected me to be calling a lot of fouls.  Amazing.  Oh, and I did the last game on one leg.  It was freezing cold at this point too.

That night my legs were on fire.  I must have landed weird on my feet or something, but WOW I was in some pain.  Who knew running 4 games in a row (basically 4 straight hours of running) at that level of games on dead grass would bother me that much.

Sunday I had but one game.  I got, um, talked into running CR even though that was the one thing I couldn't do - RUN.  I had two older HS-aged Grade 8 ARs who were running some center games that day, but either a) wanted a break or b) wanted to defer to the old dude.  So they did.  So I gave the ARs full trust on offside, touch line, and goal line calls, and they did a great job.  They let me focus on the big picture, and also allow me to amble as best I could in a 2/3 jog speed.  This game was on turf and it was windy and cool - us refs were in full winter gear (black hat, gloves, black long-sleeve T, and black sweats). It was a Boys U-11 Bronze game that started out a bit chippy.  I quickly called a few fouls and the boys (and the coaches) got the message, and from that point the game flowed nicely.  At the end of the game both coaches paid high compliments to us.  My son also got to see what the competition would be like if he makes competitive in the fall.

So all in all a big learning experience for me.  I learned that I won't accept a CR on U15+ until I get a few games at that level as AR.*** I learned that I need to focus on leg exercises if I am going to work a tournament.  I also learned a lot about game control.  Finally, I even used the USSF Ask a Soccer Referee website.  They respond quickly, and VERY bluntly.

Until next time...

***Of course, my JV games will have 14/15 yr olds.

A good start

My first game (on Friday) was with a CR who was Grade 7 and claimed he is qualified to be Grade 6 (state level) and an AR who is a local HS coach.  In other words, a ton of experience for a U-12 Girls "Gold" game.  This CR emphasized eye contact with the AR.  He also emphasized "slow calls" from his AR.  If he has the call on a throw-in, he will signal to you that he has the call, don't raise the flag.  I found that...different.  I got used to it though and at the end I learned a few tips from him.  So all was good, and I hope to get the chance to work with this guy again on a higher level game.  The game was one-sided, but ended 0-0 because the clearly more talented team was launching long shots that were all easily saved by the GK.   Went home still fighting my cold.

Saturday morning.  As I said I would, I got up early to go watch a Boys U-14 Silver game.  I was nervous - what would they be doing.  After about 20 min watching one of the games, my reaction is "I got this."  It was a lot cleaner than I anticipated, so I left for the morning feeling super confident.  I knew my aerobics would be an issue, but otherwise I was good to go.

So I show up in the afternoon for my 1p start.  I meet the AR, who is Grade 9.  There are some Grade 9 refs (generally between 12 and 14) that are enthusiastic and pepper you with a ton of questions.  This one, well, he's an example of not what to do as a Grade 9.  Fortunately, my other AR was a strong Grade 8 HS kid.  I had him run the "senior" position which is the player/coach sideline.  This kid if he chooses to stick with reffing will become a Grade 6 as he gets older, and could go farther if he wants.  As a CR, I cannot tell you how much easier it is when you have good ARs.

My U-14 boys game went without incident.  The Grade 8 AR was on top of everything and made my life easy.  Well easy enough so I could go cover my Grade 9 AR who I don't think even knew all the correct signals.  The sad thing is both my ARs got the same pay.  The only odd thing that happened is I stopped the game because one of the boys was carrying something in his hand during the game.  It looked like a whistle!  It turned out to be some black tape that was on the field.  Um, dude, put it in your pocket, or on your head.  Problem solved.  This same dude had some nifty footwork, but was adding some audio effects to his footwork.  The Grade 8 AR and I both agreed he was on the verge of being cautioned, so I mentioned it to his coach.  Problem solved.

Good start.  My conditioning was off as I expected, but I found the flow of the game.  Whew.  Onto the easy stuff...right?

Karma? Or Murphy's Law

So on Sunday I went up to a turf field at a local HS (the one my kids will likely attend).  I did some sprinting and some running, mostly to break in my ref shoes.  I felt like I was in...well...mediocre shape.  With a week before the games, I could focus on aerobics and be in sufficient shape for Saturday's games (the Friday afternoon AR game will not tax me aerobically).

Well that was the plan.  Then Monday night came and I developed this rough cough.  I was planning on getting up early on Tuesday to workout, but 5:30 came around and no dice.  I had ZERO energy.  Long story short I finally went to the doctor today.  I certainly have a bug, so now I have some antibiotics to fight said bug and some codeine-laced cough syrup so I can actually sleep w/o hacking out a lung.

My aerobic conditioning is all shot to hell, which does not make me a happy camper.  The doc said I should see improvement Fri and should be 'better' by the weekend, although I may be hacking out a lung at times.  Great.

I take pride in my work and I feel sorry for the kids that due to my cold, I'm likely to lag the play and not be in good position.  I'll just have to save my energy, bring as many of the energy drinks I can handle, and hope my ARs can pick up the slack.

They are still begging for refs for the weekend, so I accepted a 1p U-11 Boys Game as an AR on Sunday.  I may bring my son to this game since if he makes the competitive team next Fall this is the competition he will see.

I also accepted my first JV Soccer game which will require a lot of running, but that's a few weeks away, plenty of time for me to get into shape and review the difference in calling a USSF game vs CHSSA/HSSO game.

Getting Ready

So I was reading Tales of a Soccer Referee and all of a sudden the feeling struck:

What have I gotten myself into?

I am a USSF grade 8 ref.  I got started as a soccer ref a few years ago since I volunteered to work my son's soccer games as a Center Ref from U8 - U10 Rec.  I enjoyed it even though it was true 'volunteer' (i.e. no pay) work for the following reasons:

• Due to my schedule, I can't commit to coaching or even assistant coaching
• I'm contributing to the kids' soccer growth by teaching them to play by the Laws.

NOTE TO PARENTS:  If you have a volunteer Mom/Dad reffing your kid's U10 or under Rec game, thank them.  Don't complain about the calls.  Really.  No one is going to remember that I missed a handling call or that my touchline call was incorrect.

I enjoyed it enough so I figured, why not become a 'real' ref?  My perception is they always need refs, especially more, ah, 'mature' ones to work the older kids' games.  OK.  So I attended one of the 17 hour USSF Grade 8 trainings offered in my area.  There were about 30 attendees, 2/3 of which were under 18, the rest of which were about my age (minimum age is 14).  I left the training feeling comfortable going into my games since, well, I've done it already!  Honestly, if all I had to do was attend the USSF training and then was assigned to any game, I'd really struggle with my first few games.  I think the USSF training should also include a bit of 'outdoors' practice, but I understand that's easier said then done.

The U8, U9, and U10 games taught me the Laws.  I did have to attend about 5 total hours of training for these games, and the instructor did a great job discussing the Laws and proper positioning.  In these games, you will see every throw-in violation known to the Laws and then some. You learn all about what to do when the GK doesn't leave the penalty area and how to handle intentional pass backs to the keeper.  Yes, you even get to learn how to handle coaches, including the one from your own team.  So I know the Laws, but that is not the same as knowing the Fouls.  You will call a handful of fouls in any U8-U10 game and 99.9% of them are 'careless' anyway.  So my learning curve is going to be all about managing the fouls.

In Colorado, being USSF G8 qualifies you for working High School games (JV and/or Varsity depending on your USSF experience).  All you need is a 2 hr training session and pass their test, and you're good to go.  That's a slightly different animal all together, one I'll post about later.  So you may see me at your local HS soccer game.

So then I signed up for the assignment website.  Oh, added the multiple groups too, which can get confusing.  Then I received a blast email from an Assignor for a preseason tournament that needed refs.  I went to the proper website, entered my availability for that group, and figured I'd get one or two games.

Um no.  4 games.  All CR.  U-14 boys, 2 U-12 girls, and one U-11 girls.  All in a row.  At least they are all on the same field!  They are also all on a Saturday which is group play day.

YIKES.  I know I have the game experience, but in the USSF world my 'experience' doesn't count.  I am real, real surprised they gave me a U-14 CR game...and that's my first game!

The Assignor then emailed again needing more refs.  I have limited time on Friday late afternoon, so I offered to work another game.  5 min later (literally) I have a U-12 girls AR assignment.  Whew.  So at least I'll quickly learn about handling a tournament game before working 4 games in a row the following day.  I will still show up 'incognito' early on Saturday to watch a U-14 boys game so I can get a feel for the game and, more importantly, the infractions.

This should be interesting.

BTW - 'CR' is Center Ref.  The person that does all the running.  'AR' is Assistant Ref, the ones you see on the touch line with the flag.