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.