It's in the cards

Lots of fun from the Mile High pitches of Colorado.

• I issued my first red card!  It was at a "C" HS game (i.e. frosh/soph).  For those of you who've read my blog, you know we generally work a 2 whistle system for sub-varsity games.  That means anyone can issue a card.  (Well, that's true for our Varsity games too).  My counterpart issued a kid on the white team a yellow for UB in a scrum that I did not call a foul (he did).  Well later in the 2nd half the same kid commits a late challenge from behind, not coming close to the ball.  I blow the whistle, tell him "come here."  He knew it.  So I issue the Yellow, check my book, and voila - he already has a Yellow!  So now he has a Red.  Never tell me I don't issue Red cards. :)

The next generation

As I've said many times, parents on my son's team know I'm a referee.  They ask me about every controversial call.  Mostly I have to bite my tongue when I think the CR (or AR) has made an incorrect call.  Or I'll say something generic as "well they have a totally different angle then we do, and they are the closest." Which is code speak for "no way in hell was that the right call."

There is however a difference between a referee making the wrong call and a referee which clearly needs mentoring.  Which brings me to what happened during kickoff weekend.  Fall kickoff is a double header weekend the weekend before Labor Day.  The teams usually play 1 game Saturday and 1 game Sunday.  The good news is there is no Rec/Option 1 games to further dilute the number of available referees.  The bad news is, in many cases, this is the first action for our newly certified referees.

Too many badges

So far I've had a mere 8 games - 3 CRs, the rest ARs.  This is solely based on my availability as I could easily get a lot more.  My games have been mostly smooth and no cards at all.

Two items of interest:

• U15 Girls.  There's a one-on-one battle for the ball between Team A's attacker and Team B's defender.  I'm in a terrible position - right behind the play, trying to get to an angle.  Team B's player falls.  From my angle, I could not tell if she tripped or was pushed.  My AR (and the parents) saw a good push.  I make no call.  My AR kind of raises his flag, thinks I tell him to drop it, then ultimately a goal is scored by Team A.  I run over to my AR and we decide to disallow the goal since there was a foul on Team A.  The coach for Team A wasn't too happy, but was ultimately satisfied with the explanation.  In the long run, it didn't matter - Team A won handily.  Lesson learned - make sure the AR is definitive and make sure I am!

• U14 Girls "SuperLeague."  I'm the AR on a corner kick.  Girl kicks the ball towards the goal, keeper mishandles it, goal scored.  NOPE.  I'm right on the goal line, I see the ball cross over the line in flight, therefore I raise my flag.  CR picks up my flag, blows whistle, then I signal GK.  Of course, this happens right in front of our field mentors and another team who plays the next game.  It's the absolute correct call - even a few players from the other team say to me "great call ref."  I saw the coach for the team who didn't get the goal throw his hat down, but never says a word to me as he knew I was right there.  Always pay attention as an AR!

Like I said, kind of uneventful start.

So we kick off Fall State and President's Cup this Labor Day weekend.  Still awaiting my assignments (if any).  We start HS this Thursday.  ALSO - I picked up some College Club team games (NCCSA).  Just AR for now as I don't know what I'm getting myself in to (and the Assignor wants me to AR a few games before picking up CR).  Although the NCCSA games don't count towards USSF certification, they should still be a great experience for me since these will be the first U18+ games I'm working.  All that means is I have 3 badges to carry with me - USSF, HSSO, and NCCSA.  Oh and 3 separate sets of Laws/Rules to keep straight!

Until next time...

It's Fall!

The calendar may read August (well end of July), but it's time to start the Fall soccer season!

• I start with 3 games next weekend in an early season tournament.  I could easily pick up 3x that if I wanted to work on Thu/Fri afternoons and Sunday.  My day job is preventing me from that on Thu/Fri, and my fitness concerns along with a desire to stay out of the heat are preventing that on Sunday.
• I participated in our HS Boys' 'draw' this time.  This is the first time the 'draw' has been entirely automated - or so they tell me - so I'm sure there will be lots of grumbling about said 'draw' at the Pre Season clinics that we have to attend for HS.  My schedule for HS is almost maxed out already.  Most of my games are Varsity, which should be interesting for Boys season.  I'm somewhat used to working this age group from State Cup.
• By the end of the Fall, I will have the CR games to qualify for Grade 7.  The State folks have already asked me when I'm going for my 7.  I think I'll do it - I'd like to be able to work some advanced Youth games.  Originally, I had dreams of becoming a 6, but given the amount of U18+ games you must work as CR, it's just not going to happen (unless I feel like ignoring my family).  Oh well.

I enjoyed watching the Euro games and some Olympics, along with almost any match I can find on Gol TV.  Why?  I watch the CR.  Where are they?  What are they calling?  Would I make that call?  I know the TV does not have the angle they have, but it's still interesting to watch.  At least for me.

Otherwise, I'm injury free and my fitness is reasonable.  So I'm ready to go!

The State of the Cup

I had a lot of State Cup Assignments this year.  Part of the reason I'm sure is I'm more experienced.  Another part is I'm being observed and obviously passing these informal assessments.

Since I'm still fighting my nagging plantar fasciitis injury from last year, my fitness level isn't where I want it to be.  It's good enough for normal reffing, but for State Cup you need to be better than normal.  To try to compensate, I've consumed the Gatorade "Prime" Pouch about 30 min before my CR games.  As far as I know, that does not contain caffeine, but it seems to put me on 'edge' - a comment I've received on 2 separate occasions from my more experienced ARs.  I know all the supplements in the world are no substitute for good fitness, so I'll just have to work on getting healed and improve my fitness level.

So onto the more interesting highlights.

1.  Life as a 4th ref.  For State Cup QFs onward we have 4ths.  I was a 4th for a QF and a 4th for a U17 Finals (which was recorded!).  Interesting job.  I've seen 'active' 4ths that are constantly helping the CR, and 'passive' 4ths which just handle subs, record goals/cards, and keep the technical areas (especially the coaches) under control.  So I'm not sure really how to do this job.  One would think it is easy, but in actuality the person with the 'easiest' job in a 4 man team is AR2.  Except for the parents.

2.  AR for Prez CupU14 Finals.  Oh I learned a lesson here!  Ball is on my end near the goal line, I see the ball go across the goal line, raise my flag to indicate I have information for the CR (ultimately a GK), CR never looks over.  So I'm wondering "what do I do?"  I'm now way out of position.  So I drop my flag thinking play is leaving my half.  Nope.  Ball is turned over and a quick goal is scored.  FORTUNATELY, AR1 and our 4th notice I had my flag up so they tell the CR "go talk to him."  I told the CR the ball went out but you never looked over.  We correctly rule "no goal" and restart with the GK.  Of course, our SDA is observing us.  After the game, he asked me what I saw, and what I should've done.  He did compliment us (the CR and me) for getting the call correct; otherwise, we had a Misapplication of the Laws situation, which is protestable.  Now I know.  Stand there with your flag raised all night if you have to. :)

New content from USSF

USSF seems to be in the process of updating their website with more video modules for refs.

Check out the new "Ask, Tell, Dismiss" guidance Here:

MLSsoccer.com also hosts a weekly "Instant Replay" series that reviews some of the notable calls (and non-calls) from MLS Action.  The link is here.  I don't always agree with Simon Borg's conclusions, but it is pretty cool to review.

Finally, we should follow this rugby ref's lead in dealing with Dissent on the field.  The dissent is at :08, the ref handles it at :38.

Inventing the Laws

As a 2nd year Grade 8 ref, I think I can apply the Laws 100% correctly.  That is different from foul recognition of course.  Well...

I've worked more State Cup games this year.  That's good of course - I'm working high level youth games as CR which offset some of the not-so-high level HS games I've recently had (even at Varsity!).  This weekend though I misapplied a few Laws.

• U14 #1 CR.  One minute before half I see an eligible sub at the center line.  I wave off the sub to my AR since I have a minute left and I already announced I was not adding time to the half.  Well that's an incorrect application of Law 3.  In "Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game", paragraph 3.6 clearly states "...Even if it seems that the purpose [of the substitution] is to waste time, the referee cannot deny the request, but should exercise the power granted in Law 7 to add time lost through "any other cause."  So my correct decision should have been to allow the sub then add time to compensate for the late substitution.

Well that misapplication in the grand scheme of things isn't too egregious.  The next one however...

Mood swing

As referees, we strive to be consistent in our calls throughout a game.  I prefer to let the game flow until the players start telling me, in their own way, I need to call more fouls.  Of course if I detect the temperature rising on my own my whistle becomes very active, or if in the first few minutes of the game I see a lot of physical contact then I know I need to call a bunch of fouls.

Which leads me to my experience with a U-16 D-2 Boys game.  The first half ended 1-0 with two fouls on each team.  One player asked me to watch the pushing, but otherwise no complaints at all.  In other words, the players knew what I was calling and were fine with it.  So 5 minutes goes by in the 2nd half and there's a challenge inside the penalty area.  The way I saw the attacker react seemed strange.  I didn't have a great angle, but I decided there was a substantial push from behind, so I gave the penalty.  After the usual complaints, the keeper (who decided to use his Captain status even though the Laws give him no such privilege) more or less said "you didn't call that in the 1st half, why are you calling it now?"  Although I said "both my AR and I saw it (which turned out to be true, but the AR did NOT signal for a foul)", I thought - you know he's correct.  Now I had to make a lot more calls since the players didn't know what I was going to call.  It took me about 20 min to get the game back to where I (and the players) wanted it to be.

During my game debrief my AR said there was indeed a push, and the push affected the attacker, but was surprised I gave the penalty.  So indirectly he thought the same thing as the player.  For what it is worth, the winning coach thought the call could've gone either way, but otherwise really liked how I called the game.

Lesson learned.  Be consistent, but manage the temperature if it needs to be managed.  With one close call, I changed the mood of the game when it didn't need to be changed.
 

Parental Guidance Suggested

In my last blog post I commented that I had my first parent removal.  Right now I'm in the middle of I don't know what type of Karma.  In my last three CR games I have had to remove a parent/spectator.  All three were a result of my AR calling me over to remove the offender.  Here's the latest two:

• State Cup.  I was CR for a U-12 boys game.  My AR-1 is a Grade 7.  My AR-2 is a Grade 6.  Wow that's a ton of AR experience for a U-12 boys game (even for State Cup).  Anyway, Blue team is winning 1-0.  White team launches a shot at goal.  From my angle, the GK acted a bit 'weird'.  Goal is scored (ball went through his legs), I glance over at my AR-2, and his flag is up.  Uh oh.  Fortunately I'm real good at *not* signalling a goal until after my AR confirms the goal.  So I backpedaled to him.  He called offside since an attacker was in an offside position and was charging at the keeper, influencing play.  OK that could explain the GK's reaction.  We talk about it, and, I know from past experience he knows his stuff, so I agree with his recommendation and disallow the goal.   White coach isn't terribly happy, so I run over and explain our call, and conclude "well it is a correct application of the Law, and that's the call I'm making."  White team's parents are somewhat up in arms.  So the IFK is taken and clearly the Blue team is offside on the IFK.  Easy call.  Some idiot screams "way to not swallow your whistle that time ref."  I'm about ready to shut the whole sideline up but my AR-2 beat me to it.  Then he tells me "Brian this parent has to go."  So I run over there and let him know he's done.  Gets up and argues, but hey I'm taller (and bigger) than he is, and he ultimately leaves.  Ironically, a Grade 8 AR likely does not make the offside call and the game may turn out differently (it ended 3-0).

The good news about the whole event is that at the end of the game the White team coach participates in the sportsmanship line and thanks us for a job well done. Those are the coaches I like.  Be fair in your dissent, and at the end of the game realize it is over and most likely the refs had nothing to do with the result.

President's Trap

We are on our way to having the driest March in Denver "history."  That means two things.  One:  No problems with games being cancelled due to weather.  Two:  Mother Nature will get us in April or May. :)

Our President's Cup (Boys U14+) kicked off this past weekend.  After many changes from our Assignor, I ended up with one U17 CR and one U17 A/R.

Start with the A/R game (my 2nd).  One coach came up to us and told us "we are running an offside trap.  I support the referees, but yesterday they blew 2 calls which lead to 2 goals...please watch for it."  OK coach.  So in the 1st half I was on their defense side which meant I got to watch for the trap.  I'm not a coach, but I have now concluded that the Offside Trap is a bad idea when it is the foundation of your defensive strategy.  You are now making me, the A/R, part of your defense, as opposed to my true role which is to provide information to my CR, first and foremost monitoring for an offside violation.  The opposing team took 10 minutes to unlock the defense.  First they discovered the defense was struggling with diagonal runs.  Then they discovered the defense didn't have the speed to recover.  Third they discovered that the A/R sometimes misses a call - I think I missed one offside call that lead to a goal, but my other calls were spot on.  Finally, they discovered they could just beat the defense dribbling.  An offside trap when run on occasion can be an effective strategy.  What I've seen in sub-elite youth levels is that the defense is trying so hard to execute the trap that when they fail they rarely get back in defensive shape.  So even if the attack slows, their shape is terrible, and a good possession team will score over and over again.  Which happened as the final was 9-1 in favor of the non-trapping team.

All about the Angles

Had just one CR assignment this weekend for a U-13 F Premier-1 (i.e. best of the U13 girls in CO) game.  It was a decent morning (finally was comfortable enough to wear ref shorts!) but the wind was blowing.  Which of course means positioning on GKs and keeper 'punts' is challenging.  I had two notable non-calls in the 1st half of said game related to my positioning and angle to the play:

1. I was in perfect position to watch a 2 handed push during a header challenge on a punt.  I was only 4 yards away!  And...and...and...my whistle never met my mouth.  My Senior AR asked me at half about that saying "well did you see..." and I finished "oh the 2 handed push that for some reason I didn't call?"  He laughed and said "well, at least you saw it, and yes, that's happened to me too."
I hate when that happens. :(


2. The 2nd non-call.  Normally when there's a GK or 'punt' I take position based on USSF guidelines adjusting for actual physical ability and tendencies.  I try to catch the initial kick contact out of the corner of my eye to make sure there's not a short kick or something crazy and then of course I focus on the field since the player movement will bring me to the ball.  Well this kick the wind caught the ball and was bringing it right at me.  So I got out of the way as quickly as possible but that left me parallel to the play.  So I saw a challenge that to me appeared OK.  Well...if I was where I *should* have been and had a more perpendicular angle, I would've seen one girl more or less climb over the other girl which would've been an easy charging foul call.  Bad angle!

Fortunately, I was much better in the 2nd half.  My SAR even said "you got all the calls right."  Well at least according to him. :)

In other news...

Mother Nature - undefeated and untied

Well a bummer for me this past weekend.  What should have been eight games (3 on turf, 5 on grass) ended up being ONE (on turf).  Mother Nature (or is it Old Man Winter?) didn't give us the needed warm temperatures (and winds) to dry out the rest of the Denver Metro grass fields, especially on the south side of town.

An Oasis in the Snow

For those of you who read my last post, you'll know the immediate Denver Metro Area received 12-24" of snow earlier this month depending on location.  You'll also know that it hasn't been warm here since, so a lot of that snow is still around.

Which brings me to this past weekend's tournament.  I figured there was trouble when the tweets started going out on Friday morning that the schedule was "in flux."  Uh oh.  But why?  The forecast was fine, and all the fields we were scheduled are turf - surely they are plowed and ready to go?

NOPE.

So what was supposed to be 3 games on Saturday for me (2 AR, 1 CR) became 3 'short' (2x30 min) AR games for me on Sunday (my original CR game was moved to when I was not available).  Sigh.

So here's our oasis in the snow:

Oasis in the Snow - Feb 19

The good news as a result of my changes is I worked with one of our area's mentors (Grade 6 verge of Grade 5 I think).  The games ranged from U14 to U18 boys.  He has a higher 'bar' so to speak when calling fouls.  He had one non-call in his first game that generated some good discussion as I (trailing AR), he, the "lead" AR, and the 4th all had different perspectives on what happened and what we would've called!  The 'call' was on a corner kick header by the attacking team.  I saw a kid run from 10 yards and have his elbows flying when he contacted the defender (and kind of the ball).  So there was too much "in" and not enough "up" for me - i.e. I would've called a foul against the attacker.  The lesson learned, as always, is a) be in the correct position, b) wait a second or two (unless it is really obvious) to see if there's an aftermath so to speak and c) call your game.

Otherwise, my foot and knee appear sufficiently healed to work the season.  We have two weeks until the next tournament (that is if we can ever get any warm weather in here to get the snow melted!).  So I can focus on my fitness and be ready to get back into the Center.

Guess we can't follow the Euro league schedule after all

One point of discussion regarding the MLS is, should the MLS season follow the Euro league schedules?  That is, start play in August and end in May.  For the Northeastern and Eastern Canada teams, that would mean the potential for some brutally cold games in Dec/Jan.

Well, to an extent our season in Colorado is active year round except for December.  That's correct, we do have outdoor tournaments in January (albeit friendlies), then small tournaments in February, then our season kicks off in March.  We have post season tournaments in May and June, some summer friendlies in July, then preseason in August, and then the Fall regular season that lasts until November since inevitably there's going to be snow outs in October.

Our January friendlies went well.  Indeed, the weather was nice (but not atypical for the Front Range).  Then old man winter struck.

Snow in inches in Denver Metro area Feb 2 - Feb 4 storm

We don't receive warm rains in February like the east coast, and chinook winds are generally a January phenomenon.  So when that much snow falls this time of the year, it's going to stick around.  Stick around it has.  For the foreseeable future, the games are limited to turf fields.  Some foothill/mountain communities of course need the turf fields; otherwise, they wouldn't play until May.

Last weekend a girls U-14 tournament was played.  The kickoff temperature on Saturday morning was +9F.  You read that right.  9 degrees above zero Fahrenheit.  I was not involved in that tournament.

So I get started this weekend with 3 games at a preseason tournament - turf fields of course.  I've spent most of my off-season healing my left foot and knee.  I stayed in shape the best I can (even skied), but I'd prefer to be in better running shape.  I'm ready and excited to get going!