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.