And we're off!

Well I started my Spring season this past weekend.  Gotta love turf fields - even though you come home with 100s of those damn rubber particles in your shoes, the turf fields do permit nearly year-round play.  Few items of note:

• There was still some snow in parts of the field.  So it was 'pushed' off, but unfortunately all in the area where an AR-2 would be roaming.  So we decided to run a right diagonal to prevent AR-2 from slipping on ice/snow.  I was AR-1.  It was an interesting experience.  The level was mid level U-12 girls and the rest of the crew was experienced enough to pull it off with only a few gaffes that a referee would notice but no one else would.  Fortunately, the snow melted in time for my CR game, and we reverted back to the left diagonal.
• My CR game was uneventful (mid level U-12 girls).  I did get a nice compliment from one coach on how I controlled the game.
• 3rd game the CR issued a caution for Failure to Respect the Required Distance, much more affectionately referred to as 'FRD'.  Situation is a FK was given and one girl on the defending team ran forward before the kick was taken.  Correct call or should have the CR issued a verbal warning?

From "Advice to Referees", this was the correct call.  Section 13.3 states "...the opponent closer than the required distance moves toward the ball and performs an act that makes a difference in the play...that player has committed an offense that must be dealt with firmly...".  Also, the NOTE explains "Where encroachment or interference is blatant and obvious, the referee's control is being tested and it is particularly important that he/she act firmly."

Now I might have still warned given the level of the game (mid level U-14 girls) and temperature (nothing going on).  However, that's the nice thing about this level of preseason tournament - you shake up the cobwebs and remember about these applications of the Law for when the stakes are higher.