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.
• I tried something different with my U-14 CR game.  During game check in, I told both sides "you gentlemen are very talented soccer players.  That's why you are here.  I want to see this talent.  I don't want to see or hear nonsense.  I don't expect to have to repeat myself."  I then called the initial part of the game tight.  The rest of the game went real smoothly.  No dissent.  They even addressed me starting with "sir" an awful lot (Sir, can you pull us to the wall line?  Sir, can I have "10"?  Sir, how much time is left?  Sir, will you add time (there was some long delays while a ball was getting retrieved)).  It was a 2-0 game.  Even got away with a big time snafu with my AR2 in the initial minute, when he raised the flag, then thought better, but I blew the whistle.  So we sorted it out, and it seemed like it was all forgotten.  I had much better game pace too.  Whether or not the game "temperature" was a result of luck, my check in, or my initial calls remains to be same, but I'll try the check in "words of wisdom" again.
• So my last game.  U-17 AR#2.  I've never worked a game at this level.  So I'm a bit anxious.  And then a state ref walks over to me, introduces himself, and says he will be assessing me.  Huh?  Where did this come from?  It turns out he is there for a Grade 7 maintenance assessment for the CR.  Of course, I get assessed too.  So I made sure I ran my line (by the parents of course) to the best of my ability, especially running ALL THE WAY to the goal line to indicate a GK even if it was really obvious.  This game featured a lot of long ball play, which meant a lot of sprinting by me.  There were a few times I emphatically made my calls (example: "off of red, white throw-in").  That eliminated most of the questions.  The U-17 boys will initially disagree LOUDLY, but then they move on, especially if you are more emphatic then they are.
• The U-17 parents were the best behaved from my six games.  Two walked by after the game and said "nice job refs."  I always respond "thank you, I appreciate that."

Well I passed my assessment.  I've yet to receive the written comments, but at the initial debrief the assessor said his comments for me were cosmetic (changing the flag on a call from one hand to the other, and improving my flag angle).

In summary, I felt I did so much better on Sunday.  I was much more comfortable with the game speed and with working with "good" ARs.  I am glad for the opportunity and hope to be back, whether this year or next.