Somebody's Watching Me

Yes, this is Rockwell's one hit from the 80s (actually, EVER!) - and it was a hit solely because Michael Jackson provided backing lyrics.

It's also the truth when you are reffing.  Somebody is watching you.   Consider:

• I had a JV game.  It turns out that one of the Assignors I work with has a daughter on one of the JV teams.  The Assignor was in the crowd and I didn't see her (I was on the spectator's side of the field)!
• I always see Assignors walking around multiple field layouts.  Just watching and observing.
• My daughter's Girl Scout leader has a daughter on a U-14 team, who's game I worked this past weekend.  I read the daughter's name during check-in, but didn't associate her to the GS leader.  Guess who was at the game!  LOL she thought I did a good job.

Which brings me to my point.  My son is on a U-10 Option 1 team.  He had an 'away' game where there was a CR, AR, and club linesman (not sure if the other AR was missing or if this is SOP for that club).  I observed the CR in the correct shirt, but with a red hoodie hanging out.  I observed the AR with his shirt not tucked in, with a blue ski cap, and actually whipping his phone out during a break to send a text or two!  I also observed the CR being lazy with his positioning and not constantly signalling.  He slowly figured out this U-10 Boys game was going to be more physical then expected.  He ultimately issued a Yellow Card which really could've been better handled by a) calling fouls earlier and b) a stern rebuke.

There is no way the CR or AR would have known that I am a USSF ref that could observe and report on their performance in ways that coaches and other parents could not.  If I knew this club's Assignor, I certainly would have reported on the AR texting during the game and the CR's non-compliant uniform.

So do the simple things correct!  Wear the proper uniform.  Take your job seriously.  Hustle!  Do your best.  Because someone is watching you.