Trin Tragula posted:
This post rules, and yeah, I was still feeling pretty goddamn slick about getting offered so many games. I've been assigned 13 games this weekend, including 3 or 4 tournament finals, a Thursday game, and some other poo poo. I think I'm going to tone down the dirty secrets of our area because who knows, it's the internet. The pain pills seems to be specifically with one "crew" that refs a certain league a lot, so it could be isolated to a small sample set I just happen to see. I had a feeling that 12 games was just madness, but it seems to be pretty normal around here. A lot of the refs do 10-15 games a weekend...I think a lot of them just do like 5 u14 girls centers in a row, where you're not doing too much. I'm thinking I'm either A. getting exploited for lovely games nobody wants, or B. legitimately getting good ranks/reviews, but am WAY over-doing it. I used to run about 6 miles a day or so before I took the course, thinking that was more than enough to be "fit to referee," but you're right - the stopping, turning, ankle bending is just shredding me to pieces. I typically ignore stuff on the sidelines (teenage girls talking about poo poo I don't want to hear, or guys saying things I should note but don't). I don't care if some girl hooked up with a dude on FC Whatever 95s, or if some dude smoked a joint before a game. But, when it's coaches or whatever, I have to do something. I have the reusable cards for backup books, so I'll transfer those to permanent ones and keep em. This is all good advice, but I think I'm going to max out at maybe 2 games a day, or go for only centers (you get more money too) from now on. I'll update a bit more after what will be my last huge marathon of games...being able to do it doesn't mean I should, and I ran in to even more assignor politics today (vague threat), so I'll have to play it out to see what happens. Trin - does the UK take refs as a possible way to get some kind of work visa or legitimate reason to stay there? I have wanted out of the US for a while, and I don't know poo poo about UK Visas/citizenship, but if putting in 5 years of this could get me some papers, I might see a reason to keep it up. The money right now isn't worth the near death experiences.
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Oct 17, 2012 01:18
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Out of curiosity how far literally, and practically, are you from an MLS game? I presume it's something like 7 levels of qualifications or what?
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Oct 17, 2012 01:28
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Honestly, Trin covered anything I'd even think of saying. My maximum was eight in a weekend and I don't really have pain problems. The referees around here tend to be a bit of a "good old boys" club, so my progression is slow, but I'm plowing my way through anyway.LordPants posted:Out of curiosity how far literally, and practically, are you from an MLS game? I presume it's something like 7 levels of qualifications or what? The USSF has referee grades from 9 (lowest) to 1 (highest). Just to put this in comparison (and I'm taking these numbers from memory from my certification class), something like 90% of all referees are Grade 8, 5% to 7% are Grade 7, and the rest fall in the remainder, with higher grades being much more rare and International (that is, FIFA level) being something ridiculous like 0.001%. Keep that in mind. (Grade 12 is ridiculously obscure and labelled "Assistant Referee", and qualifies the individual to be a linesman in most games. I have never, ever seen one of these in person, so as far as this list goes it probably doesn't really "count".)
It's a big ladder. Very strictly speaking, it's unlikely that any given Grade 7 referee will go any higher, and even if they do it's a very long and very grueling road to take. Edit: These are the recommended assignments in the USSF Referee Administrative Handbook, but I'm not positive they're strict requirements. I've heard of Grade 8s doing adult amateur games, but I don't really know too much about actual assigning. E4C85D38 fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Oct 17, 2012 |
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Oct 17, 2012 05:14
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AVBadvertising posted:1. If you're "fit" and or "match fit," what would you consider physically over-committing? I'm pretty sure I'm suffering from lack of vitamins/energy/protein/something after these huge blocks of games, and I've lost 10 pounds in the last two weekends. You are doing an insane amount of matches. Perhaps you are young enough to get away with it, but, holy heck, that is too much, in my opinion. AVBadvertising posted:2. I've realized that there is a mob-esque mentality between the assignors here...for example - the state assignor hooked me up with 3 games I (in hindsight) was absolutely not prepared for, but then was impressed and moved towards 2 higher level assignors. One is sort of OK with me working for multiple leagues/assignors, but the other vaguely threatens to pull me from the high paying gigs if I ever choose to work for the other guy. Is this pretty common? Yes. AVBadvertising posted:3. As an AR2, do you ever bother keeping time and a backup book? AVBadvertising posted:4. Is center reffing easier/less physical? I hear both yes and no from proactive mentor type refs. I think so. On the line, you really don't have any control over what you have to do. If there is a breakaway, you run. In the center, you can use your knowledge of the game to put yourself in a position where the ball will be; can make your own decisions on how hard you need to run, etc. AVBadvertising posted:5. I seemingly missed my chance to do AIA, but I hear it can be wonky. I have a data wallet, and it has a blue card with a 2 on it...I haven't the slightest gently caress. I hear it pays well.....is it worth joining that and having my biometrics on file? A blue card with a 2 on it? Sounds like indoor soccer. Personally, I enjoy doing high school; I'm one of the higher ranked officials, so I get good matches. Of course, here in Southern Cal, we use the dual system. Generally, however, HS does pay more than USSF, at least here. If biometrics means fingerprints, we don't have to give them here, but it is hardly a big deal, imo. AVBadvertising posted:6. MOST IMPORTANTLY - have any of you made it far enough, or had the choice to go far enough, where you could have lived off this (or being an assignor or instructor), and if so, how long did it take? A center (worthy of his own thread) told me about some of the epic badassness that his friends have gotten to partake in, and the payouts were something like: Quite a while, even if possible. I am skeptical that it is possible in the USA. AVBadvertising posted:Also - let's talk about boots/cleats/shoes. I have now decided that these are absolutely horrible for anything more than 1-2 games, and am wondering what you all wear. I trusted Amazon with my knees, and I want them back: What are your pitches like? I typically alternate between a pair of black cross-trainers and black running shoes. I carry a set of artificial turf shoes that have leather uppers if needed, but I haven't worn them in years. Since I only do college and high school, I only really face the prospects of rain during high school season; the vast majority of schools now have artificial turf fields, and the running/cross-training shoes are fine. The rest of the time, the pitches here in San Diego are very hard, so your mileage may vary. I can't remember the last time I put on a pair of actual cleats.
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Oct 17, 2012 05:30
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GOM posted:Nail in the coffin on me doing any more of this than 3-5 games a weekend for fun. If I live through this weekend of 13 games (they added a cute U11 match for me tonight at 7:30pm....thanks) GOM - you seem to know the mob-ish mentality when it comes to the assignors, so my biggest question now is really....how bad does it get? With grade 8/7/6 stuff all being true, and the war stories I've heard at the games so far, I would wager you could shed light on how hosed up the whole assignor thing is, regardless of location. Trin - I had another thought based on the SafeGuard thing - with the u16/u18 girls games being 50% of the matches I do the line for, I often overhear the players on the bench talking about things that I would wager are illegal/not what I want to hear. When I was 16 and 17 I was partying and trying to (and sometimes) getting laid, but it feels like I should be telling these players' parents whatever, I heard your daughter talk about how she went to a frat party last night and hooked up with a 22 year old basketball player. If I reported everything I heard while standing on the midline in these games (since it's usually one team at the other's goal for 80% of the match), it'd be 5-10 things a game. I feel like it's best to just tune it out and let the game play on. How bad would something I hear from a player (girl or guy) chatting on the bench have to be before I should actually do something (report to coach, league, parent, whatever)? It's reallllllllllllly loving awkward, since age of consent is 18 here and ASU is also here. So - I alternate between LA (not where I was born, but home), and Phoenix (where I was born, and live now, but escape from quite a bit). I'm certified in AZ though, so I'm literally 400 miles from any MLS team (which would be Chivas/Galaxy, which I will never get). Maybe it's just the number of games, but I officially hit the wall last weekend. I am considering "injuring my knee" in one of the Friday night games and having to sit out, because from what I've heard, if you do the big assignor dirty, expect nothing for a month or so. The Grade listing is right per my recollection - almost everyone is a grade 8, with usually a few grade 7s and a grade 6 at bigger tournaments with U18 teams. What I think is that most of the grade 8 guys around my age/fitness level are washed up players from reserve teams or actually played in some form of professional football (seems like Germany is a reoccuring theme - have met 3 guys that were part of a German team's academy and ending up not making the cut). You'd have to be Grade 6 to expect every the lowliest of MLS game I'd assume, although technically I think you can do any game (except high school, as it's not USSF) from Grade 8 onward. So I snagged two pairs of non-cleat style shoes to try - one is the classic Adidas Roma, which may be a skateboard shoe, but I've seen a million people wear these in rec matches. The other is a bulkier, clunkier Adidas shoe that looks like it would be a cleat except it's got no studs - more of a running shoe. I think being a coach/manager would be way more fun, and I see a lot of these highly-ranked teams in the games I ref and in my opinion they're horrible. Any team that has a coach that has either taught, or can yell out, the simple idea of the backline passing/clearing to the midfield, who then moves it forward in to space, typically wins by 3-5 goals. I did the semi-final for U16 Girls Gold A division aka "the best of the best", and the Sereno team (Chelsea sponsored) was mind-blowingly good. Not only was each player like Juan Mata-ish with their vision/passing, they actually played in a formation you could recognize and never had more than 2v1 in the mid/back 1/3rd. I want to just yell at these teams that have 5 players running at the person with the ball all the time, because it's like a horrible game of Fifa13, except extremely hot and 90' long. Given that I didn't get in to this for the money (but I can't say that $300-500 or so a weekend is trivial either), I gotta get out of this racket. I'm young and I guess in shape enough to do that many games, but it's not healthy and it doesn't speed up any razor thin chance that I'd become the 1/1000 that is a Fifa, or even MLS level ref. So....I'm thinking...maybe find a team in need of a coach, and ref that league only to watch other teams play before my scrappy whatever-league team successfully connects a through ball. The goals are guaranteed if you get the ball past midfield. Thanks for all the info, seriously - people out here make it seem like 9-15 games a weekend is common, and have already told me "how you've got to do it" to get in good and get the $60 AR games where you do next to nothing. Asking the same poo poo I put up here would basically make me a whiny(whinier?) bitch who lacks the ole' "bottle" to make it in the USSF. This game is corrupt all the way down...I love it.
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Oct 18, 2012 18:22
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AVBadvertising posted:Trin - I had another thought based on the SafeGuard thing - with the u16/u18 girls games being 50% of the matches I do the line for, I often overhear the players on the bench talking about things that I would wager are illegal/not what I want to hear. When I was 16 and 17 I was partying and trying to (and sometimes) getting laid, but it feels like I should be telling these players' parents whatever, I heard your daughter talk about how she went to a frat party last night and hooked up with a 22 year old basketball player. If there's no guidance at all, then what I would go with is to ask myself "if this were to be reported in a newspaper, would it make the sport look bad?" 17-year-old soccer player going to a frat party and hooking up with a much older guy? Nope, it'd take a lot for soccer as a whole to look bad. 35-year-old coach creeping on/having an inappropriate relationship with 17-year-old soccer player on his team, or on a friend's team? Absolutely, that does make the sport look bad.
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Oct 18, 2012 18:51
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Trin Tragula posted:If there's no guidance at all, then what I would go with is to ask myself "if this were to be reported in a newspaper, would it make the sport look bad?" 17-year-old soccer player going to a frat party and hooking up with a much older guy? Nope, it'd take a lot for soccer as a whole to look bad. 35-year-old coach creeping on/having an inappropriate relationship with 17-year-old soccer player on his team, or on a friend's team? Absolutely, that does make the sport look bad. Alright good, that's about how I feel too. It's impossible to not overhear the benched players chatting it up, and I'm both good at keeping the neutral face, and also not really concerned with whatever hilarious hijinks they're up to outside of the game. The creepy coach thing is mostly just a gut instinct....I've only seen 1, MAYBE 2 coaches do something that I thought might be pedo-ish, so from now on I'll probably ask the other refs and decide if it was just me reading it that way, or whether we need to report it. On the subject of benched players, there are a lot of hosed up kids playing on the high level clubs out here...it's surprising.
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Oct 18, 2012 19:01
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I assume the pay is pretty good as it sounds like a terrible way of spending your free time and a moral minefield to boot. Help me understand why you would want to do this, Badvertising. I saw some refs and assistant refs at the pitches I play on and they seemed able-bodied and it was hard for me to imagine why they weren't playing. Sorry if this comes across as insulting but I can't get my head around it!
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Oct 18, 2012 19:14
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Ask your fellow refs which assignor they like more, especially those refs that are higher grade. Your fellow refs should be able to tell you which assignor will help you get your upgrade as quick as possible. Double check with the area assessor. Depending on what the situation is like, you may have to decide to only accept assignments from one assignor. In any event, never tell an assignor you are working for another assignor. How are your assignments made? Here in San Diego, both associations I work for use Arbiter Sports and it is a simple task to block out assignments. I only speak with an assignor when there is a problem, i.e., someone doesn't show up or there aren't enough officials assigned to a match. In any case, you DON'T HAVE TO ACCEPT every match offered. I certainly wouldn't, especially if it meant I was trying to do 13 matches a weekend. That is insane. So, assuming you decide to stick with it, pick the assignor who will help you advance (seems like you already have at least one assignor who wants to help you out), do your matches, get your assessments and move up. Yesterday I worked with Alex Mariscal, whom I know has done MLS matches (he gave the other ref a package of MLS pink wristbands for breast cancer awareness month). His younger brothers were both accepted into the new Platinum program as ARs. If you look at the list, there is only one grade 6, Rico Clark's brother. The rest are 4s and 5s. The Mariscal brothers are grade 4s; I'm not sure about Alex, but I think he is a 4 as well. The brothers are late 20s and appear to at least have a shot at being a FIFA AR. Anyway, Alex told us that, as of November 1, 2012, there will be a new association for MLS refs; they are bringing in people from England and apparently are trying hard to upgrade the situation. It wasn't really relevant to me (although I agree that the standard of MLS referees needs to be upgraded), so I didn't ask many questions. Coaching. Welp, as luck would have it, I used to coach competitive teams and a high school team. You certainly will be fingerprinted. And you will need to obtain a coaching license. See if you can't waive the E course and start with a D. D is a 36 hour course, done over a couple of weekends, at least in my case. It is pretty easy. Coaching itself is another question. The pay is poor, hours are long, and aggravations (parents!) are many. I prefer being a referee.
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Oct 18, 2012 19:49
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A few notes regarding earlier posts: US College is also not USSF, and plays under NCAA/NISOA rules (as opposed to the LOTG or high school's NFHS). All three differ significantly. Over here, assignments are made by an old guy calling you up over the phone. I've seen his workpad, it's all done in pencil. No idea how he keeps it all straight. Breath Ray posted:I assume the pay is pretty good as it sounds like a terrible way of spending your free time and a moral minefield to boot. It's one of those things that some people just get into. I enjoy refereeing because I know it's needed, I enjoy the game of soccer even if I was never particularly good at it as a child, I enjoy being the arbitrator in general for things (being able to get all the various rules and decisions straight with a neutral outlook, etc), and it's a unique experience you can't really get anywhere else. If you really care about what you're doing and making the right call, it stretches your physical stamina and mental concentration, sometimes to the limit and beyond, and you have to be able to make a decision in half a second and be absolutely sure it's the right one. Of course, I have to deal with coaches yelling at me for putting my flag up to signal to the referee that there's a badly injured player, but it just comes with the game. Of course, for every person I've seen that does it for love of the game, there's another handful of people that are just in it for the money. For the lower level youth games you can expect $15 a game as an AR and $30 as a center here, but the match fees are set by the league. On a side note, I really hope I'm not rambling too much, I just find this topic particularly interesting and figure I could offer another view on it from the barren wastelands of New Jersey. E4C85D38 fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Oct 18, 2012 |
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Oct 18, 2012 21:00
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I've got a LOT of poo poo I have questions about based on the last 3 weeks or so (probably 30 games in there, with an absolute clusterfuck mess of injuries/unsafe center reffing, and complete disregard for both ref and player safety), but it's hard to describe without a short novel. I'm now centering most games I'm offered, but the whole "either take the absurd amount of games offered in a semi-insulting way, or get offered nothing" is essentially at critical mass. I have the option of basically ditching the city's main assignor who controls probably 75% of the games that are within driving distance and pay more than $20-25 a game, but I've heard now that once you decline, you're on the outs and don't get back in. The league refs that seem to be the regulars are all grade 7/6, but they allow pretty much anything to slide by without calling fouls. In the last two weeks I've seen 3 broken legs, 2 broken fingers, and at least 2 serious ankle injuries, and only a yellow card to go with it. While there is a ton of poo poo I'm starting to wonder about this whole gig, and given that I'm making pretty much the full jump to center...tell me that this isn't par for the course. The first major injury I saw was a Grade 6 who waved off two double-legged studs up back-tackle DK fouls, and then gave just an IFK for the third. The fourth time the player broke somebody's leg, and his decision was a yellow card for the offender. That same game had an ankle break later, and somebody's finger/hand get ruined. In that type of situation (where I'm raising the flag because these u18 teams are killing each other) where the center literally says he doesn't issue reds because it's too much paperwork, would any of you abandon the AR post? I have my name on 3 match cards where players were seriously hurt by obvious and blatant neglect by the center, and any attempts to talk to them or appease the coaches were impossible. I'm not cited or mentioned, but there have been coaches or parents that have complained about the general refereeing in the games. It seems like a whole lot of these games is what I'm going to be assigned if I take the higher paying league, but - I can tell it's not just me thinking that it's unsafe/neglect going on. Should I just bail on this? It's taking away any element of fun from doing these games.
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Nov 8, 2012 19:56
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AVBadvertising posted:I've got a LOT of poo poo I have questions about based on the last 3 weeks or so (probably 30 games in there, with an absolute clusterfuck mess of injuries/unsafe center reffing, and complete disregard for both ref and player safety), but it's hard to describe without a short novel. I'm now centering most games I'm offered, but the whole "either take the absurd amount of games offered in a semi-insulting way, or get offered nothing" is essentially at critical mass. I have the option of basically ditching the city's main assignor who controls probably 75% of the games that are within driving distance and pay more than $20-25 a game, but I've heard now that once you decline, you're on the outs and don't get back in. I had a game this weekend where the 10 year old girls asked me whether I wore shinguards too, and when I said no, are you going to try to kick me? they asked if I had a criminal record. So I guess what I'm saying is I have no idea. Sounds like you've got one mighty screwed up league.
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Nov 8, 2012 20:10
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Lamont Cranston posted:I had a game this weekend where the 10 year old girls asked me whether I wore shinguards too, and when I said no, are you going to try to kick me? they asked if I had a criminal record. Was it an AYSO/USSF game? The AIA or whatever actually makes you carry a card here that has your fingerprints and proof of a clean criminal check if you want their games. I guess they pay out like $70 a game, but you have to pay about $75-150 to apply or something. I still haven't received my Grade 8 ID card, so I'm guessing none of these leagues are super on top of their poo poo (except the one that pays $14 and $22 for absurdly boring 14-0 u12 games). I don't know how old you are, but part of the deterrent for me with one of the leagues is that I'm 28 and most of the refs are 2-3 years older than the players we're the crew for. If you're on the line for that and the center is 15, parents kind of scratch their head and start wigging out. Maybe it's just the creepy 11pm email from the assignor last night saying "What are you doing this Friday?" that I haven't answered yet, because the email threads are so incredibly disorienting and confusing that I'm afraid to respond.
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Nov 8, 2012 21:16
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AVBadvertising posted:Was it an AYSO/USSF game? The AIA or whatever actually makes you carry a card here that has your fingerprints and proof of a clean criminal check if you want their games. I guess they pay out like $70 a game, but you have to pay about $75-150 to apply or something. Yikes, no we didn't have to go through anything like that. (this is USSF btw) I assumed she just wanted to know whether she had a reason to kick me in the shins. quote:I don't know how old you are, but part of the deterrent for me with one of the leagues is that I'm 28 and most of the refs are 2-3 years older than the players we're the crew for. If you're on the line for that and the center is 15, parents kind of scratch their head and start wigging out. Pretty much the opposite for me. I'm 25 and most of the referees I've worked with are older. I can really only think of two off the top of my head that were younger. Do you guys not use Arbiter or anything? I don't think I've ever had an actual 1-on-1 e-mail conversation with my assignor.
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Nov 8, 2012 22:59
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AVBadvertising posted:I've got a LOT of poo poo I have questions about based on the last 3 weeks or so (probably 30 games in there, with an absolute clusterfuck mess of injuries/unsafe center reffing, and complete disregard for both ref and player safety), but it's hard to describe without a short novel. I'm now centering most games I'm offered, but the whole "either take the absurd amount of games offered in a semi-insulting way, or get offered nothing" is essentially at critical mass. I have the option of basically ditching the city's main assignor who controls probably 75% of the games that are within driving distance and pay more than $20-25 a game, but I've heard now that once you decline, you're on the outs and don't get back in. I don't know how the league's work over there, but isn't there someone to report this to? If people are getting seriously hurt with no/limited repercussions the centre ref needs to be looked at.
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Nov 8, 2012 23:27
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EvilHawk posted:I don't know how the league's work over there, but isn't there someone to report this to? If people are getting seriously hurt with no/limited repercussions the centre ref needs to be looked at. Yes, this. Frankly, if you are not comfortable with it, I'd tell the entire board of your state association (as I recall, you are in Arizona and therefore there is only one association for the state) and ask for guidance. This may well mean that you don't get assignments and other refs may look at you funny. But really, just quitting allows the problem to continue and if you can at least try to force a recognition of the problem, there is a 0.05% chance that things will change. As for injuries, I've seen lots of ankle injuries, blown out knees, etc., but a very very very high percentage of these injuries are just part of the game. It sounds to me like your situation is different. And not correct. And, honestly, not sending people off because you don't want to do the paperwork? gently caress off, that is a lovely attitude. I hate doing the paperwork as well, but if your hatred of paperwork prevents you from protecting the safety of players, you have no business being out there. Additionally, just because other refs are assholes doesn't mean you have to be an rear end in a top hat as well. If you are being assigned centers, call them as you see them. And I wouldn't worry about not doing a good job as a center; given what you describe, you simply cannot be worse than what is already there. My experience has been that the higher the level the match, the less bullshit happens. So, one solution is to get on the higher level matches. And if the AIA stuff is high school, I suggest you do it. I just paid $170 in fees for the upcoming high school season ($50 for the association fee, $120 for assigners fees) and I'll probably do at least 30 varsity matches at $63 a match. It is a decent deal; one or two matches a day (two if you have a varsity/JV double header) of 80 minutes.
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Nov 9, 2012 05:13
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GOM posted:And, honestly, not sending people off because you don't want to do the paperwork? gently caress off, that is a lovely attitude. I hate doing the paperwork as well, but if your hatred of paperwork prevents you from protecting the safety of players, you have no business being out there. As a kid I loved when we got refs like that, especially in indoor. In U-18 I had a striker slam my head full force into the wall with his body that knocked me out cold for a few seconds. (I was getting back to my feet after making a clearance) Ref 2 saw the whole thing and let me know he'd come at me with intent to blindside me. The player was on a yellow from taking out my teammate's knee (also on purpose), and despite Ref 2's insistence, the other/head Ref said he wasn't going to "send off a player for a foul he didn't see himself," So I made sure he didn't see any fouls, and managed leave that striker concussed at least once or twice, only getting send off with a straight red for leaving him with a nasty ankle injury (which the ref didn't see). After a whole game of stuff like this, things finally ended in forfeit when my team and coach refused to keep playing after a player stomped on my teammate's skull full-force. The ref gave the player a 2nd yellow, but let him stay on, saying the foul deserved a yellow but not a red or sending off. Looking back on it, even though that was BY FAR the most I've ever enjoyed any game I've played in, holy poo poo talk about a complete lack of safety. The novel I wrote isn't even near half the amount of dangerous fouls, etc, that the head ref let slide. I know Ref 2 filed an entire report about the match. He was clearly bothered by the complete lack of disregard for player safety the entire game. There were 7-8 players between the two teams who suffered serious injuries that didn't happen as "just part of the game." Please be Ref 2, OP. Even if no one can thank you 10 years from now for the concussion, broken ankle, etc, that they didn't have, thanks to you.
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Nov 9, 2012 10:08
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Definitely. One hundred percent. As a player, I could accept bad refs that missed dirty cheating, but we never had bad refs that missed serious poo poo like that. The only time actually, there was violence I ever saw a school match, where the Umpire just walked over to the side lines and said "if you don't get these two dickheads off I'll send them off, don't ruin it for everyone else." But that was more a petty brawl on a hot day, not actual serious injuries.
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Nov 9, 2012 10:16
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Mercaptopropyl posted:After a whole game of stuff like this, things finally ended in forfeit when my team and coach refused to keep playing after a player stomped on my teammate's skull full-force. The ref gave the player a 2nd yellow, but let him stay on, saying the foul deserved a yellow but not a red or sending off.
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Nov 9, 2012 15:11
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ManoliIsFat posted:Holy poo poo I've seen this too - retroactive red card to be applied at the end of the game, because while say breaking a person's ankle with a crazy challenge is definitely an excessive challenge, "it doesn't warrant a send off in this game." I remember a direct quote after one of the two-legged tackles directed at a coach who was going apeshit...something like "look, just because the AR has his flag up doesn't mean it's anything - the flag is for me, and he got the ball from your player...what do you want me to do?" The coach then asked me to explain how its logical for a player with 4 excessive challenges to be on the field with a single yellow, while his player now is benched for the season with a broken leg (and had to be subbed for, which ended up being an issue later). I really don't have answers for that. That was what prompted me to get him over and say he got the ball....after ruthlessly tackling the forward in what was a straight DOGSO red, and I wouldn't be adamantly raising the flag on fouls to a Grade 6 if it wasn't realllllllly loving important. AVBadvertising posted:I've seen this too - retroactive red card to be applied at the end of the game, because while say breaking a person's ankle with a crazy challenge is definitely an excessive challenge, "it doesn't warrant a send off in this game." The AIA may be the way to go. I hate to profile, but different parts of town seem to have corresponding attitudes and tolerance for what goes way beyond common sense regarding "this should be bad." I'm a lenient ref, and I typically want to play on/give advantage as much as possible, so for me to think that it's out of control means that I'm looking at games like Sheffield Wednesday/Leeds on a regular basis. I've already gotten my fair share of looks/annoyed refs because of me saying that I don't want to be on the match report with both teams complaining about the "crew not issuing cards due to laziness" when I 100% agree. I'll be told that I can no longer raise my flag for anything other than offside, because it will be waved off/ignored, regardless of the view or who saw what from which angle. I've known that I'm going to see injuries, especially ankles/legs/etc, and I've seen plenty that were just part of the game - sad ones too, like u14 girls breaking an ankle when they trip/turn on it wrong. It's only games where it's not part of the game (what Mercaptopropyl is talking about) that I start to really be unsure if I even want my name attached to it in passing. I understand that when it comes to a lot of calls, you are sort of unconditionally supposed to back up your center (throw ins that you have no clue about, minor fouls that they may call, etc), but given how much they stressed "safety" in the actual class that certified me, it's the least important thing in most games I see. I don't know if going to the central board/whatever and complaining is a good idea, as (for example) - the "no red cards because paperwork is annoying" ref was having his state assessment the next day, and the same people I'd be telling this to are the same ones who assign games and decide who they "like." I'll have to pay much better attention and really study what goes on this week to make a call like that, as before I ruin my chance at having this as a passive career for a while, I want to be sure that I'm not just over-reacting or getting unlucky draws. There are hundreds of games a weekend - I'm sure that most aren't like this. The AIA sounds like it'll pay for itself in a few games, so I think I may give that a shot. Whichever one of you said that once you knew that a ref wouldn't call poo poo he didn't directly see (and went loving nuts on the other team), that's fairly accurate about what goes on in the older games in the state leagues. The only downside is that my former high school is in the state championship every year and I can't ref that game, even as an AR. As much fun as I was having before the last 2-3 weeks, especially with the idea of a blog/book written in the style of Fever Pitch/Little League confidential - it's just not cool with me to turn a blind eye to all of this and let it slide because I'm new/not "familiar with the league," or more often, "not here for money." Tons of crews I work with seem to pick up the fact that the smaller payouts for some games aren't really important to me (like if I forget to ask for me $20 in between a game during the $5 break), and it makes me not one of the team. For every good ref who does it for the money, there are seemingly 5 scumbags who do it just for the money and couldn't give less of a gently caress about the quality of their work. Unless they had a match report that cost them games or money, or the ability to work more games. I'm going to see how this weekend goes and make a call after that. I may be shooting myself in the foot later, but bailing on the crazy assignor who sends jibberish emails or forgets why she emailed me 1 minute later and joining another squad may be best, even though I'll be in the leper colony of refs for a while. Anyway....kickoff at 7pm tonight, so I'll update/maybe get some better pics/video of games that I do this weekend. I can already feel my legs starting to cramp up in preparation for the field on the west side that has potholes and anthills on the touchline (which is sloped). EDIT - My ex girlfriend was telling me that the refs in her boyfriend's kids' league (yeah, I know) apparently give parents and coaches cards, and that last week a ref "red carded" the coach and assistant coach, and that her team forfeited the game because of the ref basically just being a nutjob. This was a u11 girls match. I found that, at least to some degree, to be funny.
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Nov 9, 2012 17:45
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Holy poo poo, these stories are insane. I couldn't even dream of anything like that happening over here except turning a blind eye because of paper work, but never to that extent. I'm pretty sure the referee's association would crucify anyone who tried to get away with anything like that. At least, I hope so. I'll find out when I eventually move away from this area.
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Nov 9, 2012 18:49
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I still think if people are getting seriously injured in games you have a responsibility to tell the powers that be that their refs are creating an unsafe environment, but I guess I understand your reasoning. It's a lovely situation to be in, for sure. Kids leagues can be loving terrifying, even in England. I remember growing up some kid's dads (though there were some mum's guilty as well) would absolutely berate the refs, who were usually no more than 16/17. Some parents are wayyyyy to intense about kid's sports.
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Nov 9, 2012 18:58
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EvilHawk posted:I still think if people are getting seriously injured in games you have a responsibility to tell the powers that be that their refs are creating an unsafe environment, but I guess I understand your reasoning. It's a lovely situation to be in, for sure. I've had to basically berate an entire sideline of parents who were yelling for fouls and cards, or "dive of the year" in u14 games......it's loving mind-numbing how many of the parents want blood. I basically have to tell them that their ability to watch the game is not a guarantee, and that asking for calls or for fouls/cards is a quick way to the parking lot. The amount of trouble parents give us is on par with coaches and players in most u16 or under games. I typically like to let the teams play, so I'll sort of bark out of stuff from the sideline (this is always OK with the center) where I'll say "watch the clipping/shoulder to shoulder/ease it up/whatever" and caution the players for potentially careless stuff without actually officially cautioning them. If it gets to the point where I've said to watch it with the tripping/clipping 3 or 4 times, I'll say that I don't want to see anybody hurt, so that's last time I'm just giving verbal warnings. It's backfired a few times (the verbal warnings incite the players more when a call isn't made), but normally it sort of calms people down and appeases parents/coaches too. They like to see at least one ref erring towards the side of safety/seemingly like I'm on their side, and I find it's easy to do from the line. But, the problematic stuff is when you warn players that you're seeing what they're up to, and then you start calling it but the center waves it off. I forget where in the Laws or Fifa guidebook they teach it, but what's wrong with a lot of the games here is that once the center denies something blatant that I call (that's right in front of me and flag up), it sets the tone that whatever just happened isn't a foul. So, if I keep raising for it and get waved down - pissed off parents/players/coaches. If I don't raise it because I know it's not getting called - pissed off parents/players coaches. That's how most games here end up losing control - typically it's in the second half when refs "are willing to give cards/call fouls," but a handful of no-calls turns in to a game where the more careless centers just decide to not call anything, since a call might contradict a blatant foul or PK they didn't give a few minutes before. Most of the games like this are in the rough state league, so I expect it/know it's coming when I have the u18 state league derby game at 8pm on a lovely field in a park in the ghetto. I sure that watching the PL/CL sets your standards a bit soft compared to other leagues (even 2-4th tier English games are wild to me half the time), but given that they're youth players, standards should be higher. I can't stress how close to home that Sheffield Wednesday/Leeds game a few weeks back was, as most of the wild games are like that - 20, 30 DK fouls that aren't called, with some type of madness at some point too.
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Nov 9, 2012 19:44
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I just have to echo the "Holy crap..." sentiments from others in this thread. Just..wow! The only "I don't want to do paperwork so no red" I'd even heard of before reading this thread was some fouls at midfield (tactical rather than dangerous) that would have been 2Y with 10 seconds to go in the game. That's so baffling of an idea for excessive force challenges, especially seeing as injuries require the EXACT SAME REPORT as a red card. By not sending people off and letting injuries happen, that ADDS paperwork. Just...what? I have been waved down by centers before, but it's not been a "I will keep waving you down because that is not a foul," it's been "the game doesn't quite need that now" and/or the center holding the whistle and the team ended up fighting through so we went with the advantage instead. With what you've described, I probably would have quit after my first season. While the pay is nowhere near as good here as what it sounds like you get (7 centers/2 lines one weekends barely cleared $200, although that tournament was a lower paying one from what I hear), I don't think I could deal with that. There is nowhere near as much politics here with assignors. I'm buddies with most of the local assignors, but that doesn't mean anything except I feel like I can joke about how "I'm too good for a U10 line!" (I definitely do not feel this way. Kinda like those games, tbh) Refereeing, to me, is a nice way to give back to a game that gave me something amazing in high school and make a little bit of cash on the side. If I had to put up with a bunch of politics and other junk, I don't know if it'd continue to be something I look forward to. I hear as you upgrade, politics becomes important (our resident grade 4 talked about this the other day, because there's so many people trying to jump from 5 to 4 and not enough games to go around), so I'm debating on whether to do that or not personally. Do some soul searching on it, but you may need to report those problems to your state board. Isn't it part of the code of ethics to report things like "I don't give reds because paperwork sucks" and/or other things as such? I'd think the state would like to know that their fancy new State 2 guy feels that way before they send him off to a big level tournament and have him get slated by the assessors there for being awful and embarrassing the association. Good on you for seeing these problems and expressing your concerns rather than just swallowing them. I think the (best) next step would be to get in contact with the head of the state association, but definitely tread carefully. You don't want to get frozen out. I hope whatever you decide to do works out, and more importantly, I hope that things get safer for the people who play with those referees in charge.
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Nov 9, 2012 22:23
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chaoslord posted:Pretty much exactly what I think and how I feel, very awesome. This is a good post, and honestly it's pretty much where I'm at. I really like giving back to the game a bit, getting a few hundred a weekend (which actually does add up if you just put it in a jar/drawer on Sunday), and having what I think is a pretty cool way to spend some of my weekend time. I'd love to play too, but I doubt my CM and GK skills hold up from 14 years ago. My "weekend" kicks off in 4 hours, and after thinking a lot about it today, I've decided the following: 1. I'm going to ask the cool assignor who has no "politics" about him what he thinks I should do, as he knows the reputation of the other assignors and their leagues. 2. Given that the report would go to some of the people who I already deal with, I'm going to go in this weekend with a fresh look and really take a look at what I see - it's possible I just happened to get a batch of bad games, and that the crew I worked with for a few weeks was unusually sketchy/lazy/whatever. 3. See what the reaction from the difficult assignor is to a friendly request to have my Sunday games (2, both AR2 assignments) filled in for by someone else, since I have tickets to see the Galaxy play the semis at HDC and really want to go. I've taken every extra game that's been pushed on me, so asking for a day off 2 days ahead to do something football-related should be an interesting way to gauge how I'd be treated in the future if I start turning down assignments or don't give in to the politics. Since the guy who did the "no red because paperwork/I'm lazy" was being assessed anyway the next day, I am putting my faith in the state assessor (who actually randomly was there for my first game ever and seems like a decent dude), and hope that whatever he saw was right. Since this week will put me well in to the 50 game mark, which means I'm halfway to Grade 7, I figure it's really a good time to test how I feel about the whole thing and see if it's something I should keep doing. It says a lot that I don't look forward to the games right now - it feels like I'm punching in to the time clock at a job I'm burnt out on, and that's obviously not great for anyone. Half the games are for the fun league where poo poo happens that's amusing enough to write about and keep me excited, and the weather here just got amazing. If I walk out of this weekend with the motivation to keep it up, I owe a lot of it to those of you confirming that I'm not a total loon for thinking that a lot of the poo poo I see is not quite how it's supposed to be. If that's the case, I'll be able to start bringing a camera and posting about DOGSO Dogs and the cougar sideline banter again...that stuff never gets old. I'm off to put on the bumblebee suit - I'm going to bring a digital camera that can do like 2h of filming with the memory card this weekend, and set it up on the sideline or something during the games I consider sketchy. If it turns bad, I'm going to watch it after the fact and actually have a non-in-the-moment reference for what happened, and if it's as bad as I make it sound, I'll have something to show for it. Short shorts, here I come...it's going to be chilly tonight, so I'm trying out the Coolwick shorts for the first time ever. I'm hoping it's a riveting experience.
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Nov 9, 2012 23:09
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ManoliIsFat posted:Holy poo poo Yeah, it was one of those "accidental" stomps you usually see on a guys leg/foot/etc, and he sold the ref on it being accidental. We were playing an ODP team in a match that wouldn't affect either of our seasons and their coach was still putting up $50 bounties for removing players from teams in our league from games. Games that didn't even count. Bonus if they knocked us out for multiple games. All the parents knew, were disgusted by it, but for 3 years none of them had yet to say anything except one mother, whose kid was forever stuck on the bench for it. Soccer, especially youth soccer is a huge deal around that area. Ever since we moved there I just started assuming "real" soccer meant playing like Stoke, while teams such as Spain/Barca were playing the game completely wrong.
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Nov 10, 2012 06:06
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Mercaptopropyl posted:Yeah, it was one of those "accidental" stomps you usually see on a guys leg/foot/etc, and he sold the ref on it being accidental. We were playing an ODP team in a match that wouldn't affect either of our seasons and their coach was still putting up $50 bounties for removing players from teams in our league from games. Games that didn't even count. Bonus if they knocked us out for multiple games. All the parents knew, were disgusted by it, but for 3 years none of them had yet to say anything except one mother, whose kid was forever stuck on the bench for it. It's a big deal everywhere man....youth sports in general are just  and soccer is probably the most gereral and unisex sport out there. The complex where I do a lot of the "easy" games also has pop warner tackle football and a basketball league going at opposite sides of the park, and it's a mindfuck. I just had a good experience centering two mid-level really young (u12) girls games, where the coaches kept apologizing for being absurdly overbearing crazies eevery 5-10'. Also - games like these pay $50 total for the 3 person crew, so I gave my 14 year old female and 13 year old male ARs $22 each and said I just wanted $5 for a gatorade, and that it's very cool that they're both club players who take the time to ref games, whether it's for money or not. The difference between $15 and $22 is like I'm goddamn Santa Clause, and I feel like often they deserve the lions share of the pay if I just stood in the middle watching them sweat it up and down the touchline. What's just became funny to me, and hasn't really happened yet, was them running up to me at halftime apologizing for some call that I hadn't even noticed (like, I pointed right and they were pointing the complete opposite way), and that they were basically me in the same context as my higher level games. I told them to just look confident with calls, because if I let them have control of the calls with throw-ins/corners, it can look awkward if they look awkward. So, this weekend has started off fun with some chill games and some self-aware humor...the way it should be. EDIT: I can't believe the coach was paying bounties for skull-stomping the other team and getting away with it....but, the sad thing is that I don't question that you're telling the simple truth for even a second. Why the gently caress people...can't we all just play some good ole' footie or something? 
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Nov 10, 2012 06:28
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I want to move to America to coach football. I'll yell at everyone in Scottish and no one will understand anything. I'll be just like Archie Knox, it'll be glorious.
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Nov 10, 2012 14:14
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e: wrong thread, sorry guys! too many TRP threads up at once
chaoslord fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Nov 10, 2012 |
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Nov 10, 2012 16:34
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This thread has inspired me* to take up refereeing next season (I'm in NZ, so the season doesn't start until April - first CVR course is January sometime, then apparently I can do a level 1 refereeing course straight after that without any actual on-pitch time). Should be hilarious. I'm just hoping that I don't get stuck refereeing U14 girls as my first assignment.  * I don't know what the gently caress. Where the hell did I find inspiration in this thread. Refereeing qualification is a little bit different here (mostly due to the lower player numbers), there's five stages in the national leagues (then FIFA badge, Oceania tournament, FIFA tournament). The CVR (community/volunteer refereeing) course gets you the introductory referee certificate (which is pretty much for anyone refereeing junior or lower-division adult leagues). Level 1 and Level 2 are both class-based courses, although you have to have a certain amount of on-pitch time to qualify for the L2 course. After that is level 3, which is a eight-hour course, plus requires you to have reffed 15 senior men's games over a full season. Level 4 is all previous + 15 games as a L3 referee + "competency such that the candidate shall be expected to pass" (i.e. don't suck as a ref) + a fitness test + assessment from 3 current L4 refs. Level 4 will have you reffing games outside your home area for the first time. Then Level 5 will have you all over the country, that's all previous + FIFA international referee fitness test + assessment by NZF's head ref + a weekend course. I'm not expecting to go much beyond Level 2, but we'll see. It seems fairly flat once you do get past L2, there's 6000 people with the IRC, 2000 @ L1, 78 @ L2 and ~250 each at L3 and L4 (Level 2 was only introduced a couple of years ago). No numbers on how many L5 refs there are, but I'm figuring that would be <30. One thing that seems slightly unusual - they have you refereeing before you can become an AR (you need L1 ref before you can do L1 AR), and then the AR development path is entirely separate from the referee dev path. (I'm assuming you can do both if you want, but it seems like they want you to specialize). e: Anything I should be doing as early prep, aside from keeping my fitness up (which I'll be doing anyway) and maybe having a gander at the LOAF? I guess I could get my eyes checked. (I wear contacts.)e2: I ref floorball, so I already know to blow the guts out of the whistle and to look confident even when I don't know what the gently caress just happened.
Thel fucked around with this message at 11:33 on Dec 2, 2012 |
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Dec 2, 2012 11:29
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Hey guys, um, be careful what calls you make. If the players don't like it you might get beaten to death.
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Dec 3, 2012 23:22
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I was just reading that, and it reminded me that I meant to update this thread now that I've had a few weeks off and am getting assignments again. The worst part of that article is that the AP version starts off with this "A Dutch man working as a linesman during his son's youth soccer match was beaten and kicked by several soccer players after the game and died the next day" His....son's....game. I mean, I get that he might have made some one-way calls, but - it had to have been some giant team against one of the unusually small teams. I'll edit this post later tonight, since I think I've found a much better perspective on the whole gig now that I'm both almost exclusively center, and that I've completed my first season and am not far away from a Grade 7 cert, which seems to be the pass to only working 3-4 games a weekend max, and having them all be $50-60 center spots too....with teams that actually can play. But - as miserable and depressed as a lot of the posts were, and likely as I was during the harsh "paying my dues" bit - I still encourage anyone to give it a shot, as the worst case is you'll end up being a licensed football ref and can earn street cred for explaining why some call was total poo poo (offside second striker after the post, I'm looking at you). The MLS Cup had a reallllly spotty linesman, and a ref who looked totally confused the whole time. After seeing the TV footage, all but one of the significant calls he made were valid, but in person I thought it was just bizarre.
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Dec 4, 2012 01:14
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AVBadvertising posted:His....son's....game. I mean, I get that he might have made some one-way calls, but - it had to have been some giant team against one of the unusually small teams. Maybe the poor soul was a club line. I have no clue what the state of refereeing in Holland is, but they might be in a situation where a lot of games don't get licensed ARs. That or the assignor just was like "eh, whatever". In High School, there were twins on the girls team that reffed, as did their dad, and their dad would fairly regularly either center the girls and line us, or line on both. I saw him more than any other referee that year, haha. I heard parents sometimes comment "you know that he's the dad of two of their players, right?" during games, but, putting on my referee hat, he did a fantastic job of being impartial. Booked one of his daughters when she earned it, even. Man, you are lucky to have gotten to 75 centers so quick. I can't work as many weekends as I'd like (and then there's just not too many games around the club I work), so I'm still working on that part. I've done well over the 25 needed ARs (100+), haha. A lot of the recent ones have been to help the local club get some new blood in as refs. It's been kinda nice to be able to mentor these younger guys while working, but at the same time, dang it, I need those centers. I've passed a couple of assessments on games that would have counted, with the view that I would bust my butt to get the game count end by time to register, but those games were all non-competitive and ended up not counting. That's the worst part about assessments, the games that don't count. Hopefully I'll be able to register as a 7 in July, but that's gonna come down to "Do I get lucky enough to get a competitive U19 USSF game after High School season ends in May?". Refereeing is the best thing. NFHS (high school) starts in February! I'm excited to see the little football towns put together soccer teams. Those are always the best games. e: Thel posted:One thing that seems slightly unusual - they have you refereeing before you can become an AR (you need L1 ref before you can do L1 AR), and then the AR development path is entirely separate from the referee dev path. (I'm assuming you can do both if you want, but it seems like they want you to specialize). In the US, once you get higher up you start to specialize. Here, if you've specialized AR track, you still have to do a certain amount of middles to keep the grade you've obtained (and vice versa). Not sure if it'll be the same there or not. As far as early prep, yeah, just keep the fitness up and start looking over teh LOAF/LOTG. Just get to know some of the more "technical" things. You probably know what a foul looks like, but knowing what it is in the law is helpful. At some point, probably early on, wouldn't be a bad idea to have the 7 yellow card and 7 red card offenses committed to memory for paperwork purposes. Again, you probably know what a foul that deserves a caution looks like, but knowing how to write it up if need be ("White #42 tripped Red #7 in a reckless manner and was cautioned for unsporting behavior") can be a thing. The knowing how to blow a whistle and look confident are also super important, so good to hear you have those taken care of. Glad you'll be joining the ranks, you'll love it! chaoslord fucked around with this message at 09:54 on Dec 4, 2012 |
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Dec 4, 2012 09:42
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(This may not apply for Thel as he's already got some refereeing experience, but for anyone else reading) The best advice I've gotten so far is to be forceful with your gesturing. You hear "look confident" all the time but if you want one specific thing you can change, using my whole body to gesture rather than just my arm made an immediate difference in the amount of chirping I heard from the bench and the crowd, and that made a great improvement in my ability to control the game. The other thing is to sort of temper your expectations. You're not going to go out on the field the first game and instantly be [insert a well-known referee you think is good]. On the other hand, you're going to get the hang of it very quickly if you work at it. My first game, in September, was an 8v8 small-field game of U10 boys. I had a mediocre game, missed what from certain angles (just not mine) looked a clear penalty, and generally was not overly confident with myself. Fast forward to the end of November, my last game of the season was U14 boys, full-sized field, with no assistants (had to use club linesmen). I put both teams on notice pre-game that I wasn't going to tolerate any dissent when it came to throw-ins, etc., and the players were for the most part really good about it. The coaches were still coaches, but that doesn't really bother me. There was a hairy moment when a ball came close to the line and the club lino stuck his flag up and then down real fast, looking embarrassed. Too late, I've already blown up -- the coach of the team with the ball goes apoplectic, more so when I say we're restarting with a drop ball as all parties were in agreement that the ball did not actually leave the field*. The other team was very sporting and kicked it right back from the drop ball, and the coach ended up shaking my hand afterwards and was sympathetic. Long story short (too late) I would absolutely not have been able to handle that game when I first started, but I ended up feeling really great about how I took care of things. If anyone else is considering it, go for it. If nothing else it's an interesting experience and a way to see the game from a new angle most don't get to see. *with the slope of the field and the height of the grass, I couldn't completely see the line from my position, that's why I trusted the lino in the first place
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Dec 4, 2012 15:57
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chaoslord posted:Maybe the poor soul was a club line. I have no clue what the state of refereeing in Holland is, but they might be in a situation where a lot of games don't get licensed ARs. Most amateur games over here are refereed by volunteers, usually players from different teams. Assistant referees are usually subs or parents in the kids' leagues. Very rarely you'll get an actual licensed referee. Remember, we are a small country of 16 million inhabitants, but we have about 35.000 matches every weekend so there's not nearly enough refs. Bye the way, this whole incident has pretty much cast the whole country into shock.
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Dec 5, 2012 21:20
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Lamont Cranston posted:(This may not apply for Thel as he's already got some refereeing experience, but for anyone else reading) The best way to do this is to get a mirror and practice, incidentally. There's a lot of great officials out there and they're in two groups; the much larger group admits to practising their signals in front of a mirror (full length if possible), and the much smaller one is lying when they deny it.
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Dec 5, 2012 21:42
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Trin Tragula posted:The best way to do this is to get a mirror and practice, incidentally. There's a lot of great officials out there and they're in two groups; the much larger group admits to practising their signals in front of a mirror (full length if possible), and the much smaller one is lying when they deny it. I will admit that after I mirrored up after I received the feedback for a good 20 games of both "You look unsure when you call throw-ins as an AR, even if you it's obvious and I know you sure" along with "You need to start having the flag be around 45 degrees and not dipping back behind your body - you seem to have your arm going back a bit." I had a huge problem at first not with my calls, but just with the way I was pointing the flag, so I practiced in a mirror. I also developed at trick that I assume lots of refs use (but I haven't seen anyone else here use or say they're heard of when asked). When I'm doing games as an AR, I try to stay facing the field as much as possible - lots of ARs, especially in slow games, turn left or right and walk with the flag down at their sides. I don't do that, as after watching a lot of Championship games and PL games (not CL - Championship broadcasts give you better views of both linesman in most cases) I noticed they are almost always just side-walking, and that their calls are quick and robotic. I emulate that as much as I can. The trick I've been using for a good 30-40 games now is to hold the flag and use my index and middle finger to keep track of the last touch. It becomes subconscious quickly (I think playing Fifa/video games makes it easy to adopt the technique very fast). Typically I'll have both fingers on the left side of the flag when the team to my left is the one with the last touch. I'll have one on each side if it's the team to my right. I've had situations where the ball will go out and I'll count on which side I've got my 2 fingers on to make the call if for whatever reason I'm in the zone. It starts happening automatically after you've done it for a while, and it makes it easy to not forget or get caught off guard. As a regular center now, and as an AR for the majority of the games I did at first, nothing is more important than selling the call. So I was going to put a longer update, but as I knew was coming one day, but I had a likely season ending ankle blowout yesterday after I get taken down by a mis-timed hop to get over a ball, and a bizarre reckless tackle that was coming in to get the ball I hopped over. It's not good, since I can't put pressure on my right foot yet (been over 24 hours with wrap/brace/ice). Once I can think and not just swear about bad my ankle hurts, I've got a lot of surprisingly good things to say since last time I really did any post of note. I always wondered when the day would come when I'd break a bone or have some serious injury, as I've been incredibly lucky my entire life. So far I'm just hopped up on the pain pills from the Urgent Care place near the field, and I'm going to get a better look at it tomorrow. Once I can put a coherent, good update together, I'll put it here. Being someone that has never had a serious injury or broken bone, despite playing sports as a youth up through high school and doing countless dangerous things, I figure this goes with the reffing territory as much as anything else.
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Dec 9, 2012 21:43
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Taking my grade 8 class this weekend so I can start reffing again. I did it about 15 years ago as a teenager but it's been so long! Played college and mens leagues my adult life so I look forward to being on the other end of the abuse
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Jan 11, 2013 20:12
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Today I was AR at a game (U16 Boys) where a keeper deliberately didn't pick up the ball at his feet, enticing the attacker to come and get it. Except, the keeper bobbled the ball as he picked it up and the attacker made off with it. Then the keeper decided to wrap both his arms around the legs of the attacker and tackle him like a football player. Also, he saved the penalty after only being cautioned because it wasn't DOGSO. I just had to laugh a little bit. edit: How's the ankle, AVB? I'm rooting for ya. Bio-Hazard fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Feb 3, 2013 |
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Feb 3, 2013 09:51
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Wait. How was that not dilberate obstruction of a goalscoring opportunity? From the sounds of, it sounds like a textbook case.
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Feb 3, 2013 22:02
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