RefBlog

10 Best of 2005: Incident reports

I hate to say it, but I'm seriously considering not doing the Protestant Work Ethic), that means if I have to choose between Regionals and the USA Cup, I have to go with the former. Last year I choose the later because of all the havoc going on in my life, and I thought I'd be able to be more productive with my real life at the USA Cup - I was wrong. This year, the USA Cup became a victim of the Bush Administration's foreign policy: the number of foreign teams and referees were down dramatically, and it showed. Over the last several years, I've reffed teams from Mexico, Ireland, England, Scotland, Costa Rica, and several other countries; this year all I saw on my pitch was Canada - there were teams from other countries, but they were few-and-far-between, and almost non-existant in the older brackets.

You could also see it in the referee crews. While the Italians were back (they were missing for the last couple of years), I had only once or twice worked with a crew with two referees from Minnesota, and this year it was a common occurrence. In 2006, they're cutting a day out of the tournament, presumably because the expected number of teams will be flat, or even less, than 2005. It's rather sad how the second largest (in terms of participants) sporting event in the world is affected by politics.

All that aside. if I don't get selected for Regionals in 2006, then I'm so back in Blaine for the USA Cup.

I saw several incidents with referees this year at the Cup (but hey, no multi-field riot this year), and one thing was a true this year as all my years before: young and inexperienced referees get a great chance to learn, and if they get into trouble (be it their fault or not), they'll get a ton of support from other referees. You can read some more about that, in two articles that didn't make the top ten: here and here.

USA Cup 2005 Day 4: Incident reports

By the time the third game rolled around, I thought I had indeed been punished somewhere. I had the same AR with me for two games in a row, and he was a pain in the ass. He did not want to be reffing the tournament, he only wanted to be there to show off his pierced nipples and flirt with the girls' teams. He never once came back with the other referees at half to talk about the game, he was almost never in correct position, and he broke the handle on one of my flags and didn't say a damn thing.

Don't get me wrong, I like Minnesota, but maybe there should be a skill or aptitude test before they allow refs like that into the Cup.

And what's really awful, is that a referee of the same age (17) was being lambasted by idiotic coaches for a game that he took very
seriously. I've been working on ideas for referee t-shirts - just something that we can wear (probably away from the pitch!), and amid
the list, one slogan has been coming back over an over again: "Shut up, Coach!" I think I'll see what I can doodle up and give Cafe Press a try
when I'm done here.

It went like this, I just finished with games on the L-fields, treked back to headquarters, and then came almost all the way back (further,
actually), to the M-fields to fill in on a line. They asked me to center, but after three games and with the weather getting warmer, I
asked to just be on the line. So they gave this kid the center - it was a U12 boys - competitive yes, but still U12 boys. I'm AR2 and the game
starts off poorly; 5-10 minutes into the game the senior AR is already calling the center over to talk to a coach from the Canadian side who's
a bit out-of-control. At half-time, we talk it over, and give some hints in case he has to toss one (because it's looking more like an inevitably than a possibility), and sure enough, he does. A player is hurt by his own teammate, and the center doesn't stop play, and when
the coach comes onto the field, he has words (again), and is tossed. Nice work by the center, in my humble opinion.

The coaches comes back after the game, three times to yell and complain, while another coach is making up lies about the center swearing at his kids (I have some swear words in mind for you Mr. Coach); they claim he don't have his pass (in the USA Cup, you give
the passes back after check-in), so we write up an incident report (between ranting and ravings by the two coaches).

Did the center make mistakes? Sure he did: he should have stopped for the injury immediately. In some ways USA Cup has some bad examples for new referees, because there is a lot of diving that happens, even at the U10 level - primarily, but not always, seen by the teams from Latin America. It takes an experienced referee to note the difference between simulation and a real injury, and how to judge when to totally ignore a player wailing on the ground. But until you get to that point (and I'm not there yet with older kids, let alone
12s), it's best to just stop the play immediately, regardless of the advantage situation that'll be lost.

Any other mistakes? It's hard to say lack of experience is a mistake. Lack of experience means he didn't deal with situations as well as he
could have, or made the best call, or been in the best position. But you can't get that knowledge without experience; and coaches on a U12 team should not be screaming bloody murder (and have two rather large referees block the entrance to the referee tent to protect him, which he did) at someone who's only a kid himself. But do the coaches understand or even care? No. They're just self-centered assholes who should be more concerned that their kids have a good time (but wait, they're screaming
at them, too).

People wonder by referees become cynical and starting disliking coaches in general. Case in point.

Oh, god, I must be getting old. I'm calling a seventeen-year-old a kid. But let's be honest, he is. He's a young referee dealing in a high
pressure situation the best he can. And you know what? He did good, and he did right. Because he survived, because he didn't let the bastard get him down. I'm damn proud of him.

31 December '05 - 16:54 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

10 Best of 2005: soccerisnotlife.com commercials

Someone, actually most likely many people, said that there are no original ideas left. That's probably true; it's also true that in science new work is based upon the work of others. When I thought of soccerisnotlife.com, it was not a great idea, nor was it an original one. But hey, anything that garners attention of two of soccer's most unattractive features, that of being a referee and an American, must have something going for it (you can see the article here, or better yet, check out The Global Game in its entirety here). Hence its inclusion.

Before I started reffing, I was very active in the movement to prevent sexual violence. I got involved in a college educational theatre project because of the later, and founded a second one after I graduated, and even for a short time became a co-chair of the state-wide organizational body for sexual-assault advocates, educators, and counselors. I left the organization's Board of Directors after losing my job, and the local volunteer crisis/advocacy line changed their on-call schedule such a way that it kept me, and my best friend, from working there - if it works better for them, by all means its a good thing, but I do miss being active (and despite the reauthorization of VAWA, I have a feeling staying in the movement, with this administration, would only depress me more than it already does.

To get back on my point, during that time, I came across a play, more of series of vignettes, called "Until Someone Wakes Up", which deal with sexual assault, some serious, some absurd, all quite poignant. And that was undoubtedly in the back of my mind, when trying to relieve a little bit of frustration, this little bit of absurdity came to my head as well. I do have one thing to add to this little introduction (besides that it was published on March 2nd, 2005), which is I've had more thought about refs with tasers... and coaches wearing shock-collars.

soccerisnotlife.com commercials

My fiancé's car broke down, so I gave her a ride to and from work, prior to my own job; thankfully, I worked from home today, so when it
became a little slow, I was able to indulge in a nap to catch up on my sleep. Prior to actually falling asleep, I had an idea - actually, I
had two or three ideas, all along a theme, of which I can only remember the first one. There were a series of TV commercials for a bogus
website, soccerisnotlife.com, about how it would look like if people acted in the outside world, like they do on the soccer pitch. I tried,
as I said, to piece together all the ideas, but only the first one stayed in memory long enough for me to expand on.

Here's the rough idea I came up with (those who actually write scripts can tell me how awful my formatting is):

INT: Grocery store, a cross between a Wegman’s and a Lunds; a notch above today’s warehouse stores, but not carpet covered with
chandeliers. Leave image on the screen for a moment then cut to the check-out counter. Cashier is running items over a scanner.

Man (angry, anxious): C’mon, c’mon!

Cashier (still scanning, eyeballing man - she scans in a head of lettuce)

Man: That was off by a penny! Angrily gestures/points at cashier. That lettuce is ninety-nine cents - can’t you see that? What’s the matter with you?!

Cashier: Sir? Points up to ceiling, camera pans up to large sign that says: Lettuce $1.00

Man (livid - but feining innocence): I never said 99 cents. You know what? It’s you. You don’t know what you’re doing. You can’t even get an
item on the first scan! You have no business scanning my groceries. I’m going to find you manager and complain, and you’ll never be allowed by a cash register again! Cashier just rolls eyes and continues her work.

Man continues screaming when a woman, juggling a full basket and two children comes into line. One of the children starts crawling out of the basket child-seats, she grabs the child, causing the cart to nudge the Man on rear or back of the leg.

Man (grabs face, writhing in pain, screaming between sentances): Oh, god! Did you see that? Right in the face! Call the cops! Call an
ambulance! Assassin! Assassin!!

Fade to black, display in a plain white font: What if we treated other people like we did referees?

Fade to black, replace with text: SoccerIsNotLife.com

---

The second had something to do with comparing referees to cops, and ref's being able to user tasers, but that's as much as I remember.

30 December '05 - 23:13 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

About what I expected

The call went about as I expected: they're fine for refs for the Christmas Cup (duh!), and will see what they can do for the upcoming second session. In other words, unless I try contacting them again (which I won't), this'll be the last I hear from them. I am working on another indoor location (the other end of town, unfortunately) that plays until May; it intersects with the very beginning on outdoor, by a week or three, but as far as I know, they only have games once or twice a week.

In the meantime, it's better the devil you know, I suppose; I'll have some games next week with the same unaffiliated league I've had issues with in 2005.

30 December '05 - 07:47 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

"I'm so shocked, I could do grievous bodily harm to myself with an anvil"*

* - thanks to The Frantics for the quote.

Gee - the day my letter arrives, I get a call from the indoor facility referee assignor... saying he's "returning my call"! A bit late on checking my cell's voicemail; but I'll make a note to call tomorrow.

Funny...

28 December '05 - 22:37 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Apparently it's just a year for letters

It seems like this was the year to write out complaints: I put three complaints down on paper this year:

One for U15 Coach where The Merry Whistleblower commented, "he didn’t just take the biscuit, he took the entire novelty selection tray." Nothing came of it, of course - I wasn't the center referee, and unless I was willing to take him down for not following through his duties as center, there couldn't be more than playing my complaint in the coach's file. And it's not worth taking out a decent referee; yes, I have problems with him not protecting me, but it would be something I would have talked to the assignor about, and being I only sub for that assignor, it's not appropriate. If it was with my normal youth assignor, I wouldn't have a problem with it - it comes from working together for five years (and it's also knowing that she either has higher standards, or can recruit a better class of ref, because I doubt he would work for her) - but not here, not now.

The second was for an unaffiliated game, where I was threatened... by another referee... who was apparently drunk. What's really annoying was that it took this letter to get any type of action out of the league, because the coordinator wouldn't... and still isn't.

That last round prompted me to try to find winter games elsewhere. I live a few scant miles from the oldest indoor soccer center in town, and truth be told, I wasn't expecting to get any work - but since I live so close, it was worth pursuing, and pursuing actively. And every time I talked to them, they were positive, even saying I would get games during their holiday tournament - given past treatment, I highly doubted I would get anything, and unfortunately I was proved right. So, what the hell, write a letter. I can't burn a bridge that hasn't been made, and my other assignors don't work through these people; and as I said before, maybe this will prompt them to give me some games. Maybe, just maybe, things are better once you get them - since I haven't burned my bridges with the other league, I can still try to supplement my income through them until the real games, on grass, come back.

December 27, 2005

To whom it may concern:

I’m writing to complain about recent treatment given to me by the staff of ***************. I had contacted various people at several times, inquiring about refereeing opportunities, and was given the run-around, being told people would call me back and even going as far as implying that I would be scheduled for your Christmas Cup, and then never calling me back.

Simply put, I would much rather you said that you didn’t have need of more referees, or even of myself personally; especially given that I blocked off time during the holidays.

Respectfully,

[TheRef]

My first draft, read by my wife, apparently was not as kind.

28 December '05 - 09:07 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

10 Best of 2005: Is there anything more tense than a 1-0 playoff game?

Every year since I started this blog, this being the third year, I've gone through what I've written over the past year, and thought about which ones I thought were the best ones I wrote. The decision, as well as the definition, is totally subjective and completely arbitrary: did I like it, did I write it well, is it about something that moved me or I thought was important? Simply put, it's something to put on the site during the holidays when there's precious little to do on the pitch.

So, over the last month, I've re-read all 138 entries from this year, compiled a list, and then selected at random one of the ten, which will be posted sporadically. Since it's the closest I'll get to an awards show, I'll usually add a little bit as an introduction before posting the article again. Hey, why not - at least it's some sort of new content.

As referees, you have to take signals of progress any way you can get them; you sure won't get them on the field! So you look to what your assessors, SRC brass (if you know them), and assignors are saying and doing for you. And going by that, I can say that I am improving as a referee; I had a highly contested girls U17 State Cup Final, in the middle; the SYRA telling me that I better apply to Regionals next year, and this game: a men's 2nd division quarterfinal center; I only started centering that division this year - and I got a cracker of a game, too. Published on August 26th:

Is there anything more tense than a 1-0 playoff game?

Playoff games for the men's "rec" league are organized differently, at least for the referees. Unlike regular season games where you're assigned days to weeks (if you're lucky) in advance, you're told where the games are (all the playoff games are played at the same location, in four adjacent fields), and you're told of your assignment about 20-30 minutes before the game. I'm not sure why - I'm sure there's a reason, I just don't know what it is (I do have a couple cynical ideas, however).

Work had been going crazy, and I was very very happy that I'd get a chance to run around for a bit and unwind (yes, you can unwind as a referee - the prerequisite is that you're insane). I saw it was division 2 teams, so I put on my line-running shoes... except I got a center. Yow! Last year I centered one 3rd division playoff game; this year a 2nd division quarter-final (good thing I didn't take the bus-trip I was considering; the one that would have come home about 5am that day). OK - I'd been doing 2nd division centers this year - I'll take it.

And I loved the game, too. When you talk about a referee juggling 22 players like spinning plates, this was it. Two teams of different styles in a tight 1-0 game where the other team is done for the year. One team I reffed at the beginning of the season: they has two fast strikers, a good touch on the ball, and very much a finesse team; one of my ARs reffed the other team, and he described them as physical, pushy, and loud.

The first card came in the 22nd minute, with a player in the second team coming in on a challenge late - very. (more)

27 December '05 - 17:46 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

What's not the like in a backbone?

I don't get it why people have to jerk you around. If you've got enough refs, frickin' tell me - don't keep stringing me along. It's gone from, "Oh yes, we need referees," to "our Christmas Cup is where we look at our new referees", to not calling me back. C'mon, people, I am NOT going to be pissed if you tell me you have enough refs and don't need me! I know there's far fewer places to play, which means more refs looking for work - I understand!

I shouldn't be surprised, they pissed me off as a player (losing registration information, putting teams in the wrong brackets, etc) - why shouldn't they be the same with refs? I hope (several) changes in ownership may have fixed that problem, but apparently not. Or I can go with the more cynical option. Considering I've tried to get games there for years (I live three miles away, I'd love to get work there), and have had much the same treatment (only this year I've pressed far harder because of my even closer proximity to the place, and just wanting to get more games in general - normally I just put my name in and go on about my business when they ignore me), writing a letter expressing my frustration in dealing with them won't burn any bridges. All they can do is deny me games, and who knows, maybe I'll guilt them into actually giving me some.

What depresses me about this is that the crap I've been going through with this one unaffiliated league is pretty much turning out to be a universal with the indoor centers around here. Which means it's put-up or shut-up season. It's bad enough that we're doing a job that most players won't do (how many professional players do you know who've retired and picked up a whistle?), you would think we'd get a little appreciation from the people from the people who profit from our avocation.

So this means I've done the last two games of the year - and probably won't have any more until mid-way through January; and given the way thing were scheduled in the first session (even before the dome deflated), I not expecting many games (because seniority, achievement, and ability don't count as much as your desire to go clubbing with the boss). But if I have to go out on two indoor games, at least they were fun and throughly enjoyable games. The games were fast, hard, and clean. I know sometimes I enjoy games that get down-and-dirty; it gives me a chance to test out my own skills, but sometimes it's good when the games are clean, too - especially when the skill levels are good, and you can enjoy the games for what they are, what they should be (let's face it, the game would be better if referees didn't have to issues cautions and send-offs - but needs must, and so here we are). I came from those two games more tired than if I just did a set of four, which is a great feeling as well, since there are no more to be had.

24 December '05 - 17:23 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Technical Difficulties

I noticed the other day that the blog was having technical difficulties getting anywhere past the front page. I thought I fixed it, but then it cropped up even worse yesterday.

I've done some futzing (even updated the blog software to the latest, greatest, and betaest), and found the problem lied elsewhere; an OS update that commented out some modules from httpd.conf. Some of you may be wondering why I'm not only not using a blog service, but hosting it on a dedicated server I (and friends, if need be) maintain myself. Strangely enough, it's fun - sometimes frustrating, but overall fun. And I don't have to worry about who controls what with regards to format, advertising, and intellectual property.

Things should be back to normal, but let me know if it isn't.

20 December '05 - 18:38 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Back in the saddle

I was rather fortunate that I didn't have to wait another three weeks before reffing again; I had a set of four over the weekend, and the first three were rather.... well.... there. Two of them were scoreless ties, which are rather difficult to achieve in indoor, and one close, but still rather uninteresting game between the two ties. The fourth game was a playoff game, that featured the team I wrote about last time. As I wrote, they weren't mad at me, and still weren't for this game; but I was worried as all getout, because the level of play was just at intense as last time.

I had one saving grace - this time they didn't play clean. Actually, for the most part, the team from last week played pretty clean - they only had two yellow cards; but the other team picked up four (that's a card every eight minutes, folks). The new team, for sake of understanding, I'll call them Red, I was actually familiar with them; they've played in the "Y" for years, but because of something or other, the league isn't using that gym anymore. They seems like a very quiet, and older team, but they have a nasty steak that unlike last week, I was prepared for!

But it started early, and that surprised me, because they usually wait until the second half - but not ten minute into the game, I pulled a card, when a player retaliated after a foul (and after I blew the whistle). I got in his face and yelled at him; this was partially show, but I was also genuinely pissed. It's one thing to start shoving or grabbing before the whistle, but woe by the player who ignores the whistle to go on a vendetta. That "Orange Card" (meaning yellow with a good dressing down) took care of the retaliation, but not of the hacking.

So even though the pace and intensity were the same, the facet that the game wasn't as clean as last time, actually made the game a lot easier for me to control - there really wasn't a whole lot of grey areas for me to wrestle with; when it came time for me to "Flip" on the fifth yellow card, one of the previous offenders were kind enough to oblige (apparently there's an unwritten rule by National Referees, which I can't verify because I've only heard it second hand, that after five yellow cards, the next one needs to be red; in this case it was a second yellow, but what the heck) - and there were no complaints by either team when I pulled out the card from my quick-draw pocket, followed by the back-pocket. Even if there were complaints, I would have said they made it easy for me, but because they all knew what was coming, and decided to act like civilized people while the ball was dead (a rare and wonderful thing in this league), it made everything easier.

This game ended in a tie, too. It was 1-0 for the team I reffed last time; and red was shorthanded for the last 15 minutes, due to the red card, but ended up tying it with a single minute left. We went to PKs, and I even called back the first save by the red's keeper for coming off his line (by three steps!), but they still wound up winning in the shootout 3-2 after five.

15 December '05 - 08:03 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Overconfidence?

I've had some time to cool down from the second game - I might rev back up again by the time I've finished, but I at least want to go back to the first game; because I was sure I was going to need to write about it right away when I got home. That might not have happened, but I still need to write about it.

This winter's been kind of odd - because of the whole dome deflation thing, I've only done a handful of indoor games, the other indoor locations have all gone on without me, and when I got some games, it was already into the session playoffs. It was really weird, because the most I'd been able to do is run on occasion (very occasionally, too - it turned out my wife has smaller kneecaps than normal, so she's still only at 50% weight-bearing on her legs, post ACL reconstruction surgery, which means I have to be around to carry anything and everything - since when I'm gone, someone else needs to be around, it doesn't lend well to reffing much, or just to run and stay in shape). These teams had had a full eight weeks to get to know and dislike each other. And this first game was tough - very fast paced and very hard.

Fast paced games are what indoor's all about, but it's inherent danger (and a reason I'm not playing it anymore... well, much of it) is that when a game is going at that level, it requires discipline, and when it's not there, bad stuff can happen very quickly. The goalkeeper for one side made a early hard challenge outside of the penalty area that was a probable card, but I opted for a good talking to; I hoped that, given that I could get away without a card, that spending some eye-to-eye time with the players would send two messages: first, stay calm; and second, I don't mind the level of play as long as it's kept they way it was for the first ten minutes.

And it worked, all through the rest of the half, and more than 20 minutes into the second 25-minute half. At halftime other refs and players waiting for their game were watching this game, because it was so intense. And it was a beautiful game to watch; and for the most part, it was clean. But with a couple minutes left, the keeper, who was down by two, did it again, this time breaking the leg of the striker, requiring paramedics.

This was the third time paramedics were summoned to my field: Once in my second year when a kid at the State Cup dropped from heat exhaustion (something I've become better at noticing it since then, or at least noticed it once; two years ago when a player stepped on a ball and dislocated her knee; and this time - the only time when it involved someone else's recklessness. Except was it reckless? I thought so, and carded it as such - he didn't come out feet first, he just didn't pay the least bit of attention to the attacker, at least to me. But to his own teammates, he was a "psycho" - and that's in quotes because his own teammates said that about him to me after the game! They tossed him off their team then-and-there, and said they didn't want to play for or against him, asking for a league ban.

Apparently the guy has issues.

The thing is, in retrospect there were things I could have been tighter on (that first non-card would be the obvious one), both in his actions, and in how he was communicating to his own teammates; and stuff that happened behind me away from play (I'll omit the problems about single referees for now) but I lacked the background on the guy to realize that this was more trouble than I knew. The other refs all refereed to him as a problem person, several wondering why he hadn't been tossed before this game. It's humbling, because I thought I was doing a damn good job up until that point - and you wonder if it's overconfidence.

If there's a silver lining, or at least a rescue for my own ego, it's that the team that lost the attacker didn't yell about it, didn't scream about it, and actually said I did a good job, and meant it (it wasn't just the perfunctory, "Good job, ref" you sometimes get after a game is over). They understood about how I missed stuff behind the play; and overall, were not that unhappy with my job, just that the keeper was able to do what he did.

It'll keep me reffing, but it's not much of a consolation.

12 December '05 - 08:40 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

How to do anything you want in this league, and get away with it 100% of the time

I've learned something I've only suspected until this point: if you want to get away with murder in this league, be a drinking buddy with the coordinator. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it happened again. I was willing to let the first time slip (well, not exactly slip, as I sincerely threatened to quit) because of lack of planning or organization on the coordinator's part – but since she did it again, well, what can I do?

Ok, the obvious answer is quit, but that puts me in the same pickle I was while I was waiting for the dome to reopen (it hasn't, I was at the alternate location) – because all the other leagues are at capacity for referees (it's quite unlike the summer in that respect), it's very much a put-up or shut-up situation. I hope to get some games for one of the alternate locations I'm working on, but I can't count on it. And, compared to the threat I received last time, this wasn't as bad. This was just dissent, continual ongoing dissent, and when I tossed him, and when he refused to leave (because he wanted to continue and complain), the coordinator stepped in and contracted me. I'm sorry, they do not pay me enough to be abused, and this person has no right to get involved in that situation. The thing that really pissed me off is that this is another one of her drinking buddies. Are we sensing a pattern here? Let's see, two drinking buddies thrown out, and given no consequences for their actions – I see a trend here, and I don't like it.

I take that back, because this isn't FIFA, she can – she just shouldn't. I miss the old coordinator, he had his flaws, but he stuck by his referees. The thing about it, was that she could have done things differently, but decided to get confrontational, and openly defend the player who was being blatantly disrespectful. What's more, I don't think she would have done that if it wasn't one of her buddies; she's let the line between her friends and her job get between her, and I'm not going to get caught in it.

So I won't out-and-out quit, but I'll keep working on other leagues. I need to keep my options open; some of these other leagues have higher-level games than this league does, and I know from playing in them, treat the refs better. I also don't want to burn any bridges; she's not keeping that job permanently; it's something that college kids (usually grad-students) do to make some money while being involved with soccer again – she'll graduate, and probably need to move on. I might then want to work myself back in – if I can find something better.

There was actually more stuff going on, that I was sure I wanted to write about, but I suppose I can thank the coordinator for giving me a reason not to stew about that one. I'll write about it later.

04 December '05 - 15:47 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Picked up some games and thoughts

I've been thinking a bit about the game where I let an admittedly high boot go. Most of the time, you make a decision, vent or ponder it a bit, and move on, but since I haven't had any games for weeks, due to the deflation of the dome I work at, I've had some time to ponder it. Needless to say, I've been second guessing myself. Not of the on-the-field call; there was a split-second decision to be made (although, becuase the restart was a kick-off, I could have changed my mind up until that time), I made it, and you have to move on from there. But I want, every ref wants, their split second decisons to be right, and I'm thinking that, wihle the level of the players made it an OK call, put some of the other players in that league in that same position, and it would have been a very wrong call; this then begs the question of where you draw the line for Dangerous Play calls.

As referees, we're taught, not right away, but when you get beyond knowing and applying the Laws and moving into "feeling the game", that you need to call the game appropriate to the level of the competitors. To put it bluntly, you let more go at higher levels, because the players can one, deal with it, and two, have greater control over their bodies and can do stuff that players of lower levels can't. If the purpose of the Referee is to not only enforce justice on the field, but act as the on-field representative of the Spirit of The Game, then part of our responsibilities is to make sure the game is enjoyable to the players (and if they have them, spectators); this is sometimes referred to as, "Letting the game flow." This is a learned skill; when I centered a regional league game this summer, I had one AR that wanted me to tighten up, both coaches who wanted me to loosen up, and a center referee (me) who saw players doing stuff he just didn't want to see (who cares if they slam each other into the ground, stay away from the spine!) and decided to just call a game he felt comfortable with.

Most leagues, at least affiliated leagues during the summer, it's pretty easy: not only do the divisions do a better job of divvying up the skill levels between players, we're also talking 90 minute games (as opposed to 25), where if there needs to be a change in reffing style during a match, there's not as much on-field conseqences later in the season. With a 50-minute game, and with fewer players and fewer teams, this type of call becomes much more important, not just during the game (it came on a game-winning goal), but thought out the season. So I'm thinking I may have erred and made a technically correct call for a very specific instance in one specific game, rather than looking at the bigger picture.

The good news, at least ofr me, is that I'll have some games this weekend (the coordinator s trying to give those of us standed from the dome some work) to cause more thing to ponder on later. I need to run badly, since my wife is still recovering from surgery, I'm needed home. She can now get around the house on crutches, but can't carry anything (kind of a problem when you want to eat, drink, or bring in toilet supplies); if I can find someone to kill some time at home, I'll be able to take a break and doing some reffing. (more)

01 December '05 - 13:26 - - default| Only one comment - § ¶