RefBlog

No games, no forethought

Games get canceled because of weather - no big deal; sometimes they can be handled better. Granted, this wasn't too bad - but it could have been better, and sometimes a little forethought is appreciated.

We're scheduled for a double-header when a storm rolls in. I was watching the radar on my phone for quite a bit of the afternoon, where a big red blob was streaking in. I was able to warm up, but as I finished the first streak of lightning flashed overhead. I was actually walking over to ask a coach about the color of his keeper's jersey when he asked if I was ordering them all inside; I replied that up until game-time it was his discretion, but he chose wisely and immediately brought everyone into the locker rooms. When the storm came in (breaking out the civil defense sirens) it became apparent that, since the teams hadn't warmed up, needed another twenty minutes after it was safe to enter the field, that there just wouldn't be enough time unless they canceled the girls game (not going to happen), so the first game was canceled.

The referees broke up for a bit as the weather started to clear - I went to my car to listen to the radio and read, the others went to get some food as we had a couple hours to wait. Here's where the forethought would have been nice: in high school, we're required to call in ahead of time to confirm we'll be there for the game; so if the school principal canceled all after-school activities, including the second game, it would have been nice to have made the attempt to call us, since we all did give them our cell numbers. But no, the watches and warnings had passed, and we the officials are anticipating a second game, which was canceled long ago, but nobody told us.

Not the worst thing that could happen - but it would have been nice to let us know we could have left two hours earlier. (more)

31 October '07 - 07:50 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

"You can overrule him!"

One of the silliest things you have to contend with while reffing are coaches who go on a spazz because they dislike a call, and then scream, "You can overrule him!" when you come over to get him to back off. I'll give you a hint, kids: if the center doesn't overrule him right off the bat, or at least go to ask him about something, he's not going to do it. Give up - it's just not going to happen.

I'll say this - in downpour conditions, the current generation of artificial surfaces really shine. Not that mud's a bad thing in soccer, but given the condition of most of the grass fields we get to play on, it eliminates many of the injuries that come with the ruts that only get worse when it's sheeting rain. The game was between two private Christian schools, and my biggest issue in the first 20 minutes was to drop out of trying to predict where they were going - there's was a whole of lot "We don't need no stinking midfield", and a lot of bad balls (and the weather had nothing to do with them) - so I had to keep well behind play both to stay out of the way and because everything was a quick transition.

I made a couple calls that the visiting team didn't like - one was on the goalline, where the attacker, who was being challenged, swung and missed the ball, but clomped a defender pretty good - I made sure to get right at the spot before pointing. It doesn't lessen the anger of the team, but hopefully it makes me sell the call.

I also had to, for the first time, card a coach because of a player's improper equipment. By the book, I asked both coaches if the teams were properly equipped before the game, caught a player with a necklace during introductions and notified the coach (I didn't card him then). Second half, I saw another player with a necklace on the same team (I don't think it was the same player), so I issued the card - no complaint, no big deal. It actually diffused a situation with the visitors, who just was carded on the advice of my AR at the time, too.

So onto the call - it was a goal kick/corner kick situation - I don't remember what the actual call was, but as I said before - if we don't overrule it right away, we won't. In my case, I wasn't watching who the ball went out on, because it was in the AR's quadrant, and pretty close to him. As the complaints came in, I did sprint in to defend my AR (for those who took me to task last time for not doing enough), and asked him after the game if he felt I did it adequately - we never reffed before, but we know each other, as he's been the director of the state cup for as long as I've been working it - so I have an inkling of what he expects of me given he knows me by name, and knows that I've been to Regionals a couple of times. He may have made a mistake - I know I did a couple during the game (and that's what I know of - I probably did more); one of which was a screw-up after I issued a card with more than four minutes left (no complaint about the card at all); the home team had a sub ready, and the coach asked if he could come in. I said, "No, but I know he's there" - but I should have let him in. I could blame the High School rule on subbing with cards - but it's not so much different than our local youth subbing policy that I can't remember that bit. Opps.

The odd thing about high school games, is that even with the coaches are happy with your performance (or at least as best as I can tell reading their body language after the game, if they come to shake your hand after it, it almost always sounds like bloody murder during the game. Maybe it's because you're only likely to see that ref once that season, and maybe never again (or not for several years), so the idea of building up good karma with the refs is seen as a waste - or maybe they're just not disciplined enough. In any event, it's annoying - and certainly unnecessary. I can tell you this: I will check with an AR if asked about a call that was near him, and yelling about it is unnecessary, because I'm happy to do it without yelling (I'll either say that yes, we need to change the call, or that both sets of eyes have backed up the original call) - but I never changed it on the coach's word alone. (more)

24 October '07 - 20:10 - - default| Only one comment - § ¶

Coaches ruin the game... again

I don't know what gets up the butt of high school coaches. The center referee in this game showed a lot more restraint than I would have (I would have tossed both coaches, thus ending the game) - but that's his prerogative. Also something I noticed; this was the second game in as many weeks where the coaches are threatening poor ratings for calls they don't like. Once again it seems a minority of coaches have decided to pervert something that's supposed to help (although how a non-neutral rating is supposed to help I have no idea). Frankly, a good referee shouldn't give a dingo's kidney about coach ratings (we should have neutral assessors - no wait, this is high school, coaches are gods) - we're here to make the correct call, not the ones you like.

So who knew we'd get two red cards in a girls game? However, unlike the normal girls game in high school, both teams came out aggressive - and we had a couple collisions that the other assistant called "suicide runs": runs in from long distance, no stopping, full-throttle, who cares about the consequences. We had a couple that didn't get solid contact, one getting a yellow card; but in the second half, a player from the visiting side nailed the keeper solid - she literally flew backward, and she was already in a vulnerable position after going for the ball (and I'm the guy who was kicked in the face yesterday playing keeper, and thought it was all part of the game because I was diving after a loose ball, too). I couldn't see it well, because I was 60 yards away (I was AR1 - much to my regret shortly), but according to the center, she was also very late - and for it received a red card.

Cue the livid coaches - one of which leaves the technical area, goes onto the pitch (about a yard or two), and into the opposing half; I'm now trying to keep them in place - hell, I'm trying to keep them from getting ejected - but it's a losing battle (it's a failing, and I shouldn't bother, but I tried). First one of them swears, trying to get the center over to him (yellow card in NFHS), then he sticks him hand on my chest - and I'm still trying to just get them to calm down. I do tell them that he needs to stop swearing, and, very slow and staccato, to "get your hands off of me", but shortly after the center does come over, he goes off again about it being "bullshit". So I tell the center about the rest, and off he goes.

So now we get the threats about low ratings and this other crap; and because I'm AR1, the remaining coach is a pain in my butt for the remainder of the game. The thing was that there were no issues with me first half, because his team hardly ever made it there, but now that he was pissed at the center, but couldn't take it out on him, I became the whipping boy. When he didn't quiet down, I called the referee over again, who elected to not card him (I would have), but instead talk to him, saying that he wouldn't pull the card out, but that he should consider it done as such. He was quiet for a bit, but then the nasties came out again.

The thing is, the threat of poor ratings does hold some weight: to get assignments in high school's post-season, you need either good coach ratings, assessments (if they ever actually did more than ten a season), or if you're a known referee. And in the later category are USSF Nationals, national candidates, and women*. And how to you get good ratings? By not pissing off the coaches. But not pissing off the coaches is not our job - it's making the right calls. I find it disturbing, although sadly I'm not surprised, by this tactic - every year high school coaches seem to find new ways of degrading the game and their profession - and nobody in charge seems to care.

* This is not to be sexist, but the high school league wants women crews on tournament games, and there's not many female referees out there. This is not to say anything about their skill level (I'd say that most of them are, in fact, far better than I am), but there's not as much competition as on the male side - it's strictly a numbers thing; I know I get higher-level games in soccer (as opposed to football or basketball) because it's not as popular in this state as other sports, so please don't think I'm complaining, because I've benefited in similar circumstances as well.

22 October '07 - 20:25 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

"It's an easy dive when you have a fistful of jersey"

This game was just fun - if you took out the first 20 minutes. Without the opening twenty it would have been a competitive, fast-paced and close game, and even as a full 90 I just enjoyed the heck out of it. It was the large local university that has a men's club team (two actually), playing another in-state, but not-so-local team. I centered the better of the two teams, which is coached by a former West Ham United player, turned NASL star, turned MISL (original) coach. It always makes me nervous when I'm on his games, although he's always gentlemanly even when his disagrees with a call, because when you turn referee, you find that many of your hero's on the pitch can be real jerks toward you. And this is a figure from my childhood - when I was first exposed to soccer and came to love it.

I mean, his picture's on the front of my NASL-edition Subbuteo box.

Actually, he wasn't there today - so no real worries, but it turned out the game was just out-and-out fun to do. The home team smashed the visiting side in the first twenty minutes, scoring five goals, including one in the second minute. It was close after barrage, with two more goals by the home side in the second half, but otherwise much more even. Only one yellow card in the match, a pull-down by the visiting team via the jersey; when I was told that he took a dive after the booking (I'm not sure how serious), I responded with, "It's an easy dive when you have a fistful of jersey." It's a hard case to counter-argue.

I give a lot of crap to coaches in the blog, but you can tell what a good coach can do - these are not NCAA players, but because they're coach knows what he's doing, they play disciplined football with good strategy - and it shows. I'm also relieved one again to have my childhood sports hero not be sullied in my mind with so many of the others.

17 October '07 - 08:59 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Don't go there, coach

I decided long ago that I think the process of "working the referee" is just wrong - but let's just say it out loud, it's not just wrong, it's cheating, it's unethical. And anyone reading nfhs.org: it should be treated as unsporting behavior, period.

I basically think of this the same way I think of dissent - a little yelp after a call you don't agree with (hey it happens - if it didn't we wouldn't need referees, would we?), fine. But yelling as loud as can be, "That's a terrible call!" should be dealt with - a warning in FIFA, a caution in high school. It's just unnecessary - totally and completely, especially when you say the high school game is "an extension of the classroom" (which is the biggest pile of poo ever uttered from the NFHS and its lackeys - unfortunately we get fresh piles of it every year).

You could, in theory (I don't), excuse it when you're down 4-1 in the waning minutes of a game; but what about when the coach on the winning side, over a ball out-of-play, says, "So, you're a homer, right?" Sportsmanship my ass. And what really pisses me off is that his assistant is (or was) a member of the USSF national referee committee - if anyone should be advocating respect to the officials (especially when there's 30 seconds left), this is the guy!

It's amazing what can ruin a perfectly good game for me - but the hypocrisy of high school soccer has always done a good job of setting it off. (more)

15 October '07 - 09:24 - - default| two comments, already - § ¶

Bastions of Consistency

I often bash high school soccer, so I'd like to start with some of the really good things about high school soccer:

1. The atmosphere. The atmosphere for most high school games are better than almost any club-level game, short of college and the professional ranks. Even small crowds are more vocal when they're in a stadium, and if there are fans from the other school - you can have a rollicking good time, even if you're the referee and you're being booed.

2. The diversity. Unfortunately, club soccer in the youth ranks isn't particularly diverse - you need money to play it it, and a lot of it to be in the elite clubs. High school, while it may not have the skills versus USSF club, has a larger variety of individual styles in its games (note I said individual, unfortuantely that doesn't extend to the team).

While there are plenty of bad things about high school soccer, many of the are specific to the National Federation of High Schools and the state-wide organizing bodies. I'll skip those and show an example of the biggest problem on the pitch in high schools games.

Coach: "All I want is consistency, and the game turned on that one call. I have to try to talk down my kids because of that."
Me: "I understand, coach, but we're paid to make what we think is the right call, not the one that is the most popular."
Coach: "I disagree..."

That is the model of consistency referees are graded on in high school (as well as the attitudes we have to deal with); consistency by popularity, rather than consistency by making the right call.

All that aside, the game I had was really fun, and I was really busy spinning plates. And it started early: the first goal was scored by the visitors a mere two minutes into the match, and they dominated play for the entire first half. The home team struggled to get a handle on a fast and physical attack, and seven minutes into the game, a home-team player shoves down an opponent with both hands right down to the turf; he said he was provoked, but even so, he really overreacted and earned himself a yellow card. Almost ten minutes later, an obvious take-down by the same team in the penalty area, and I call the PK, which is saved.

Now here are the two calls that earned most of the coach's ire - and I'm sure will cost me in his ratings (because he's the guardian of consistency in high school soccer - go figure): play is again in the home team's penalty area, moving right in front of the Senior Assistant (which we switched before the game began, because the assigned AR had some issues with that team when he last saw them a few weeks ago), but still in the penalty area, because the field is so narrow. There's some bumps going for the ball, a player may have gone down (honestly, I can't recall - and given my reaction, I'm not sure), and the AR's flag is raised and waggled. I blow the whistle... and the AR stands there, then then points for a visitor free kick... except they're in the penalty area and he's not running to the goal-line, like he should if he was calling a PK. So I'm stuck asking, he says yes, and then I make the move to signal a PK.

There's no way around it - it looks bad. But the AR is insisting, and after I made clear in my pregame that if we call a PK, we have to be 100% sure that it's a foul, and we don't give away any easy or cheap penalties. I've worked with him before, and he's decent (not great, but decent and honest) - so I believe him - I just have no idea what he called (he said at half it was a trip knocking the guy down). I end up booking the coach for dissent (because in high school you card coaches), go back to the PK, which is converted, and the visitors have a 2-0 lead.

In the second half, the home team comes out like gangbusters, and totally dominates the half. The visitors pick up a couple of frustration cards in quick succession. One for a bear hug, and another for flinging the word "fuck" out (which is an automatic booking if it's not directed at anyone, then it's an ejection) after a foul again his teammate. Nine minutes later (we're still in the first 20 minutes of the second half), I book a home player for persistent infringement - the third shirt pull of this half, and what brought out the language for the second card. This brings out another argument from both of the home team coaches: they don't deny the shirt pulling (any of them), but they say I can't card a player for Persistent Infringement if it's done by different players. This is another case of the NFHS rules not going into enough depth - which in fairness, FIFA's Laws of the Game say much the same thing - that you can be cautioned for persistently infringing the laws of the game. However, the USSF in the Advice to Referees says that PI is applicable when an individual is fouling repeatedly, a player is being fouled repeatedly, or a type of foul is being used repeatedly. Yes, NFHS is not USSF or FIFA, but since they rely on the USSF to train their referees (they have no training program), I feel perfectly entitled to use the USSF's interpretations where this is no guidance from the NFHS.

The final issue with the coaches was after the final goal was scored, by the home team, to make the score 1-2: the timekeeper, which had done a very good job, picked that moment to muck up and forget to stop the clock. I signaled the clock to stop, but my higher priority was to keep the celebration under control, which was rapidly moving toward the visitors' bench - it was at that point it was pointed out to me that the clock hadn't stopped. I know why the NFHS wants the scoreboard to be the official timekeeper for the game - they're used to doing it with all their other sports and they want to be consistent (I disagree with that reasoning, but that's neither here nor there) - the problem is that the timekeepers almost always screw up - I can't think of a high school center I've had this year where a timekeeper didn't screw up at least once - it's a real problem, and at that point (and given the tenor of the game and where the celebration was going, I would not change my priorities and focus on the clock first) I have to estimate the amount of time lost. Naturally, the coaches want more, and are incredibly vocal - but you know what? They're the home team's timekeepers - it's not my fault, nor my problem if they got caught up in the frenzy and cost their team time. As it turned out, they didn't, because they inadvertently stopped the clock on a legal substitution, so the home team more than got its time back, although they couldn't convert.

So we were blamed for doing our jobs, and making the calls - even if they weren't popular. And we'll get hung out to try in the ratings (we were told as much). Typical.

12 October '07 - 15:39 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Thoughts on the Dual

Another odd bit about high school is the Dual system of control. The system itself is odd enough - putting it nicely. Putting it not so nicely is that it's a kludge, where the two referees are supposed to do the work of both center and assistant referee. I will say this: on non-competitive games, the Dual is fine; but I've said many times before that on competitive games (and I mean competitive in how the game is played, not the designation given to the league) that the Dual is inadequate. That's not really what I'm writing about.

The game I had was a dual, and even though it was a varsity match, it was not in any shape or form competitive; when a game ends 10-0 and the team that lost is happy with the score, it is not competitive. And as I was doing the game, I realized that there is scarce actual training on how to run the Dual. There's a bit in the NFHS rule book, but it's inadequate. I've made my own notes on the actual spaces covered by the referees in a dual, based on how I've been running it and how I think it should be run, but I thought of something else I should toss into it:

If you were an AR in a three-man system, you could assume the team in your defensive end is "your team"; in a Dual it's much the same (except you can, and should, venture into the other half). So, if you go by my diagram, you know generally where you could be running during the course of the game, but where do you line up? If you're the the lead referee (meaning the "other" team has the ball and are moving toward "your" goal), it's with the second-to-last defender. But what if "your" team has the ball, and you're the trail referee? During this game, I found myself lining up not with the second-to-last defender, but with the last attacker.

No, lining up with the last attacker does not give you the best angle to judge offside, that's why you switch to second-to-last defender when possession changes. But it does allow you to safely move into the attacking area and help cut down the space between you and your partner (thus making both of you that much closer to the action and the ability to make a more informed call). Most importantly - if "your" defense is trapping, throw out these instructions and stick with the second-to-last defender! You, your partner, and the teams, will just have to make do. (more)

04 October '07 - 18:48 - - default| six comments, already - § ¶