State Cup Weekend, only 7 games (sigh, really? where are all the referees?) Most interesting Sunday. 1st game at 12:30, girls u18, it was the 2nd game of an aggregate so it could have been interesting, but team A won Sat. by 3 - 0 and jumped out to 2 - 0 at half. Team B to their credit came back with 2 goals the 2nd half to tie it, but of course lost the aggregate. On to 2nd game, a 4th on the u12 girls final. Get there and both coaches know me, so we probably aren't going to have too many issues, but on the way there we pass another field which only has 2 referees, the assignor (I'm riding with) tells them, your game is going to start late, we're waiting for 2 referees on another game to finish up. I tell him that could be a problem for the 4:30, he agrees, but what can you do. I'm not worried, my 4:30 is on another field. The u12 game ends up 3-2, the losing team didn't get started until they're down 3-0 and outplayed the other team the last 2/3 of the game. I keep track of fouls and there are a total of 8 fouls, 4 on each. Shockingly the losing team coach is complaining to me at the end that the fouls were too one sided. (sigh) Ok, back to the ref. tent. Oh, oh, my game has been moved to the field that is late! and when we went by after our game it's tied 1-1. Yep, sure enough they go to overtime and then kicks (11 kickers!), so we are starting only 45 minutes late on a non lighted field. Tried to get them to move to another field, but nooooo, we want to stay here. 0-0 at half, oh, oh. But the team who refused to move, scores a nice goal and then goes into free substitution mode of a player every 30 seconds. I finally remind the coach that I am adding time for this and after some grumbles, he amazingly stops subbing so frequently. Then of course, the ultimate. with 3 minutes left in regular time, the field sprinklers come on. The field crews have diligently taken down every other field and ours and one other are the only two with goals up. So we pack up and move to the other field. The sun has set, it's getting interesting. But the other team can't muster a goal and we end it 1-0 in the twilight. And the final kicker, I'm late to a party I promised my wife - a wine tasting party. Help!
Ah yes. Brian Clough, he of the "If God had meant us to play the ball in the air he'd have put grass there" and many other memorable quotes. The best English manager never to manage an England team, imo.
I thought Texans were weather wimps (below 50 is parka weather), but we had high school tournament games played in freezing rain. Thankfully my games were in the afternoon when it was only freezing, not rainy.
I've reffed in a lot of cold, rainy, snowy weather. It snowed here last night, the game was a girls JV game with one team from 30 miles away on a city park field. I'm not sure who decided to cancel, but I wasn't too disappointed.
I dont think sitting between the two benches in uniform charecterizes me as a spectator. We referee the field as a team. If there is an issue off the field in the game that is going to end up with pushing and shoving involved, i dont think I have much of a choice but to step in and stop the nonsense.
I checked the arbiter master schedule, 25 out of 34 games were cancelled for today. Two of the playing locations are turf fields, and at the other location, the coach is a great gung-ho Scot!
Forgot to post this last week, was AR2 on a Region 1 Premier League Game. U-16 Boys. Pretty uneventful except for the fact I had two fans behind me complaining all game about my calls especially my "missed offside call" which lead to the winning goal to the other team. "Don't quit your day job" was the highlight of their assessment They have been chipping all game so when the game finally ended I was somewhat annoyed. After I ran to meet with the rest of the crew in the center circle a father came down from the stands with his young son who had Down Syndrome to meet with us right on the field. Apparently his son was a huge fan of referees and had his own referee wallet with cards and all. He wanted to meet with us to make sure he recorded all the cards and goals correctly! So we compared notes and he asked us several questions about our calls and refereeing in general and I decided to give him the OSI coin in my pocket ( I have too many as it is anyway ). Needless to say that improved my mood greatly. Wouldn't mind if I had more moments like that in my reffing career.
Man, @La Rikardo finishes a game with a concussion and I quit on a game yesterday because I hurt my foot. 5 tournament games Saturday, predictably sore afterward. Arrive at the field Sunday morning and the other AR comments that I was limping my way to the field. Foot pain is normal for me during refereeing season and it usually goes away as I get the game underway. I limp up and down the sideline for the first 3/4 of the first game of five until I couldn't tolerate the pain and began to get dizzy. I had a seat, the tournament trainer iced the foot, told me the muscles had spasmed and swelled up and told me to go home. Foot still hurts, but I should be ok for next weekend.
Perhaps I misunderstood. You said "I sat in my lawn chair during my off games" which seems to me to indicate that you were not assigned to work that game in any official capacity (Center, Assistant, Fourth, Field Marshall, etc.). So I guess my question really is, where did your authority to have any say in this game derive?
Hmm...let me think....two coaches are going to have a fight. I can imagine what the assignor would have said if I told him I didn't do anything because I was off that game. Are you actually serious? Are you a referee? Tell me you would have done nothing. My authority for that field was all day.
The whole set up is a bit odd -- as a general matter sitting on a field in uniform is by itself a bit odd and not what is expected. I think Scott is trying to figure out what the actual expectations are -- and are they communicated. If a non-referee (which is what you were during the game you weren't out there ) is being given authority/responsibility, the ROC would be wise to be clear about what that is. Absent that, were I a coach, I wouldn't pay a whit of attention to some yahoo watching the game just because he has a bumblebee shirt on. To be clear, I'm not saying I think you did anything wrong -- I don't have enough information about what was really expected to know that. But I do think the assignor/director/whoever is putting you (and the coaches) in an awkward role by not having that defined in a way that everyone can understand. If the intent is for the "off" referee to be a pseudo-4O (which is kinda what it sounds like you were trying to be), they should communicate that so that the coaches know the difference between a meddlesome busy-body and someone entitled to tell them what to do.
As the big brother of someone with Down Syndrome, thanks for making that kid's day. People don't realize how much a simple kind gesture means to those with special needs. I'm quite sure this kid will remember that moment for a long time.
Girl's HS Varsity. 2-man system. Very slow paced match, ended early in the 2nd half 10-0. One coach actively coaching his players repeating everything 2 or 3 times. Good pass, Good pass. Work it wide, work it wide. He did this with everything, everything. The loosing coach was a negative whiner with a sing song voice, ending the final word of every sentence with a longer and higher pitched tone. "Don't kick it THEEEERRREE! Work it WIIIIIIIDEEEE. Find a player to MAAAAAARK! I told my partner who has that team and coach again on Thursday. Will certainly give him a headache.
Had a boy's college showcase this past weekend - games Friday and Sunday at a brand new sports complex just north of Indy. A lot of buildings and most of the roads are under construction but the turf and grass fields currently in use are really nice and the grass fields held up well under the rains mid-week. Friday I had 3 games with a Grade 7 who is a young, up-and-comer from our state referee academy. He was very confident, in control and knew his stuff. I think he's going to an upcoming RTS but not sure. Either way, a really good ref and I enjoyed working with him. Sunday I had 3 games with a couple of refs I've known for a long time, and started the day with a U17B MRL game that I wish had been my assessment match! 1st half - 0 cards. 2nd half- 5 yellow cards, including 3 in a 10-minute span when I bent the game to my will. It was fun working with those guys too - great refs and a lot of fun. Sunday night featured 2 adult games that brought an anti-climactic end to the weekend. Working with a couple of guys I get along with but don't really know that well nor work with often. 1st game, I was AR1. PK is called (the correct call) by AR2 and CR backs him. PK is setup and taken. Flag goes up, conference btw CR and AR2 as I'm writing down the goal on my card. Next thing I know the defending team takes a quick kick and we are playing, and I gotta get back in position. Defending team players at next sub (they're the lucky ones to watch me sidestep all match) ask "hey, isn't encroachment a re-kick?" CRAP. As my stomach moves into my throat, I say something like "I'm not sure what exactly was called, if it hypothetically was encroachment in the PA then it would be a re-kick". Right after the match and postgame handshakes, I ask "hey, what was the call with that PK?" Confident response from AR1: "encroachment in the Penalty Area, which is an Indirect Kick coming out". Now, AR1 is a good ref and I don't mean to say otherwise, just in this case confident about a call made that ended up being incorrect. I state my position and after consulting LOTG, I'm proven correct. CRAP. 2nd game featured a team of 18 and 19 year-old boys against a group of guys who've played together since they were embryos - guys in their 20's and early 30's, half of whom played for Indiana University, some of whom played semi-pro, and all of whom are damn good. It was men vs. boys and I was in the center. 10-0 in favor of the men and they took it easy on their opponents. YC's I gave were to keep the game in check, and I gave a lot of AC's to both teams (including a coach) to keep a lid on the match. After that game, I went home and didn't even grab dinner - just popped a beer out of the fridge and sat for what seemed like the first time in 13 hours. Monday, an email comes from the assignor: "tell me about the PK in yesterday's game". CRAP.
That aside, that caused me to look at the rules around encroachment on PKs and realise I had it horribly wrong too. Glad the only encroachment I've seen has been from defenders on successful PKs.
Well CRAP again... Meant to say AR2 is a good ref and I don't mean to say otherwise...as for AR1, as I always tell people, some days I'm good but opinions vary.