I hear Florida will be experimenting with a five-whistle system next year... CR, two TLR (touch line referees), and two GLR (goal line referees)...
I'm doing a small tournament consolation game. U13 Boys. I blow the first whistle to start the match and I hear a parent say to the other "ohh, I like this ref, he did a good job in an earlier game we had." I blow the second whistle 10 seconds later for a foul, the same parent says "Maybe it was his brother I saw earlier."
Do any of you know the Anderson twins? Frank just got his FIFA AR badge and his identical twin, Ian, also does MLS games. They have worked the identical twin scam repeatedly. E.g. Ian makes a call that a player wants to argue. The player says "Ref, at least go ask your linesman!" Ian says, "See that guy? That's my twin brother. I don't have to ask him. I know what he's thinking." Of course, it would be funnier if it was me saying that and the AR was a 6' tall 20-something guy.
It is even funnier when they are players, one is better than the other, and the weaker player always serves card suspensions for both.....
Got an e-mail from my SYRA this morning saying that a local club needed referees for a friendly they're playing tomorrow night at my university's indoor American football practice facility. They're having their State Cup-winning U17 boys (I was AR2 on their State Cup final in October) play a university from another state. So the first good story is that he sent this e-mail out to nine referees. Two are grade 4, two are grade 5, three are grade 6, one is grade 7, and I was the only grade 8 on the list. I don't know if I was included on this list by sheer chance or what, but to be included in an invitation from my SYRA with such high-caliber referees is a big confidence-booster. The second good story is that I got the game. My game-tracking spreadsheet says I haven't worked an outdoor game since October 30 last year (though I've done plenty of futsal and basketball in the interim). That's 96 days between my last game and tomorrow. Nearly 14 weeks. Words cannot express how excited I am for tomorrow night.
I was working to work this morning and I started daydreaming about running a line in the warm sun.....It was a bit chilly in the canyons of NYC this morning as I crossed Times Square.
It's a snow day here in Denver - with a foot of snow in my front yard and more coming down, I'm guessing the 2 friendlies I was going to run this evening won't be happening....
HS women's JV game, dual. Early in the game ball goes out for a goal kick at my end. I'm running upfield not watching the keeper (no attacker was pressing at the penalty area). I hear the kick and the sound seemed loud for a goal kick. I turn and the keepers body language wasn't correct for a goal kick. Did she punt the ball? Since I didn't see it, and the other ref didn't whistle, decided to let it go. No harm resulted. (I should have watched for ball placement - my error.) Next goal kick I watch. Yes, she tries to punt the ball. "On the ground!" And all things okay after that.
State HS semi-final fri night. 7pm start time in an urban area that is infamous for traffic issues. My crew leaves at 5 for a 25 mile drive. We arrive by 5:45, feeling comfortable and responsible . The visitors have a 280 mile drive. They do it in a school-bus (not a charter) and arrive at 6:35! They won 6-0 (could easily have been a mercy rule game, but the coach gave subs lots of time on the field). Maybe they knew something??? Here's hoping the finals are more about soccer and less about logistics. Oh, well. I still had fun. btw, the crowd was decent (300?). Lots of noisemakers for the home team (vuvuzelas, trumpets, drums...). One visiting Mom had and electronic megaphone, which she used repeatedly to explain the rules to fans on the home team ("No offside on a throw" "Shoulder to shoulder"). 3 cops and lots of admin in the stands. Good, old-fashioned, HS fun. No mean-spiritedness allowed.
My first HS game of the year on Friday. The games I've done in the past with these two schools have not been pretty, either on the field or in the stands. That's the odd thing about scholastic athletics. With the high turn over of talented players, you never know what a team will be like from year to year. Yeah, we do Middle School in the fall and HS in the spring. Not enough of us refs in the area to do both at once.
A couple of weeks ago (again a HS Womens JV) I had a game where the keeper had gathered in the ball following a shot. A minor injury on the play, for which I stopped the clock. As the coach was checking on the player I walked over to the keeper and told her that we would restart with an indirect free kick. "What's that? This is my first year." Told her. "I usually have ... or .... take those kicks. Is that okay?" "You bet."
first two DA lines on Sundday. I have to say, that was pleasant. lots of running, but good none the less. and a little bit of exposure. And oh my god does DA do some crazy things re paperwork. lol
Look forward to this rematch being my best story of the week: http://hfasoccer.com/MatchReports/38619231/2599022.html #1 vs #2 I looked through previous emails of weekly updates the league admin sends and I found out what the send offs were about. The spitting was for spitting at a referee (12 game suspension) The violent conduct was for referee assault (1 year suspension) Serious foul play (3 game suspension) So, I figured the first two players were still on suspension. When I viewed the upcoming game sheet, none of them were still suspended. I don't know why the suspensions must have been reversed. Should be an exciting match!
Hahaha good question. To make things more interesting, I asked my assignor who the referee was in this match. Turns out he is my AR1 for the rematch!
More seriously - sounds like a great "opportunity" to hone your man management skills as well as fitness - being up with play, clear with your communication with players & ARs, and decisive about dealing with misbehavior will (hopefully) help you have a safe, dry, and exciting match.
Excellent points! Honestly, I'm excited about this match. Maybe that makes me a little crazy, but I'm ready for the challenge. My man management skills are going to be pushed to the limit. On a lighter note - if anything goes wrong I know I don't need to outrun the team. I just need to outrun my AR ; ) Note: I do not support/condone any acts of assault against referees, players, spectators, etc. I obviously do not believe it is a funny matter in case anyone takes my joke the wrong way.
Keep in mind that "management" may extend to AR1, he may fly off the handle that the guy who spit at him and the guy who abused him, are in the game.
I'm glad you're excited, because I would think twice about officiating in a league where a lifetime ban for ref assault was somehow overturned. In fact, I will hope for your sake (and the league's) that the players' names were still on the sheet by mistake and they actually are serving their suspensions.
Good Luck with the match !!! I would actually like to come to Houston and do some games in HFA, the assignor is a friend of mine. I was invited to the HFA Tournament but it is the same weekend as the Dallas RTS.