Whenever I meet someone new and they ask if I have kids I tell them, "Yup, I've got 9/10/whatever of them." I just have the luxury of sending them away when I'm tired of them.
That's my quip. I teach elementary PE in addition to coaching two teams, doing regular camps/clinics, private sessions etc. so I see a lot of kids. When asked if I have my own, my answer is, "Nope, but I borrow 250 of other people's every week."
Today's mission, seeking more indoor practice time for my U-12 team and my son's U-14 team. Outdoor fields should be open by now. Winter isn't going anywhere. 25 is the high for today. Fields are at least 3 weeks from opening.
As I was walking to our field yesterday, I passed another game and heard a coach yell at one of his players, "Every time I put you in you get worse!" His player was completely across the field so I know the parents heard it. This is that same coach I mentioned last season where he told his players he'd rather give up a PK than let mine have an open look at goal. As a parent I'd be looking for a new team. They had been loosely affiliated with another club (an independent under the umbrella) but I notice they had new kits and a new color so I'm wondering if he received too many complaints from other teams. On the bright side, we got one of those lovely days where it's hot in the sun but if you turn the other way or the wind blows, it's really freaking cold. First time all season (games or practices) I've had all my players. Couldn't do spit in the offensive third and looked like a lower rec team. The rest of the field was fine. Dunno. All our goals came off counters. I also learned my keeper can punt the ball to midfield. She's never even attempted a punt until yesterday. The players and parents all went silent followed by a few on the bench saying something like, "Whoa, did you see that?!?!" I'd rather go short and work on playing the ball but sometimes we get those teams that crowd the area looking to pick something off (pet peeve of mine for that age group) so this will keep them honest at least.
know what you mean about teams that crowd the goalie looking for a quick point. some coaches we've played against keep telling players to crowd the goalie, it just doesn't seem like anything that's going to help them in the long run.
"Catch them being good." works for boys too. When I first read it, I thought it was kumbaya-mumbo-jumbo, But it's powerful stuff. It wasn't a conscious thing I did. I had a couple of my talented but underachieving players make a couple of great plays: good in-game calls, killer through balls . . . I usually only stop play to make a correction. These times, I stopped play to praise whatever they did. Instead of a correction, I pointed out what they did right and by God the behavior repeated itself again and again and again. I'd been harping for months on their mistakes and the correction and adjustments they should make. Who knows? Maybe months of harping softened them up or made them better players, but on the surface, I got more traction with a couple of well-placed compliments on their play than I did with months of corrections.
Tryouts End of July: Younger age groups play Mid August - Early October HS soccer in fall or ECNL Mid Oct - February (4.5) months of dome training, futsal and dome scrimmages (lots of turf) Spring soccer starts with MRL/tournaments out of state in March/April (teams all pass short and soft for 2-3 weeks when transitioning to grass after 4.5 months of turf and courts) In-state league starts in late April or early May State-cup in early May when fields are just opening up (reason competitive teams play out of state for 2-months) State Leagues end by July 10th
This isn't really just barely soccer related, but last night at practice I had a first. One of my better and more motivated players was doing warm ups and just kinda going through the motion. At first I figured because it was cold, super windy, and just started raining as well. I went over and tried to motivate her to no avail. I asked what was wrong and got no real response. This is from a girl who friendly smack talks me when I jump in on a drill. Something was up so I asked if it was boy trouble. No. I asked she was mad at a parent. No. I asked if she was mad at a teacher. No. Finally she started to open and up and I thought she was going to cry. Long story short, her family is moving into a house that is rumored to be haunted and she's not too happy about it. I didn't even know how to respond! By the end of practice she was her happy self again and ribbing me if I passed to someone else even if she was wide open. I was supposed to have practice tonight with my rec team. We were going to start last week but the weather turned sour. Today we were in a tornado watch so I canceled practice. It immediately cleared up and has been sunny since. Awesome. So we have our first game Saturday and I haven't even met the boys. This will be fun!
I've done that so many times cancelling because of weather and then the weather doesn't show up. I look at satellite images and all that and even within 2 hours, I've "missed" on the cancellation. Rain hits 30 minutes before practice, torrential downpour only to be bright and sunny by the time practice is supposed to start. Cancelling because of lightning storms which we get bad ones here, not rain.
On the weather issue, I never make the call. I rely on our county's inclement weather info. They have a hotline that they update every day (or multiple times as needed) about the status of fields. I just tell my families that we will do what they say. Today was supposed to be the 1st day of the spring season-- however all grass fields were closed so most games got rained out. This was fine with most teams since almost no one has had a practice (fields have been closed for the snow/rain). My 2 teams both played since we were on turf. I came away from both games seeing things I want to work on in our 1st practices this week.
I have a radar app on my phone and the NOAA site bookmarked. I emailed everyone and then it got dark and started raining so I felt justified. That lasted all of 10 minutes. It sucked because it's a new team and they all had to meet each other at the field. We are supposed to practice Thursday but the forecast calls for rain. I hope that's all it is. They lost 6-0 and never looked organized and only a few had ever touched a ball in their lives. The other team was very professional and organized. If you don't count the two own goals it was only 4-0 though so there's that. I do hate the way it's laid out though. It's 5v5 with no keepers and rather large goals. Coaches on the field doing the organizing and no refs. I don't want to call something against another team's players. Plus, what if I'm more strict or lax than the other coach? It's just awkward. At least I know I have no interest in this age again (2nd grade rec). My girls played Saturday night and put together the most complete game I've seen of them. It's like everything we've done for the past 8 months finally clicked for 75% of the them. Now if only we could shoot at something other than the keeper! We even had a pk that went straight at her. Luckily she fumbled it into the goal. I was calling for one of my D/M to come take it because I know she'd finish no problem. I hollered a couple times and she was ready for it. My forward went over, set the ball down on the spot, and waived her off. I told her I wanted the other girl to take it. She waived me off. I said it again. She looked at me and said with a finger wave and a head shake, "No, I'm taking it." I normally wouldn't let a 9 year old get the best of me but if she's got the confidence I'm not going to discourage it. The other girl ended up with the winning goal later. Scrum at the top of the box and she came out of nowhere to blast it into the corner. First goal of her competitive career. Way to make it a beauty! Long story short: Confidence, organization, eye rolling.
We drove several hours for a warm-up tourney this past weekend and ended up playing one game then the tournament was cancelled due to weather. Can't say I blame them, driving, sideways rain/sleet/snow, sub-zero temps, fields became inundated (standing water). It rained and snowed through the night.
my boys (8,7) play recreational. I'm glad I made the switch to a new league, instead of playing 9v9 and 7v7 on separate teams, they will be playing 4v4 on the same team. we have 6 kids total, so plenty of playing time for everyone. We don't play a game until april 12th if we had stayed in the old league (which is in week 2 of their season) I'm pretty sure my 7 year old would have waited the game out in the car, rather than put up with cold, and freezing rain. he never wants to play in bad weather.
clearly, you drove in the wrong direction. As it was I refereed two matches in the high 30's, strong winds and semi-frozen water sand-blasting the right side of my body while AR'ing. On a happy note, my U-12's finally go outside on Wednesday, albeit on the tennis courts.
That is an understatement. We drive south next time!! Although, there's 5-6 hours is prob the closest we can do.
When you are ranting and raving about calls that went against you, take a second to recall the ones that went the other way, in your favor. We played horribly for 45 minutes out of 60, and were deservedly behind 3-0. The final 15, we finally started to build some momentum. With 5 minutes left, we put one in. Sure looked offside, but no call. (After the game, one of my own parents says yup, well off.) A minute later, capitalize on a free kick from 25 out to pull within 3-2. In stoppage time, their keeper has just punted the ball and it goes out in our half. Trailing ref has his flag up: keeper handled the ball over the penalty area line on the punt. Ball comes all the way back for a free kick for us just outside the 18. We score to tie, and it ends up 3-3. If it were allowed in the box score, the assistant referee at our attacking end would have had two assists: blatantly missed offside, and a free kick that, while technically correct, probably should never have been called (I don't think the keeper was warned if he was close to the edge before). Those "horrible" decisions always have to go in somebody's favor, right? We would be well served to remember the ones that benefit us whenever we are tempted to go off on a ref when one goes against us.
Good post benji. In our last game we are up 2-1 and ref calls a penalty against us. My eyes were elsewhere and it looke soft. Parents said it was outside the box. Ref was also on the complete opposite side of the pitch. BUT even then the ref was one of the best we've had. He ran over before the kickoff to explain the call. I wasn't even arguing it. Little did he know I was just pleased my team was playing so well
Last week we had an amazing ref-- she called the game really well, difused a situation where the girls were sniping at each other and had great positioning. Today we had a ref that looked like he didn't want to be there and generally sucked
I've noticed an odd trend teenage refs for soccer and adult refs for baseball and basketball. some of the teen refs are great (although they feel they need to be overly assertive to be taken serious) and others are slow to make calls and get intimidated by some of the weirder assistant coaches.
Was watching a game Saturday afternoon and a young AR wasn't having the most confident game. Not missing calls, but just not being assertive (a common theme around here). Next thing I know, an older ref was standing next to her with his flag in hand helping her out. Poor girl looked scared as hell having him jump in mid-game but she did much better after he showed her a few things. I had one guy last season that made all the right calls but he was so soft on the whistle no one could hear him. I told him after the game that it was ok to blow the whistle. He did a great job otherwise. Our league has an area on its site to rate refs but with a few thousand teams, do you think they really look?
Regarding referees, please keep in mind that they learn by doing, not by reading a book. Seeing a wide variation in competence and experience in referees and assistants at youth matches is normal.
Very true. Its one thing while playing a game to have 'foul recognition.' Completely the other to have to make a split decision to make a decision (and at the same time confidently use the proper mechanics to show that you know what you are doing). I train our club rec. referees (first step for them, before they even become grade 9 or grade 8's). The rules on a power point are very easy to know. They are very confident when sitting with their friends in the class, but I warn them that it is very different when, even with 5-yo's, that when you are standing among 20 sets of parents and add in some grandparents and suddenly you are in the center of 30 adults, very few teenagers are going to be on their toes, confident and loud and clear, even just blowing a whistle for a push or even a kick-off. It takes time to develop. The other part that drives me crazy, and I usually have to remind my players parents, when we have a teenage referee, they are likely to make many mistakes during a match, just like our own players. And yes, just like a team mistake, a referee mistake can cost you a match. As for adult referees at U-12 and below, I don't have a lot of tolerance when they make mistakes, and I'm not talking offside. I get that one, but with the pushing and contact. I even told off one guy a couple weeks ago at our referee meeting. I got on his case (as a spectator) a few weeks ago at an indoor game for a no-call. At that time he threatened to kick me out. I find out the next day on the no-call our player broke his collarbone. Armed with that, I did rip into him for that one.
I'll just add that there isn't enough quality mentoring. When I got certified we learned from National level refs who have worked MLS etc. We then had intensive shadowing sessions and we got hard criticism on mechanics and theory. I moved to podunk, and nothing against well-meaning volunteers, but they lack the insight the instructors above provided or the resources. They can't mentor every kid that comes through and for the most part, you get one game with a mentor and you're on your own. No more feedback, rarely anything. For the first year, young refs should probably get regular feedback on their officiating so they can raise their game. Since it's early in the season, this could be her mentoring games where she is shadowed by a teacher-ref. And if she's in over her head the teacher tries to work her through it (or in the case of a complete "shut-down", steps in for her).