Needham MA Tourny

[Rufusabc]

Hello:

I was wondering if anyone on the board goes to the Needham MA Memeorial Day tournament? I am traveling up there to watch my daughter play (U16G).

I was wondering what kind of tournament it is, and whether I can stop by to say hello to fellow Big Soccer posters.

R

[falcon.7]

I will be there. When I find out my schedule I will let you know.

From what I hear, the tournament is one of the best around. Good competition, great atmosphere, and overall a fun time. The people in charge really care about doing things the right way.

[Another NH Ref]

I will be there. When I find out my schedule I will let you know.

Are you taking your pink whistle? :rolleyes:

[socfan60]

Good tourny- My son's team will be in it ( again ) this year. Only downside is some of the fields are less then desirable. Rumor has it they have improved this year. We will see. Enjoy

[falcon.7]

Are you taking your pink whistle? :rolleyes:

I am not the one with the pink whistle! :mad:

I am Harry Potter. I wave my magic wand and make goalkeepers go *poof* and disappear! :p

[nsa]

I've worked the Needham tourney off and on over the years. It is huge, spread over many fields and towns. It can be a good opportunity to work with many highly experienced referees. The illuminati of Mass soccer goes there so it's a great place to be seen.

It can also be frustrating as schedules change and games are missed or you get sent to the end of the earth to do five B12 matches solo. :rolleyes:

Will MassRef make it again this year?




With family concerns, I'll stay close to home and work some of the John Smith tourney at Devens.

[refmedic]

The illuminati of Mass soccer goes there so it's a great place to be seen.

What a fantastic description. Will any of them make a cameo when the movie comes out friday?

[boylanj64]

I went last year - it was a good tournament and fantastically organized with respect to referees, but it was frustratingly spread out. Their tournament timing rules caused me headaches twice though; once when a delay for a broken leg meant we couldn't play the second half of one game and the first half of another, and another time when a team tied 1-1 faked an injury with thirty minutes to go, and the kid stayed down the whole time while time elapsed (they advanced on a tie) and the CR (I was AR2) let the whole thing happen. Disgraceful. Other than that issue, great tournament.

[nsa]

I am not the one with the pink whistle! :mad:

I am Harry Potter. I wave my magic wand and make goalkeepers go *poof* and disappear! :p

Keep your wand in your pants there, wizard. ;)

[MassachusettsRef]

Will MassRef make it again this year?Yes. I'm flying back up as always. Just realized it will be my tenth straight--wouldn't miss it for the world.

To the original question about what to expect, it's sort of hard to answer. The level of play, to be honest, has decreased over the past several years. From what I understand, in the 80s and 90s it was a marquee event. It was the tournament in the NE and you had some big NJ and NY clubs traveling over for it. Once the superclub mentality took over, all the best clubs from the area (namely Greater Boston by the end of the decade, but there were some other big clubs before then) began traveling on Memorial Day and the NY and NJ clubs went along with them. So now you get a mix of good club teams and some very good town teams that could easily pass for club teams. It's definitely competitive, but it's not the regional-level quality of play that was once there--so if that's what you expect, you'll be a bit surprised.

I don't go for the soccer, at all. This is also sort of hard to explain, but NSA's reference to the Illuminati sheds some light on this. When I first went, the referee tent was strewn with a who's who of referees from the area. All our past FIFAs made appearances and all of our current nationals were working--and they specifically came there to work with 7s and 8s. And every single past and current state administrator was there. To be honest, it was a MUCH bigger gathering of quality refereeing than State Cups, because people who were "past" State Cups still felt an obligation and desire to return. It was an amazing teaching environment. I distinctly remember Peter Kokolski coming back the same night he worked a Miami Fusion game just to be able to ref at Needham the next morning. A lot of people in Massachusetts owe quite a bit to Ed Rae, the National Instructor/Assessor who essentially runs the refereeing side of this tournament. And they gladly return each year to repay him. Really, the refereeing at this tournament has almost always far exceeded the play at the higher age brackets (like any huge tournament, the assignments at the lower age levels can vary). The notion of all these people being around the tent has waned a little bit, as a lot of our Nationals have retired. But people still make the trip back. Rob Fereday even swung by last year the day after a Foxboro assignment (I thought he was following me when I first saw him). And there are a duo of Calgary referees that me and another Boston ref met in Tampa back in 2001--we invited them to Needham and they've returned every year since. Same went for some of the CT crew we knew from regionals. The faces change slightly, but the camaraderie and the good times in the tent and hotel bar stay the same. From the refereeing perspective, it's an incredible time. The worst things you have to deal with have already been mentioned (a strict adherence to running time, and the occasional far-flung assignment, as the tournament is very spread out). Aside from that, there are no complaints to be had.

[hefftheref]

Keep your wand in your pants there, wizard. ;)
WOAH! See no evil, hear no evil...

:p