Morale Raiser

[jacathcart]

A Saturday with three games. Two GU-14 games in fairly constant rain that left me muddy, tired, and wet. Then a frantic drive to a third game that had been changed in time at the last minute which meant I could not get there 30 minutes prior - in fact I was 3 minutes late and the only official. In fact I took the game because it had no other official. But it was U-11 and so:

1. The girls cheered when I showed up - a pretty rare occurrance.

2. The parents and coaches smiled and greeted me with great good cheer.

3. There wasn't a sour word, a temper tantrum, or a single intentional violation the entire game

4. Not all the goals were scored by the team studs. On a couple of occasions, short, pudgy, bespectacled little girls who were in the right place at the right time scored.

5. Instead of sprinting around, making arm pumping gestures and shouting "Yessssss" as on TV, the scorers stood there with an incredible expression of joy on their faces.

6. Not a single girl expressed frustration or irritation with a teammate because they weren't channeling Mia or Brandie,

7. When I congratulated a girl for a good defensive move or a shot she would beam as if I had given her a gold star on her poster,

So after 5 hours on fields, wet, pooped, and used up I felt wonderful and went home feeling as if the reffing stuff was OK after all. While the U-littles don't give you the professional challenge and the intellectual problems we discuss here, I recommend taking a game now and then to reconnect with a bunch of kids playing because they love the game and without a thought of college scholarships.

When I check equipment I always tell the players that the officials are here for two primary reasons (1) To keep them safe, and (2) to make sure they have fun. And if we're lucky they will make it fun for us too.

Jim

[Ref Flunkie]

A Saturday with three games. Two GU-14 games in fairly constant rain that left me muddy, tired, and wet. Then a frantic drive to a third game that had been changed in time at the last minute which meant I could not get there 30 minutes prior - in fact I was 3 minutes late and the only official. In fact I took the game because it had no other official. But it was U-11 and so:

1. The girls cheered when I showed up - a pretty rare occurrance.

2. The parents and coaches smiled and greeted me with great good cheer.

3. There wasn't a sour word, a temper tantrum, or a single intentional violation the entire game

4. Not all the goals were scored by the team studs. On a couple of occasions, short, pudgy, bespectacled little girls who were in the right place at the right time scored.

5. Instead of sprinting around, making arm pumping gestures and shouting "Yessssss" as on TV, the scorers stood there with an incredible expression of joy on their faces.

6. Not a single girl expressed frustration or irritation with a teammate because they weren't channeling Mia or Brandie,

7. When I congratulated a girl for a good defensive move or a shot she would beam as if I had given her a gold star on her poster,

So after 5 hours on fields, wet, pooped, and used up I felt wonderful and went home feeling as if the reffing stuff was OK after all. While the U-littles don't give you the professional challenge and the intellectual problems we discuss here, I recommend taking a game now and then to reconnect with a bunch of kids playing because they love the game and without a thought of college scholarships.

When I check equipment I always tell the players that the officials are here for two primary reasons (1) To keep them safe, and (2) to make sure they have fun. And if we're lucky they will make it fun for us too.

Jim



This is why I like doing girls games around that age. Of course usually the coaches screw this up because they think their entire team should be channeling Mia and Heather Mitts and that we are in the World Cup. However, the players are always great.

[Gary V]

So after 5 hours on fields, wet, pooped, and used up I felt wonderful and went home feeling as if the reffing stuff was OK after all. While the U-littles don't give you the professional challenge and the intellectual problems we discuss here, I recommend taking a game now and then to reconnect with a bunch of kids playing because they love the game and without a thought of college scholarships.
I usually have a wonderful time with the younger ones as well. Alas, not yesterday.

I started with a U16G line which was a great game - the better team won, but not by as much as their skill level would indicate. And a coach that limited his comments to insightful directions to his team. Yes! Too bad I had to hurry off to my next game, or I'd have had some good words for him.

Then drove about a mile to a U11G rec game. Yellow ended up losing 0-5, I suspect that was the major reason for the problems from the sideline. I had several disputed calls, most vocally from the parents but a few words from the coach as well. I called a "pass-back" when a girl kicked the ball 20-30 yards toward the keeper and she picked it up. These are kids that have difficulty getting the ball out of the PA on a goal kick, and the coach wants me to believe that this wasn't a deliberate pass? Lots of pushing calls on two of the players - I'm thinking, will I really have to caution for PI at U11? Then Yellow gets a free kick in front of their bench. Girl looks a me to see if she can go, I indicate she can, even though she's the only girl that's paying any attention to what's going on. So what does she do, she starts of dribbling. Quick tweet, indirect the other way. "C'mon ref, they weren't ready, they're only 11-yo girls!" Sorry this was the most alert player on the team and knew exactly what she was doing, she wanted to get an advantage on her opponents by a quick restart. She just didn't know or forgot that she can't play the ball twice. Green's first goal was disputed for offside, after the girl took the ball solo from her own side of midfield all the way down to the goal. Sure, there was a teammate running parallel with her, sometimes in front of her. But there was never a pass. That time, I heard from a parent, "You might as well put on a green shirt." I was waiting for the "you gotta learn the rules" line, so I could reply that I wrote the rules for this age group. (Actually the local mods, but who needs to know that.)

As we were leaving the field for half, I explained the non-offside to the coach. I'm not sure he got it even though he used the "I ref too" line. And I asked that he try to control the comments from the parents. I only had to shush him once in the second half, so there was no reason to report him for irresponsible behavior. After the game, he said he wanted to speak to me. I declined, stating that I had to prepare for the next game - actually trying to deflect anything that would cause me to have to write him up.

The 3rd game was a U12G select/travel/comp. No grief in that one, except for one offside call that I probably did miss because I had only one AR - and they didn't score anyway. The unfortunate part of that game was that two
players from Green went to the hospital to check on knee and elbow injuries. (Neither injury was caused by a foul, just hard fair contact while going for the ball, and a fall.) This, after another teammate broke her arm in three places last week, while my AR was the ref. He says he's not going to ref for them again.

[Caesar]

In refereeing, I went straight from junior matches to boy's representative and then onto men's. I never actually did a girls' match until a tournament earlier this year.

It was an u/19s Girls centre and - I kid you not - I had 3 fouls in 90 minutes. It was the most sporting match I've ever seen played, and the participants seemed to have the most fun of any I've ever seen. I've also gotta say - it bored the hell out of me. Not because it was girls' football, but because it was so damn clean I had nothing to do.

[Ref Flunkie]

In refereeing, I went straight from junior matches to boy's representative and then onto men's. I never actually did a girls' match until a tournament earlier this year.

It was an u/19s Girls centre and - I kid you not - I had 3 fouls in 90 minutes. It was the most sporting match I've ever seen played, and the participants seemed to have the most fun of any I've ever seen. I've also gotta say - it bored the hell out of me. Not because it was girls' football, but because it was so damn clean I had nothing to do.


Like I said in another thread, girls seem to be the best when it comes to sporting challanges and stuff. I mean sure, sometimes they will be late, but rarely is it in an attempt to injure, intimidate, or anything beyond trying to take the ball. I personally like those matches because I can almost watch it like a fan (assuming good soccer is being played).

[ref47]

i selected a u19g d1 game a few years ago for my assessment to upgrade to 7. i thought - previous posts - less unnecessary banging to call; better ball handling, etc. i ended up the game with having had a fight between two players and 3 other yellow cards; about 20 fouls called, and the need to call a pk. i can still picture that "calmer" game.

[tmaker]

Wow, I have a much different experience of U-11 games in Pierce County :) I've done select games there where I had to control the sidelines and the coach with a very firm grip indeed. And I've been on the line at a U-11 tournament game (Crossfire) where a girl karate-kicked another right in the gut, with no attempt to play the ball whatsoever, leading to the bizarre sight of a U-11 red card.

I truly think that it's bad coaching/bad parenting at this age that makes me hesitate to referee their games. I have almost never had experiences with U12 or below girls that made me think less of human beings, but I have definitely had such moments with the coaches of that age.

Gary V's story actually made me laugh in that gallows humor way, because I had a day exactly like that two weeks ago. I finished a completely bloodless pair of U18 girls' games, then I was stuck on the line for a U11 girls' match, in which there were three yellow cards for coach stupidity. After a goal, the coach cursed at his keeper in Italian (which I happen to speak, though he didn't know this), and pulled her off the field while the referee was preparing for the kick-off restart. Further compounding this, he changed keepers, of course, without telling anyone either before or after the fact, until the ball had already been kicked off. The center referee used his better judgment here--and cautioned the coach. All the while we were thinking, "Man, this is a U11 *rec* league game--what's up with this?"

What a job. All this and $17.50, too.

[Ref Flunkie]

I truly think that it's bad coaching/bad parenting at this age that makes me hesitate to referee their games. I have almost never had experiences with U12 or below girls that made me think less of human beings, but I have definitely had such moments with the coaches of that age.

Yes, and this of course brings me back to the "is there anything as referees we can do in order to improve this?" question. It usually makes me want to coach a team, but I like being paid for my services and have enough going on. Once I get married and have kids, then I will probably coach, but until then, I'd just like to sit most of these parents/coaches in their place. It was funny, I have thrown into my "chat" with the captains that it is their responsability to control their team mates AND their coaches/parents. The first time I said this, both sets of captains went "Oh great!"....this was like U-12 or 13 or something. :)

[whitehound]

Another story to make you laugh......U12Girls.....Subrec league. VERY laid back....Nobody but the three reffs know half the rules and its okay because eveyone is listening. I switch from serious-mean mens league persona after about 30 seconds with these young ladies and go into teaching mode. Half way through the second half a ball crosses the goal line having last been touched by an attacker so I point to the goal area without saying a word...A single girl picks up the ball and begins to throw it in from the goal line. I stop her and tell her to put it down and she places it at the intersection of the goal area and the goal line....since they have been having trouble getting the ball out of the penalty area I tell her "no no you can move the ball all the way up here" She looks a little confused and moves the ball up....they are all looking confused now. Finally me AR waves his flag and says "hey isnt the OTHER team supposed to be taking the goal kicks?" EVERYONE had a good laugh and I dont think ANYONE but hime had noticed the error first.

[Ref Flunkie]

He he he, I love those games.