Pregame

[pacref]

Does anyone of you old timers have a copy of the pregame that was posted a couple of years ago? Can't find the copy that I had. As I remember it was fairly long. I planned to use it as a supplemential handout.

Also, does anyone have a template for a short pregame. As most of the games we do on the weekends are back to back, there is not much time to do a real pregame. Most of the centers just reinforce staying with the second to last and where to line up on a PK. I would like to provide a guideline for the newbies. I have something but want to compare it with something.

[Wreave]

Here's my quickie for less-experienced refs, with the caveat that it's just my personal notes - I'll probably modify it with feedback from this thread if we get good responses.

1. Offside. Stay with the offside line. Flag for offside only if the offside player is involved or interfering - don't just flag if the player is offside but not involved. If you flag offside, keep your flag up until I wave you off, the goalkeeper gets possession, the ball goes out for a goal kick, or the defense clears the ball past midfield.

2. You're empowered to call fouls in your quadrant. Your quadrant is anytime you're closer to the foul than I am, or if I'm screened and you think I didn't see the foul. If you call something in the PA, make sure it's something that I didn't see and you are absolutely certain of. Keep your flag up as long as it takes to get my attention. If you see the other ARs' flag up and I don't see it, mirror his flag.

3. For PKs, your job is the keeper. If he moves before the kick, step onto the field. Otherwise, return to the touch line. I'll watch the players.

4. Watch for off-the-ball fouls and misconduct. Flag them or get my attention at the next stoppage.

5. If the ball is out of play, and you need my attention, and I don't see your flag, call my name.

Note that I am usually real good about keeping ARs in sight, but especially less experienced/youth ARs tend to pull their flag down after a few seconds if it's not seen, or are not sure how they should handle it if they need me and I don't see them. I want to stress that flags should stay up and they should use their voices if it's the best option.

For youth ARs, I remind that if there's a breakaway or a through ball past the defense, I will be sprinting down the opposite side of the field to stay up with play, and I expect them to do the same. Sometimes I get youth ARs that are players I have coached in the past, and I have threatened to give them laps if I ever beat them to the endline. :D

[wwdudley]

The Ken Aston Referee Society site has a pretty comprehensive list. I'm not particularly fond of the alphabetical layout, so I rearranged what I wanted to use into related groupings and put them on a 3x5 notecard. As a new referee, it has helped me to make sure there isn't anything I forgot. At some point I figure I will have done it enough I will remember it on my own, but for now I need the cheat sheet!

http://www.kenaston.org/LAWS/LAW-6.htm

[macheath]

For younger ARs (when I have them), I emphasize that they need to stay with the offside position and focus on that, and not drift upfield watching the ball in order to call direction when it is kicked out. I find they often lose track of the line while watching the ball, and then are out of position for the offside call.

[Citiref]

Here's another good one from Gil Weber:

http://soccer-ref.quietfire.com/pregame.html

[BC_Ref]

Here's my quickie for less-experienced refs, with the caveat that it's just my personal notes - I'll probably modify it with feedback from this thread if we get good responses.


Pretty good one. A few other points that I like to mention.

1 - how I view handling - what is it, what isn't it. I'm pretty clear that I'm on the rarely call it end of the spectrum (most I view as inadvertinent or not deliberate for the skill or age level), so any handling calls need to be made with this in mind. Given the wide differences of opinion locally, I need to explain what I think is handling, otherwise I'll get calls from my ARs that I don't want.
2 - sidelines problem - for younger ARs, they are told to bring me over ASAP. hasn't been an issue, but I like to make it clear that if they have a sideline problem, we have a sideline problem.
3 - how to signal that a card needs to be given. I'll then trot over and find out what happened and why a card is needed.
4 - ask them to report anything weird or wonderful they have spotted at half. Both to let me know (if we are dealing with a potential hot spot) and let the other AR who is getting that attacker/defender mix what is happening. Tendencies of that defense to pull the trap, be lazy about getting back, one attacker being continually in an offside position, etc.... forewarned is forearmed.

[Wreave]

1 - how I view handling - what is it, what isn't it. I'm pretty clear that I'm on the rarely call it end of the spectrum (most I view as inadvertinent or not deliberate for the skill or age level), so any handling calls need to be made with this in mind. Given the wide differences of opinion locally, I need to explain what I think is handling, otherwise I'll get calls from my ARs that I don't want.

Handling is a real good idea. I should toss that into the foul section.

[pacref]

Thanks to all of you, for your contributions,
Citiref, Gil's list is what I was looking for. Didn't even think about looking in the listserv.

Still need input if ya got it!

[aevange8]

A few things I make sure to do that aren't explcitly related to the LOTG.

Find out the experience of your ARs: This will give you an idea of what you should expect from them, gear your pre-game towards their experience. Talking over their heads here will only confuse and alienate them.

Ask your ARs questions. This will involve them in the pre-game more than just talking at them. When their input is welcomed, they are more likely to give you good information once the match begins.

Let them know you have their back. Being a good AR has a lot to do with confidence. You are much better off when they know you are working as a team and are supported.

Any one else have anything they do in these regards??

[FutbolArbitro]

Another pregame that can be laminated and kept in a pocket can be found here: http://www.sjsra.org/documents/resources/pregame.pdf

[ref47]

my quickie checklist

Use 2004 guide to procedures
Ar1 back-up time
Ar2 back-up events – goals, cards
Consider throwins trifling
No special signals
Stay w/ offside on fk’s unless waived down
Unfurl flag when you and team ready
Touchline- in/out or close to line, raise flag
Direction if asked on my half, full signal
Enter field to set distance near you
Fouls- advantage, trifling, would I call it?
Missed flags- hold for cards, drop after
5-10 seconds if no longer needed

young ar’s – advise if getting grief

[NHRef]

When I deal with youth ARs I give them the "good cop/bad cop" speach. If a coach/parent is being rude and needs dealing with, they are the "good cop" smile, stay polite etc. If they want help, by all means call me over, I will be more than happy to be the "bad cop"

I also have one of the ARs back me up on time, goals, cards etc.

[whitehound]

Here's my quickie for less-experienced refs, with the caveat that it's just my personal notes - I'll probably modify it with feedback from this thread if we get good responses.

1. Offside. Stay with the offside line. Flag for offside only if the offside player is involved or interfering - don't just flag if the player is offside but not involved. If you flag offside, keep your flag up until I wave you off, the goalkeeper gets possession, the ball goes out for a goal kick, or the defense clears the ball past midfield.

2. You're empowered to call fouls in your quadrant. Your quadrant is anytime you're closer to the foul than I am, or if I'm screened and you think I didn't see the foul. If you call something in the PA, make sure it's something that I didn't see and you are absolutely certain of. Keep your flag up as long as it takes to get my attention. If you see the other ARs' flag up and I don't see it, mirror his flag.

3. For PKs, your job is the keeper. If he moves before the kick, step onto the field. Otherwise, return to the touch line. I'll watch the players.

4. Watch for off-the-ball fouls and misconduct. Flag them or get my attention at the next stoppage.

5. If the ball is out of play, and you need my attention, and I don't see your flag, call my name.

Note that I am usually real good about keeping ARs in sight, but especially less experienced/youth ARs tend to pull their flag down after a few seconds if it's not seen, or are not sure how they should handle it if they need me and I don't see them. I want to stress that flags should stay up and they should use their voices if it's the best option.

For youth ARs, I remind that if there's a breakaway or a through ball past the defense, I will be sprinting down the opposite side of the field to stay up with play, and I expect them to do the same. Sometimes I get youth ARs that are players I have coached in the past, and I have threatened to give them laps if I ever beat them to the endline. :D
Couple of observations:
Who is watching the ball over the line on PKs I assume you want your AR to let you know and how would you like it.

I dont like ANYONE Calling out my name from the sideline. If the coaches/players hear your AR doing it....they might start next.

[njref]

For newer ARs, I have taken to using a game clip-board (with the field lines printed on it) to show the ARs where I want them to be. I think they catch on faster with the visual assist. I will use it to emphasize the basic game situations, including CK, PK, GK, DFK, offside, goal scored, etc.

[pensmom4]

This has been a fantastic thread! It's been very helpful to read all of this. Sometimes the center ref is used to working w/ the same people all the time and they just assume you know all of these things.

I realize instructions will vary from referee to referee, but reading this thread has been an eye-opener for me.

Lee

[whitehound]

This has been a fantastic thread! It's been very helpful to read all of this. Sometimes the center ref is used to working w/ the same people all the time and they just assume you know all of these things.

I realize instructions will vary from referee to referee, but reading this thread has been an eye-opener for me.

Lee
We encourage a full pregame even when the reffs have worked together before. Never assume anything. you will get burned.

[BC_Ref]

We encourage a full pregame even when the reffs have worked together before. Never assume anything. you will get burned.

Excellent words to ref by. Remember, my telepathy is very poor - and so are most of your fellow refs, so tell me what you want, don't assume I know it through osmosis. I'm not a vegetable :)

[Wreave]

We encourage a full pregame even when the reffs have worked together before. Never assume anything. you will get burned.

Well-said and I was just reminded of that this weekend, doing back-to-back BU14s.

The first one, I was working with one real solid ref with whom I've worked before, and one newer guy. I had time and gave a full pregame to both. The game went great and I never had any issues.

The second one was on the same field and we were running late, plus I had to run over to the bathroom between games. I only had one relatively inexperienced adult AR, and a club line on the other side. That meant I had to shade further toward the club line's end of the field to watch offside, and ended up getting caught further back than I like more than once.

The result was multiple miscommunications between me and the AR, especially on offside. One I called that he didn't even flag, down in the goal area. One, a through ball down the middle had one player offside-positioned and one that stayed back until the ball was played through. The onside player (correctly) yelled to the offside player to get back, not to play the ball because he was off. The onside player picked the ball up, play continued, and resulted in a shot which was collected by the keeper. I then looked across the field and saw my AR still standing up near midfield with his flag up. OK, my fault for not looking at him sooner, but we looked kind of silly.

The last one was an apparent goal. I had been all the at the other end of the field, the ball had been collected by the keeper, punted upfield, and I was hustling to catch up, had just gotten to about the top of the center circle when the shot banged around a little in the goal area and went in the goal. It looked good to me, then I glanced across to my AR, who had his flag up. I had no reason not to trust him on it, there was definitely a crowd, he was in the right place, and it seemed very conceivable that the shot had been deflected in by an offside attacker. So I blew the whistle, and of course the coaches protested.

Normally coach protests don't bother me, and they didn't actually bother me in this case, but they simply noted that the deflection was off a defender, not an attacker, so I did what I should have done in the first place, and called my AR over. He told me there was an attacker on the far post. I asked, "Did he touch the ball?" AR: "No." Me: "Did he interfere with a defender or the goalkeeper?" AR: "No." Me: "OK, he wasn't involved." Blow whistle, point to center circle.

We got the call right, but again, looked silly doing it. Even a 60-second pregame would probably have avoided this foolishness.