youth national ODP finals

[Leighs_babe]

Hey did anyone go to the National Youth ODP finals.
I was wondering how that went. I know last year it was a wash, no pun intended

[Trevallion]

I know one of the refs who was there this year. I think that he was a little indifferent abou the whole event. He was really excited to be invited down there, but I'm not sure that it really turned out to be the event he imagined.

[USSF REF]

I refereed at that tournament.

[oldmanreferee]

I refereed at that tournament.

great so how did it go?? what did they give you all this year? How was the weather??
How was the instruction

[USSF REF]

great so how did it go?? what did they give you all this year? How was the weather??
How was the instruction

I didn't want to brag, but someone asked who attended.

I'll tell you what, I'm at work right now. When I get home I'll give everyone the skinny.

[Ref Flunkie]

I didn't want to brag, but someone asked who attended.

I'll tell you what, I'm at work right now. When I get home I'll give everyone the skinny.

Work??? Bah, that is when I get the most posting done on this site ;).

[USSF REF]

Work??? Bah, that is when I get the most posting done on this site ;).

Thats how it was for me too... then they caught me :o

[oldmanreferee]

:) Thats how it was for me too... then they caught me :o

Oh i hate when people wont let you relax at work sometimes :)
My boss used to be that way until she got caught shopping at VS and some other place. ha ha ha

[Trevallion]

I didn't want to brag, but someone asked who attended.

I'll tell you what, I'm at work right now. When I get home I'll give everyone the skinny.

I've seen most of what you all got. Must be nice when Addidas is the corporate sponsor.:)

[oldmanreferee]

I'll tell you what, I'm at work right now. When I get home I'll give everyone the skinny.[/QUOTE]

He must have had to work overtime
ha ha ha ha ha

[USSF REF]

I'll tell you what, I'm at work right now. When I get home I'll give everyone the skinny.

He must have had to work overtime
ha ha ha ha ha[/QUOTE]

Let it slip my mind.

I will get this to you guys, sorry! I had a busy week/weekend.

[Leighs_babe]

:)

Oh i hate when people wont let you relax at work sometimes :)
My boss used to be that way until she got caught shopping at VS and some other place. ha ha ha

HEy now what is wrong with Victoria Secret's I wear it all the time and enjoy receiving it as gifts. except they dont make a good sprts bra
ha ha ha

[USSF REF]

OK you asked for it, so here it is (some of it at least)...

Two days before I flew down to Frisco, TX a box came to my house from US Youth Soccer...

The contents included:

1 - Adidas Blue Warm Up top (stylish) with the US Youth Soccer Logo screen printed on the back.

1 - Black Adidas warm up bottoms (also stylish) but somehow that made the kit blue top and black bottoms. I didn't mind but there was at least one of the refs whose wife yelled at him and said "blue and black don't go together". To which he replied - I didn't pick them out!

1 - Pair of Adidas molded Telstar boots (size 10 US), I didn't use them in TX though, I brought my pair of Adidas turfs instead because I didn't have time to break in the cleats, and I'll be damned if I'm getting blisters if I can help it.

1 - Adidas Referee top (high quality) the same style as WC 06 - Charcoal gray and neon yellow. The top had 2 breast pockets.

1 - Matching Referee shorts - 4 pockets in all.

1 - Pair of charcoal matching socks.

1 - White adidas tee-shirt with US Youth soccer on it and ODP crest with the year 2007 on the front.

That was the end of it.

US youth soccer also covered my flight, 3 night stay at the Embassy Suites (5 star type accommodation), and I'll be reimbursed for my food, but the food at the hotel was free to me.

Considering all that, I don't mind not getting paid for the matches :)

Night 1 - I flew from Rochester to Atlanta. Connected in Atlanta to Dallas, TX and was met by refs in a minivan. We were taken to the hotel and a few of us met up and decided to go to the "Dave and Busters" which is a place that serves typical American food and also has a bunch of arcade games. This was my first "everything is bigger in TX experience". You really can't believe how massive this arcade is considering we were in a resturant also.

We had a meeting at 10pm and they handed out assignments. Each ref was to get one middle, one 4th, and two lines. I happened to get the first boys middle. So it was a semi-final for the U-16 Boys division.

At least the games didn't start until 1 the next day, so we could sleep in right? WRONG! We had class at 9am with our national instructor, who also happened to be a FIFA AR - Kermit Quinsberry. (Walmart is also bigger in TX, I found that out on a late night run for apples, orange juice, and string cheese?)

After 8am breakfast, where I did the majority of my pre-game talk, we went to the class. The presentations were very thorough and the material was excellent. I have lots of notes, but I'll be damned if I'm typing them up here. (I take lots of notes at these events). There were only 2 problems with the class session. 1. I had been drinking water like a fiend for the last few days, and in particular that morning. (I wanted to be well hydrated). Well we didn't get any breaks for the first 2 hours, so I had to excuse myself to the men's room once, and luckily we were given a break around 11 or else it would have been twice. I don't like standing out in these settings. The other problem is they let us out so late that we didn't even get to the complex until 50 minutes before kick-off. This didn't give me the time I usually like to have to get relaxed before big games.

Game #1 - I am not going to get deep into detail here, I don't think it's fair to the teams as if you really wanted to you could look it up and I don't think they should be subjected to my judgments on if they played well or poor or whatever.

I got to use my new Xmas gift (beeper flags) for the first time. What a nifty invention.

I will say that I issued 2 cautions, both to the same player, both were recommended by a different AR - but I would have given the cautions anyway. So, I got the distinction of having been the first referee to send a player off. This is a bigger deal than you might think because during the morning class they explained that the first ref to give a red card had to buy (expensive) ice cream for all the refs and ref administrators!! :eek: Luckily, some things happened to defray the cost later in the day. I can add that I was not happy with my sprint speed, but I was very happy with my match management - and at breakfast the next day one of the losing side's parents recognized me and came up to tell me how good a job he thought I did, so that was nice.

After the match I debriefed with my crew - I brought my iPod and the port. speakers - so we jammed out to Bob Marley (a post match tradition I like to keep whenever possible). Then, we went as a crew and had lunch together. My AR's were from South TX and LA - and my 4th was part of my region 1 group, so we were already pals.

Game #2 - 4th official. No problems, I think I did one dumb thing the whole game (telling the ref that an administrator had taken one of the game balls from the field). The assessor didn't like that, I can see why now - but for some reason at the time I felt like he should know...

That night we all vegged and hung together. I think I ended up eating at Dave and Busters again - I couldn't escape that place, even though it wasn't that good.

That’s all I have time to write right now. I’ll add more later – but only if people care to read it.

[IASocFan]

...That’s all I have time to write right now. I’ll add more later – but only if people care to read it.

I enjoyed it all! And I don't usually finish such long posts! :)

Please continue!

[Ref Flunkie]

I enjoyed it all! And I don't usually finish such long posts! :)

Please continue!

Yup good stories. I figure I will likely never be able to do this, so I can live vicariously through you Steve.

[Citiref]

Like IASocFan said, please post more (and you have to post some of the good notes! :D)

[Ref Flunkie]

Like IASocFan said, please post more (and you have to post some of the good notes! :D)

Yeah I haven't been able to find the game records online from Steve's game yet....I want details!!! :)

[gosellit]

Yeah I haven't been able to find the game records online from Steve's game yet....I want details!!! :)

I do understand from another ref from my area that was there...USSF REF is pretty darn good!!!

[Ref Flunkie]

I do understand from another ref from my area that was there...USSF REF is pretty darn good!!!

Shhh, don't give him a big head ;).

[gosellit]

Shhh, don't give him a big head ;).

Yep, thought about that right as I was pressing the Submit Reply button.