intechpc
16 Jul 2007, 01:48 PM
Hey everyone, I figured I'd offer up a quick summary of my week at ODP for Region II Boys in Rockford. Shane Butler ran the whole thing from the referee side and from my understanding the coaching side was all new as well. Unfortunately this led to some miscommunications and disorganization, but luckily nothing major.
The climate of the camp was less strict than a number of stories I had heard from previous camps. There was no real dress code for meetings, no one got yelled at for not having OSI socks, shorts, etc. Shane was outstanding throughout. He mixed in a number of on-field workshops with the classroom meetings which proved to be very valuable. We worked on Persistent Infringement, Field Awareness, Free Kick management and Penalty kick mechanics in on-field workshops.
I sure felt like the old guy though, especially on the first day. We arrived Sunday and had a short meeting for those that were there (about half of the total group). Around me were many 17-22 year olds. Made me feel pretty old sitting there at 30. Luckily on Monday morning a few referees clearly my senior arrived. ;) I ended up working the most games of anyone at the camp, thanks in part to my luck in getting assigned to pool games and extra matches that needed coverage. This meant I got plenty of opportunity to apply what we were learning and to work with some relatively high level referees (worked with a State 5 on two of the games). Unfortunately it also meant that my body took a beating. Friday I was running lines on the final and at half time ended up switching with the 4th official as my knees were telling me I'd had too much fun ;)
So I learned a ton!! Shane had a lot of great experiences to share and offered some strategies that fit very well with my refereeing philosophy. I also learned a good deal from other more experienced referees that were at the camp, especially the state ref that I did two games with. I also learned that I need to continue working on my conditiioning if I want to move up. I don't have a problem with endurance from a cardio perspective but I do need some strength training to ensure I don't have an issue similar to the finals.
All in all, it was a great time, we had a lot of fun and there were many great referees. I honestly wouldn't mind returning next year if the opportunity presents itself again (there were a number of repeat refs there this year).
The climate of the camp was less strict than a number of stories I had heard from previous camps. There was no real dress code for meetings, no one got yelled at for not having OSI socks, shorts, etc. Shane was outstanding throughout. He mixed in a number of on-field workshops with the classroom meetings which proved to be very valuable. We worked on Persistent Infringement, Field Awareness, Free Kick management and Penalty kick mechanics in on-field workshops.
I sure felt like the old guy though, especially on the first day. We arrived Sunday and had a short meeting for those that were there (about half of the total group). Around me were many 17-22 year olds. Made me feel pretty old sitting there at 30. Luckily on Monday morning a few referees clearly my senior arrived. ;) I ended up working the most games of anyone at the camp, thanks in part to my luck in getting assigned to pool games and extra matches that needed coverage. This meant I got plenty of opportunity to apply what we were learning and to work with some relatively high level referees (worked with a State 5 on two of the games). Unfortunately it also meant that my body took a beating. Friday I was running lines on the final and at half time ended up switching with the 4th official as my knees were telling me I'd had too much fun ;)
So I learned a ton!! Shane had a lot of great experiences to share and offered some strategies that fit very well with my refereeing philosophy. I also learned a good deal from other more experienced referees that were at the camp, especially the state ref that I did two games with. I also learned that I need to continue working on my conditiioning if I want to move up. I don't have a problem with endurance from a cardio perspective but I do need some strength training to ensure I don't have an issue similar to the finals.
All in all, it was a great time, we had a lot of fun and there were many great referees. I honestly wouldn't mind returning next year if the opportunity presents itself again (there were a number of repeat refs there this year).