Well, I'm sure that I'm going to be "last week's ref" to the Blue team from last night. Refereeing the "children over 21" fourth division, I'm expecting some in-game 'feedback', but things are pretty quiet until about the 75th minute, when the Gold team has an IFK deep in their PA due to an offside infraction. The ball is placed, then softly kicked to the goal area, where the keeper gives it another tap to a teammate on the other side of the PA. Took me until that third touch to realize what was happening. I think, "dang, I was just reading about this idiocy on BigSoccer!" and I blow the whistle. Everybody, and I mean everybody, except my assistants and me is wondering why I stopped the game. I explain that the ball must leave the area before it can be touched again. "But that's only on a goal kick, ref!" Holy crap, did I just step into the BigSoccer Twilight Zone? So who's the biggest complainer? A member of the Blue team (#10) is adamant that he is correct, and has no problem telling me that I don't know what I'm talking about. So, he gets a caution to shut him up. Then, a teammate thinks that he's going to continue the conversation. A yellow puts a stop to that. From that point on, I can do nothing right in the eyes of Blue (probably didn't help that they couldn't get the ball past the posts or crossbar-- they hit wood no less than five times!). Five minutes later, a shot rebounds off the Gold 'keeper and hits a defender's arm about 2 feet away. Number 10 says, "you saw that handball, right?" I try to explain about "deliberate", but he's not buying it and resuming the argument. I make it clear that the decision will not change, he walks away, and I'm mentally kicking myself, because he's just going to do this at his next game, and I missed my opportunity to save that referee the aggravation of having him on the field. But, the soccer gods smiled on me. Game ends, and he still wants to talk about it! Here's another yellow to go with your previous card, and a red on top of that. If next week's ref is reading this, you are welcome. Please pay it forward.
The things we say repeatedly: "Any and all free kicks coming out of the penalty area, Coach/Player/Polite But Ill-Informed Spectator."
yep - in person classroom recert in GA online test - open book with no time limit AND three chances to "pass" and we only had about 10 scores of 100
I believe that. I have been taking the USSF and NFHS tests for 40 years. I have never had a 100% - even on open book. There are always ambiguous and awkwardly worded questions.
Me too. Best I've ever done is a 98. I think there's one question on the Georgia HS test every year that's just wrong.
A quote probably wrongly attributed to Mark Twain: "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." You know the answer, so despite it being an open book test, you don't look it up. Then you find it just ain't so.
We have an annual revert class in Maryland as well. Unfortunately half of the referees who show up are uninterested teenagers who are on their phones the entire time.
Shame-filled brag but when I took my grade 8 test in Jan 2014 (I think it was 50 questions total) I finished and told the proctor that he "only needed to check q's 26 and 43. The rest are correct." They ended up all being correct. I still haven't cracked the nut that is getting 100% on the NFHS test though. That might be impossible.
The NFHS test has several questions where you have to use your interpretive skills to determine what the real question was and supply a few missing details yourself. I've hit 98 (and maybe 99) on multiple occasions, but never the elusive 100. I don't keep my tea leaves and crystal ball next to the computer.
In New York our NFHS are now online so this shouldn't happen again, but once I got a 100% on the NFHS test because the human that was correcting it made a mistake. Two of my "correct" answers were actually wrong.
The Georgia HS test has a question about video appeals that I ALWAYS get wrong. I think it's wrong. Any Georgia guys know what I'm talking about?
If you want to drive yourself crazy about poor questioning style, the NFHS baseball quiz is the hands down leader. Makes the soccer quiz look down right succinct.
I took my 1st ever written test about 10 yrs after I started reffing. We started with the pledge to the flag followed by the Referee's Anthem "What Kid Of Fool Am I" led by Sammy Davis Jr. We had cookies and milk. Ps...my 1st badge
To be honest, I didn't know that the ball needed to clear the penalty area on free kicks until I was a referee, so I'll cut the players, coaches and fans slack...if they're not being jerks about it. Regarding recerts, our state showed the same exact videos previously seen and most of the questions were previously used in other years. Going to this kills a large part of the day, and you don't learn a thing. I'd rather everybody be upfront and provide a place where we give our "donation" and have the test done online and mail the badges to us.
Well you all just made my day. Because I have gotten 100 on both USSF and NFHS tests. In CT, these are all online, so lots of time to look stuff up. And since I know the answer is supposed to be in the books somewhere, I just keep looking until I find it. And lucky enough not to mis-read anything. I challenge my 40 or so kid refs in my assignor pool that I will pay for their test if they beat me. Haven't had to pay out yet.
How do you beat a 100? Reminds me of when I was a kid, more times than I can count I remember my mama saying, "If so and so happens, I'll stand on my head upside down." Finally one day whatever it was actually came to pass, and I said "OK now you have to stand on your head upside down." And she stood there and looked at me and said, "I'm standing on my head -- upside down."