U-16 boys. Not the high level, so they turn to stupidity. Funny that I did U-15 (higher level) and there isn't a hint of this type of behavior. Must be that U-16 age where the complete disregard for their bodies begins. Same thing with school ball.
Sometimes this can be totally non-challenging but still a lot of fun. G12 on a beautiful middle school field (yeah, I always thought that was an oxymoron, too....). Two really positive coaches. Parents just supporting the kids. Two engaged buy inexperienced ARs. Beautiful sunny but not hot day. Girls just having fun--even though the score was never close.
I looked, but I couldn't find this on the Referee Acronyms thread. However, I figured it out from context, especially that "Not Want To Quit" ending.
My daughter just gave up soccer for LAX and loves it. The rule differences are immense, it's essentially a different sport. Boys can mash each other to a pulp, girls are BARELY allowed any contact. Some officials get a bit overzealous and call every trifling thing they see creating, essentially, a 25 minute match with 12 minutes of game play. RE cards: I've given few out the past year, very few and only the rare RC, this past weekend I centered a U13 girls bronze level tourney match and gave out four YC. Really odd, I'm still replaying it in my head and perhaps only one of those was probably too much. Weird.
Bless me my brothers, for I have sinned. I broke my own rule about never addressing coaches from shouting distance. Varsity boys, dual, I'm in front of the home bench, with home defending my goal. Visiting attackers can't stay onside to save their lives, and it's not even close; they're off by 5 and 10 and 15 yards. Nonetheless, every time I blow for it the visiting coaches go off, arguing the call from fifty yards away. I gesture for quiet a time or two, but they keep it up. The third or fourth time I lose it, and from right in front of the home bench, tell them loudly enough for just about everybody in the stadium to hear, "Coach, your guys are pitching a tent five and ten yards offside. It's not even close. I know you have a better angle from back there, but I have to call it from down here. Now I've heard you, and that's enough. No more!" That got a bit of a stir and a chuckle from the home bench, but their coach shut them down right away, bless his heart. The good news is I didn't hear another peep out of the coaches for the rest of the game. But I felt bad about it all the same. I know better. Mea culpa. At halftime, a home player cruises by me and offers, "You don't have to take any crap from them you know." "I know." "You can send them off." "Thanks."
The "better angle" sarcasm made me wince a bit but I completely understand your frustration. Say three 7+7's and make an act of contrition. [edit] Soccer dad's will do nicely. [/edit]
It made me wince too, even as I was saying it. "You knucklehead," I said to myself, and that was just the start. Sometimes I can hardly hear myself think over the noise of the conversations in my head.
A.B. (After Bieniewicz, https://soccer.nbcsports.com/tag/john-bieniewicz/), I found some level of peace. When HS coaches start yelling, I stop the clock, calmly head within speaking distance, tell them that this is High School, and we don't dissent in High School. I show the yellow card and go restart the game. It's amazing how well it works. Exactly one coach has failed to get the message and had to take the long walk. "Don't I get a warning?" "Coach, this is your warning."
Second time in a week in a smaller town 30 minutes outside of our area. This school will likely join the conference I usually work next season. Nice people in this town - just one of those nice, self-contained Midwestern small towns. After my game tonight, the athletic director's secretary (who was the on-site admin tonight) was talking to me after the game and said, "Whenever we see your name on the officials' list, we know it will be a good night. You do a good job, and you're also a nice person who is so polite to everyone you talk to here. (The athletic director) has said the same thing." That's why I keep doing this.
Not really a referee story, but a great soccer player story. I ran into an old friend from 40 years ago at a breakfast of former co-workers. We were both club presidents and coaches back then. She had a high school player who back then who told her he wanted to drop out of school to play hockey professionally. She pointed out to him that he might want to stay into school to learn a little more about business and math (agent percentages, etc.) She ran into him years later. His wrist was smashed in his first professional game and he never played another game. He did finish high school and college, and was, at that time, a small college girls soccer coach.
Sorry for the loss. Appears to have been a Dolfin on a flip grip? Good choice of whistle configuration!
File this under TGTMYNWTQ. Girls small-school (AA) state quarter-final. Home is an inner-city charter school, visitors are from WAY out in the country. Two entirely different worlds. I'm 4O. When we start I think "We're going home early from this one. Visitors 10-0 in the first half." Home team is almost certainly thinking the same thing. But it's not to be. Visitors have a serious case of playoff yips and can't put the ball in the net to save their lives. I mention to a sub that it's hard not to be nervous in the playoffs, huh, and she replies "Yeah especially when it's the first time your school has ever made the state playoffs." At the half, after they've squandered at least eight really good chances, it's 0-0. Home keeper is utterly fearless and never flinches or bobbles, but the visitors accommodate her by either shooting it straight at her or missing the frame entirely. Visitors have a talented winger who's fast and can shoot from thirty yards out, but she has the worst yips of all and only shoots from thirty yards out even when there's nobody between her and the goal. Every time she misses I see her shoulders slump a little further down. She's dying, and her very young assistant coach is going down with her. With five minutes left it's still, astonishingly, 0-0, she misses again, badly, and he goes off. I say "Hey, don't be hard on her on the long ride home. She knows." He nods acknowledgement. Now home is smelling a miracle and looking for OT. But with a minute to go, the light finally goes on for the winger. She gets one more open chance and this time keeps her head, dribbles all the way in, and slots it nicely across the keeper into the far corner. Game ends 1-0, and you would have thought they'd won the state championship. At that point I guess they kinda had. Walking off I tell the home keeper "You're my hero." I wish both teams could have won that one, but there are no ties in the playoffs.
Nice rig! Yes, I have (or had) two Dolfins, each one on its own flip grip. I should probably get the mouth grip to keep myself from gnawing through the good one.
Yesterday, DURING ORCHESTRA CLASS, my wife calls me to settle a soccer debate she's having with her students. Background: Her school is ~99% Hispanic and she's a very fair skinned red-head who likes to surprise the students by demonstrating knowledge of the game. It is MS soccer season and she has gone to a number of the games, including two days ago. Story: As the students were packing up to leave she asked one boy what his disagreement with the referee was. The student was mad at the referee for not walking off 10 yards while they set the wall. My wife told him that the defense doesn't get to ask for 10. This triggered a debate that she wanted to settle, so she called me, on speaker, for clarification. I figured out the question she was asking, and answered the kickers ask for 10 but may play it if they don't want to ask. Post Script: She hangs up and tells the kids, "There you go. A state referee says the attackers ask for the distance." One of her students replies, "He's a state referee!? I'm only a 9." Once I got the full story last night, I told the Mrs. that this is a misconception that I see on the field, usually with Hispanic teams, usually this age group.
Is that what crushed it?!? Mine's not a real CMG... it's silicone baby bottle nipple top . I've moved from finger whistles to using the flip-grips. Of course, rigged them with quick-clips to accommodate my varying whistle mood du jour and fairly wide hands. If only such geekdom would also help improve my foul recognition and selection...
I had a couple of fun middle school games over the past days. I haven't done middle school in 10+ years but wanted to get out this spring and these worked with my schedule. Wednesday was a boys match between two similarly matched teams. 1st half ended 1-0 for the home team. 6 minutes into the second half it was 3-2 visitors, and by the end it was 7-3 for the home team with 4 goals coming in the last 5 minutes. The game was more fun to referee than it had any right to be and I got to run around for 60 minutes. There was nearly 0 dissent which was nice, but you could tell the kids really cared. There were also a fair amount of students and parents which I was not expecting. Thursday was a girls matchup between two feeder schools for local powerhouse high schools. Both teams were coached by the varsity head coach. The teams were really evenly matched, neither team dominated and they kept me running the whole match. The game ended 0-0 and they play two 5 minute overtime period, golden goal. The visitors scored with less than 1 second to go in the second overtime to win 1-0. Both matches were so much more enjoyable than i was expecting for Middle School soccer. The student and parent support was more than I thought it would be.