Had a game yesterday (forcing me to miss Croatia and Nigeria)... GU15. Covered 10.1km, 8-2 final, and three advantages led directly to goals (I quickly realized that the better team had the skill to get better chances from advantages near the penalty area than free kicks around there).
Love it when that happens. Had one earlier this this year, first time I ever called advantage for a foul in the defending team's PA and it resulted in a goal - player that cleared the ball upfield got fouled but the clearance went right to a teammate waiting all alone at midfield.
How big are the fields there if you're covering 10km in a one-sided youth game? I rarely get over ten in a competitive men's game.
Two young ARs that had not really had a lot of prior experience -- so I was covering off deeper than I'd like into their ends to get a better view. And the scoreline was one-sided, but the play wasn't -- the weaker team did hold a good chunk of possession and, being a youth game, there was a lot of "defender tennis" (ie, defender from one team getting the ball, clearing it up field to the other team's defender... who... well... repeated the process.
Attended a referee camp this weekend and received field and classroom instruction from three former National referees. Also met my state’s youth female referees of the year.
Out doing an assessment yesterday, and a student that I'd taught this spring was on the line. I was happily impressed with how well he was doing -- his major failing being confidence at this point in time -- understandable as this was game #6 for him.
Attended the AYSO Ken Aston referee camp with Skye Arthur-Banning as the principal instructor. He is now the head referee for CP Soccer--international competition, including the Paralympics. CP comes from Cerebral Palsy, though eligible players can also have related disabilities. It's 7 a side, but real soccer. If you happen to stumble across it in your area, something that could be fun to get involved with. (The US is also working on putting together a National Team for blind soccer--as that will be a Paralympic event when the Olympics come to the US. (For those not familiar with the Paralympics (Parallel Olympics), they take place at the same sites as the Olympics, two weeks later, and have a variety of sports for athletes with a variety of physical limitations.)
Just got back from the USYS Midwest Regional tournament in Indianapolis. First of all, Grand Park is amazing! We used 28 fields, 6 of which were turf. Then, when thunderstorms came in on Tuesday and messed up the semi final schedule, they just moved some games indoors. That's right, they have an indoor facility, with 3 full size fields. Wonderful facility! This was my second year attending the event as a referee coach/mentor and also as Head of Delegation for my state. I always love attending this event. The friendships I have made over the years will last forever.
I am hoping to attend the Midwest Regionals in the next few years, according to my SRA the region now wants referees to be 18. However, I was able to officiate at the ODP Region II Showcase this week at the National Sports Center, I had 7 games over three days. Got to work with and learn from some experienced state referees, an experience that I would definitely recommend and will not forget!
The old fuschia or the new Score breast cancer awareness one? I like the new Score one better than some of the official shirts.
The old Fuscia. Apparently the guy who was wearing it had recently moved back to the States from Italy.
Oh, and my flag case/bag is made out of the same material...the old fuschia. Because that is when I bought them. Occasionally, I get young ARs looking at it weird and I think to myself that the flags are probably older than they are...
I was out doing about five or six miles on Saturday and I ran past a couple of girls in their late teens. They were kind of checking out my t-shirt, so I looked down at it, after I passed them. The t-shirt had the year of a tournament on it. "Oh, this t-shirt is older than they are." One of my friends in the wine business jokingly claims that you can't drink any wine that is older than you are. Something about the space-time continuum collapsing.....
Arrived to my game and was able to watch the last 20 minutes of a u17-19 ladies game. Was not sure of the score but it looked like a competive game with opportunities at both ends. CR calls pass back handling on the visiting team inside the goal area. From my angle it didn’t look intentional. As the CR is setting the wall and dealing with the visiting coach the home coach calls his left defender over and tells her to kick it out. CR blows whistle and ball goes out of play. Maybe if the game meant something it would have ended differently but it was a nice act to see.
Mine too. I probably posted this before. My family bought them for me for Father's Day or something, just when the (first) new yellow jersey had been announced. I pulled open the wrapping paper and saw fuchsia, and thought, "Oh, no, they bought me a shirt that's going to be discontinued."
I still carry mine around in case there is a team that "forgot" to bring a different colored jersey or pinny for the goalkeeper.
Was the ball kicked in the direction of the goalkeeper? Did the goalkeeper handle the ball? Those are the questions that I ask myself when that happens. I cannot read a player's mind about what they wanted to do. I have always been told that "intentionally kicked" means that the ball was kicked, not deflected. The "intentional" part has nothing to do with what player wanted to do.