Correct wrong word. I should have used deliberate since the player intentionally kicked the ball. The main point was the sportsmanship of the coach and him not wanting to take advantage of a call he felt was wrong.
Monday night, 1st division co-ed game. Beautiful evening, most of the players former college players, many of them former D1 players, so high skill levels. Before the game, while we're waiting, of course, for the goalkeeper to get his gloves on, one of the guys says to me "I am so happy to be playing soccer as an adult." One of the other team before the game said to me, "I'll bet you're going to have a great game today." Three goals, about three fouls, players just enjoying the game so much. I could see they were delighting in just making an insightful pass to the right teammate. And I didn't get hit by the ball even once!
I've been assigned to a WPSL regional semi-final (4O) and regional final (AR2). I guess I won't be hanging out with my Mother-In-Law as much this weekend.
Did a few days of region iii ODP. I’m sure the best talent in the region has been taken by DA but boy these kids are getting better all the time. I hadn’t done any competitive games for a while, and my first session was pool game (just 35 minutes) u16 boys. My debrief was done by Chris Penso. My habit is to peel off to the left of play is going down the right channel- he wants me to stay connected and positioned to make an in/out decision on the penalty area, and drift left only once I see that a cross will be attempted. He also wanted me to have more presence and intensity as play enters the PA: “if play gets to the six, you need to already be in the PA.” Had three AR’s on Saturday, and Manny Ortiz did the last one. No suggestions! I was amazed. Sunday morning I had u17 boys Florida vs GA. Assessed by Ed Marco. He felt my foul threshold was too high in the first half and wanted me to think about calling fouls as communication. I lowered my foul threshold (a little) in the second half and he thought I went too far . Anyway, he didn’t have anything for me in terms of mechanics and positioning, so I was happy. All in all I was totally impressed with the teaching and amazed that these guys, who truly have the chops were willing to work with a middle-aged guy as much as they did with the ambitious youth that are trying to get there. All the instructors were totally engaged and had endless patience with questions- a wonderful experience.
If I wasn't the only one in Lancaster CA for AYSO National Open Cup, then the rest haven't yet recovered. All you could handle for three days. That was 12 for me and 14 for the ute.
Hey guys I’m a 14 (15 in November) year old ref and I was looking to try and get into the Iber Cup for 2019. I have a friend in NY who went when he was 13 and then the following year when he was 14. I emailed him but haven’t gotten a reply yet. I know that they take teenagers so how does the whole thing work and, realistically, do I have a shot? If you need any more info about me feel free to ask.
My one semi-final 4O turned into both semi-final 4O. I'm surprised our LAC hasn't blown his lid in a mass email. This is the third time the crew has had a last minute, undocumented, change due to a referee being double booked and I've heard stories of more. I can't believe these guys are 1) Not blocking US Soccer Game Officials or regular GO shortly after they get an assignment 2) accepting a game when they had a game already accepted 3) not beating down the door of the assignor until they had been removed from the game 4) not replying to the center ref's email about pregame with "I'm not going to be there..." The field was excellent as usual, unfortunately the mosquitoes were abundant because it had been 3 days of no rain after daily rain for a week. The legs are ugly.
Last night I received a certificate of merit for outstanding refereeing and today I refereed three finals at USA Cup!
B19 player apologized to me at half time for getting cautioned. (He was a defender fouled by an attacker in the PA, I called it, but he still felt necessary to get up and push the attacker. It was 97 on a turf field and the "friendly" got testy for a while.)
Last night I'm AR1 on a U14G state tournament game. The corner flags are the type with a weak spring at the base so the flag post leans easily in the wind. At a corner kick a player asks me if I can hold the flag out of the way. "Sorry, I'm not allowed to do that". "Really?" she said. She looked so upset I thought tears might be imminent.
I hate those flags. But not as much as I hate the plastic-base ones for turf fields that fall over in a light breeze (because the field managers never seem to do the fill-with-sand part).
My first reaction is to be appalled that a state tournament is using flags that get in the way of play. My second reaction is that I think the prohibition on moving/removing flags is intended to prohibit that for properly positioned flags. If the wind (or weight, or something broken, or improperly set up, etc.) is causing the flag pole to be in the way of play rather than vertical, the flag may be properly moved out of the way, and removed if it cannot be moved to not interfere. (Indeed, if the flag is leaning so that it interfering, it is likely also effectively less than 5' tall and a safety hazard.)
Just finished a bowl of pierogies(!) at Heinz Field, few minutes til kickoff for Dortmund-Benfica. Local kid CJ Morgante is warming up on the line. Got upgraded from Section 228 to Section 114. Still have some beer left. Eta other local kid Charles Murphy is 4O. I was in a ref camp group with him few years back. Guess he listened more than I did. E2ta honorary captains Matt Bahr and Rocky Bleier. I really am in Pittsburgh.
I truly despise the whole summer touring of the Euro clubs. What an absolute money grab. And the pricing is obscene.
Just so I’m clear on this ICC stuff, here’s a paragraph from the Guardian on last night’s City-Liverpool match from the Meadowlands in NJ: Preparations for the International Champions Cup fixture were far from ideal for both teams. The pitch was a problem too, sodden following a day’s downpour and patchy having been relaid at 5am on Tuesday after a series of Taylor Swift concerts. City had 16 members of their first team squad missing due to post-World Cup holidays and injuries. A youthful, inexperienced starting XI was the inevitable consequence although £60m record signing Riyad Mahrez made his second appearance in City colours. For that you could have paid $200 a ticket to sit in a reasonable seat down in the lower bowl. Or $50 in the upper reaches of the top deck. Like I said, an absolute disgrace.
I went to Toronto to see Spurs play TFC. Made a weekend out of it, got to see a new city, and got to see Spurs in person for the first time (even with a depleted roster). It was worth it to me.