Here is my best story from yesterday. I had a Junior College game between a team that hasn't been good lately and lots of attitude and an away team that was at national championships last year but with a new ASSistant coach. Even before the game starts the ASSistant coach came by to talk with the home coach right next to us. We introduced ourselves and the ASSistant coach was asked how his game went the day before. Right off the gate he starts, "We played well, gave up 2 easy goals in the 2nd half with no help from the referees and lost in OT. The center wouldn't call anything our way..." At that point I excused myself and went back to my bench to finish preparing for the game. I have comms that I bring to all my games, but I don't always use them. We decided to use them in this game anticipating a chippy game. We were right about the chippiness, but unfortunately my comms stopped working about 10 minutes in. Most of the 1st half I hear the ASSistant chirping about how is that their throw in, no a foul, ect... Until he finally goes toward my AR1 for calling offside on a goal that was taken out of the net. My AR1 has a strong conversation with him but he doesn't want my help yet. Few minutes later it's half time and the ASSistant wants to talk. I oblige but am cautious. He is still talking about the offside and wants to know the interpretation so I tell him the player must be involved in play speech... He is still complaining and trying to tell me that his player never touched the ball but merely tried to play it. Mind you the play was on his far side in my area of control. I tell him that his player received the ball when he was in the offside position and my AR hand the best angle to make that judgement call, and his position behind the halfway line was no place to make this judgement. He still wants to talk, however I am done and I tell him that there is nothing else to be said. About 10 minutes into the second half and one of the home players commits 2 quick fouls in a row. The second one was where he tripped on the lumpy field and fell on the away player. I stop the clock and have a word with the home player and here is the ASSistant hollering about how is that not a card. I finally have enough of him and jog close to where he is and I tell him strongly to "SIT DOWN". He tells me "I can't sit down I have a hurt knee". I tell him again "Go to your area and SIT DOWN". He does but he is not happy, I look over at the hear coach and he is trying to hide a smirk on his face. I have no other issues with this ASSistant coach and additionally the players start to play and complain a lot less. The away team wins 1-6 coming from a first half trailing 1-0. Card count; 4 yellows to the home team and none to the away team. Not a peap form the home bench about any of my decisions.
Nope. Calling for the goalkeeper is just a check to make sure one is there. It's not my job to make sure he's paying attention.
I'd suggest calling the GK is wholly unnecessary, and I stopped doing it years ago. I can check to be sure there is one by looking (and my ARs shouldn't be letting me know they are ready till they have a GK).
I'll say a look to see that there is someone in the spider man shirt, and that he/she is wearing the mickey mouse gloves, and doesn't have a water bottle or a spare ball in her/his hands.... But no way I'm shouting out to ask if they are ready and paying attention.
For some build out line games, especially if there is a large group of spectators, I'll make a show of it. "Keeper, are you ready? Keeper, are you ready? Spectators...are YOU ready??" Just to help make it fun.
Might I suggest that you've been gamed? Maybe the assistant got you to adjust your calls his way, maybe not. But he took up way more of your time and attention than he deserved. If you were the home team coaching staff, how would you feel about the leeway shown to your opponent? Your pre-game conversation with him obviously raised flags with you, yet you continued to cut him slack. In my neck 'o the woods, our policy with all scholastic teams (or so I'm told my by college buddies, as my work schedule won't let me do HS) is that all conversations go through the head coach. Assistants get a warning on the first R/AR - related outburst, and coaches get told/reminded that if they have an issue, they need to raise it. Then, it's cautions and ejections. That smirk on the head coach's face meant that he's well aware of the game his assistant is playing with you. Kudos for taking care of him, but imagine how much less annoying the game would have been if he had been cautioned back in the first half.
Exactly - because what if they say no? I used to do the "Keeper ready?" thing - because that's what I saw everyone else doing. One time I couldn't get a response, so I asked the forward what the keeper's name was, and called to her by name. She wakes up and gives me a wave - then I hear her ask a defender, "How does he know my name?" The response was, "He knows everyone's name." Ha! (Although I did know quite a few of the girls' names, because they were in school with my daughter.) Later I just looked to see if there were two players dressed funny and standing in the generally correct position. And not fumbling trying to get their gloves on, tying shoes, etc. "OK, Red's kick. Here we go." TWEET.
Same. For U7-U8 rec league, I'll make a nice ceremonial intro (quick, to the point, make all players feel involved). Anything else, you're own on own.. *tweeet*
Sounds like you waited too long to draw that proverbial line in the sand. Its an assistant coach. Who cares if you dismiss him? not like its the head coach. That's what I tell the head coaches all the time (in youth and college). "Hey coach we only need one coach today" or "hey _____ (head coaches name) your assistant _________ (assistant's name) is acting irresponsible would you mind talking to him so that way I don't have to dismiss?" Most of the time if my talking to the assistant coach doesn't modify the behavior, me stopping the game and talking to the head coach usually helps. If he doesn't change the behavior the head coach can't be mad for you dismissing him. We as referees, I believe, (all of us) put up with too much crap from coaches. Also sounds like this is a new level for him. If you said he is new to this squad. He is probably not aware of the expectations of coaching at the JC level. Unfortunately, that means its up to your crew to get him up to par on the level of expectations. This does sound like something yhtbt for us readers to fully grasp. I just think getting into a pissing match of "go sit-down, I can't, go sit" is just not conducive to the match. I agree with Jeff too this may have been part of his game if he comes from lets say an amateur background... ymmv etc. Im glad you finally got him to modify his behavior though. Ironic too that the players actually started to play afterwards...
Yeah, when I'm doing games with kids around Big Nate's age (he seems to be U9 or so), I'll ask the keepers. Never thought to ask the parents. I also check with my ARs, even though I sometimes forget to look at my center right before kickoff. Inexperience mistake on my part. On a completely different note, can you spot the error in the soccer scenes here? And has this ever happened to you?
I have been on this forum since becoming a referee in 2004. I added HS IN 2014. My game count is well into the thousands. Today, I gave my first DOGSO-F red card in ANY competition. I know, unbelievable, right? It just never happened. I have been an AR where it happened. But, Never in a HS dual, never as a USSF center until 63rd minute HS BV. Home team has had trouble scoring goals so far this year, and they are playing a better team. So, they do something you don’t normally see. They park the bus. A double-decker. In the arc, the forward receives the ball spins the defender and will be in alone, so the defender just tackles him, rugby style. Stops the one on one. He started walking as I blew my whistle. But, the free kick was missed and they hung on for the next 37 minutes (2 OT’s).
A calm, flirtatious mom hitting on a whistle-laden AR? That has never happened to me. Maybe I should wear a whistle on a lanyard when I hold the flag this weekend.
All good points and for the most part I agree with it, especially carding or warning early. This is what I typically do, however having an experienced AR1 who was willing and able to handle him, I was comfortable doing what I have done. One thing that I didn't mention is that I knew going in about the AC reputation and that he has been carded in almost every game this season. I have heard about the game he was talking about in the pregame firsthand from the center refere right before my game. Obviously the AC is not learning by being carded so my intention was to publicly embarrass him a bit in order to get an adjustment. In this game it seemed to work. Hopefully his attitude will change soon and next weeks referee won't have to put up with as much from him.
You bass turd. Can't you see that he's going for the record for most yellows without a red in a season? And you *ruined* it. Sheesh. for the humor-impaired.
No lie... A local U14/15 team has a few rambunctious moms that I've somehow ended up in front of once each of the last three seasons as AR2. (Two of them, well, they could probably beat my big butt to a pulp, so there's zero temptation to play along.) They get bored with the game sometimes. Two weeks ago... M1: "Good job, Bobby!" M2: "What happened? All I can see is ass." [I sidestep out of their way] M1: "No, no. Come back here Yellow!" M3: "Now I'm seeing ass." [I sidestep further, proper position be damned.] M2: "Yeah Yellow, do some squats or something." "No, folks are headed to dinner after the game so I don't want to ruin their appetite." Yes, this particular group scares me.
I had the trainers behind me (AR1) admiring my calves as I sidestepped along the line, D3 women's college game. Does that count? Yeah, I thought it was weird, too.
"My wife tells me it is one of my better features." I know it is begging for a comeback that would be insulting, but I know I'm setting it up so I don't mind if they are smart enough to pull it off.
OMG! Yesterday I was scheduled for a double header, AR1 for HSGV, R for HSBV, with the same guy trading with me and a third referee as AR2 for both. I did not know either of them. Home teams were a small private school that is almost always in the state championship game, frequently for both boys and girls. Huge natural grass field in perfect shape. It's raining and it's going to be raining most of the games. I'm there early and stick my stuff in an equipment shed, since the only space under cover is the two tents over the team benches. The very nice AD is there and I know her pretty well from previous soccer games, track meets and meetings with the league AD's. AR2 arrives and she's a college student. She played at her small town high school but this is her first ever game to referee. The other guy isn't there. We go walk the field, I get rosters, etc. I look at the scoreboard and realize that we are only 18 minutes from introductions and anthem. Where's the other guy? I call his phone number as listed on the website. "This number is not currently available." I call the assignor. She starts telling me how this guy's been a problem, sorry for assigning you with problem guys two days in a row, etc. and I finally had to cut her off, "We're five minutes from the start, so we've got to go." I tell AR2 "We're going to have to do a dual." She isn't quite hyperventilating, but she's close. I start talking her through dual mechanics and the other guy shows up. He doesn't remember that he's the referee for this game. He still needs to get his stuff on, etc. We leave him behind and go do the coin toss. He arrives on the field and wow. Just wow. He's wearing black dress socks. He has a whistle on a neck lanyard, a very long lanyard so the whistle is at his belly button. He clearly has never done a game with the anthem and player introductions. I have to tell them, "Okay, we're going to walk out now. We're going to stop in the center circle and turn to face the benches." The announcements are already starting and the visiting team has no idea that they should be going out there when their name is announced. We get the game started. The first goal is scored by the home team 1:08 minutes into the game. The visiting goalkeeper is inconsolable. Two or three teammates have to come give her a hug. She's crying. The coach is trying to say something encouraging. The second goal is scored 24 seconds later. Now she's a wreck. The coach is begging her players to "mark up." Her players show no signs of understanding what that means. She's asking me, or no one in particular, "How can I teach them what 'goal side' means in the middle of the game?" The sixth goal is scored when the keeper makes a save (big cheer from the bench) and is sitting on the goal line with the ball in her hands. She then leans back completely horizontal, trying to get up. Yeah, you guessed it, she brought the whole ball across the line. After one goal, the clock doesn't get restarted until someone shouts for them to get it going. The referee doesn't correct the clock but whistles for halftime with 1:23 left on the clock. It's 8-0 at halftime. Fortunately, all of the play was at my end, so AR2 could get mentally into the game without any pressure. The R isn't moving very much, but he doesn't need to. I think he was within five yards of the center circle when every goal was scored. At the half, AR2 and I are hiding out in the equipment shed. The R disappears. It seems that he had forgotten something in his car, but it wasn't there. After the second game, he asked if I had jumper cables. The second half starts and, when the home team makes a mass substitution about 10 minutes in, I pick up from the players that they are supposed to make 100 passes before they can shoot. "I'm going to be a defender! This is my only time to be a defender." "Yes!!!" High five's. The visiting team 'scored' when the replacement goalkeeper, yes, brought the ball all the way across the goal line after grabbing a ball that had hit the underside of the cross bar on the visiting team's only shot of the game. Yes, the home team got their 100 passes and the final was 10-1. At least on the boys' game, I had the whistle. The now AR1 never made it to the goal line, even when there were corner kicks at that end. 6-0, and the last 12 minutes were raining so hard it was like being in the shower, only about a 55 degree shower. A fun time was had by none.
You get all the good games! Gotta give points for the dress socks (were they crew length or over-the-calf?)
Despite all the referee-related horrors in your story, this is the bit that jumps out at me. I'd be hard pressed not to say "You can't. That's what practice is for." Somehow I expect that the few practices they had were probably reduced to this is the ball, that is the goal, now kick. That story also reminds me of a HSGV I did where the only player on the team who had a shred of soccer experience seemed to think that "goal side" was some sort of magical incantation. She must have yelled it out 50 times. Sadly the magic didn't work that day.