That 5 minute break between games will be gone after the 3rd game and you are running behind the rest of the day. I was really hoping you were going to say these are U-8 games. Full field games? This is not humanly possible; does your assigner realize you have no breaks?
@Soccer is the best, you have a lot of people here saying to you "this seems crazy." No matter your age/experience/fitness, we just can't imagine being both physically and mentally sharp enough for that many hours to provide the players a fair experience, or to make sure that you do the kind of work you want to do. Remember that people will be watching you in hour 10 as much as in hour 1, and their opinions are just as valid. I think we all have experience doing that one extra game that we regret on a tournament day. We've all seen under-the-gun assignors, but as renowned Referee Commentator Ann Landers once said, "no one can take advantage of you without your permission." (OK, you may not know who Ann Landers is. Google it.) It's always ok to say no, and create a day where you will be at your best at the end.
All games are 35 minute halfs. As of now all games I am an AR on all of the games. There are 2 referees that switch off and on every game at the center position. While myself and the other AR are doing games straight through. I think after this Saturday I will never accept games of this amount again. And yes I agree with all of you, to many games. Which brings up the subject, who do assignors think we are?
Make certain to hydrate well before, during and after. What about food? Make sure you have something to eat that will be easy to eat and easy on your stomach.
Unfortunately, you answered that question when you took them on. So if you can't turn them back, you do need to plan ahead. @Doug the Ref already suggested thinking about hydration and food; you need to keep your carbohydrates moving. Think about it this way: 11 games, 70 minutes each, so you're moving for ~13 hours and (depending on level etc.) moving ~30mi that day. You're basically run/walking a marathon (plus) very slowly, with bursts of speed, and with expectations of much more mental clarity than a typical marathoner at mile 26. This sounds like a disaster for everyone involved - CRs, ARs, and players; do your best to avoid injury.
I distinctly remember the day because it was the day of the Women's World Cup final in the Rose Bowl. (Think Brandi Chastain.) We agreed to be available for this tournament, two hours drive from home. We = myself, my daughter and my son, during his 'one and done' referee career. Then we got the assignments. Most of the tournament games were at a high school, five or six fields, maybe even more. But we were at the one site away from the school, a grade school, I think, maybe 20 minutes away. We were the crew for the whole day. My daughter and I were to switch off the center and my son was AR2 for the games. And, of course, being away from the main site meant no concessions stand or field marshal. Temperatures in the 80's. We were exhausted by the end of the day and still knew that we had a two hour drive home. Except that we had to go to the main site in order to get paid. Twenty minute drive, then go around and around looking for a parking spot, and stand around and stand around while they try to print checks. The printer jammed and they couldn't get it to work. "We'll have to send you your checks." If memory serves, that took a month and a couple of phone calls to the assignor. We did learn our lesson and we never went back to that tournament, which only survived a year or two after that.
My advice would be (a) wear a big sun hat and (b) do not leave the center circle for anything other than PKs and kickoffs. Well, OK, and halftime.
I think your best option at this point is to make the assignor aware you and the other AR are not superhuman and ask him to find a third victim to rotate AR duties with the two of you. Oh, and be sure your calendar for Sunday is clear, because you're not going to want to get out of bed.
I emailed the assignor and told him NO Sunday games for me. I have a very bad feeling I may not be able to get out of bed on Sunday. I also asked if we could get another person to rotate, he said that at this point they don't even have enough referees to cover all of the games yet. I guess that happens when just about all games here in Southeast Michigan require 3 referees. U-9 and up all have to have three referees according to most league and tournament rules.
That's just wrong and the assignor knows better. I don't care what kind of shape you are in, 11 straight is not doable from a physical and more importantly a mental standpoint. Frankly by game 6 or 7 you will be shaky. As others have said, your hydration window is already open. Be honest with yourself and be prepared to say you need a break.
Abso-f'ing-lutely. If I had to do eleven games in one day I would sumo wrestle the assigned centers for that position.
There is a difference between "advertised as" and "required". Somebody must've told the tournament they could cover the games, so the tournament advertised it that way (I think??). Now the games aren't fully covered, and you're the one they are using to fill the gaps. I hope you are getting somehow rewarded for this favor (because that's what it is). To be fair, you took the games, which is a good learning experience for "eyes are too big for the stomach". Maybe during this long day find your limit, and then hold yourself to that. Maybe you can get one center on that Sunday, with an experienced ref who can give you feedback. I think that's a good payoff for a young ref basically killing themselves doing ARs all Saturday.
More likely, they advertised it that way and then went to the assignor who thought to himself "You have to be ******** kidding me." before he started assigning the refereeing equivalent 20 mile full pack marches. Referees are the afterthought here. A long way behind the amount of money they get from that extra 20 teams they signed up.
I did a tourney a few weeks ago, there was a delay with the checks, some kind of kerfluffle, but they were up front and got us our checks the next week. Last night, I'm opening mail and there it is a note from my bank telling me I'm being charged $10 for the tournament's bounced check. Is this a cautionable offense? Yeah, I'm kinda in a pinch since I already spent the money.
Best story of my week was attending the State, Presidents and Challenge Cup prep meeting tonight. The dinner was much nicer this year than in the past, and the presentation was well prepared with Points of Emphasis and support from the Executive Director, and SRA. At the end of the evening we were given plastic wristbands from the Huntington's Disease Society of America, and will be wearing them in honor of Terry Vaughn. I feel privileged this year to be with such a great group of referees and friends, really looking forward to the semis tomorrow.
When you do recover let us know how it went. I have 18 games in the next 7 days, with my local club's tournament next weekend. Probably still easier than what you did yesterday.
Aced my Grade 7 assessment today with only a couple minor points. That despite having one AR show up without any alternate shirts, black basketball socks. My pregame consisted of him running back to his car to see if his badge was in it (it wasn't) and my other AR showing up 3 minutes before kickoff. Fun stuff. Just need to learn a new term to use rather than 'play' when I see nothing there. Second game, refereed with my son, we broke in a new ref who was ARing her first game. That pregame consisted of me being 15 minutes late for the start time (thanks a lot assignor for the impossible time/travel conundrum-I made coaches aware that this was going to happen). With heavy rain supposed to move in my pregame was "your only assignment this half is to watch the second to last defender or the ball and move with whichever is closest to goal." She was quite bad the first 10 minutes but settled in and was much better the remainder of the half. I told her at halftime that she was scaring me early on because I was noticing her watching the ball and standing still. We were able to give her a few pointers once we were able to regroup at halftime. No issues in the second half as the ball spent the entire time in the other end.