Best story of your week - 2017

We're a little more centralized. No fine for a caution but a send off is $50 to the state adult association plus sitting one game in that league. If you are playing in another league as well, too bad, you sit in all leagues until you've served your one game in the league where you got the red. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

 

JV then varsity combination yesterday. Somewhat unusual things in both games. JV girls can be a (small) challenge because you have a much wider range of players than varsity. Some girls want to get stuck in and some just don't want to be hit by the ball. Yes, a couple of girls would close their eyes and turn away any time a ball in the air came anywhere near them. But then two of the home team got a ball in the face.

Home team scores in the 16th minute, just at the wrong end. Visitors' corner kick comes in at waist height, hitting a home team defender in the stomach, and it bounces three times as it goes into the goal, with no one even trying to stop it. There is absolute silence as this happens and then another 15 seconds of silence from everyone, players, coaches and parents, as the keeper goes to pick up the ball. Home team goes on to give away two penalty kicks, in about a five minute time span, same defender chasing the same attacker who's going past her, pushing her the first time, grabbing her arm the second time. First PK is saved. Second PK goes high. Visitors totally clueless about this thing called "offside." Penalized roughly five or six times in both halves for offside, standing and waiting in OS position for the ball to come to them.

Varsity game, fortunately, a lot higher skill. Home team survives one goal mouth scramble after another, except for one. Their forward thinks that the way you handle a defender standing behind you is to push her out of the way. Warned on the third time, cautioned on the fourth. Coach comes out to (politely, calmly) complain at halftime, until I told him to go coach his team. In the second half, visitors still pounding the home goal, unsuccessfully, including submarining the goalkeeper while she was in the air. And the coach had the guts to demand "What was the call, ref?" Cannon ball!!!!

Home forward runs at opponent who passes the ball to a teammate and then (one thousand one, one thou...) the forward shoves the opponent to the ground, two hands to the chest. Yes, it's the same forward who already got the PI card, so she's now gone. I informed the benches of the cards from the center circle. No reason to give the home coach the chance to get his own card. And four minutes later, at a stoppage, a school representative informs me that the air quality has deteriorated to the point that it is dangerous to continue, so the game is terminated, 64th minute. Home team is now 0-5 on the season, having scored precisely once.

 

I like it much more direct. Instead of having the fine go to the league to be distributed to the referee event, it's easier to just tell the player that for $20 the caution doesn't go on the game report, and for $50 the send off goes unreported. It's really a win-win situation--player is happy, ref gets paid, and the league doesn't have to worry about paper work. For those who can't afford the buy out, it can be worked off by things like washing the refs car or mowing his lawn (I don't think anyone was serious about refs benefiting from the fines. . . )

 

I've noticed a huge difference in attitude between varsity and all other HS levels in the conference I work games in. Varsity games feature all the complaining from the coaches and fans that you find in any very competitive environment. JV, B squad and 9th grade games are another world. There are no official scores, no standings, no playoffs, and that really does make all the difference. The soccer is usually quite good too, as I regularly work matches at the largest schools in the state. Sure you still have to manage the players as they sometimes care about the score, but there is little dissent from coaches and fans at least compared to varsity and similar levels of club soccer. What does get said is almost never in an angry tone and is sometimes even laced with humor. In short these are usually enjoyable games to referee.

Last Saturday I had 3 games, 9th grade girls, 9th grade boys, and B squad boys. All 3 were solo, and it was a warm sunny day. The first two games were fine. The B squad (mostly 10th graders) game was the worst I've had in a long time. Visiting coach was a PITA. 5 cautions, 4 to visitors, 2 for dissent. Ejected a spectator. I was tired and not having a great game, and the timing could not have been worse. It didn't help that the visiting team was getting beat soundly and they didn't like the fact that I would not allow them to make tackles using any amount of force they wanted. Come to find out after the game, the visiting coach was the school's varsity coach. Why he wasn't on the sideline of the varsity game which was occurring at the same time I have no idea, but his attitude definitely carried over to his players and their parents.

 

Actually, on second thought, I like this direct approach.

YC - 1 bottle of Buffalo Trace.
2CT - Four Roses Single barrel.
Straight RC for SFP - Blantons. If its for VC, we are talking Pappy Van Winkle.

 

A man who knows his bourbon . Good luck with that last one, though, isn't it like $300 a bottle minimum?

 

Yeah. Finding a bottle of Pappy is darn near like finding a unicorn horn. And even a 10 year old Lot B can be $300. A 15 year old can be upwards of a grand.

 

Yea, I brought this up in a thread last year or a few years ago (time flies). WI has the same 25 YC restriction in place and I was stating the exact same thing. I limits my ability to control the match like I would like it controlled. Instead of a 2nd dissent being YC, now it might be just another AC.

Had a HSBV match last night I could have EASILY had 3 YC's for tactical fouls and dissent alone. Ended up with 3 AC's and one YC. The YC had more of an impact to the game temperature then the AC's... I also jogged by the visiting HC and told him he should sub off #2 after I saw him on the pitch with a bracelet on. That is a YC right there by the book. Coach subbed him off right away and thanked me. Told him to make him do some extra sprints next time at practice.

 

I don't live in a world that counts YCs, but I don't understand why it would limit you. Give the cards like you would any other match and I bet that their behavior would straighten up faster than in a league that doesn't have a YC restriction in place. (Well...except for maybe the YC for improper equipment, I can see maybe letting that one slide in this environment)

 

And just a few more follies reported on games this week, not mine.

HSBV player cautioned and sent to bench. A few minutes later, AR1 calls the referee over to report that the player who was cautioned is now on a cellphone, telling someone that these referees are idiots, yahda, yahda, yahda. Referee discussing this with the head coach and they agree that no [second] card will be issued but the player won't play in the rest of the game.

HSBV Do I sense a pattern here? Dual. A player doesn't like the decision of R2 about something or other. The player, apparently born in France, launches into a tirade in Farsi, directed at R2, who is clearly Persian, including the player's opinion of not only the decision and the referee but also his opinion of all people of Iranian origin. He gets his red, of course. The coach then tells R1 that the player says that he wasn't disrespecting Iranians, "just" dropping some F-bombs, etc. on R2. And that would make it better somehow?

 

I had a Varsity boy yesterday drop 5 (FIVE!!!) F Bombs on ME after HIS team scored! He's going to resting for the next four games.

 

I've recently thought we should adopt the "fee for service" model.

"Who's kicking off?"
"I don't know yet, how much have you got on you?"

"Hey ref, that's a foul!"
"Of course it is, for only $5."

Red card for the oppnent? Now that'll cost you.


Probably double our pay, at least.

 

My biggest issue is with viewing the tactical fouls. they are going to happen. I don't think you are going to change a defensemans mind on those. Even if a team creates one tactical foul a match, that is about 18-20 YC's right there (depending on the teams schedule). That leaves 8 YC's for UB or God forbid Improper equipment, etc..

It just puts another thought in the back of my head in the decision making where I really don't want it to.

 

Alleged-adults men O50 match - we'll call him Rene. Rarely a good thing when the referee knows your name. 8^} Rene and I have history so early in the match, when Rene starts screaming at me about the direction of a throw-in near mid-field, I spoke loud enough so that both benches and most of the players could hear me.

"Rene, let's be honest here. In all these years, how many times have you changed my mind on a call?"

No problems from Rene after that, but I was afraid two of his teammates would die laughing.

 

Our track & field crew chief is a retired police chief who loves to play the "crusty old guy" role. When guys from other schools show up, they'll ask "Can I check in?" Mike loves to pick up one of the clip boards and ask "Did you bring your money?" About 2/3 of them are completely "what?" The rest think they can banter with him. Uh huh. Sure. One kid said, "Yeah, my wife gave me some." Mike responded, "Now we know you're lying." And the women on the crew, including my wife and daughter, laughed their heads off.

My best story of the week: Passed my maintenance assessment, with flying colors.

 

Home tournament this weekend, unfortunately, my Head Coach isn't there, so I'm all alone.

There's a kid I've worked with who has a middle for our second match. He's lazy and unprofessional and says really stupid things like "I'm just here for the check" to other refs etc... I've had one really bad match at middle, he was AR1 who couldn't remember the number of a player who threw a punch (but missed) when my back was turned...just bad bad bad, he's in his early 20s and experienced. So, there's a history of him really being properly bad.

The match (vs our brother team) goes really badly, escalating into some really crazy fouling. I'm doing everything I can to keep my kids honest, but they're being abused pretty badly and are reacting by cranking up their intensity. Players on both teams end up injured, both coaches are really upset.

i let it slide, knowing that he's just one of a few bad, lazy people.


But we have him next match as well.

Now, beyond him allowing players to be tripped from behind by last defender (happened multiple times, our guys up front are VERY fast), allowing PIADM with loads of high kicks, some of them landing blows to players chests and the plethora of other nonsense the guy doesn't seem to care about...he refuses to stop play when a player is down at midfield holding his head with both hands.

I get it, you don't want to stop play willy nilly because a kid is down, but the kid (happens to also be my son) is down for well over a minute, he allows a throw-in before seeing him, fine, don't have eyes in our backs, but EVERYONE yelling there's a man down. The ball is just past the half line, so no advantage taken as most of our team was defending already and our GK eventually picks up the ball and is SCREAMING at him to stop play, which he refuses to do.

Our GK tries to punt the ball OOB, but it's in play again (because he mis-kicked it) for another 10 seconds or so before he stops play. As I'm running on the field I'm telling him he needs to stop play and he tells me that "USSF prevents me from stopping play for an injury."

My son has a mild concussion.

Assignor a little upset, but made excuses "maybe he forgot, just tell your GK to punt it out next time."

I really hate to feel like I'm coming here to gripe about my peers, but I'm speechless about this one. Not sure how to handle this or what to do, if anything. I can handle crappyness and attitude issues, but a player that even smells the slightest of a head injury deems an immediate stoppage, no? Obviously I'd understand if it was bang-bang in the PA and it was but a few seconds, but the kid was lying there for AGES. we're grateful it wasn't a serious one, but it could have been much, much worse.

What can I do?

 

When you've got players getting hurt because the referee won't control the game, it's time to pull your team off the field and say "Thanks for coming out." Yeah, I know players get hurt, sometimes it's their own fault and sometimes it's just stuff that happens, but I'm talking about the situation you describe, where the players have decided that they can do pretty much anything they want. I pulled my team off the field one time and the other coach pretty much said, "I don't blame you."

Taking action after the game, I hope you told the assignor that you don't want to see that guy again. I had an AR just like this guy yesterday. 20-something, just here for the check, players complaining about how out of position he was and between games, he actually asked me to let him into my car so he could use the cigarette lighter! Ah, my car doesn't have a cigarette lighter.

 

Back when I coached I considered pulling my team only once, but the young frightened referee finally started calling fouls. Poor kid, she told me after the match it was her first assignment at that age level and I told her she drew an unlucky assignment. I hope it wasn't her last game. It was also the day I decided I would become a referee once I was done being a head coach.

With your guy though, no excuses. You said this was your brother team - so a team from the same club? If you are on good terms with the other coach you could work with him to get all the players to tone it down (as in, if I see you commit a hard foul you're going to be subbed out and you're done playing today), but otherwise pull your team. There may be consequences but those you can accept with a clear conscience.

 

Passed my first of 2 required maintenance assessments on an extremely good boys U19 match, one of the better games I have ever done and with an assessor that is very fair but tough - he had 2 questions for clarification and all good feedback, great start to a 3 game Saturday and 3 game Sunday - all RPL matches - ran a total of 28.54 miles per the Garmin

 

Just reading that makes my knee hurt.

 

Good advice, thanks, guys.

It really hurt not having my head coach there, I had nobody to go get the head ref, there were no field marshals around, so I had to be really careful. the head coach of our brother team is...well, not the type, a large part of why we got to where we were.

 

Back in my playing days we had issues with referees when we went to a certain geographical locations. Finally, the team came up with the solution to start recording all our matches (also to have that film for highlight reels, recruiting etc.). We went to the said geographical location to play a match. Game went to hell. Players, fans, referees including sheriff being called and mass confrontation. We had an issue with the referee. So we turned over the video of that match. Turned out the club was using unlicensed referees, the assignor was skimming money, and putting different referee names down on the game card. Huge mess.

Case in point having the video in the future and turning over to the assignor could do loads for flushing out this poor referee. I know one of my more popular assignor (covers over 45 clubs across 200 mile radius) accepts videos but only if they have a complete match.

Other than that like other posters said just pull your team. Sort of a b.s. situation all the way around.

 

This isn't the coaching forum, but for those who coach... be wary before pulling your team off the field. Some leagues have serious consequences for doing that, and you better have a darned good reason and be ready to justify yourself in front of a committee.

As an AR, I once had to talk a coach OUT of pulling his team. The center, tbh, was not having a great game, although several of the injuries that upset the coach were simply bad luck and not the result of fouls. I tried to help the center as much as I could from the sideline, and told the coach that removing his team probably wasn't worth facing the state, all the meetings, and potential fine(!).

 

Wow! Every time you think you've heard it all, along comes something else.

We had a guy who had been assigned a game in the men's league and a game in the youth league at the same time. He 'subcontracted' the men's league game to somebody else and then filed a game report from what the guy told him, claiming that he didn't have the rosters because they'd become unreadable in the rain. Only problem was, his subcontractor didn't show up on time. The teams called the league president, who went to the site. League president sees the subcontractor, who had shown up by this time, and he knows that this guy isn't the referee who was assigned, who also wasn't a USSF referee! League refused to assign the guy anymore, refused to pay him and filed a professionalism complaint. The guy got suspended for a long time (a year, if memory serves) so he couldn't referee in the youth league either. I'm not sure he ever came back. And we banned the subcontractor from taking the USSF grade 8 class.