I became a referee because it was inevitable that I would do so The craft perfectly meshes with several aspects of my personality and nature. Soccer just happened to be the sport I played as a kid. If I had played hockey or baseball I would have become an official in one of those sports.
1979 or '80. My two sons were playing soccer - U12 or so. Refs were assigned but each team had to supply a linesman. After a few games I decided that rather than just stand there I could serve as a linesman. The only real exercise I had ever had was some handball in college and for a few years afterwards. But I found that it was fun being a linesman. One of the coaches (English, by the way, and a referee) noticed that I enjoyed it. "Would you like to become a referee?" After a few seconds thought, "Well, why not?" So in the late summer of 1981 I took the 15 hour course and began refereeing. First big mistake - first day I did 5 games - U10 or so - but ached for days. So I began running to get into shape (see Bubba Atlanta above.) Continued for 34 years - almost all games youth up through high school. Some adult early on but didn't enjoy it as much, and since I began all this at age 45 I wasn't in my salad days. My last game was a HS WJV in early March, 2015. A few days later my left hip began aching again (I had previously had some steroid shots in it.) Further investigation revealed it was time for the replacement. And to hang up the boots. Miss it terribly. But follow BigSoccer every day.
2 reasons. 1) I was coaching my kids and saw some god-awful refs and thought "I can do as good as these guys". 2) I was recently divorced with well over half my take home pay heading her way. I needed all the extra cash I could muster. Now, I just do it for the fun and exercise. But the pocket money is still nice.
As I followup to my 'how I got started', back in 1981 and for a number of years we were taught to not wear a hat while on the field. "It's not part of the referee's uniform." In the past few years there has been some easing of this message. I did not wear a hat, but always used plenty of sun screen. However, it caught up with me a couple of weeks ago. Squamous cell carcinoma came up on my forehead. Surgery was just 2 days ago, first I saw of the stitches was this afternoon. This cancer can certainly be caused by too much exposure to sun. This is what it looks like today. So....I'd suggest wearing a (black) hat. On the other hand, I have a good start on my Halloween costume!
Hope you heal fast!!! The majority of squamous cell cancers are preceded by actinic keratosis. This usually precedes cancer by years, and the vast majority of people with actinic keratosis will not go on to develop cancer. Thing is, actinic keratosis can be treated without surgery (creams, freezing, light treatment, etc) so if you have scaly patches, or areas that are raised and/or discolored, go see a dermatologist! Wear a hat and sunscreen!
For me I started soccer officiating way later then a lot of cohorts. A lot of these guys started at the ripe age of 14. I however, waited until after I finished playing. Speaking to a friend of mine who also started later in officiating. We are glad we started later bc we feel it has allowed us to take what we know from other jobs and apply that to refereeing. As well as we both needed time to mature. I started officiating as a side hustle to do in between semesters. I have a really good paying seasonal job thats only done in the summer. So I needed some extra cash for those months that weren't summer. So I started doing 6-7 rec games and bring home like $90 or something. I did the math it came out to $15 an hour. Doing 2-25's. My brother worked with me and we alternated positions. After half a season of rec. My brother found another assignor who paid cash on the spot for more competitive games. I found an assignor that does adult matches. Then we had our rec assignor ask us if we wanted to do HS and to talk to so and so's email... from there it's history. HS to Amateur to high level youth to US Soccer DA to NCAA etc. No longer do I do 6-7 rec games. I hardly do any low level youth. I complained last weekend bc I had to do 3 back-to-back youth matches with a short warm up.
I played a little in HS and college (D3, freshmen year only). Ten years later, watching my daughter at U10, I knew that (a) the refs were freaking clueless and (b) I could easily turn into "that" parent on the sideline. So I took the ref course (with Vinnie Mauro as my instructor). 30 years on, I still love it. I went back to the entry level ref course each year for four or five years to listen to Vinnie. Also had the chance to attend high level clinics with the other Mass FIFA refs at the time. Whether I applied anything I learned is debatable.
My wife would not let me coach my son and the refs doing my sons U10 games were terrible. I said "I can be that bad" , signed up for the clinic. My hope is no one uses the same reason to get certified.
I first started as a recreational referee at 10 years old. Why'd I start? Because I had a crush on a girl who did it, and I wanted to be able to see her on weekends. Got my state badge this year, but sadly never got the girl
I was playing "adult" indoor soccer and had been for years, grew up in the sport and have never stopped. Once at an adult game, I was particularly rough on the usual referee, who responded: "You're never gonna beat us, why not join us?" And I thought: he has a point. I've never looked back.
Most excellent advice. I have been going to a dermatologist for a few years now, just to get checked out. I chose this doc in part because she's a soccer player and wasn't going to be giving me any 'don't go outside without wearing long sleeves and a big floppy hat' type advice. A little weird getting naked in front of a female player. She took out some cancerous cells from my shin a few months ago, an area that almost never sees the light of day, so don't assume that the exposed parts are the only vulnerable ones.
I played backyard soccer pretty much all my life. My first organized soccer was HS. After HS I played Indoor and Rugby in collage. After that I took a long break from most sports including soccer. I started playing indoor again at the age of 33. Few years later I had a high ankle sprain that put me out of commision for almost a year. At that time my Brother-in-Law was a local indoor manager and talked me into reffing when I was recovering from the ankle sprain. In 2012 my indoor assignor talked me into signing up for a Grade 8 course and now I'm a physical away from becoming a Grade 5.
I've probably posted this before, but whatever. Way back when, my 13 yo sons wanted to take the ref class. The $10 or $15 they'd get from a U8 center or U12 line sounded like big bucks to them. Since I had to take them to the class every week, I decided to sign up too. Back then, our club would refund the class fee if we did 5 games in the first season. So we all signed up for the minimum. I found out I liked it. Even though the 5th game was a U12 with me and the center and my sons on the lines, and I was terrified.
The natural state of the first center on a 3 man system, terrified. (yes I know u10s now have 3 man in some areas)
Going the other direction, our state's 'classic' league (i.e. competitive) has dropped from DSC to solo for U-11 and 12, with the coming of 9 v 9.
Amazingly we often have a complete three man system on our U8 rec matches. The positions are unpaid (but you do get yellow shirt and gear). Each team is expected to provide two trained referees. Typically the referees are the parents of the players and have been "voluntold" by a spouse. There are also a fair number of older siblings who referee (free gear and end of season youth referee party). The club team also has three man down to U9 with referees paid $1/min of a half. It is a great training ground for new referees
My son was playing in AYSO U6, and I got an email begging for people to sign up as referee volunteers. I forwarded it to my wife with a note that said “I should probably do this, huh? Can't be too awful, I guess.” She wrote back, “Yeah, you probably should.” So I did. Four years later and now I'm the guy sending out those emails.
Somewhere, unbeknownst to him/her, is the person who is going to replace me. Although it's a necessary part of the circle of life it is going to kill me when it's time to hang up the spreadsheet.
I f@cked up. Got all over a (very good) referee for making the 'wrong' call. Went home pissed off, started a thread in the referee forum of Big Soccer referee forum asking for a rule clarification. Found out I was wrong. Apologized to the referee the next week. He told me I should take the referee class, which I did the following winter. That bastard likes to repeat the story to the third official with us whenever we work together these days.
I was (ashamedly) that idiot who yelled nonsense at the ref in my daughter's games. I figured we were paying an absurd amount (we were) for her to play "select" soccer and the referees should never be wrong and I had paid for the privilege, along with a few other dad's as we camped out away from everyone else as we obviously knew WAY more than everyone else and the game needed our input... So in my never ending quest to prove others wrong I figured I would take a class, never intending to actually referee but so I could not only be superior to the other dad's but be able to tell the referees "yeah, well in the class they said..." Sooooo - yeah - I was wrong. Not only wrong to be the idiot yelling (correct or incorrect) but what I was yelling was incorrect as well. So I started refereeing, and stopped standing with the idiots, and on occasion they would ask about a call or play and got my usual response "it is a LOT harder out there than it looks from here" with an explanation of the LOTG that might apply, never addressing whether I thought the referee was correct or incorrect. I would like to think that I am better than some of the referees I saw (and see today), but I am no longer an idiot that is out there yelling - still maybe an idiot but at least I keep my mouth closed and influenced that small pack to stop yelling as well.
My main involvement was always as a player, including team management/organization and coaching, and I was never interested in refereeing. I did my fair share of bitching about decisions, but also realized that we would get the benefit of just as many poor decisions anyway, so basically just played in a way to take advantage of this situation. A friend who was also an ex-teammate told me over a few adult beverages that at my age I would not get any better as a player, only worse, and certainly not get into the pro ranks, but if I became a referee I could get better, and could maybe advance to the pro level. I ignored this advice for a couple of years, but then realized the awful truth and took the referee course. I later joined a team in a MBB league that was composed entirely of referees. No-one else would referee our games, so the assignor appointed young females to our games knowing that we would not give them any problems! PH