as you know, the HS game is about the only mens competition in the fall in the northern part of michigan.....Otherwise I wouldnt bother with NFHS.
In central Iowa, their are no u16 or u19 games in the spring - only high school. If you want to do high school, you have to have USSF and NFHS and join the Mid Iowa Soccer Official Association which assigns the games.
I asked because I know that Traverse City has teams in the fall because they have teams that play in the GVSA (Grand Valley Soccer Assn -- Grand Rapids area) and in the GVSA/WMYSA/CASL Elite divisions. Also, Petosky has fall travel teams for U10 to U14 boys and U11 to U18 girls and a fall tournament Sept 7-8. So that's why I asked.
No, in return for support from my wife for refereeing from March 15 thru July 4 with only 2 weekends off (and only 1 of those soccer free), I don't take any games or do anything besides the referee clinic from July 4 until high school starts -- clinic is Aug 10 and first game is Aug 17. I've been hitting the honey-do list very hard the last few weekends and it continues this weekend.
How are you certified-- We do boys high school in fall and girls high school in the spring and USSF year round almost with a little break in the cold months. We also have touchline indoor fields. This is in Eastern Pa. ers
I've been affilliated with both in the past, but high school games around here start too early. Unfortunately, I just haven't been able to arrange my work schedule for early departures very often.
It's still a good question. Feel free to continue... For the last 10 years, I've been doing HS and USSF. I've been too old to do college. Now that I've retired, I'm reconsidering!
Exactly. Not like this topic could ever lose relevance due to being old. As far as being too old to do college, nonsense. There are plenty of super slow girls games (juco, DIII) not all college games are fast and tough to keep up with.
I only do USSF now, trying to move up in the grades. I did HS for one season, but I hate the two man system and driving all over the place for 1-2 games at a time. Not to mention the club play is much better than HS. Matthew - www.footyref.blogspot.com
USSF, NFHS, NISOA. Referee, Instructor, Assignor, Assessor. Indoor, Futsal. I think that just about covers it.
USSF & NFHS I actually enjoy the high school season a bit and to be honest don't mind the two man system too much, it sure beats the one man system that I see used on many a JV and even some lower level varsity games.
Ha I didn't even see how old this thread was until after I answered the poll. USSF / NISOA / NFHS MISL when there are teams in the league
Interesting looking at the poll that noone who has completed the survey lists only NFHS certification. Here in Indy we have a number (although I think it's shrinking) of refs that are NFHS-only, most of whom referee soccer as an additional sport. They must not read bigsoccer...pity.
I was asking my assignor (who does both USSF and NFHS) about NFHS-only referees at State Cup last month. She said there are a few in the area, mostly American football referees who think they can do soccer games too. She doesn't put a lot of faith in them.
USSF - 20 yrs NFHS - 3 yrs Last year I had an NFHS assignment between 2 schools that hated each other. 6pm Varsity girls. 8pm Varsity boys. We run "double dual" so all three refs have whistles in their hands. I am SR2 for the first game. I know the center. She does a good job. Never seen SR1 before. Before the game starts, we are talking things over, and he is asking some REALLY basic questions. And his shorts aren't uniform?? "Oh, it's my first game". OK, well buy the kit. It makes us all look good. Game starts, play is down on his end, and he is keeping up with the 2LD, so I'm happy. Play comes down towards me, and he is keeping up with the ball, all the way past midfield? 25 yds deep into my end?? Even with the CR??? What the!?!? CR politely puts him back on his side of the field and we muddle through to halftime: "Hey, stay with the trail defenders." "Oh, OK. Like I said, this is my first game." "First game this year?" "No, first game ever." "EVER???" "Ever" "You refereed youth games, U10, u12? Right?" "No, I passed the online test last week and this is my first game ever." Somehow the rest of the girls game goes OK. Now it's my turn, and we have to survive the boys. Did I mention that all 3 refs have whistles??? I did my best to teach him what "even with the 2LD meant" and told him if he moved from there I was going to chase him back to the parking lot. To my surprise, he did a good job with offside and in/out, and the rest of the game went smoothly. 5 min after the game I'm on the phone with my assignor: "What the?!?!" "Oh, cr@p. Yeah, I meant to give you a heads up about that. Sorry" LOL
I wish I could say they probably read the Soccer forum on the NFHS website (which has some good common posters with this forum), but sadly I don't think that happens either. I invariably have at least one per season and I mention the US Soccer website to them (as well as the NFHS website) and I get the thousand-yard stare. Oh well, this Fall they'll be easier to pick out - they'll likely be the ones who ordered Fuchsia shirts in advance, so they're not stuck waiting on back order!