I had a strange moment this weekend during a PK. As the kick taker starts approaching the ball, the goalkeeper starts running towards him. By the time the kick was taken, the goalkeeper was almost to the top of the goal area. The kick was missed and therefore I ordered a retake and cautioned the keeper. Still such a strange moment though.
College conference women's pole vault championship. Tie for 1st place, even after applying the two tie breakers in the rules, known as 'the count back.' A tie for 1st can not stand in pole vault or high jump, so we use something called a jump off. Both get one jump at a height, with the height changing if they both make or miss, until one makes and the other misses. This was the first time I've ever had to do one. About the second round, I thought, "This is just like kicks from the mark!" We did four rounds and the conference record holder was in tears at the end.
I had the same thing just a few week ago. Just a U12 rec match. GK was very apologetic and honestly didn't know he had to stay on his line until the kick. Meh. I reminded him that a caution is just a formal warning and that I'm not at all angry. Don't do it again. Hehe.
Saw a boy's U18 Gold game on a smaller than average field for self assignment. Passed on it that night. Next morning ref assigner emails me and asks me to center so I agree. There were two very qualified AR's that were already assigned, but decided against it. Walk up to the field and they both warned me that this was going to be a shit show. Did really well controlling the game and had to issue two yellow cards to each team. Very physical fast paced game which was played fair with no fights and it's 1-1. I announce two minutes additional and everything is fine until about thirty seconds remaining the home team is fouled about five yards outside the box. The defending visiting team steps in front of the ball to delay the kick. It also takes me a while to set up the wall. The kick hits the wall for a corner which I allow because of the delay. They do a short corner and dribble into box and shoot for the corner. A defender jumps up and blocks the shot with his hands and prevents a goal. I red card and send him off. Skirmish in the box to set up PK and AR has to help me clear the box. PK is good and I whistle the end of the game. You could imagine the drama with the coach who was upset that I said two minutes. I had to explain to him that it was a minimum of two minutes and the foul coupled with the delay was the reason for allowing the corner.
At U12 rec, I still have some ceremony in the PK setup. Remind the GK and depending on a read of the situation it is either not the first one, or if fear in the eyes, add more details until you are convinced they follow. To be fair, same read of the situation with field players and the area and the arc. Kicker wait for the whistle when the player gets handed the ball. Now you can avoid some I didn't know yellows. U10, all of it slowly and carefully and they aren't getting cards anyway. U12 some read of the situation. New keeper at U14 still happens, but you can usually tell!
Sunday had a U14B game that was not really my best. Already had two or three decisions that, while legitimate, had the players and/or the parents mad at me. So, about 15 minutes into the first half, I hear the sound of two opposing moms yelling at each other. It was a bit louder and longer than it should have been, to such an extent that the players asked me to step in and stop it! So I did. It was kind of not that big of a deal. The opposing mom had retreated to her side; and the yeller from the other side was happy with my suggestion that "eventhough she started it, let's see who can end it." Overall, I was real happy to have the spotlight turned off me for a second!
Best story: Got assigned six games for a high-level Memorial Weekend tournament. Two on Friday and four on Saturday. All boys U16 and up. Luckily the games are only 35-minute halves and I am an AR on all of them.
Make sure the parents know that. I had something similar once upon a time. Players & coaches fine with a good, physical but mostly clean U16G game, but parents getting louder and louder. When a player came by and asked me to do something about the parents, I had my chance. "Folks, the PLAYERS have asked me to ask you to please be quiet, sit down, and just watch." You could have heard a pin drop. A few scattered claps from the parent who had retreated to the corner flags. And we got a quiet match for the rest of the time.
I was solo on a very talented u12G’s match earlier tonight. 9v9 and some of these players will be DA players in due course. Both teams well coached. Visiting GK late off her line with her team up 1-0, and in the pouring rain, slides feet first as attacker reaches ball first, GK makes partial save, but takes brunt of ball and foot and needs immediate care for facial injury. She will not return. Parents very upset at lack of call, but there was no foul. Home team ties it with the littlest player now in goal. Then, visitors get free kick to the right of penalty area and it turns ceremonial. Visitors score on the free kick, but I hadn’t blown yet. Never have had THAT before. Reset the kick. Blow the whistle, they hit the far post, but home player turns to play the ball and windmills her arm into the ball and knocks it down. Penalty. Goal. Boy, did it rain. Now, to do the report.
So here is a not so best story that almost had very bad implications. HS GV game. Attacking player has the ball and is heading into the PA. Defender is standing in her way. Attacking player taps ball around defender but then smacks straight into defender. Both go down and the ball rolls to the keeper. Attacking coach is yelling for a foul and I tell him that his player ran into the defender who was pretty much just standing her ground. I will say that this is always a difficult foul for me to recognize and to draw that line of who made contact with who. Is that call as simple as that? I see the defender has a claim to her space similar to a charge in basketball, correct? Anyway, game ends and it was a beautiful day yesterday so I am on my motorcycle riding back from the game. I am replaying that play over and over in my head trying to think if I got it right, I have my feet on my highway pegs stretching them out and come into a corner that was tighter than I thought, (mostly because I am thinking of that damn play) Since my foot is not near my rear brake I stupidly start to use my front brake (which is a big no-no when you are leaning though a turn). Start heading for the soft shoulder and I start to now get image fixation on the shoulder (another bad thing that means where you are looking is where the bike is going to go). I snap out of it at the last second and lean hard and look towards the center line. I scrape my floorboards on the road as I do end up navigating the turn and get my mind right Luke. I love taking my bike to games because the wind therapy really helps me unwind after a match and the vibrations actually help my body recover from a 1-1.5 hr ride home as opposed to being in a cage for that long. But I have to really not lose my concentration like that over a dumb play... Got another HSGV game tonight, and I do have the bike for that one. So will try to keep the shinny side up after this one...
While I don't like the comparison to BB for a variety of reasons, on this play, as described, I agree with you that there is no foul on the defender. A defender has no obligation to get out of the way of an attacker. Indeed, it sounds to me like it was a foul on the attacker for plowing through the defender. But nuance matters a lot--if the attacker tried to go around and the defender moved into the attacker's path, then it would be a foul on the defender. (This is where the basketball analogy fails--in basketball the defender can move into the path of the attacker just to get in the way so long as he does so within a specified time (which depends on a variety of factors). Not so in soccer.)
Yea, I just use basketball as a "rough" guideline. if the defenders feet are moving (like basketball) then it is a foul on the defender, moving into the path of the attacker, but if the feet are planted before the attacker gets there and the defender is stationary I see it on the attacker. Like you said it isn't exact, just a judgement call ITTOTR. Just one of those fouls I am really working on this year.
In soccer the defender could move into the attacker's path and get both feet planted and still be guilty of impeding if she/he is not making a play on the ball. The who ran into who question is really only for a charging foul.
Yea, that is what I mean by being there before the attacker is there. I am talking by a few strides. Not like it is a bang/bang type of play, then that should go to the attacker.
Here’s a worst story of the week. 3 small sided matches in a tournament setting. On Turf. Absolutely pouring. I was soaked after first match, and I ended up changing everything. Second match more rain, and I am freezing, which put me in a bad mood. Gamesmanship try by losing coach did not go well for him. I probably overreacted, but under the circumstances, if I was a coach, I wouldn’t say a word to a referee except to say thanks for coming out. Third match. No rain just freezing. Coach is also a referee. He wants every call. Finally, I have to walk over to tell him to stop and I remind him of the code of ethics. (Yeah, it doesn’t exist, but I didn’t care!) then I have to listen to his assistant for 10 seconds before i shut him up. Why woukd you think in a pouring rainstorm, with temps in the upper 40’s, with the wind blowing, it would be a good idea to piss me off.
I feel your pain. Cruddy, cold wet weather yesterday. Three high school age 11v11s. Two went okay, just cold and wet. Third, with me in the center, was high energy physical affair with teams that didn't like each other. I called a handball early in the game and I got it wrong. That got the players all riled up. Second half the parents joined the riled up crew. I ended up sending one to the parking lot after too much chirping and then challenging me when I told him to calm it down. After the fact I realized handled it poorly. He deserved to be sent, but my process wasn't right. And apparently I missed a handball in the box in the closing seconds. I honestly didn't see it, but the opposing coach claims it was clear. He was super respectful and came up to me after the game to discuss. We agreed it must have been the angle and he left, if not happy, at least not angry. One of those days you wonder if that $45 was worth. On to the next three today.
U10 rec. Coin toss, “this is heads, this is tails”, and as I’m showing the sides of the coin the girl grabs it from me! Got a good laugh out of that one and so did my AR’s. I got the coin back with no incident and flipped it, but she lost the toss. I’m sure if we had went on with her flipping it she would have won it!
I have the younger kids flip it--why not have them do more? I use an Eisenhower dollar, so it can't land edgewise (and I don't have to say what is heads) and just tell them to let it hit the ground.
But don't ask them who it is - they never heard of Eisenhower. I gave them a hint once - "He was president when I was born." "Washington?" Grrr. No wonder I can't remember what the first thing to go is.
Around January, I wrote on this forum that, amoung other things, one of my goals for the year was to get invited to Regionals. After a successful State Cup Semifinals and Finals weekend, today I was invited to both my first Regional Presidents Cup and my first Regional Championships!