Don’t be so dramatic. I’m sure his kidneys would have recovered after months of dialysis. But seriously thanks for posting and a great reminder. Heat injuries are injuries and require recovery. A few hours in the cool or a day of rest isn’t going to make you ready to face the heat again. The turf field thing makes me so mad. I know they are our current and future reality. But they are almost always rigged to be irrigated. And even though the field operators are saving huge money on water, even if kids’s shoes are melting or hands get singed when they fall I have NEVER seen turf fields get watered before a session.
I was assigned to a U19 Boys final at the tournament I worked this past weekend. We walk out to the field and there are 2 players for one of the teams with 15 minutes until kickoff. I chat with the coach about where his guys are and he says they are coming and points at a nebulous figure by the parking lot saying that is another (great, that makes 3). We go over to the opposing team that is fully dressed and looks like they have 18. I inform the coach that we will walk out for pictures and then as soon as the other team has 7, we will start. He chuckled and said good luck. As my crew was putting our shirts on, "It is a lot harder to do this with adults, I've already set up the team to be ready to go." Sure enough, we walk out with 6 players, start with 8 on the field 1 on the sideline, and eventually they got to 11. The game was pretty easy, but we finished on time, which is what really matters when you're going to drive 3 hours home after your day of reffing is done.
Normal is relative, I'd say that I do it 3-4 times a year. Usually for adult games, but the assignor for my local adult games invited his refs to come help out at a large youth tournament where he is in charge of 1 out of 6 sites and a few of us went to pitch in. It also helps that they have a guest speaker every year that is pretty good (Christina Unkel this year). Additionally, Regional Referees get an extra $15 per game. Since you are new to reffing, I will say that you only travel as much as you want to. I think I have always traveled more than my peers because I had a desire to be better. Currently I have goals and to get there I need to do as many high level adult games as possible and that means being on good terms with the assignor of the best adult soccer in the state. I gave up a weekend, paid for 3 meals that I wouldn't have and a tank of gas and in return I got ~$600, watched a presentation by a FIFA referee, got the opportunity to chat about soccer with a FIFA referee, and goodwill with my adult assignor. In my book, any two of those are worth it as long as my wife is okay with the decision because in the end, I'd rather have her than all the soccer in the world.
Where have I been? Too many replies, so I'll combine. We had a referee, years ago, a veteran of the original NASL, who was doing a game at youth regionals. It was hot and he was starting to wander randomly. A referee from our state, at a stoppage, went out to him. "Oh, hi, Joe. What are you doing out here?" "I'm subbing for you." "Oh, okay." He didn't argue, but that isn't his style anyway. I also assessed a game at youth regionals, in Las Vegas, in June, 2 p.m. start, U-17 boys semi-final. What could go wrong? It was something like 108 degrees at kickoff. Yeah, but it was a dry heat. I guess the tournament organizers didn't realize that summer afternoons in Nevada get real hot. But it was Nevada's turn to host regionals, so it was all good, right? The referee was losing focus late in the game, and it was a tie game, Nevada team, with all of their parents there, against the Cal South team that had won the U-16 national championship the year before. Ouch! The 4th official was holding out (small) cups of water for the referee every time he came past, but he didn't stop every time. He really shouldn't have been left in the center, but the big name instructor/referee guru had told us the night before that assessors could not intervene in this type of situation. We went to overtime!!! The game ended with about a minute left in the second overtime, when a pushing/shoving/fists thrown fight between the parents spilled out onto the field, past a very surprised AR2. Winning coach didn't want the game stopped, but he was overruled The next day, I flew from Las Vegas to Shannon, Ireland, which was fifty degrees cooler than Las Vegas. Turf fields. Yeah, really hot when the air is sort of hot. We had a women's pro game here two years ago that had a game time temperature on the turf field of 152 degrees. Yes, I have found it is all too common that the glue in shoes melts at those temperatures. I had a pair where that had happened but I didn't notice until a few days later, when it seemed like my shoes were dragging on the ground. When I looked, the middle of the sole had ballooned out from the upper, obviously where the glue had melted. But, in rainy parts of the country, for all their hot weather faults, they are the only way to go. I was on one of the few college fields in our DIII conference that is still grass last week. It's already showing signs of wear and the wet weather hasn't even started yet. The school is fund raising for a turf field, to match the football stadium field's turf field. Title IX problem. Travel. I have refereed and/or assessed in eight states and British Columbia. Our NISOA chapter serves a number of schools in our state that are a long way from where most of the referees are. One community college, for example, is five hours, each way, from Portland. At least you get a double header out of it and you get mileage, but it's still a long day. I used to have a guy working for me who had his own airplane. One time, he flew me down to the games, and then flew me back that evening. The chapter paid for his gas, so they wouldn't have to pay for a motel (in a town where a two star hotel is the best they have) and meals for me.
You probably don't need to unless you want to work specific leagues/tournaments or work toward upgrading. I worked career game #422 tonight and I've never traveled more than 45 minutes.
I hope you are joking around.. Im not a person with a medical background but heat stroke is a real thing I know you can die from. Regardless, it wasn't safe for this individual to drive home in their current condition. I agree with the turf though. I absolutely loathe reffing/playing on it. Even-though its a uniform playing surface in the summer.
Absolutely and I am sorry that my poor attempt at irony was construed as making light of a serious issue! Again I am glad you posted your experience because it is a worthy reminder. My point was that when you get heat injured, a few sips of cold water or a minute or two break doesn’t mean you can continue. As with any injury, prevention is vital, but once injured you MUST withdraw or risk further injury. So, if you are (or see someone who is) faint, weak, dizzy, have a headache, disoriented or confused, you are heat injured and continuing further is 1: dangerous, 2: futile. It would be worth reviewing this from the cdc. https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/warning.html
I agree 100% with heat injury and a few sips of water is like putting a band-aid on a broken femur. Its fascinating to me that this culture of "toughing it out" or putting your body at risk is still pervasive within our referee ranks.
Also in not-rainy parts of the country, like here in Colorado, where a grass field that gets used for practices and for games is dirt well before the end of the season.
HSGV, dual. Ugh - as predicted it was like Premier Club vs. sub-Rec with Green cruising at least 5-0 within the first 10'. Have another sloppy handling offense by White, this time about 25 yds from their own goal. But, we let it go even though White kept possession... A talented Green player near me (I know her quite well) asks, almost chuckling, "Uh, handball?!?" I quietly reply, "Eh, just wait..." Within 10 seconds or so, Green again dispossesses them and puts it in the back of the net. She looks back at me, nodding, as if to say, "Ah yes, now I get it!!" --- On the flip side, absolutely had my a$$ handed to me earlier this season on a fairly fast & physical HSBV Dual involving a known hot-headed team. It was a TGTMYWTQ. After 20' it became apparent that it was above my cognitive abilities (at least for for that day, who knows). It was inexcusably bad and I was in a mental fog from which there was no escape... both teams were livid... Methinks those level of games are simply above my max ceiling; it wasn't the first time a mental funk of indecision at that level has happened...
I possibly have one of those coming up. I am quite confident it won’t make me want to quit, but it will be the highest level game I will have ever done. AR for USYS National U18 “Boys.” No idea why it is listed as that. This will likely be men. I know the center, and he is really good. I am just going to have to work harder than I have ever worked in a game before.
Two cents: Just because you weren't up to it that day doesn't mean it's above your ceiling. Even if you're not there yet, it doesn't mean you can't/won't get there. I suspect most of us have stories of being in over our heads to differing degrees. (My worst was a youth referee where my dad took a phone call and agreed for me to ref a U16 game (dual). Almost 40 years later I still remember the feeling of helplessness as I realized I just didn't know how to tell a fair challenge from a foul at that level. Fortunately the teams wanted to play, so it was just bad rather than being a total disaster.)
I was supposed to AR but other AR was a no-show. My partner is a cool-headed veteran CR that really REALLY "let's them play", but seems to know exactly when and what to call to keep a lid on things. He also had so much action on his end/side he couldn't help much with my issues. The few good parts: no fights, preseason fitness work payed off, I stayed out of the way of the players and the ball. But confession is good for the soul, right? Well, okay... I was foolishly trying to match his thresholds which are way outside of my norm. My decision making was/is too slow - seemed like three more things occurred before I had decided on the first. I was trying to watch too much (futile) then tried to regroup and focus on a few key things (tunnel vision) and was missing things like the increasingly cynical aspect of fouls and camouflaged holding. A few slight/subtle holds in the PA had me wary of calling an unexpected/undeserved PK at that level and "changing the game". All of the past discussions & advice for this type of game were cluttering my thoughts all at once. Obvious decisions suddenly seemed wrong with misreading play and the players. I knew the players saw the game was going over my head and let some of their reactions affect me too much. The telling moment -> I committed the cardinal sin of letting too much dissent go because in the back of my logically-oriented mind I probably felt the players were factually correct... Epic Fail. It's probably the most incompetent I've ever felt after a game... that half hour drive home seemed like four... or eight. And, nope - still don't feel any better about it after confession . But yours will be fine!
D3 women's game last night. I'm AR1. About 20 minutes in, visiting team player, in front of her own bench, takes a throw-in, with her lead foot planted at least two feet onto the field. Flag up. She looks down and says, "not the white line?" The white, gridiron football line was a good six feet beyond the yellow soccer line. Okay but second half, home team player, in almost exactly the same position, does the same thing! The home team trainer, with a big smile, says "Oh, come on. It was only three feet too far." I replied "And it's HER home field." He says, "I guess she can't have that excuse, can she?" Visitors tied the game, with two minutes left. Home team scores the go ahead goal with 23 seconds left. As AR2 put it, "I said some words I probably shouldn't have after both of those goals."
I don't know that it's foolish, but it's really, really hard--and one of the fundamental problems with the duel system. IMHO, the dual can work OK when you have two refs with styles and thresholds that are very close so they can read the game the same way. But when the refs have significantly different styles/perspectives (either of which may be totally acceptable), it can be very difficult to find any harmony. (Which makes me happy that I never do anything dual.) Put another way, I don't think that game not working tells you a lot about what you can do--you were trying to be someone else, rather than being yourself. You learned from the experience--don't beat yourself up over it.
Double rep, socal lurker! When the referees have different skills, attitudes about fouls, etc., I encourage them to both try to move towards each other's style. One has to tighten up and the other has to loosen up. The players will adapt or they will learn that they need to adapt.
I really thank you for your frank post. It’s the negatives and the positives that let’s us all learn from each other and gain insights that we otherwise would only get from the school of hard knocks. But I want to focus on this part a little, and tell you for myself that the worst eggs I’ve laid professionally and as a referee were when conditions were abruptly changed. From the time you accepted the assignment to the moment you showed up you had in your mind you would be an AR. The abrupt change of mind to “ok now it’s a dual AND I’ve never done one with this guy” is a huge distraction and could have very well contributed to the relative discombobulation you had. I’m guessing that had you known it was going to be a dual from the get go, mentally it would not have been nearly the struggle you described. My son, a PhD student in psychology, is interested in the mental burden of uncertainty, how it amplifies fear and pain, and how it affects perception. My feeling is that the abrupt pile of uncertainties thrust upon you at that moment you realized the other AR would not show out you a bit behind the eight ball.
I've learned as much (or even more) talking & reading about things that have gone wrong for others as I have anything else. I hear what you're saying. I knew a little bit ahead of time he wasn't showing up and was actually looking forward to the challenge... but, I tried too hard to do too much and had too many things cluttering my mind while trying to track play and appear like I had more experience than I did... instead of sticking to the basics and working hard to perform within my current abilities. Yes, tried to be someone I was not. Sort of a funny follow-up... I was originally supposed to AR their next game vs. a rival with my partner at CR, but I was reassigned to dual another game to prevent it from being cancelled (and to let the dust settle). I asked him how it went... "They were freaking hooligans, worse than our game... had 11 YC's and two 2CT RC's... School ended up suspending a couple of them for their recent behavior in games. (there's no state suspension for a 2CT Red). Be glad you missed that steaming pile of a game! I don't care to go back there..." Okay, so maybe it wasn't all 100% on me the other day...
Was AR2 on a fast-pace U15B game. At one point, near the end of the match, a play was close to being out near touchline as it was coming towards me. The kid kicked it and it slammed into my left hip while I tried raising my flag. A big gasp of audible "Ooohs" and mild laughter filled the air. "Say you're sorry." one player chimed in with a sarcastic yet affable tone. A women from the crowd cried out "I bet that hurt... poor guy", so I decided to rub my left hip to draw some laughs. Success. Another female spectator cries "Make sure to put some ice on it when you get home AR!" so I give a thumbs up. Another round of laughter fills the air. It's always good to hear spectators laugh. Especially when there was a DOGSO red on the GK seconds before the 1st half ended.
Double header HSVB games on Thursday. CR for 1st AR1 for second. 1st game was CR and home team had a bunch loud boys who thought I was not calling it both ways. One defender was a bit lippy already and he and a player from the other team go down after the defender fouled him about 30 minutes in. They are "conversing" with each other as they move away from the kick, I just keep my eye on them and sure enough, as the visiting team goes to separate himself, the defender grabs his shirt and gives him a pull back. *tweet* YC and defender starts saying that the guy was saying stuff to him, I agreed and said "but you pulled the shirt". No complaints from the coach (he actually knows his boys have mouths on them and has told me before not to go easy on them) coach just nodded when I went to the sideline and informed everyone as to the reason. Coach had him sit for the entire 1st half. 2nd half and home team is down 4-0. home team player is dispossessed of the ball by a fair challenge, (home players didn't agree) Visiting player sends a high cross to other side of the pitch where a home player jumps through the visiting player to try and get the ball. He didn't and I blew the whistle. Huge cry out from the GK "You CAN'T be serious!!" i.e. McEnroe. I stop the game and give him a YC for his dissent. Coach again just nods his head and the GK never sees the pitch again. Visiting team wins 5-1 and off we go to game 2. Second game. AR1. close match between two better teams. Nothing to exciting, and Visiting team goes up 1-0 off a CK that bounces around the PA for 20 seconds before they net it in. Right before half time home team comes down and crosses a bal into the PA that the CB clears with a diving header. Player is hyped when the halftime whistle blows and he runs to the visiting bench (right in front of me) and gives a big "F#@&k Yea!!!!" I turn to him as do BOTH coaches and I tell him he is luck I didn't hear that THIS time. Both coaches reprimand him as well and we go into halftime. In the second half, the home team is really pressing, visiting team is committing quite a few fouls. Especially I see #9 with two quick ones. This is all down away from visiting coach and myself, but many fouls I am seeing AR2 raise his flag in unison with the CR's whistle, so I know they are not coming from just one. #9 push's in the back of a home player, nothing too serious, but CR gives the YC, as he comes over the visiting coach is upset with all the foul calls and says that the push wasn't enough to warrant a YC. CR tells the coach that he was warned twice about the hands and it was more PI than UB. Coach doesn't like it and says "Well the next foul against them should be a YC for them as well!" Home team scores a few minutes later to tie it at 1. about 5 minutes later, home team is still pressing and crosses the ball in just outside the PA. CR blows a whistle and gives another defender (the one that yelled F yea) a YC. As they come over the visiting coach is not happy, CR comes over and says he held the jersey of a home player (we couldn't see from our standpoint). Visiting coach is harping and of course the home team takes the ensuing DFK and takes the lead 2-1. Visiting coach still mumbling and yells out to his team from the kickoff to his boys, "Guys, we are playing against 12 out there!" I turn and tell the coach that is the one and ONLY warning he will get from me and if he has one more thing to say that isn't about coaching his team that I will send the CR over to card him. The last 20 minutes go on without incident and game ends 2-1 home team. A visiting player coming up to shake our hand asks me if there is somewhere he can go to complain about the officiating, I tell him yea, just go to his AD and if he wants stop by when I get to my bag, I got his cell number on my phone. He never came by...
Tonight there is once again balance in the universe. I am back to averaging exactly one spectator dismissal per year. Seeing as how I terminated the match early as well maybe there will be consequences (yeah probably not).
Just going to leave that there and walk away? C'mon man, spill! At least for the entertainment value.