I am curious how COVID-19 is impacting peoples decision on working as a referee in the fall. I have several household members who fall into high risk categories (but am personally in one of the lower risk categories). With the health of my family members in mind, I am attempting to decide if I should referee in the fall or not. I already have over a dozen college games that have been assigned since the winter so I would have to turn back all those games if I decide not to officiate in the fall. I had already planned on this being my last season as a referee due to some nagging knee injuries.
I don't currently plan to ref any games this year but that is subject to change if conditions warrant. I'm in a high risk category health wise myself and my mother in law has moved in with us temporarily as a covid outbreak rages through her senior living facility. It's one thing to risk your own health, quite another when you consider the impact of your decisions on others. I'm encouraged that new cases in the US on a daily basis have been on an overall downward trend since early April and are continuing that trajectory even with things like society slowly re-opening and recent mass demonstrations. The daily new cases graph at this site is one I find most useful. For states with an active link you can see the same graph for just that state, unfortunately not available for every state. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
State by state info is on here. No description of the basis for the projections, but whatever. http://covid19.healthdata.org
I have no idea what is going on in the Fall. I'm trying to get through the Summer. My sister-in-law, brother-in-law and a local friend are now recovered after some scary moments. HS soccer and all other Spring sports were cancelled. Baseball and Softball start June 15 with restrictions.
I live in one of the hardest hit states, but I just sent a note to my assignor saying I’m ready to go. But, it will be interesting to see if the numbers are there both players, coaches and officials. HS soccer starts 2nd week of August, but there are no indications yet on schools re-opening, let alone what the protocols for sports and activities will be. I’m guessing we might only see Varsity teams to lessen the work load on HS staff. You have bussing, locker rooms, equipment and fields to have to deal with, so maybe only Varsity makes it work. We were trending away from Freshmen teams here anyway, so JV teams are the next to go. On the club side, if I never have to check another player pass and have teams line up, I will be forever in debt to this awful disease. But, it will be interesting to see what parents do in regard to having their children return to the field. Numbers have a legitimate chance to be way down.
I think the thing I miss least about club matches is standing there wondering if my second AR is going to show up by game time.
I'm going to assume this poll is about *voluntary* impact. I think everyone is forced to work less games because of league shutdowns.
My response is really dependent on when games start being held and the status in that moment. I don't see an option that really reflects this so I didn't vote. If Oregon started doing games today, I would not. We set a record today (20% higher than previous record) for positive cases; while testing is up, hospitalizations are also increasing suggesting increased spread. Most of the state has entered our "Phase 1" of re-opening, and these increases are happening across the state. Until two weeks ago, I had hoped that cases would continue to decline to very small levels, in which case I would feel more comfortable doing games. I'm in a tough situation where I don't consider myself high-risk and I live alone, but I live in a large apartment building where there are other vulnerable populations. I've also "quaran-teamed" up with some friends for my mental and social health, having dinner with them once a week. So I'm mostly worried about my accidental transmission to someone else. While outdoor events are among the safest ways to still be active... I feel like until there's a vaccine, the chance of my actions hurting or killing someone will keep me out of reffing unless our local situation seems really under control.
Right now, summer preseason high school scrimmages are starting in July. As an older, less fit guy who is wondering how much longer I really want to go out there. I want to believe I am able to contribute. I know my days are numbered. There are a number of factors in play. Work is demanding more of my time. Age and fitness are issues. Recertification is a much more onerous process - you are really worried so about me abusing kids that I need to spend the time needed to complete safe sports classes every year. Really. The recert process is the thing. COVID could be a justification. But, I’m not ready yet. But, to be clear, I have no illusion. I started reffing in my mid 40s. I have over 10 patches on my bulletin board. I’m at the level I’m at. I’ve done DA, high school Varsity, regional youth league games. I’ll never see anything higher. It’s year to year, and I’ll make it one more year. I’m not dead yet. COVID isn’t going to be the reason I quit. But, my days are numbered.
came across this today..just,makes me wonder even more about reffing especially #4 https://www.marketwatch.com/discove...ABFA-11EA-B24E-A741DCDF0F0B?mod=dist_mw_email
Should the season here even start (which doesn't look like happening anytime in the next two months), I doubt I will bother refereeing this year. I have barely trained since the gyms shutdown so why risk injury for two months of soccer? Why risk catching Covid and passing it onto my family and parents for a couple hundred bucks cash?
There has been some talk in central Maryland about summer leagues, but I don't really see that happening. I think that there will be a season in the fall if I had to guess, at least in the counties that haven't been slammed.
I was going to start a thread with this information, but my State sent out this link from referee.com with questions about restarting and what officials around the US thought about it. Personally, I just printed out my 22 contracts from the boys HS season this fall. I need to start running again, it might not be a pretty sight... https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PD... Officiating.pdf?ver=vy_afldVK6lm5n7vRZLERw==
According to this, 60% of refs age 65 or older are “comfortable” participating as an official. Speaking candidly, even without any underlying issues, I don’t think these folks still understand the severity of this man-made virus despite 120,000 dead (and counting). Most of those in this age range are planted at midfield in club matches, so perhaps they feel their positioning (or lack of) more than meets the social distancing guidelines? At the high school level (dual-system), folks are planted on the sidelines at the “35” on each side, so they might have a better chance of catching the Coronavirus at the grocery store. Hopefully, everyone here will make the right decision for their circumstances. If you’re 50 or older and have underlying issues or share a home with elderly, I hope you do the right thing as the money isn’t worth it. Numbers are rising in about half the states now, as folks think this virus has gone away. It’s scary how easy it is to get infected with this.
It's 60% of refs that took this poll. I am not sure how scientifically accurate the poll was. I think that it was just who ever clicked into their website, which means it's not that valid or reliable.
Yes it is serious, and yes it is a challenge. But get rid of the political conspiracy theories, this is s a ref site. There is zero evidence the virus was man made. Zero.
A large sample size doesn't mean it's reliable. For example, if it's 10,000 refs from California and 10,000 from around the rest of the country, then it probably doesn't mean anything. My background in sociology and having to design surveys in the past makes me cautious about online surveys.
There is a map of how many in each state were included in the survey. It is the last page FYI 1500 from CA, 1271 from Ohio, 1056 in IL. Plus all the other states... So you can take that for what it is worth...
illinois high school soccer covid policy for fall.officials will wear mask when officiating and use electronic whistle
The delayed spring season can begin in my area next week. There is a tournament scheduled that has a few hundred refs looking at about a 100 slots. That says to me that parents are not exactly clamoring for a quick restart of youth sports, at least where I live. i am less certain that high school season which starts mid August will happen at all. The chatter on return to schooling has not been great, and I think school sports will come second (rightly so!).
Lol can’t find the mini fox f40 electronic whistle for sale anywhere. Can’t think of ever seeing or hearing an electronic whistle...I guess we’ll see a lot of it this fall.