I see on the USSF site that for the Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game (2005 Edition) it says: "A recently updated version of the publication "Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game", a compilation of international and national guidelines on interpretations of the Laws of the Game, is available for purchase at the link provided." Any idea why we can't download this? On a more general note, I wonder why USSF doesn't allow us to download ALL of their training material. I mean, those training videos look like they would be useful, but I'm not going to shell out $15 or $20 for each one of them. I would, however, download them and watch them on my computer. Wouldn't they want to get this info out to everyone, so all refs are more informed and thus more accurate and consistant?
USSF does not really make any money off the sale of referee training materials. The price is solely there to cover the costs of publication and distribution. They are only charging $5 to get your copy, so it is not like they are trying to rip us off here. Believe it or not, getting things published be it print or video can be expensive.
If USSF isn't trying to make money, then why won't it allow referees and others to download materials for free if they wish? Or charge $2 for the download?
Has anyone actually seen this new Advice to Referees? I am curious to see if it is really out, and if so, what has changed.
I suppose they expect the state and local associations to buy them to use during re/certification clinics and annual training. I agree; I'm not going to shell out $15 or $20 for a 20 or 30 min video to tell me something I probably already know. But they do make a great gift!
All referees registering or recertifying for 2006 should recieve a copy of this along with the 2006 Laws of the Game (navy blue this year). The "buy" option is primarily for those who want to distribute the book themselves (some unsanctioned organizations use it as part of training, as do college intramural programs), those who "lost" their free one and absolutely can't live without a new copy, and similiar situations.
i was going to break down and buy one (only got lotg at recert for 06). and $5 won't break me. but, add on $6 to ship it to me and we're up to $11 for a publication i could download in prior years. i passed.
I used the contact link to email a message asking when the ATR would be available for PDF download. Here's the response I received: Hope that is as helpful to you as it was to me.
I have never received ATR upon recertification. Only time I got a bound copy was at initial certification.
Maybe this is a state thing? I'm in Florida. I haven't recertified yet (I like to wait a few months for them to work out the inevitable questions that arise each year), but last year I got the "Laws of the Game Made Easy". The years before was the standard LOTG book. I don't think I have ever gotten a print copy of the ATR. They told us to go to the website and download it. We'll see what I get this year.
Just had recert this weekend. We received a copy of the LOTG, but not the Advice book. They still had issues at the class, such as old slides that contradicted new slides, so I guess waiting a little longer didn't help this year.
Hey, I tried again and finally got a response to my question: > Feedback: > When will the 2005 Advice to Referees be available on the website for > download? Currently, there are no plans to have it on the website. Thanks
> Could I ask why not? This is important data for referees to have in order > to do a good job. > > To whom can I address my concerns on this matter? Thanks Please write to: Julie Ilacqua US Soccer 1801 S. Prairie Ave Chicago, IL 60616
Looks like they finally took our advice. The 2005 ATR has finally been put on the web, with a disclaimer that a new edition will be published shortly. http://images.ussoccer.com/Documents/cms/ussf/2005Referees_Advice.pdf
So does this mean I am entitled to get my $7 back?! I'm glad it is free now, but it sure is disappointing that they charged for it so long. Wonder if they will do the same thing with the next version -- charge for it for almost a year or until it is about to be replaced by a newer version, then finally offer it free when its usefulness has diminished. Or did they finally just abandon the experiment of charging for it and will not continue that practice in the future. How many of them do you think they sold? I bet it was far fewer than they were originally hoping.
Exactly, I finally ponied up the money about a month ago, and now it is free and there is a "new" version coming out? Honestly...
I'm happy for it...i've been relying in the 1997 ATR for far too long. Anyway, if USSF really want to cover their costs for publication and distribution and nothing else, they could easily make avi files out of their videos and charge users for the cost of bandwidth (plus the initial cost of creating the digital video) (which i would do for free if they wanted me to). For people who want a hard copy of the video, they can still make the purchase for a DVD or cassette. How much do they cost currently? US$5 each? or $15? I've seen two different numbers given on this thread.
1997??!?!? The 2003 has been available for download for ages. Also, your RRA should have been happy to buy ATRs for any Intermediate or higher ref who wanted one.
I never asked actually...ohwell. At least i have the 2005 version now. I saw a link to the 2003 ATR on some website, but that link (and just about every other one) was broken.
Probably anyone on this board would have emailed it to you! That won't help you now, but next time. I personally have a soft copy of just about everything, both at work and at home.