Last night I arrived home from the USYS National Championships! The past seven months have been a wild ride to say the least. I owe a lot of favors to our incredible group of driven, kind, and generous referees who helped me along the way. I won't soon forget Nima photo bombing our crew pic and complimenting my beard at Nationals . Below you can find the seven-month series of events that took an unknown local area referee who seemed to have no obvious pathway forward all the way to USYS Nationals: Show Events (Move your mouse to reveal the content) Show Events (open) Show Events (close) 2021 College Season: My first season with NISOA consisted mostly of D2/D3 lines, a few D3 whistles, a D2 conference playoff line, and an early round NCAA D3 AR. I wanted to do right by the people who gave me these opportunities and felt I need to improve a heck of a lot to do that, which is why I dove headfirst into the events that follow. December 2021: Girls Academy Norco CA - IMG Cup Bradenton FL - Disney Boys Showcase Orlando, FL. January 2022: ECNL Girls Sanford & Lakewood Ranch, FL - Disney Girls Orlando, FL - ECNL Boys Sanford, FL February 2022: National League P.R.O / Showcase Tampa, FL - IMG Boys Showcase Bradenton, FL March 2022: IMG Girls Showcase Bradenton, FL - Girls Academy Champions League Bradenton, FL April 2022: Dallas Cup, Dallas, TX May 2022: MLS Next Flex Boyds MD, - Needham Memorial Day Easton, MA June 2022: 1st State Cup (U19B Semi Whistle) - 1st USYS Regional Championships - (U17B Final AR) July 2022: 1st USYS National Championships Orlando, FL (U14G Semi AR)
Heard from an experienced ref moving to my town from Texas, looking for contacts/info on getting youth/adult/HS games. Was thrilled to hear of another certified adult for the fall season, and happy to share some accumulated knowledge. Also let out a big sigh as I started the paragraph about how PA HS doesn't use the DSC...
Here's a question? Which states do not use the DSC for high school? In New York (or at least the part of NY that I'm in), we use the dual system (two referees) until the sectional playoffs start unless a school requests three referees.
Not sure how many states use the dual as an option to the DSC. As far as I know, only PA and FL do not use the DSC at all; the Double-Dual is our alternative to the dual system.
Ohio typically uses dual system for JV games and those two referees become the ARs for the Varsity contest that follows.
My part of Southern California mostly dropped DSC for duals last Fall. (My first year with the group.) there simply weren’t enough refs so even varsity games that would have expected (and really needed) a team of three were only getting 2. I gather some of the very most competitive varsity games still got three,but it was very few.
In PA JV games are all duals; typically if the varsity game is a DDS, the JV refs make up 2/3 of the varsity crew.
In Oregon, we do not permit the double dual. Most schools, especially the larger schools, request DSC for varsity games. Some of the smaller schools only ask for dual, particularly the very small schools that are usually playing co-ed. Whether the assigned referee association can provide three officials varies amongst the associations. The assignors have worked diligently to get the schools to spread out their games, since, formerly, too many schools were scheduling all of their varsity and JV on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Last fall they were spread out and I am told that has continued for this fall's schedule. JV2 games are not scheduled until early September, since few if any schools know yet whether they will have teams at that level and, if so, how many. (Not unusual, at certain schools, to have, say, two JV 2 boys' teams and one or two JV2 girls' teams, and I have even occasionally seen three boys or girls JV2 teams from a single school.) In my association, typically we are doing DSC for varsity games, but sometimes duals for afternoon varsity games. By state rule, varsity must have at least two certified officials, "except in an emergency." It has been a number of years since I've done a varsity game solo, but I have done it multiple times. JV is almost always duals. JV2 is usually a dual but occasionally solo. When we try to cover middle school games (some years yes, some years no), they are sometimes duals and sometimes solo. And, at least in my association, JV2 and middle school games are all self assigned. Sometimes, the third official for varsity is a self assign into an AR2 position, turning a dual into DSC, to the disappointment of R2, who becomes AR1.
In Iowa, most all JV and Varsity games are DSC. JV2 games are almost always dual. In some smaller schools with a heavy referee load they may get a dual - it has been getting more common in the last few years. In Texas (with a winter season and a snowbird referee) most of the double headers I was involved in were dual JV followed with a CR coming for varsity game. We also had a few small school varsity duals.
I live in the same metro area as @IASocFan , so I won’t add to his comments about our area. In my previous area, we followed the general pattern of duals for JV matches with those two referees becoming the ARs for the varsity game and a new center coming in. Occasionally, shortages would force us to do a dual for the varsity. In the event of a boy/girl varsity doubleheader, the general practice was to have the ARs work both games and have two different centers.
That system is foreign around here. If our referees were assigned a dual for game one and a DSC for game two, with one referee getting only one game, there would be more declined games than we have now.
For the first time I was able to defend a youth ref making a controversial call from an instigating parent after a game at a tournament today. U13B mediocre level final, I was AR2, CR was probably 15 years old. 50' (out of 60') he calls a tripping penalty near end line in his quadrant of AR1 side. I have no opinion if he was right or wrong because I'm nowhere near it. For the last 10 minutes the aggrieved parents (claim it was a fair clearance for a CK) are complaining and they lose by the PK difference. After game I see a parent coming out to confront the kid as we are leaving. I immediately get in between and asking him what he wants. He starts going on about playing soccer 25 years, that was a horrible call, etc. That he's not even mad at me he's talking to the center, I say "no you're talking to me". I ask him why doesn't he have a ref license, he says "I don't need to ref I play", I say "okay sir then we would love your two decades of experience in the ref world, please take a class and join us", he's shirking responsibility, "that's not what this is about, blah blah". I say "So sir what is this about? Accosting a 15 year old kid for a call he made in a 12 year olds soccer game? Do you not referee because you don't want the abuse like you're giving him right now?" He's completely lost the argument so he starts saying that he can complain because he has freedom of speech from the first amendment (you know when someone quotes the constitution, their argument is over) so I just laugh and thank him. The 15 year old CR didn't have to say a word to the guy.
Such arrogance. This is why referees make fun of players so much. Well done protecting that kid. We need more of that. Yes, when louts like this guy start talking about freedom of speech, we're done here. You may have freedom of speech, but you don't have freedom of consequences from your actions. I would send an email to the president of this club and let them know of the parent's behavior. The times I've done this (particularly when I know the club president), they are usually pretty swift to deal with it.
I have sent an email to the ref assignors to see if this is worth reporting to the league discipline head (who also GMs the ref association). I'm proud of myself that I stayed restrained and didn't go into any sort of personal attacks on the guy that he could use to report. against me. I was very close to asking him how he would feel if his 12 year old son player decided to become a referee in 3 years (since the CR was 15) and came home one day crying and it was because a 40-something man came up to him after a game and started yelling at him telling him how bad he was, like he was doing right now.
Can anyone give advice on proper use of the "wait and see" method. I have become a Buddhist monk of patience with the wait and see method, regularly waiting 3, 4, even 5 seconds after foul contact to give a foul and having to then point some 5-10 yards back to the original spot of the foul saying "foul back here". I'm doing this probably 3-5 times a game now. I'm doing this to try to really follow our webinar training of how people are misinterpreting keeping possession = advantage, and never wanting to call advantage then pull it back for a foul. This seems to be working really well for me, I'm getting no complaints about it and I'm not having any of the "REF WE WANTED ADVANTAGE!" or "REF THERE'S NO ADVANTAGE. WE'LL TAKE THE FOUL!" types of comments anymore. The only reason I ask is because I don't see too many people waiting this long for calls.
wait and see is mostly for offside imo. i think you have mentioned before you don’t watch soccer regularly. i think part of being an official and to have a “feel for the game” imo 3-4 seconds is a long time to wait. Of course you always wanna wait in the attacking 3rd. But maybe, in the middle and defensive 3rd’s just calling the foul is not hard to do and is something that I do. Sometimes I’ll get players who say “but advvvvantage” and I’ll say something to the like of “let me call a few of these cheap ones that way they don’t hack you all game” or “there were a lot of defenders in front of you. I’ll keep it mind next challenge.” And that normally gets around that objection.
communication before, during, and after the incident. Strong emphasis on the last part (after) to check if the players want that foul called immediately or if they're ok with the wait and see. The only time you should be waiting that long, in my experience, is in the middle to attacking third. I'd also be cognitive of persistent infringement on these. I had an assessor point out that the same player committed three fouls that were on the SPA threshold that I played advantage on. Nothing stops you from coming back and booking those. To help with that, I like to yell out the number of the player and say "we're coming back to that".
I work with a well- respected 'regional' referee who uses a finger point holding at the spot (while he may still move around) of the foul. He will keep that point on the spot going until he either whistles or calls advantage. We as AR's know and players/coaches also respect this method. Parents/fans on the other hand, lost as usual.
Uh oh, sometimes I point at the ball to indicate I think the player got all ball and there's no foul. Maybe I'm being unintentionally confusing?
No, no, I get what you are doing. I tend to do it too. Just pointing out in response to you seeking a solution to clarify that 'in between time', this one person's method of announcing "I see a foul, lets see how it turns out" by holding his mark on the spot.
Maybe Im over reading what you wrote, but I found it a bit confusing. If advantage is played on SPA, you van’s go back to caution for SPA; you do caution for SPA if you decide advantage was realized and award the FK. And, perhaps this what you were going at, fouls on which advantage was played do count toward evaluating PO. On the original question, I think having 3-5 times a game that you wait 3-4 seconds to call the foul probably means you’re being patient too often. You only want/need to wait if you think there is a credible chance of a real advantage. Mere possession isn’t a reason to delay, it’s really possession with a clear opportunity that might be advantageous. and forgive me for lapsing into history for a moment. It used to be that the R was supposed to identify advantage right away, and there was no going back. That led to advantage really being reserved for really obvious advantages, as Rs didn’t wNt to signal advantage and have it immediately be shown not to be there. So IFAB added the ability to go back if the advantage wasn’t really there. But that is still the standard—the advantageous opportunity not ensue. But we don’t go back if the player with the advantage executed poorly or made a poor choice. Only if the advantage really wasn’t there.
yeah, sorry. Wasn't clear in my post. My point was that I'd played advantage in a game 3 times (if memory serves right) on plays that were on the edge of the attacking third. Each was committed by the same player. They were attempted SPA/tactical fouls where the attacker/teammate would come out with the ball, still. My assessor liked the advantages but said on the third one (and arguably second) it was worth coming back to it and showing a card.