Has anyone used an electronic whistle yet? Do you have opinions on ones you like/don't like? The information I'm finding anecdotally online isn't terribly informative, though some of the YouTube videos are fun.
Boy, isn't this true! One of my regular HS partners and I did a dual/duel in a few unsanctioned adult co-ed games right before Christmas. I made a call closer to his area, but I had a really good angle on the play. After the game, he told me what he saw and how the captain of the team let him know he didn't like how I called a foul near him. It's just one of those situations where two officials who know what they are doing had different angles on the same play, and we went with what we saw. I've already tipped off the two ADs in the district where I work that they should expect most of their high school games to be duals/duels this spring. We are short of referees anyway before lumping college into the mix. We're trying to get three referees on the rivalry and top-tier matches (which their programs have a good number of since their programs are all good) and two on everything else. It's going to be a struggle.
I've used one quite a bit this winter since I've worked a number of indoor events. I'm getting used to it, but I don't like it as much as a traditional whistle. The Fox 40 whistle I use (not the mini one, as I've seen way too many reviews that it's extremely quiet) is loud enough to use indoors. It has three different tones, so I can change the tones if someone else is using the same whistle. For me, the biggest thing I have to keep telling myself is to not always keep my finger on the button. Human nature will tell you to keep your finger over the button, but you can then hit it right away and miss a good chance at an advantage or, even worse, create an inadvertent whistle. I've had a humorous moment or two when I've been marking a score and hit the button on accident. I use a wrist lanyard, but I still try to not let the whistle hang from my wrist since it's pretty large. I have had a few instances where players continue to play after I've blown the whistle. They just aren't used to the more computerized sound compared to a normal whistle. But using an electronic whistle with a mask is a better alternative than not having any games at all . . .
I was officiating at the USA Track & Field National Indoor Championships. At some high level meets, instead of a 'bang' noise to start, it's a very loud electronic crackle sound. I don't remember the race exactly (women's 800?), but at the start crackle sound, half of the runners started running. The others didn't. So they had to crackle again to recall the runners. A few who had started didn't seem to want to pay any attention to the second sound, but only stopped when they saw others had stopped. So the starter told all of the runners that, yes, that was the start sound, no, it's not a bang but we're indoors, etc. The second attempt got, maybe, 2/3 of the runners to start, so we had to do the whole recall thing all over again. Finally, on the third attempt, everybody started. The lack of familiarity with a different sound will make some athletes not react, just to be sure but some will.
I just realized that I should have added "electronic" to this. The traditional Mini is a good whistle. The electronic mini is the one that I've heard people say is too quiet, particularly compared to the Fox 40 electronic whistle that I use.
From the great Johan Cruyff . . . If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it better.
More of a "You don't see THAT every day" event as part of an enjoyable Saturday morning of officiating. I'm running two ARs and a center for a college showcase at our indoor facility this morning. During my center, my watch hits 30:00 (30-minute halves and a 5-minute halftime to allow games to start every 1 hour 15 minutes) just as the defenders pass back to their goalkeeper. So my thought is, "When the keeper booms the ball upfield, I'll blow for half as the ball is in the air. No big deal." Except it was a very big deal. As I'm waiting for the keeper to blast the ball, she mishits a pass to a defender. The attacker's striker is right in the path of the ball and basically redirects it in for a goal. Thank goodness I was waiting for that ball to go a distance before calling for halftime. My match control would have suffered greatly had I blown the whistle as the striker was kicking the ball for a goal! Also, the center on the first game today was using the Fox 40 mini electronic whistle while I used the larger electronic whistle. From my AR position, I had a very, very tough time hearing the mini whistle except when he was within 20-30 yards of me. I actually seemed to hear the whistles in the adjcent gym for the volleyball tournament going on (I'm hoping many of them were using some sort of protector over their whistles). I don't think I had too many issues with people hearing my larger whistle. When I hit the button, people seemed to stop. YMMV.
I passed the national fitness test on Saturday. In fact, in our group of 3 the 45 year old and 35 year old (me) made the 25 year old look unfit as he had to fight to make the line for the last 3 laps and collapsed after he finished. I am ~3 weeks past a positive covid test. I'm glad I put in plenty of hard work before that because it was much easier to get back to 'lane 3' fitness.
There was some club stuff that started up again in the fall, but I was pretty busy with work and didn't really want to deal with it. Now I'm hoping the mask mandate lightens up before it gets into the 80s and 90s!
That's my concern for this coming spring and especially for Fall HS season... i was in fairly decent shape last fall and did some treadmill trials with a thinner mask... 8-10 mins of interval running was all i could do before the mask had to go; felt like i was suffocating. Last fall for HS they had originally talked of making us wear mask the whole game, but that was quashed before it could get past the brain-storming phase. Who knows what this year will bring.
I wear one of those Under Armour masks when I'm required to wear one while officiating. I had to wear a mask for all of my games this weekend (6 60-minute games, 2 middles and 4 lines on a full-sized indoor field). I could definitely feel it after about 15 minutes. When subs were entering the game, I unhooked the mask and took in some air while being far enough apart from the players. It stinks for everyone - players, coaches, and officials - to wear a mask, but the alternative of not playing is a lot worse.
Well, it doesn't stink if you wash your mask occasionally! Seriously, we are looking at all high school games this spring with a mask. However, the D3 colleges are saying 'no mask during the game, only before and after.' And we've been going through absolute agony over how to handle players not wearing their mask 'properly.' We don't want to get referees in a situation where it looks like we're responsible for mask enforcement because we have no liability insurance for claims that we did something wrong and someone got sick, etc. It isn't so much the risk that we'd have to write a check but that we'd have to pay for an attorney to get a claim dismissed out of our own pocket. Based on my experience elsewhere, that would run in the low five figures, all to the left of the decimal. And masks are the only Covid-19 thing that potentially involve referees. Everything else (e.g. number of spectators) is up to the schools, particularly the home school.
I have my first High School game as a Center coming up and it will my 2nd HS game ever. Varsity Boys for a local HS nearby. Can't wait. The assignor has a lot of trust in me. The game after is a duel for Freshmen/JV Boys... so that'll be interesting. Anyone got any tips for duels?
In all seriousness, here are some tips I use in duals. As the trail in open play, I generally don't go any deeper than the last attacker. That's a compromise from taking a deeper center position and still not being glued to the 2LD like I would be as an AR. I try to keep the play inside of me, which means I always want to be between the ball and the bleachers/benches. On a field marked for pointyball, I use the football hashmarks as a guide. Unless it's really late in the half and I know the chances of needing to get back to my touchline are slim, I won't normally venture inside of the near-side football hashmarks. That's still 25-30 yards into the field. If I'm the trail on set pieces near the attacking goal, I usually try to be 10-15 yards farther back than I would be if I were the center unless it's really late in the half. You just have to read the game and know what your priority is. If it's a 2-1 game and the losing team has a corner kick, the action in the penalty area is a lot more important than the potential counter-attack. Duals are all about doing your best to anticipate play and know what your priority is to call. When I talk to coaches and ADs outside of games (i.e. when they are a lot more reasonable), they understand we're doing the best we can with a dual. I just try to weigh the potential options and prepare for the one I think is most likely to happen.