impact of COVID on working as a referee

The HS season ends tomorrow here in NJ. I was talking to a HS coach who also runs an outdoor facility. He said they are booked straight thru to the spring. All the teams that play indoors all winter are trying to go outdoors. Last year, we had hardly any snow (a tad unusual) and I did a couple friendlys in February in really warm weather.

 

One week of the HS regular season complete. I accepted 8 assignments. 3 of those games ended up being canceled, sometimes with only a few hours' notice. I got the assignment for one game I worked about 3.5 hours before kickoff. I'd prefer to be cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season, but I think Thanksgiving and then Christmas are likely to cause an uptick in cases and throw a wrench into things.

 

Honestly I'm surprised it's still going on.

I will be surprised if I have my college showcase in December (16th). Can't see cases rising and events keep unfolding.

 

Locally here, girls conference championship for top two large schools that opted to play this fall was cancelled 19 minutes before kickoff while the two teams were on the field for warm ups when results came back that one of the GK's had tested positive for COVID. Team was forced to forfeit. The 'champions' then declined to accept the title and both teams were declared co-champions.

 

That's...amazing. "We're all in this together," FTW.

 

There is still some good news out there in 2020!

 

We... played our tournament. Had teams from all over. Played with masks on. Saturday night "amendment" to the order came through - now you did not need a documented reason to not have a mask on, just a reason. That created a massive mess. Some teams just did not play with masks on at all. Tournament people would come over and force them to have them. Then they did but kept them down. That was fine with the tournament. Saturday went more smoothly because basically everybody kept them on, although it was a nightmare.

Interestingly enough, PIAA state finals at Hershey... nobody wore masks on Saturday. Raised some eyebrows, given that all u9 through u19 wore masks on a club tournament but the kids playing and referees officiating at Hershey Stadium, televised finals did not.

 

So, was it the responsibility of the referees to see that masks were worn and worn properly? If not, who was the enforcer?

 

Sorry, never got back to you and just catching up after the holiday craze.

It was not in so far as the tournament went, but this is something we received in a newsletter from Eastern PA SRC:

Having said that, the tournament was dealing with things. Field marshal would come over and tell us to tell everybody to have a mask on and the protocol, but a lot of referees just mentioned something to the teams but were not going to enforce it. At some point during the tournament, in between games, a field marshal came over and mentioned to us that "parents were complaining that the other team was not wearing masks so the event coordinator for this site is coming over to deal with that." I would not have known, but the players came out all with masks on for the second half, so there was nothing for me personally to deal with.

All in all, we were not having to deal with that too much, but I think it was also mostly because the tournament staff were very proactive with it and also most teams had no issues complying with the guidelines.

 

Is anyone who didn't referee at all this year considering not going back at all after enjoying the summer without games?

I'm 50-50 right now. Not getting home after midnight a few nights a week and waking up in pain in the morning was nice. That said, refereeing is great exercise, good for socializing, and basically the only thing I'm good at in life

 

I stopped doing summer games a couple years ago and don't regret it. Sure, if I found myself with a free weekend I might help, but here in the PNW summer is a precious resource not to be squandered.

 

First time in 15 years that I didn’t do Memorial/Labor Day/ Thanksgiving weekend tournaments. Usually, high level play, ECNL and well attended college showcases. I miss the quality, but not the quantity. I do not know if I will do them next year.

 

The reason I asked, Barciur, is that it is my understanding that USSF's referee liability insurance does not cover viruses, germs, etc. Therefore, if referees are expected to enforce masks and/or other Covid-19 protocols, but they don't, you are exposed to liability suits with no insurance. (NASO insurance does cover such claims/law suits and I do carry the NASO insurance.) I would be uncomfortable with being told that I had to tell coaches or tournament staff if someone isn't wearing a mask, wearing it properly, etc. I know that it would be almost impossible to prove that little Johnny got Covid-19 during a particularly game from a teammate or opponent who was not wearing their mask properly, or whatever. But getting a dismissal will take legal costs that will quickly exceed one's referee income for several years.

 

With regret today I pulled out of my first and only college showcase that was due in Dec 12/13. 12 days till Christmas day.

I live with someone who is at risk and will be seeing older family members in 11 days. It was not worth the risk despite being very happy after having been accepted.

Hopefully next year will be better.

 

Thanks, this is good to know. I also carry NASO insurance, as PIAA (high school) does not cover us any more for high school games, so our chapter has recommended to get NASO insurance in order to cover ourselves for those games and cover any other pick up games, rec leagues etc. It is definitely worth it.

 

My son's supposed to be participating with his ODP team in an event the weekend of Dec 11-13 in the Kansas City area. Quite honestly, I'm surprised that the event hasn't been called off yet. Teams coming in from a number of different states doesn't sound like the best idea. I originally expressed interest in officiating a match or two each day, but I'm starting to reconsider. I think it will just be best to stay away from as many people as possible and be as bubble-like as I can be if we end up attending the event. Like @IASocFan , I'm leaning against doing any indoor unless it's at my local facility which has a full-sized field and a REALLY high ceiling. I don't think I have any interest in working events in the smaller facilities with lower ceilings and not as good ventilation for this winter.

 

Sorry to hear this but I applaud your decision. I hope your decision to stay home was met with professionalism.

 

Iowa Soccer made the decision that its ODP teams would not participate in the Kansas City ODP event occurring the weekend after this one. I don't think anyone was really upset. I was going to inform the assignors today that even if my son's team was playing, I was going to opt out of officiating.

Given the state of things right now, it's the best thing to do. I know the kids are disappointed, but they also don't want to contract this virus.

 

I have 28 games this Saturday and Sunday I’m assigning. All boys U14-18. All upper division travel teams from across Texas. I keep wondering if it’s really going to happen or not. There was some talk last week about not allowing any parents. Just players and coaches. I was not opposed to that idea

 

those games would end up in the best story thread!

I've mentioned before we have a field with a parking lot overlooking a turf field. On those rare times it rains, it's great, as the parents stay in their cars to watch!

 

I can go one better. I've done a number of games at a small high school whose field is inside their 'track.' (My recollection is that the track is only about three or four lanes wide.) It's a K-12 school and the place for parents to pick up their younger kids is behind the school, where the track/field is. The parents get to the pickup spot by driving from the access road right onto the track and then, clockwise, around to the playground. So when it rains, the soccer parents park their cars on the track facing the field. At least once, when it was late in the season and it was getting dark, the parents just turned on their headlights. As you can imagine, a very small field.

 

Agreed. I'd ref a game like that for free - next year.

 

I was watching an online, scaled-down version of Handel's Messiah last night, and I noticed something potentially useful for referees who are required to (or want to) wear a face mask while refereeing: a "singer's mask." Lots of models are out there on the Web. Generally, they look like giant, fat duck bills. They have an internal (generally metal) structure that holds the fabric well away from the nostrils and mouth. According to one such site, their version "has an internal structure that keeps it away from the lips and mouth so you can draw a deep breath without sucking in your mask." I suspect that a singer's mask might not survive a collision with a soccer ball. Your face might not survive a mask-ball collision, either. Not a hazard that singers generally have to worry about.

 

I am a long time wine collector/consumer. Last week, I received an ad for masks with a zipper across the front, so you could wear the mask while, say, at a wine tasting event. You would just unzip when you wanted to take a sip. I'm thinking that you could just unzip when you have to whistle.