Looking for advice.

Are these USSF affiliated games? I find it very strange that an assignor (or a league for that matter) would use only one official except in the most extreme circumstances. As for offsides the few times I've done games like this I've tried to stay as close as I could to the first attacker. You are closer to play but still have a decent offsides angle (usually).

 

Most importantly, and this applies to anything in refereeing IMO, don't over think it. If you feel you will have more offsides situations then shade that way; if a team is defending deep and offsides is unlikely, adjust to get the best view of the ball. Ball in and out of the goal should be a rare occurrence whereas offsides is more common. I would tend to worry about offsides more. Bottom line, do the best you can and "know thy self" - if you don't feel like its something you can handle talk to your assignor. If you've given it your all they should help you.

 

Doing an adult match (or an older youth game) as a single referee requires compromises in how you position yourself and how you referee. It is much different than doing a U10 single where you can easily use your bigger size and speed to cover the field and recover from a bad position. Single referee matches are done all over the world so it certainly can be done but not all referees are comfortable doing them or do a good job at it.

Some advice on single referee adult matches:

• You need CONFIDENCE to do this. You need confidence to sell your calls so that players do not continually challenge your authority and decisions. If the players sense your indecision or lack of confidence in your calls (especially with offside), they will eat you up and attempt to play you all match.
• Be consistent in your calls for both teams. If you called it at one end of the field, call the same or similar thing at the other end.
• Be flexible in your positioning. Use common sense on where you need to be positioned to see what you want to see.
• Ask your fellow referees that you know for advice. Find out which ones do the solo adult matches and seek their opinions and tips on how to do these matches.
• Do some homework or in this case a field trip. Go watch some other referees do single adult matches. Watch how they manage the players. Watch how they position themselves and judge for yourself what works and what doesn't work.
• Remember all the parents that stand along the touchlines of their kids games whining and complaining about what the you call as a referee? Now you are refereeing them! They'll do the same as players so you have to figure out how to manage them. Player management is a huge part of Adult "Rec" matches.
• You didn't mention if this was men, women or coed matches. Each of these groups has their own dynamics that you need to manage.
• Positioning. There is no one answer so what may work in one match may not work in the next one. Don't try to run a traditional diagonal as your only position. Diagonal positioning can work but you have to be flexible and place yourself where you can see what you want to see at that time. Solo match positioning can be straight up and down the field keeping to one side so you can look across the field and see everyone. When you are in the middle of the field and are trying to call offside you can't see all of the players you need to see.
• The hardest part of single referee matches can be calling Offside. A quicker offside whistle is better than a delayed slow one (but don't whistle before you've scanned the field and noticed that defender on the far side). The quicker whistle may also help you with the "...you only called offside because the defending team said something..." complaint. Remember that you will not be positioned like an AR for offside calls so you need to accept that and adapt. In my opinion, unlike a a match with AR's, you should give the benefit of the doubt when calling offside to the defense (others may disagree with this). Be aware of where the players are or typically are on the field. This will help you to anticipate which players are most likely to be involved in offside decisions. Some matches may require few offside decisions because their sweeper or one of their backs play so deep.
• Doing single referee matches may lead to bad habits in your positioning so keep that in mind when doing matches that have a full referee crew.

Good luck!

 

The last bullet must be give strong consideration. In the fall, we start high school and adult league (two and one man w/no ARs) earlier in than youth (three man). When you start doing the three man games, you have to really concentrate on positioning and using your ARs.

Just a couple of things I think I can add. ANTICIPATE. Measure the talent of the players and teams and adujust your positioning accordingly. If you watch international and professional matches (i.e. UCL, Serie A, EPL, etc), the referee will move to the opposite end as soon as the defence gains possession unless there is some serious pressure from the attackers in the defensive third. That will keep you where the play is going, and not constantly trying to catch up. It involves some risk, but with practice, it will come.

On corner kicks and free kicks in the attacking third, I try to postion myself on the far side of the goal within a few yards of the goal line so I have a good view of the players and the goal. If there is a close play or a quick in and out, I'm in a better position to catch it.

Watch the entire field all the time. I see so many referees that only watch the area around the ball. Those are the ones that always seem to be in the way and getting hit with the ball. Pick your moments, like when a player is dribbling in open field, to take a look around. Know where all the players are so you can anticipate where play will go next. It will also help you stay out of the passing lanes. Look for players in an offside position even if they are not immediately involved. It will give you a clue when the ball comes forward. It takes some practice and confidence, but if you do that, I think you will have a better experience.

 

Trying to call offside in a match you are refereeing on your own is like pushing a boulder up a hill. You are always doing it wrong. As someone said earlier, if this is a USSF adult league, you should be careful with the one man. Don't use them for game count.

 

I also like to yell at the players a lot. We have a local USSF affiliated rec league that uses 1 referee for Men's 30, Men's 40, and Men's 50. And it sucks. But when I do them and they're yelling at me about close offside calls, I just yell back "you want it called better, pay for 3. You want to be cheap and pay for 1, fine, but quit whining." But the other stuff that's already been said is good too.

 

Seems your two challenges were positioning and offside. As someone who does these one man games somewhat regularly, here are some thoughts:
1. I took a year off when I first started doing these games. Was just sick of the whining.
2. My approach when I returned was:
a. Offside: Some variant of timtheref's approach. NOT MY PROBLEM. Like many other things, set the tone and the bar on the FIRST offside call/non-call. And repeat a couple of times. "You got this call boys, but only because it was very obvious from where I happened to be", "If it isn't obvious from where I am, he is on today boys. Adjust now!", During play: "Boy, I'd sure as hell not be hanging my hat on offside traps today with only one referee.", "Nope, he's on, I was keeping an eye on those two knuckleheads over there. Play.". Etc. Make these statements loud so all/most can hear. MOST of the time, by half time, the teams will be yelling at their own defenders, i.e. "Steve put your damn arm down and run!", "Jane, he's not calling that today defend #4!". Once or twice I've run into the stubborn defender who just won't adjust and won't stop complaining, and wants to make a point. Well, fine, you've made your point, this card might aid you in adjusting.

b. Positioning: Run. Run and stay much closer to play with the trouble spots (rough defender, don't ever touch me attacker), else play wider to keep more players in your view. Get your but into the PA when play goes there. Stay as close as possible during danger time to the goal line for goal in/out. Most higher level teams will respect you and you'll get more than a few in your pocket if they see you running with them (or out running "Mr. I'll Raise My Arm For Offside Instead Of Running" guy).

There ya go. Tell 'em how it is going to be today (yes that means TALK to them), remind them a few times, caution the dense ones.

YMMV.

 

I'm not usually one for speeches during the coin toss but doing the "ironman" is one of the times I make an exception.

"Boys, my ARs [exaggerated look to my right/left at my imaginary ARs] are a little out of shape so today probably isn't the day to run a trap. I suggest you convey that message to your teams."

From there, I do try and adjust my positioning to get wide and deep when I smell a potential offside decision. Priority for me in an adult match is positioning for fouls and man management over offside. Go into it expecting to miss some offside decisions.

campbed has some good advice. I make an example of the first complainer and that usually makes the rest of the day better.

 

At least around here, it isn't that unusual to be doing a USSF adult amateur game solo. My daughter's first adult center, at age 13, was solo. All of our women's league are solo, as well as the co-ed league and the men's O-40 and O-50's, and their O-30 3rd division. I've done men's open 1st division, Anglo v Latino solo with no cards and no injuries.

You do your best and that's all you can do. The players aren't stupid. They know that there's only one referee and he can't be on both touchlines and at both ends of the field. You may have to remind them of that fact, but treat their expressions of dismay as normal emotional reactions and not serious criticism. This is particularly likely to happen in adult games where the players don't know you (yet.) I believe the term is "fresh meat."

In most of the games that we do solo, there may be more offside decisions than fouls. Adjust accordingly. Yes, you need to run more, at least enough that the players think you are trying to cover offside at both ends. Perception is reality. Hustling to get back builds your reputation. Staying in the center circle builds the wrong kind of reputation. Check whether one team is trying to run a trap/ or the opponents are pushing the line at that end, and the other isn't. If so, then you're going to hang back a bit towards the end where the trap is an issue. I'm not telling you to stand still at that end like an AR, but it isn't going to be the end of the world if you end up 30 yards from the ball when you are doing a game solo.

Did a O-30 women's game where both teams were running a trap in the middle of the field. Back and forth, flat back fours (or fives), about 30 to 40 yards apart and oblivious forwards on both teams. Tweet. Offside. IFK taken. Tweet. Offside. IFK taken. Tweet. Offside. IFK taken. And so on. I wanted to ask them "Are you really enjoying playing like this?"