Many thanks to all

My 2016 statistics:

114 games. 64 USSF, 34 high school, 16 college. 84 with the whistle, 28 lines, 2 4ths. 15 of the whistles were high school duals. Of the 64 USSF, 45 were adult games. 42 cautions, 3 send offs. 32 of the cautions for unsporting behavior, six for delaying the restart, three for dissent and one (high school) for jewelry. The jewelry and one dissent went to coaches. All three send offs were for violent conduct and two of them were college fighting ejections. About a reasonable ratio of cautions to send offs, IMHO. More send offs, though, than I've had in quite a few years. I haven't checked how many assessments I did this year.

I am 'retiring' from the SRA position at the end of the month. My decision. After 10 1/2 years in the position, it's time for new blood. I will miss some of the things I got to do as SRA but I won't miss the hassles and getting blamed because people don't make National Referee. I will still be the State Rules Interpreter for high school, State Referee, State Assessor, State Instructor. The youth and the adult are still at odds over selection of a successor.

 

Hopefully the successor is prepared for all of the administrative headaches

 

I completely understand the decision and glad to hear you are still going to be involved - the game will be better both because of your desire to get fresh blood in there and you continuing to pass on wisdom.

IMO, too many times these positions have occupants that stay far longer than they should, and their fiefdoms grow in a fashion that isn't good for the "love of the game". I never understood that because these positions don't seem to be that financially lucrative - I'm guessing being SRA won't result in you spending time in a new villa on Lake Como.

I recall my finest achievement when I became a member of my church's finance commission: I successfully amended the bylaws to insert term limits.

Anyway, very long-winded way of saying hats off to you sir.

 

Financially lucrative? It's a volunteer gig in almost all states. The big ones do pay because it's a full time job. Fortunately, I have/had paid staff to do the data entry, answer the e-mails from moms trying to register their kid for a grade 8 class, etc.

I think I was 16 when I learned my lesson about getting a position just for the honor of it. (I will omit the story, for once.) There are some who have the title but don't do all that much. And then there are those who stay too long. Better to leave too early than too late.

I also remember the story that a classmate told me. He had been a congress critter from California for ten terms. He then ran for senator and lost. Vice President Cheney called him and "I would have sworn that he said FCC," which would have made sense because he [my classmate] was chair of the House committee that supervised the FCC. He said yes and only later in the conversation did it become apparent that Cheney had said "SEC." And that's how my classmate accidentally became chairman of the SEC. So, if they're offering you a position, you need to find out the job description before you say yes. You may not want to actually have to do the job.

 

Interesting story.

 

I'm not the SRA, but I have a role on the SRC. I got asked at a recert by the SYRA

SYRA: "RefGil, how much do they pay you to be on the committee?"
Me: "Well, if you assume my time is free, is guess it amounts to a negative couple of hundred dollars for gas, postage, office supplies, and the like. If you assume my time isn't free, I don't want to think about it."

As far as I know, our SRA isn't paid.

 

As a non-ref long-time lurker, I want to thank you all for the civil discourse, the inquiries and answers, the give-and-take that are the dominant theme here in your Forum. Now that Diane Rehm is retiring, I'll likely depend on you all more for that firm voice of reason.

Here's to you all who allow the games to happen.

Cheers!

 

A supplemental report: Of the 114 games I did this year, only four ended 0-0. The highest number of goals in a single game was 15 (and it was not 15-0.) Four games went to overtime. Two of those stayed tied, one of the other two saw the only goal scored with two seconds left on the clock. One game went to kicks, without overtime.

 

I have now done about 150 HS matches in my short career as a HS ref. I did about 140 matches without overtime then had 4 in a row. I have done about 100 HS baseball games and did 90 without extra innings before 3 extra innings game in a row.

 

Wow. You guys really keep the stats. I keep up with number of USSF and non-USSF games (no NFHS), what age each game is, whether full field or short-sided (ARPA U11 is 11v11 on a full field ) and which games had cards. That's it. Oh, and number of minutes the game went, what it pays, and total dollars per 60 minutes.

37 local rec games, nine ARPA games, 78 USSF games. 124 total
28 CR, 38 AR, 16 duals, 42 solos.
Full size fields - Three U14, Five U13 (two Region III Premier League) all as AR, Two U11 ARPA as AR, Two U11 ARPA duals and Two U16 local rec AR.
Four yellows, no reds when I had the whistle.

Just a hair over $18 per 60 minutes game time for local rec, just under $27 per 60 minutes for USSF.

And lost 18 lbs. At this rate I'll be down to my ideal weight six months after I die.

 

For the record, the former Congressman told me the story personally.

And another, similar story, also told to me by another classmate. The classmate was in the Canadian version of the Peace Corps back in the '70s and his project was in Cuba. At the end of the year, he was asked what he would like as a going away present. He said, "The rum is terrible, everybody's been giving me cigars and I don't need a bag of sugar. How about a 10 peso note with Che Guevara's signature on it?" When the party functionaries presented him a framed 10 peso note, he asked, "Isn't it kind of weird that Che Guevara was Governor of the Bank of Cuba?" After some hesitation, they told him the story.

When Fidel Castro came to power he held a big rally in the Havana Hilton. "We have won! Now we must form a government. Who here's a teacher?" A hand went up and Fidel said "You're the Minister of Education. Who here' s a doctor?" And Fidel named 24 people to his cabinet that day on the basis of them raising their hand. On the way out, Che says to Fidel, "Why'd you name me Governor of the Bank of Cuba?" Fidel replied, "I asked who was an economist and your hand went up." "OOOOHHHH! I thought you asked who was a communist!" Che went on to try to abolish money, since everyone was simply going to share in their new, pure communist society. After six months, Che went off to Bolivia to try to start the revolution there.

 

Everyone has their price I guess. I would have suggested to Cheney that he join this select group --

http://tinyurl.com/j429bce

 

Not that this thread is veering wildly but...

I also would like to express my gratitude to those on this board. I enjoy the discussion and thoughtful replies. I appreciate the detailed answers to my many questions from those of you who speak from deep authority. I don't have much of a ref community around me and I really feel this board has made me far more knowledgeable than I would have ever been from doing local games. Cheers to you all!

 

^ What chwmy said.

I can't thank this board enough. You all have definitely made me a better referee and this forum is invaluable. Cheers to a happy and healthy 2017.

 

"Mah daddy said I was good for nuthin', but I can always serve as a bad example."

 

Ditto. I have learned a lot from this board and used most of it. You all keep teaching me, please.

 

Not having been on the pitch for quite a few years I'm able to live vicariously through everyone's trials and tribulations here. Though we strive to put our last match out of mind and vow to do better in the next one I still can recall many of my gaffs and the precious few matches where I came really close to that elusive perfect one. Granted there were a few times I wished I were in another County but mostly being on the field was my "happy place".

Happy New Year!

 

If you keep falling asleep on the couch, we'll need to start charging you at double the going rate!