ref question

Mistake #1: Reffing uncertified and untrained.

 

Contact your local or state referee association. Take a certification course (either the 9 hours 09 or 18 hours 08). Become certified.

 

Interesting

According to USSF, no clubs may certify their own referees for rec or any USSF/USYSA sanctioned soccer game. All referees must be USSF certified. That's happened here, and in response the state has pushed the Grade 9 "rec referee" for games U14 and under only. I disagree with this move, since it puts too many requirements on "casual" referees wanting to do rec or for that matter, parents, wanting to "help out" and "voluteer" to do their kid's or clubs games. Some clubs have requirements the team has to provide a referee for the next game, and the team/club has to find that referee. Making these "casual" referee jump through the hoops, cost, and requirements of USSF clinics seems a bit much.

 

Re: Interesting

Keith,

As one who started out some 32 years ago as an uncertified referee, and only getting my USSF certification eight years ago, one would think that I would be sympathetic to your position, but I am not. Nor is the statement that "all referees must be USSF certified" true.

Only US Youth Soccer and US-Soccer affiliated leages require officials to be USSF certified. AYSO requires AYSO certification. There are both unaffilated leagues and unaffiliated recreational progams (ie. in-town. rec. community, municipal) , though less in recent years than in the past, such as was the case in the one I started out with.

As to the issue of whether every official should have some form of certificaiton or taining, my feeling is that this is just common sense. Due to the dynamic nature of the game, and the duration of play, soccer referees, to a greater degree than most sports with the possible exception of lacross, hockey, wrestling, are not just there to call the game but to ensure player safety. They have a tremendous responsibility and some form of trainging and certification, though not a guarantee, goes a long way to make sure we have the right people in the job.

Additinally, let's not forget the liability issue. This is a litigious society and a league would be naive to think that they could not be exposed if they did not make sure they have qualified officials.

Sherman

 

Re: Re: Interesting

Actually lets forget the liability issue until someone can site me a legal case that applies..............

With respect to being untrained, players prove every day that simply playing or watching the game reverently does not a referee make. While I believe that USSF initial certification is too short it is much better then nothing. I do not know what AYSO requires for initial training but in michigan there are no questions about soccer on the rules exam to be a reff!!! My local association requires USSF grade 8 cert for center assignments but I think it is only a begining and a liscence to learn. Less then that and you are just a frustrating hinderance to the players and are probably committing all of those errors that I am going to have to go out and fix in future games when the players say "but the last reff!"

 

What age groups will you be ref'ing?

Common mistakes by new refs:
1. Not blowing the whistle loud enough.
A great point was made recently at a referee meeting. The whistle is an instrument. Practice with it outdoors as you would if you were a band member.

2. Failure to use hand signals.
For a throw-in or free kick after a foul, point in the direction that the ball will be going. For other restarts (corner kick, goal kick, kick off, penalty kick) point where you want the ball. In other words, point to the corner for a corner kick, point to the goal for a goal kick, ... Practice the hand signals in front of a mirror.

3. Failure to protect the players.
There will be times in the game when players, particularly U10 and younger, will simply be falling all over the place. While you may have no idea why this is happening, blow the whistle, stop play, get everybody back on their feet, and then point a direction for somebody to kick the ball. This ain't the world cup. Don't be afraid to protect the players from themselves and each other.

4. Run the entire field.
Goal line to goal line, touch line to touch line. Expect the unexpected. Learn something new at every game. Call someone and ask questions if you have doubts about what you saw or what you did. (But don't ask the coach at the field. )

5. Make sure that you are having fun, too.
Soccer is a game. It should be enjoyed by the players, the spectators, and the referee.

Get certified when you can. It will help your confidence.

Have fun,
-nat

 

See if you can get a hold of a book called 'Fair or Foul' It has excelent advice for a new referees. There are some videotapes that were put out by USSF. One of them is 'Myths of the Game' another one is 'Guide to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials'. There is a new one that came out this year that is really good. I can not remember the title, but it has the words 'gray areas' in it. If you can borrow any of the tapes, they are well worth watching.

 

blow the whistle loudly. (this was noted above and is very, very true - it shows you are in charge of the game and confident in your calls - you'll also be surprised to learn how others on the field may not hear the whistle even though it seems loud to you)

be assertive and confident. make a call. blow the whistle loudly. point the direction of the kick or throw. understand that you'll miss some calls, but hopefully they won't impact the result of the game and in the end all you can do is try your best and keep the game moving.

stay in position. one of the easiest ways to miss calls is to be too far away from the ball. of course, this is easier said than done (and it can be even trickier at the younger levels where your normal inclination to turn back upfield on a slow roller to an unchallenged defender can leave you in trouble when the defender whiffs). if you can get a seasoned ref to watch you handle a game, listen to comments about positioning seriously.

don't just watch the ball. a lot of fouls occur shortly after the ball is kicked. of course, as soon as the ball is played, you have to look down field to where the ball is going for the next play, and maybe check with your A.R. or even scan the defense yourself for an offside call, but try to take a glance back at the kid who just kicked the ball and make sure he/she didn't get taken out by a late tackle.

ignore the coaches and fans yelling at you from the sideline. many of them don't know what they're doing anyway, and unless it gets out of control (and truly warrants a visit to the coach to calm things down) it's usually better to just act like you don't hear it.

 

You shouldnt blow the whistle the same strength for all fouls and restarts.... The whistle volume and lenghth can/SHOULD be varied to communicate the severity of the incident.

 

What does that mean?? because they are only U9 or U11 does not mean that they dont deserve a real referee and adherance to the LOTG and ATR.

If the league is USSF affiliated there certainly is.

 

small-sided? (6v6 or some such, I hope.)

As far as "required" certification, as an instructor I am all for it (hey, that's my paycheck ). As a human, I know of more than a couple towns that register only their travel or club players, but their intramural program is run under the auspices of the Parks and Rec Dept., hence they can plead non-involvement although the same faces run both.

I commend your club for doing the two-hour training for y'all. As everyone here will attest, the real training will begin when you step between the lines for the first time.

 

Re: Re: Interesting

Whipple, I think you're over-reacting and misinterpreting what I was suggesting. I realize as long as USSF is sanctioning the game, they can require sanctioning of the referees. It's good to have the power. As you point out AYSO doesn't have to comply.

I never suggested that a non-USSF certified referee is "untrained," you did. The clubs used to train their own "rec" or "club" referees to do rec games (competive soccer always required USSF referees). This training thought self-developed was always adequate to meet their needs. As clubs they could modify the rec rules to meet their needs, as most clubs still do.

There's this attitude among humans that we must all be like "us," meaning consensus. That's all very convenient for one point of view, or one that has others who agree, and especially when a majority. But we enjoy a society where personal choice is the rule of the day. If a group of people want to start a soccer association to play soccer, use their own rules contrary to USSF/AYSO/etc., and certify their own officials, they can do so, and there ain't nothing USSF or FIFA can do about it. "It's a free country!" Maybe they won't get a lot of participants. . or maybe they will. It's the latter that offends the parent/power group.

However, the club rec soccer that is played locally is the same soccer as played every where, with minor "rec" modifications (quarters, everyone plays, no scoring, etc.), and it's also USSF sanctioned. Requiring the USSF certified official which is a full weekend of certification, $40 every year, mandatory USSF clinics, is a little excessive for most of these referees. You'll argue "it won't hurt them," but that's your viewpoint, no theirs. Most feel these are casual referees, who just want to learn fundamental soccer "rules" and provide a nice enjoyable experience for some kids who just want to play rec soccer and have fun. . .not develop into the master race of professional soccer players.

And the liability issue is always the convenient spin of hysteria. It's like paying the mob for "protection." . . ."hey, if you want to be protected, you have to pay us a stipend to protect you." I don't think USSF offers the only liability insurance around. Our state soccer officials program which the majority of soccer referees belong to, have an additional $1million liability policy, only it covers all referees on all soccer. . not just USSF, but even unsanctioned soccer. So maybe USSF isn't the only game in town?

From this initial poster's comments I'll bet there are still a lot of states and local <u>USSF</u> sanctioned rec/alternative soccer that are not using USSF certified referees. Renegades? Guerillas fighting oppression? What ever. I just think USSF went to far on this.

 

Note that I don't agree with your points, Keith, I just want to get the facts straight for all.

The Associate Referee or Recreational Referee certification takes only 6-8 hours. Registration is only $15 (maybe $20 for the Rec Ref).

Here in Massachusetts we have a separate clinic session for the "blue badge" referees where we can talk about issues pertinent to their games (without having to listen to the old fossils rant about the adult matches they've been doing). I think that it is helpful for them to attend.