Ha, yeah usually I would, but this is informal enough that there isn't any conference (I know, I know)... both teams kind of wander in in dribs and drabs. I say hi to both coaches and collect my cash, ask if they need water breaks, and we get going. In any event, I don't think any of her defenders knew what she was talking about because I noticed no discernible difference.
I'll bet no one on here has heard this one before: Women's league game last night. Ball goes out for a corner kick. As usual, discussion about who should take it, because nobody wants to be 'that kind of player.' Finally, a player says, "My mom is taking it." She and her sister were playing with their mom's team. She's 16. Older sister is 18. I didn't check mom's age. [It wasn't because I'm just a dirty old man. Due to a state law on concussion management for minors, any player who is a minor has on their player card a large notice that they will be a minor until XX date.] Before the game, I heard a player talking about the last time they had played this team, with a tone of absolute horror... "Then they started trying to score a lot of goals...." How unsporting of them!
U12 boys, non-USSF dual. My partner's name is Christian. After we looked at rosters, he said "This is the first game today (his fourth total) that there isn't a Christian on either team." I asked "So they are all heathens?" He said "I didn't say that!" One of the coaches overheard us and said "I'll say it!"
AR2 today on a U11B tournament semi. Parents of the team attacking my end are right behind me, and for several minutes there's griping about a few offside calls at the *other* end which they felt/saw/smelled should have been called. I pop for an offside by one of their kids and I hear, "You gotta call those both ways, ref!"
Next obvious offside at the opposite end you should have raised the flag and then turned around and asked if that was better.
I would have just asked them to attend the next officiating class if they are that good to be able to clearly see offside offenses from 80 yards away when they aren't on the offside line. I need some of those "super-ARs" to run my lines!
U15 boys, I am AR2. It gets more and more physical. Hispanic player locks his arm under the arm of his opponent and spins, slinging his opponent to the ground. Center shows yellow, then says loudly "Futbol...no lucha libre." Everyone gets a good laugh and the game calms down a bit.
These are also the exact spectators who will avoid eye contact and look away in fear if you happen to be short a ref and ask them to run a line literally just holding the flag up when the ball goes OOP. Obviously never ideal to be short a ref, but a small joy I get is the first time the sideline loudly complains about a call I make, I stop the match, go over, and ask "weren't you all the same people too scared to even hold the flag for out of bounds? And now you're going to make foul calls?" That usually shuts them up
The first time I saw someone tossed from a youth game was when someone standing with one of the teams yelled some profanity and said the ref didn't know the game -- over an offside call at the other side of the field. Naturally, the call was correct. (I happened to be right in line with it.) Turned out the dude wasn't even one of the official coaches. He was a private coach for one of the players, and the coaches and team manager had a hell of a time getting him to the parking lot.
On the fan side in a BV scrimmage last night. I'm coming out of my PA upfield, long ball out to attacker, when I blow for TI on an in-and-out by said attacker, nearing far PA. And with nobody between us along the touchline. Helpful fence-rider: "How can you even call that, from a hundred yards away?" Boundary call with a perfect angle and no obstruction? I have no idea
On the funnier side of things . . . My son's "league" game on Sunday (it's a league, but they don't keep any official standings and use it as glorified friendlies) saw one center and one AR. I stepped in to run the other line (I always bring my gear for this very reason) and took the parents' side. First ball that goes out of bounds, I point in the direction of my son's team. I hear a familiar female voice down the sideline saying, "Are you sure??" I look down and the voice is the mom of one of my son's former ODP teammates before we moved. She's laughing as I give her a mock dirty look. As play restarts, she's explaning how we know each other than that I'll be just fine on the line. At the first sub of the game, I slide 10 yards down the sideline and let her know, "I'd rather be watching than reffing, but they were short a ref". She responsded with a fist bump. She's a great person, and her son and my son get along very well (despite having some good head to head battles right in front of me in the 2nd half!).
HSBV. Two stories, intermingled. Early, I have a foul on the defense. Home Defender knocks the ball away as the attackers are trying to set it for the free kick. Not today, son. Here's your card, go have a sit. Visitors go up 0:3 at the half. Second half and the visitors are not energetic, while the home team is trying to get back in. Home scores to make it 1:3. A few minutes later, I have a hip check by a defender to take out an attacker in the PA. Stop clock and PK. Visiting team coach is yelling that it should be a card. Um, coach, it was just a careless foul, no chance of DOGSO, and it would be *your* player that you are asking me to card. Really? "Yeah, but isn't it a card if they foul in the box?" "Um, sometimes, but not this time." I look at the home coach and shrug. PK converted. Now the home team thinks they have a game. Visiting defense commits a foul in the attacking third. Defender kicks the ball away. "Seriously, I carded them in the first half. How am I supposed to do anything but card you now?". Defender is "yeah, got it" and heads to the bench. Game ended 2:4. Only two cards were those DR cautions.
Sitting in the stands (not a ref to start with) for my daughter's V game last night. Ball flies through the air, hits a girl on the arm, and of course the calls of "handball!" start. Lady behind me (I think she was serious) said "But it hit her on the arm, not the hand."
Ehh, I was a club line for my daughter's team many a time. I still watched the game - enough so that I totally missed an offside (which I wouldn't be allowed to call anyway) because I was excited to see them score. Teenage ref whistles and sticks his arm in the air. Was that offside? I rewound it back in my mind. Yeah, maybe it was.
First state league game of the season, U17G. I end the match and its 3-2. Losing coach brings up his watch showing "00:23". Befuddled I ask "23 seconds?" "You owe me 23 seconds!" "The referee keeps track of the time not coaches." I respond confidently. I walk away with crew mentioning respect and threatning a vague red. The players are apologizing for his behavior as they motion him away. As I go to my bag and get ready to head out, the coach approaches me once more... <sigh> "Look I want to apologize for barking like that back there.......... but I checked with the other coach and he had the same time I did. Match time was wrong." "OK, well you're both wrong." "No, your watch is wrong!" And off he stumbled into the distance as his players sheparded him away being echoed with apologies. The kicker? I gave that team 2 penalties. Can't wait for the rest of the season!
I can confidently say that my watch also showed that you were 23 seconds short. That's how much credibility I place in the coach's claims. I bet he always starts his watch 30-60 seconds late and tries to use that same line with other referees. We all have learned over the last year that just because more than one person makes a claim doesn't mean in the least that it's remotely true.
Last night, I had a boys varsity dual (white against red). I am the trail referee and am on the side with the team benches. The white team has the ball and is attacking the red goal when a red player carelessly foul a white player about 4 yards to the left of the penalty area. I blew the whistle and signal for a free kick. White coach: That was in the box. It should be a penalty kick. Me: Coach, that was no where near the area. White coach: I know, but I had to try.
Was he claiming that you ended the game at 89:37, or that you should have added 23 seconds of stoppage time? It rarely happens, but if a (losing) coach ever tries to give me crap about (not giving enough) stoppage time, I say the same general phrase to them "Coach, if soccer cared about accurate timing, we would use a stopping clock. But they don't, so I get to estimate what it is. And that was my estimate."
ended game 23 seconds too early. There really was no stoppage time because all goals came in 1st half really.. Either way... no leg to stand on.
There's no way whatsoever that would work with me, because I know how I deal with my watches. I start my backup watch first. I then start my primary watch (Garmin), which always buzzes to let me know I've started the watch. I take a quick check to make sure it's running, and I blow the whistle. Since I always start my watches before I actually blow the whistle to start play, I always give at least a few seconds after my watch buzzes at time. So in other words, a coach pulling this stunt either forgot to start his watch or (more likely) is trying to pull one over.
I am "working" a BV scrimmage in a dual with 3 refs. The 3rd (unpaid) ref is a newbie who is learning the 2 man system. After having him mirror me for the first 10 minutes, I let him take the field and I stand behind him and critique him. And since he is one of my boys (college freshman who has worked for me for 5 years), he takes to it like a duck to water and I end up kind of acting like a 4O hanging out around mid field. I glance over at a waiting sub and make eye contact and he very cheerily pipes up with a "how ya doing ref?" I respond that I'm doing just fine, getting paid to hang out. He says, "cool, this is my first soccer game ever". And off he goes. I watched him for a bit and he was a decent athlete, but no soccer clue whatsoever. And this is Varsity - they had 3-4 subs. Suffice it to say, that team is not going to be winning, or even scoring much this season.
HSBV, AR2, finally have nice weather. Visitors have a woman that really wants her thoughts known... all... game... long... "Isn't that supposed to be a foul??" "You'll won't call that again them!" "He's pushing!" "He's holding!" "That's a penalty!" Blah blah blah... Second half, she finally makes me chuckle with this gem: "And what about a WATER BREAK?!?!?" It was 79* at the time.