Currently watching the US vs Venezuela friendly. I find it interesting that the referees are wearing OSI jerseys, including the USSF logo on the sleeve.
The assignor I do most of my games for asked me to do some youth games that were being run in conjunction with one of those big money unsanctioned Latino tournaments (I think the adult divisions have at least 64 teams and $150k in prize money). All I know from the email I got from the assignor the day before is what field to be at, what time the games are, and how long they are (20 minute halves). I know it's supposed to be U-10 to U-13, but I have no idea what games are what age groups. First game, the kids looked to be about U-11. One team's coaches have no idea how many players are supposed to be on the field at a time. I'm just assuming we're doing 9v9 (and I think that's what the other team's coaches also think). I have no idea whether heading is allowed or not. Once we get underway (only a couple minutes late for an 8am game), the game is uneventful and lopsided. The talent and organization level is not very high. Yellow team wins 7-0. Game 2, both teams show up in white jerseys. I call for captains and ask if either team has different jerseys. Sounds like they don't. I ask one of the coaches, "¿Tiene otras camisas?" and she says a bunch of words in Spanish that I vaguely understand, but the gist of the response was "no." So we're off and playing with 18 kids in white jerseys. It was not fun having to call offside as a solo ref in that situation. A few minutes into that game, the keeper for one of the teams starts walking away from the goal while the ball is live. He's still on the field, but he's walking along the end line toward his team's bench. Meanwhile the opponents are attacking, they shoot, and one of the kids swats the ball down with his hands. I call a PK. The kid says, "But I'm the keeper now!" Umm, that's not how this works. I tell the "new keeper" he needs to go to the bench and get a different shirt. So he does, then comes back on the field to face the PK. That ended up being a 7-1 game. In the last few minutes I look over at one the penalty areas and I see two ducks doing...well, let's just say that's where the expression "the birds and the bees" comes from. Thankfully none of the players (or ball) came close enough to interrupt them. Game 3, the losing team from game 1 is back. I see another team warming up next to the field, I call for captains. Eventually a coach (not speaking English) comes over and shows me the schedule with his team playing in the fourth slot of the day. So that means the team for the third game is nowhere to be seen. A tournament employee (or just some guy with a lanyard that says "Staff") tells me to wait five more minutes and then call the game. So I wait, no one shows up, forfeit. Which is nice, because we were a few minutes behind schedule. I look over to the field next to me. For context, this park has eight full-size fields, and usually a couple of them are split up for youth play. Apparently they set up the adult tournament to use all eight fields, then added the little kids, and now found themselves having to put up full-size goals and reline a field in order to have adults play 11v11 on a U12 field. I can't imagine it was fun to ref that. Game 4 ends up being the only competitive game of the day. It's the winning team from game 2 against a team that hadn't played yet, and the game 2 winners scraped out a 3-2 win. The ref for the next games shows up and I head home. $160 for about 3.5 hours of work. Also, the refs doing the adult games apparently had custom-printed jerseys (in at least two different colors) and shorts. I don't know if they keep them or not. I didn't recognize any of the refs, although I did see the assignor/coordinator of refs for the adult tournament, a white guy who's one of our local refs/assignors and works a bunch with some of the unsanctioned Hispanic adult leagues. I'm guessing they like having a gringo for neutrality purposes.
Unsanctioned Hispanic adult leagues. If you get out of there alive and without mass confrontations, you can manage anything
AR1 - U15 MLS Next. European coach with team from Hattiesburg is on the sidelines and is very boisterous. One point, he's down 0-1 and a prolonged injury takes place right after a goal is scored with both side of players starting to meander towards the sidelines for an impromptu water break. The home side asked for it so most home players are near their technical area with some away players scattered some drinking water and others not. All of the sudden, the away team head coach barks "Water break? I didn't ask for a water break!? GO KICK OFF! GO. DO IT. Start the game!!!" The away team players of course listen to their coach and the referee immediately stops the play. I instantly tell the coach, "Yeah, coach, we're not doing that." and the referee lightly admonishes the coach with the home coach and technical director behind me chuckling at the audacity. Oh, the kicker? The away coach barking for the game to start was a good 5 yards onto the field of play and the athletic trainer was walking with the player with 4-5 yards still onto the field of play. Good times.
Weird one this weekend. I'm reffing a match that has some pregame festivities planned because the home club was making the match an anniversary/commemorative event. So the referee crew inspects the pitch early, before the players start warming up and the speeches/festivities begin, and everything looks fine. As the players and my crew start to get ready for kickoff, players on both teams come up to me holding coins (i.e. pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, US Currency) that they found on the pitch. Someone during the pregame festivities must have been carrying A LOT of change on them, at least 3 bucks, and it all fell out (through a hole, through a somersault or something, or maybe it was deliberate). I've reffed a lot of games, and I can't remember ever dealing with something like that.
Gonna bring out my semi-controversial opinion that these sorts of games aren’t good for referee development. They teach all the bad habits that get you to “survive” a game at the cost of everything else. That’s great if your only goal is to “survive” games, but that’s such a low bar. To illustrate this point I’ll give an example: some years ago, a mentor of mine, who had worked these sorts of games, was watching another referee’s game together with me. Ball went out for a blue throw-in, he goes “I would have given that throw-in to white.” I asked why, the ball seemed like it came off white last. He said he knew it did, but it would’ve been better for match control to give white the throw because white needed a call to go their way right now. Even if this prevents mass confrontations or whatnot, someone who referees in such a manner does not have any match control. If the situation is so bleak that you need to make up calls, give soft fouls, soft cards, etc. in order to keep a team happy, you don’t have any control over them; rather, they are the ones who have control over you and your decisions. Real excellent refereeing is when you are able to maintain real match control (rather than the illusion of control described above) without having to cut corners in your decision-making to do so. If you’re able to command such a match with your presence and personality and do so while making correct decisions without being swayed the pressure one team is putting on you, that’s when you’ve reached excellence in officiating. Any mediocre referee can “survive” a match if they just give the more-angry team almost any decision they want. The great ones can do it without cutting those corners.
The late David Albany was a Syrian who defected from the Libyan Air Force during the Gulf of Sidra crisis in the '80s, doing his first and only carrier landing with his Mig-21 on the USS Enterprise. So not a shy guy by any means. He went from entry level referee class to State One in five years, the minimum time required to reach what was then USSF grade 5. He was living in Miami in the early '90s. He was the guy that the assignor would call to do the game, solo, when the Dominicans were playing the Haitians, at night, and the crowd would be drinking and betting on the game, with no security. David used to say that you read the book until you almost have it memorized. Then you throw it in the trash compactor and just go out and referee. These games aren't about 'surviving.' They are about learning man management. Know when to give cards and when to bend the other way. Nobody out there expects that this game will not have any cards. Yes, the referee has to be a bit haughty and above the level of the players in deportment, but the referee also, in return, has to protect the players. Get the first foul and set the tone for what's acceptable.
I saw this crazy video from EFL league 2 three years ago. Two SFP red cards for the opposing players on a single challenge here’s an article about it https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/32...er-seen-it-before-in-the-history-of-the-game/ I can’t imagine the scenes if this happened today on one of the big leagues or events. EPL, el Classico, UCL, World Cup.
Watching my niece play a rec level game. GK has the ball and AR is frantically waiving her flag. R, looking a bit confused, blows his whistle and goes over to talk to the AR (hey, points for that!). After the conversation, he just waves the GK to keep playing. That was consistent with the game. I always hate seeing refs who are clearly trying and equally clearly haven’t had decent training and support to really learn the basics. (The R was always up with play and working hard, and even the AR who seemed utterly befuddled about active involvement was hustling and trying (well leave out the other AR).
Men's league today. One team (who usually wears dark green) turns up in brand new black jerseys. The other team (who usually wears turquoise) also shows up with black jerseys. Neither team has all their old jerseys with them. The first team ends up playing in a mix of their old green jerseys and various other colors.
Beats the city school I coached softball at. Our home field was in a public park. The parks department would helpfully prep the field, but they would usually do it first thing in the morning and then go on with the rest of their days. We'd show up after school and start every day off with a pre-practice or pre-game walk of the field looking for discarded hypodermic needles. I brought in little flags on sticks, we would mark them, then call the Athletic Director, who would call the parks department, who would wander over in an hour or so to collect them. We hosted a suburban private school one day, and they beat us to the field (man, could I write essays on our transportation issues). They decided to do some soft toss in the outfield. I pulled in with my assistant and we had to go sprinting over to get them off the field. We must have looked insane. The visiting coaches looked as white as ghosts. One benefit, one of the visiting players had a parent who had the ear of someone important. The new protocol was that the parks department would paint the lines and clear the field in the early afternoon and then leave someone to wait for us to show up so there was not an unsupervised eight hour period where the outfield looked like a great spot to get high and take a nap.
I think she was really signaling “I’m really enthusiastic and want to do a good job but no one has bothered to give me remotely decent training.”
What are your guys youth leagues like on Sunday? Surprised to see any games scheduled with it being Mother’s Day. Although, given that it’s the last month of the season for most, and there would be 2 weeks down this month with Memorial Day, maybe leagues are forced to put games there.
PA-West does not treat Mother's Day as special, for youth. Totally blows. The Adult division thankfully does not play. This year I'm getting off light, 2x 9v9, 3x 11v11, 3x 7v7. All sets start noon-ish, so as each game ticks by, my available refs drop precipitously. The 3:30 11v11 is U19, so that one may or may not get ref(s).
As a rec soccer scheduler, I avoid Mother's Day when possible. However our season this spring is very short - weekends end on June 1 because tryouts start June 7. So I've had to put games on the 11th this year.
So in this case the thing I'm seeing is an email from a coach who's asking about (what he perceived to be) unfair challenges since they were from behind. Will of course provide usual disclaimers, I can't litigate the past nor prescribe the future, and I'm staying away from your value judgments. But in terms of fair charges: Law 12 used to specify that when the ball is being shielded, the player may be legally charged from behind. Currently says that player may be legally charged by an opponent. Can a fair charge still entail contact from behind, so long as that contact is not itself C/R/EF? Is it that (say) bodying up with the chest is okay but not a shoulder that's applied behind the opponent's shoulder? I found some old commentary about "in the back" vs. "at the spine," but that was from some years ago. Or...is it that once you get behind the hemisphere line of the shoulder, that challenge is a foul? Appreciate input here. I need to respond to what I deem to be the factual part of this "Request for Clarification and Feedback." e2a here's the topography I'm walking through: My understanding is as follows: Fair Shoulder Challenge: Legal when both players are side by side, playing the ball, and the contact is not careless, reckless, or excessive. The challenge should be with the shoulder, not the arm or elbow, and must be aimed at winning the ball. Foul (Pushing): If a player uses their arm or hand to push, hold, or impede, it’s a foul. Even with the shoulder, if contact is from behind, not aimed at the ball, or is reckless/excessive, it’s a foul. Using the arm to extend or push off is also a foul for pushing or charging.
The standard on charges is CREF. While a charge from behind is more likely to reach a CREF standard, nothing in the laws makes it automatic. (Note that the definition of a charge says “usually” shoulder to shoulder, not that it is required.) while I think we have to be very careful about contact from behind, I also think Rs too often bail out attackers who take the ball to the corner by finding a foul that isn’t there.
Thanks. I think you can tell from the excerpt of the "Request" I posted that this is a legalistic message that has stumbled on some notes without understanding how to make the music. As to the former "from behind" language, I guess this is another example of edition which in trying to clarify only serves to obfuscate.
Those are the kinds of kids I love to see at the fields. Honestly, I like to see those kinds of kids more than the really polished ones. The enthusiastic kids who then get the right training have a great chance to really be good, because they'll soak up every single bit of training they can get their hands on. We just need to be there for them, which I know is sometimes a lot easier said than done. The instructor in me sees diamonds in the rough when I see kids working hard with less than great mechanics.
Yeah, for the first little while, the eyes and the body language tell you way more than the flag-work.
I wouldn't know what other states have to offer if it wasn't for these boards. I enjoy reading heart warming posts such as the ones from @RefIADad where their state office is getting grants to conduct clinics and seminars. The only training grassroots referees get in our state is "unofficial" events where I've served as a mentor for local assignors. Absolutely nothing from the state office. This is one of many reasons why we have no one who is remotely close to being considered as a potential PRO candidate and haven't had anyone in quite some time.
UPSL match. What do people think of this sequence here from 8:00-10:00? You got an attempted tackle from behind where I assume advantage was played, a two footed lunge from the front into the ball with no foul/yellow card, then a late challenge in response that leads to a partial mass confrontation and a yellow and red card. The guy who did the two footed lunge ended with the yellow card but I don’t think it was for the tackle, moreso the confrontation afterwards
My first thought is that #14 Black is rather large! Nice to see him with the armband and playing peacemaker. #5 Black (initial tackle) didn't do much of anything afterwards other than exaggerate a push. #8 White deserved a caution as well, IMO.