And hot it was this weekend. Six matches overall, 2 on Satuday (a U10 girls and a U9 boys that were nothing spectacular). I did almost red card a boy in the U9 match. Two fouls both fairly similar and heavy handed on the same attacker. I carded him on the first and probably should have done the same on the second but they were already down 4-1 and the second one was a penalty on top of it, so I could not bring myself to yellow card the player again.
On Sunday, things picked up a little more. Two U13 girls matches, one as a center and one as an AR. The center one started off very interestingly as the blue team attacked and had a goal I had to call back because they literally ran over the keeper. They then scored first with a little less than 4 minutes to play in the first half but in the span of 2-3 minutes, yellow got two goals and then sealed it with a 3-1 win.
In the U11 boys matches I had that afternoon, I could tell that they were starting to try and play the ref, as one boy seemed to have missed a shot as a defender went to challange him and he went down yelling he was hurt, etc. and that the defender had fouled him. I had to tell him that I did not see a foul unfortunately. A couple of minutes later, with the game 2-1, the same attacker and defender go at it but this time I see the defender take out the legs in the box, PK for white who is down 2-1. The keeper gets a couple of fingers on the ball and it hits the crossbar and falls into his hands. On the counter, the blue team gets a PK of their own (stupid -as in excessive- foul right on the line of the box and they do convert, to make it 3-1 and game over.
All in all, some of the benefits of this tournament were that we got drinks and food included and that we were paid right after our last match. My total was just shy of $200. Not bad with these benefits.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Swift Justice
I just checked my email and saw one from the Commissioner of the league from the problem parent. He emailed me let me know that the parent has been suspended for two matches. I really hope it teaches him to value what is important. I am rooting for him.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Flurry of activity
These last 24 hours have generated quite a bit of work for me because of my dismissal of a parent that I commented about in my previous post. I was asked by the assignor for the field that I was at on Sunday to include a detailed run down of everything that was happening leading up to the incident and then the exchange as best as I could remember so that he could forward it on to the discipline committee for the league.
In my initial comment card (the one where you write down the final score, and send that in to the league) I included what I could but of course the space allocated is not really much at all. In the email I went into a lot more detail (more than in the post) as I knew who the player was and could figure out that it was the father or caregiver of that player. I submitted that Sunday night and Monday night I received an email where I was CCed that contained the assignor's comments plus my rundown of the events.
Immediately, I get an email from the R/D Commissioner asking if the threat that the disgruntled parent had uttered had made me feel fearful of my physical safety. It had not, but I suspect that if I had said yes, a bigger wave of problems would have befallen this person and the team in general. Also, he commented that I could have terminated the match if I did feel like the threats were on the physical side. At the time of the match, it did not cross my mind, but afterward I did think about it. To be truthful, the kids did not deserve it.
And then I get a couple of emails from people on the local club board to state how well they thought I handled the situation. It appears that there were plenty of people that were there who have some influence. Oh well, who knows, my stock may be rising! More to come on this as I have it but it certainly generates a lot more work that I would have expected. And better yet, more blog fodder.
In my initial comment card (the one where you write down the final score, and send that in to the league) I included what I could but of course the space allocated is not really much at all. In the email I went into a lot more detail (more than in the post) as I knew who the player was and could figure out that it was the father or caregiver of that player. I submitted that Sunday night and Monday night I received an email where I was CCed that contained the assignor's comments plus my rundown of the events.
Immediately, I get an email from the R/D Commissioner asking if the threat that the disgruntled parent had uttered had made me feel fearful of my physical safety. It had not, but I suspect that if I had said yes, a bigger wave of problems would have befallen this person and the team in general. Also, he commented that I could have terminated the match if I did feel like the threats were on the physical side. At the time of the match, it did not cross my mind, but afterward I did think about it. To be truthful, the kids did not deserve it.
And then I get a couple of emails from people on the local club board to state how well they thought I handled the situation. It appears that there were plenty of people that were there who have some influence. Oh well, who knows, my stock may be rising! More to come on this as I have it but it certainly generates a lot more work that I would have expected. And better yet, more blog fodder.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Another Milestone achieved
Not one that I wanted to ever say I reached, but it was done nonetheless. It was the sending off of a parent. Here is the story:
Halfway through the second half with the blue team up 4-1 and pressing hard to get even more a parent from the team winning all of a sudden starts going ballistic on me, yelling at the top of his lungs that there was a foul on the play. The play in question was a pass that one kid from the blue team chipped over to another who tried to volley and missed the ball, with no one from the other team even within a yard of him.
I walked over, had a lengthy conversation with him that ended with me saying "Would you rather watch the rest of your son's match here on the sideline or in the parking lot?" He said "Try me." I sent him on his way, and all the while he was walking off, he said fairly vulgar things. And there were threats of legal action if his son was injured. I documented it of course, spoke with the assignor who was not there and there was a parent who came over and said that he had seen the three matches and that I had done a good job, that there weren't enough refs with the guts to send off parents when they went ballistic.
The other two games I will write about later if I have the time, but there was nothing spectacular about them compared to this one. I did do a U11 Boys D1 match, and boy, they were a pleasure to watch compared to the D5 game that this incident originated from. The ball control, the dribbling, the crisp passing into space not at the person. I enjoyed it. And the bonehead parent did not come to mind at all until I was done with my three matches.
Next weekend is a tournament, and I have 6 matches total (2 Saturday and 4 Sunday). But hopefully the parents will not be as uptight...
Halfway through the second half with the blue team up 4-1 and pressing hard to get even more a parent from the team winning all of a sudden starts going ballistic on me, yelling at the top of his lungs that there was a foul on the play. The play in question was a pass that one kid from the blue team chipped over to another who tried to volley and missed the ball, with no one from the other team even within a yard of him.
I walked over, had a lengthy conversation with him that ended with me saying "Would you rather watch the rest of your son's match here on the sideline or in the parking lot?" He said "Try me." I sent him on his way, and all the while he was walking off, he said fairly vulgar things. And there were threats of legal action if his son was injured. I documented it of course, spoke with the assignor who was not there and there was a parent who came over and said that he had seen the three matches and that I had done a good job, that there weren't enough refs with the guts to send off parents when they went ballistic.
The other two games I will write about later if I have the time, but there was nothing spectacular about them compared to this one. I did do a U11 Boys D1 match, and boy, they were a pleasure to watch compared to the D5 game that this incident originated from. The ball control, the dribbling, the crisp passing into space not at the person. I enjoyed it. And the bonehead parent did not come to mind at all until I was done with my three matches.
Next weekend is a tournament, and I have 6 matches total (2 Saturday and 4 Sunday). But hopefully the parents will not be as uptight...
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
On tap
This weekend could be good, a nice one in terms of the forecast and certainly with 3 matches for me on tap. All U11, 2 boys and one girls. I will post more after the matches and hopefully they are good ones...
Sunday, May 10, 2009
One game, no goals
If there was a 0-0 ever written before the game started, the one I did yesterday was the one. U14 girls on a huge field. One team would try to advance by passing and the other with boom-ball.
The only interesting thing was that the center ref said a couple of interesting things, one: -that calls in the box were his, not ours and that calls on our side out of touch were our responsibility and that he would back us up. Still there was little in terms of action. Maybe one chance to score each.
Also, he called every possible handling call. I agree that those balls that go for 30 yards and then hit a hand should be called but if someone stikes it and the opponent is right there, hits the hand unintentionally, I do not call it but he did.
Still nothing else to comment, fairly lame game.
The only interesting thing was that the center ref said a couple of interesting things, one: -that calls in the box were his, not ours and that calls on our side out of touch were our responsibility and that he would back us up. Still there was little in terms of action. Maybe one chance to score each.
Also, he called every possible handling call. I agree that those balls that go for 30 yards and then hit a hand should be called but if someone stikes it and the opponent is right there, hits the hand unintentionally, I do not call it but he did.
Still nothing else to comment, fairly lame game.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
More rain on Sunday
Saturday's promise of rain made it evident that Sunday was going to be a soaker, and it was. The game I had was an AR for a U11 match. I am not sure why exactly we have ARs for such low level games (it was a 3-0 but it should have been something like 10-0). One team just had their stuff together and the other could not put together two passes. They rarely crossed midfield.
It was just cold and wet enough to be uncomfortable and the non-challenging nature of the match made it all worse. The one positive aspect was that the other AR mentioned that I was too loose with my flag, as in, not keeping it at my side when not making a call (throw in, offside, goal kick or corner).
That alone was worth the miseable time. I was soaked after the match, but I had to stay as my son played immediately after. Fortunately the rain let up at the start of his match and did not resume until his match was over. So that made it 6 matches for the weekend. Too many in my book, especially 5 in one day. Not planning on doing that again.
This weekend looks tame, two adult AR matches on Saturday afternoon and that is it. On Sunday, it is Mother's day and there are two women I must tend to, so no reffing then.
It was just cold and wet enough to be uncomfortable and the non-challenging nature of the match made it all worse. The one positive aspect was that the other AR mentioned that I was too loose with my flag, as in, not keeping it at my side when not making a call (throw in, offside, goal kick or corner).
That alone was worth the miseable time. I was soaked after the match, but I had to stay as my son played immediately after. Fortunately the rain let up at the start of his match and did not resume until his match was over. So that made it 6 matches for the weekend. Too many in my book, especially 5 in one day. Not planning on doing that again.
This weekend looks tame, two adult AR matches on Saturday afternoon and that is it. On Sunday, it is Mother's day and there are two women I must tend to, so no reffing then.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Painful reminders
That is what you get the morning after when you do 5 matches on Saturday. My legs ache quite a bit but in a strange way, it feels good.
The first two matches were adult league matches in a very well kept field about 15 minutes from home. What is interesting is that those fields are well kept because they normally close them at the first hint of rain, and yesterday we had a few sprinkles, and a constant threat of showers with thunderstorms all day long that never materialized. Anyway, the games were tame, but they were interesting plays. One involved me where I signaled an offside, and the center (the same one that I helped with his 8 to 7 assessment late last season) signals me down. He is so laxidasical in his motions that he really never gives off a air of control, though his matches never really get too out of hand.
At halftime he tells me first that it was a direct pass from a goal kick and that is why he flagged me down, then he says that it was actually a pass back, so what was it, a direct goal kick or a passback, because it can't be both. And to be truthful, I cannot be 100% sure myself, but I do not think it was either.
The other interesting thing was that the other AR was mimicking my calls all the time, I would signal for a goal kick and he would do the same. I would signal throw in and he would replicate, just weird.
In the afternoon games, they were all very tame. The league is played on huge turf fields and 13 year olds have a hard time scoring as they run out of gas before getting to the goal. In the first match, the game ended 1-1 and one team got like 6 calls for using their hands. The girls kept putting their hands in akward places and one time, the defender tried to chest it down and somehow her arms were over her head and the ball rolled over the arm. I had no choice but to call a penalty. The interesting part was that the team defending the penalty tried to make noise and shout to the penalty taker. I put a stop to that, but the penalty kick sailed over the crossbar.
The other games were also llow scoring affairs, both 1-0 with goals coming over a keeper flub and an offside trap gone wrong. In the one where I was a center, one of the players yelled out a bad word, where I heard it. He was the best player and I carded him but only a yellow. I did not feel like the game needed a red card at all. It turns out he was yelling it to his sister for taunting him when he missed a free kick. Funny how these things play out.
So this morning I am aching and have one more match to go. And it is rainy, gloomy, not exactly the type of day I wanted to have to play, so hopefully something gets suspended. Wish me luck...
The first two matches were adult league matches in a very well kept field about 15 minutes from home. What is interesting is that those fields are well kept because they normally close them at the first hint of rain, and yesterday we had a few sprinkles, and a constant threat of showers with thunderstorms all day long that never materialized. Anyway, the games were tame, but they were interesting plays. One involved me where I signaled an offside, and the center (the same one that I helped with his 8 to 7 assessment late last season) signals me down. He is so laxidasical in his motions that he really never gives off a air of control, though his matches never really get too out of hand.
At halftime he tells me first that it was a direct pass from a goal kick and that is why he flagged me down, then he says that it was actually a pass back, so what was it, a direct goal kick or a passback, because it can't be both. And to be truthful, I cannot be 100% sure myself, but I do not think it was either.
The other interesting thing was that the other AR was mimicking my calls all the time, I would signal for a goal kick and he would do the same. I would signal throw in and he would replicate, just weird.
In the afternoon games, they were all very tame. The league is played on huge turf fields and 13 year olds have a hard time scoring as they run out of gas before getting to the goal. In the first match, the game ended 1-1 and one team got like 6 calls for using their hands. The girls kept putting their hands in akward places and one time, the defender tried to chest it down and somehow her arms were over her head and the ball rolled over the arm. I had no choice but to call a penalty. The interesting part was that the team defending the penalty tried to make noise and shout to the penalty taker. I put a stop to that, but the penalty kick sailed over the crossbar.
The other games were also llow scoring affairs, both 1-0 with goals coming over a keeper flub and an offside trap gone wrong. In the one where I was a center, one of the players yelled out a bad word, where I heard it. He was the best player and I carded him but only a yellow. I did not feel like the game needed a red card at all. It turns out he was yelling it to his sister for taunting him when he missed a free kick. Funny how these things play out.
So this morning I am aching and have one more match to go. And it is rainy, gloomy, not exactly the type of day I wanted to have to play, so hopefully something gets suspended. Wish me luck...
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