Wild weather weekend this one. It was supposed to be around 45 and rainy for Saturday and Sunday this past weekend, but it was more like 20 and with freezing rain or tidbits of hail.
This post's title is because in the only game I did this weekend, I had a mental lapse that I realized after the fact and so did one of the kids in the game. First my shortcoming.
It was cold, it was miserable. I have my Under Armor compression shirt, my black, blue and yellow long sleeve ref shirts and a USSF Track jacket to ref the game and I was still cold. I had my long pants and two pairs of socks, and I was still cold. And when it started to rain, I thought it could not get worse, then it started to cool some more and the rain turned to frozen daggers. It stung when it hit my face and yet at no moment did my brain think the following statement, "I am the center referee for this match, I can suspend the game since it is so darn cold and the kids are complaining that it hurts and it could hit someone in the eyes."
It was silly of me, my ARs didn't say anything. I did not think about it and I should have. It was just too darn miserable and while some kids didn't seem to mind, most were just ready to leave and go to their cars. I should have suspended the match after talking to my ARs and to the coaches. It made no sense to put everyone through that. I guess you live and you learn, but even though we could play, we probably should not have played in those conditions.
The next game is where it got interesting as my son was playing in that. The weather got worse still (harder sleet/freezing rain and more wind) and the AR on the parent's side went to the center and said that he should suspend the match because he (the AR) could not see well because his glasses were covered in sleet and they were fogging up.
Sure enough, the center played the game and in the last minute the AR who could not see well was called upon to make an offside/no offside call that was a instrumental in the result of the match. Poor AR did not get it right and it was due to him not being able to see the field due to the conditions. I felt bad for the AR since he got put in a situation where he couldn't make the call because of the conditions they were playing in. It happens, but as a center referee, it is our call to make sure the kids are safe and the ARs can make game critical calls.
This went a little too long, so I will leave Brain Farts part 2 for next time. Till then.
2 comments:
Reminds me of a game I reffed several years ago in similar conditions. It was freezing cold, raining, and very windy, but we were in the middle of a tournament... I remember I was a 22 years old and felt completely miserable. I can't imagine how the 12 year olds felt. There were a couple kids on the field crying it was so bad. Finally, one of the coaches gave up, and the tournament was called soon after that. In hindsight, I probably should have called the game earlier as well...
It is all a learning experience. I now know that the conditions we experienced that day were not conducive to a game of soccer but rather more a game of survival.
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