For all of you out there with kids who are referees, let me give you a tidbit of advice. Do not try to do the recert exam online at the same time as your kids are trying to do their exams. The idea I had was to have everyone sit down and take the test and when they were done, go over any questions they had so we could make sure they understood the question and what the correct answer should be. Not the case.
As we sat in our morning room, with each child on their laptop and I on mine trying to determine if headscarves could be something other than black, I would be interrupted every 30 seconds by one of the two asking a question. Not reading the question, trying to understand it, analyze it and respond. No, just read the question out loud and see what I thought. It was painful and the last time I try that method. Since the tests in Virginia are 100 questions long, it made for a long afternoon.
The funny thing was that my son, who has been reffing a couple of years more than my daughter, failed his exam with a 74 and had to take it again. My daughter, who was more methodical and didn't rush her answers, got an 84 first try. He was able to take it again and get a 94 the second go around.
I took mine with those interruptions and have to admit that the questions were quite confusing sometimes. A lot of measuring had to be done. Things like ball goes out 15 yards from the left post so is it a goalkick (retake) or a corner kick. Off the top of my head, I don't remember if the distance from the post to the end of the penalty box is more or less than 15 yards (it is). Things like that made it complicated. I was able to review all the ones that I got wrong and have to admit that I disagreed with plenty of the ones I had wrong. Oh well. I passed and I guess that is all that matters.
