Working with "Elders"

Whew. I almost didn't make it. I try to get at least one post in per month to keep things fresh and while I have a lot of material to talk about, I just don't have a lot of time to transform thought into words. My apologies for that.

Anyway, today I wanted to talk a little about working with Elders. And I use that phrase because some of us younger referees sometimes despise working with older referees, but sometimes, you get something you didn't bargain for and you come out with a nugget or two that you didn't expect.

Case in point this weekend, I worked a couple of higher level matches and happen to be AR2 on both matches. Both other referees were older, but were State Emeritus which means that they have worked good matches and were at one point or another, a very high level referee who now does it more for the love of the game than for the love of the money (though if you are really in it for the money, find something else to do, this will not make you rich).

When I first saw the crew, and I saw that I was AR2 on both, I thought, well, shoot, these guys are past their prime, why don't I get a shot. But when we got to the fields, they oozed experience and an uncanny way to deflate polarizing personalities and situations.

In the first game, the center, who was a heavy set man was able to work around a disparate matchup (tends to happen in State Cup sometimes in the early rounds, kind of like March Madness and the classic 1v16 matchup). He did a fantastic job talking down fouls and being vocal to where the parents were saying that for once they understood some of the calls. There was one particular forward who was really good, but had been trained to throw her body around and caused some heartache when she was involved with challenges as she was reckless sometimes. So the center did a great job of talking her down, never escalating and kept her in the game and focusing on the game rather than the opponent or her coach who wanted her to push up and attack the defender with the ball (since she was reckless).

However, towards the end of the match, this attacker went hard on a defender and made a challenge that was fair and got the ball but there was too much contact for the center's liking. So out came the yellow and the coach went somewhat crazy. The center just went over, spoke to her for a minute and essentially told her that he only gets to see a player for 70 minutes at a time, and that in that time, she had committed one too many fouls. Perhaps she does not need to be so aggressive and that is something that someone who has more time with this attacker can pass on. Loved the message. Put her in her place and took the onus of responsibility from the referee to the coach all in one fell swoop. Loved it.

The next game was done by another State Emeritus and his deal was similar but what I loved about his game was that even though it was a hard fought U15 affair, there was only one yellow card (though I "suggested" another that he did not deem necessary). And all the fouls that were garden variety for that age group were met with a very short tweet, so as to say, nothing to see here, move along. So the tone really never got elevated. Loved that about this center.

I hope to be as good and compensate lack of physical ability with experience at some point when the body decides that it can no longer take it anymore. And for when I think I am too good for a game, I hope I get put in my place by a more experienced referee even if they do not know that they are doing it.