So I promised the follow up story on what my daughter did during the tournament weekend and I also have to discuss how the following weekend, I ended up being a Site Coordinator for a tournament instead of reffing games. Quite a different point of view for sure.
Anyway, first things first. The following day, during my center (I had 2 ARs and one Center), we were doing a U13 match between two teams that were clearly disliking each other. They both were from the same club and it turned out that one was an academy team while the other was not. It even started out during the coin flip when the other AR asked the girls if they knew each other and one of the girls replied, "We're XYZ academy trained and they are not."
There was a difference in style for sure but the game was 0-0 through most of the first half. Towards the end of the first half, the academy team gets a free kick close to the 18 and the resulting free kick goes in for a goal. But it was a close match for sure, with a slight edge to the academy team.
For the second half, the game continues and towards the end of the game while still 1-0, there is a play where the non-academy team is shielding the ball and there is a little shove from the defender. I am in decent position as it is in my quadrant but I also look over to AR1 since he is also somewhat close and he gives me no indication that there is anything more than trifling. About 5 seconds later, everyone starts yelling "Look at your AR". I look over and my daughter has her flag up.
Ok, I am thinking I missed an offside call. So I stop play and run over to her. She let's me know that she was calling the push in the back. And I look at her in disbelief. She was confident and I really didn't want to hurt her assertiveness so I call the foul.
The coach from the academy team says "You are going to have to explain that one to me after the game." And I thought, he is kind of right. I was about 10 yards from the play and didn't think much of it. My AR that was 20 yards away didn't do anything to indicate he thought it was a foul. But yet, my daughter from 55-60 yards away thought to raise her flag (for what I can say is probably the first time ever she decides to call a foul).
And I looked at the situation as well. To me it was low risk. The foul was a good 30 yards away from goal, no chance they can score from there directly, right? So I called it, heard the complaints from the coach and wouldn't you know it, the resulting free kick seemed to weave in between the heads and bodies of at least 6 people before kissing the far post and going in. I couldn't believe it.
Now I had a game that had to have a winner, tied 1-1 and with a goal that probably shouldn't have been called because I basically took a calculated risk that the free kick was not going to go in and it sure did.
In the end, the academy team won it in PKs and it was a great teaching moment for my daughter. I told her that we didn't communicate properly on that play. I should have looked over at her as well and she would have given me a nod or something not as obvious as a flag to indicate she wanted a foul. But truth be told, I should have said that she was there to assist and not insist. But again, I do want her feeling comfortable calling fouls, so I cannot really say that the first time she brings up her flag. It was just a bet that I took and lost. A learning and teaching moment for all involved.
I will comment on the Site Coordinator aspect of soccer in my next post. I am out of juice for today.
