I am not sure how much I want to say about this, but I have been mulling over the fact that there are a couple of clubs in the area that are just bad clubs. The coaches, parents, and most everyone else associated with the clubs are just mean, crummy people, or they act that way on Sunday at least.
For the most part, whenever I do matches for these clubs, I know I am going to have to be extra cautious, and that they will not be happy with the performance of the referee squad unless their team comes out ahead. These two clubs are fairly similar in location and in general are probably worse off economically than most of the other areas.
I have had my fair share of mean people, but this is more of a systematic, endemic thing going on with these two clubs. It is almost everyone, it is almost like they feed off of each other. I am sure that if I were to talk to some of them alone, they would seem fine, but when they arrive at the field and everyone that they know are all yelling and screaming at the kids, officials, coaches, etc. it is similar to mass hysteria.
Again, this is not a rant on the socio-economic situation of the clubs, but I wonder if that has something to do with it. I hope to pick up this rant later, I want to see where we can go with it but it is late now and I am tired. Talk to you all soon.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
But it is so nice out
The weather dealt me a delayed blow. In the most lucrative weekend of the year (for regular season soccer), I was dealt the equivalent of a snake eyes. The assignor pays a premium for working the playoffs of one of the rec leagues. During the regular season, those matches are not in high demand, but if you are willing to do them, he then rewards you at the end of the season with matches that pay very well for the playoffs. For 70 minute matches, you would receive $50 for a center and $30 for an AR. I had 3 centers and one AR, so I was looking at an extra $180.
It rained Tuesday through Friday and on Saturday, they make the decision to close the grass fields and not the turf fields. Sure enough I was on grass. To make matters worse, it turned out to be a decent day. Sunday was even better, but I come to find out that since the semi-finals were not played on Saturday, there would be no finals for Sunday either. So I did not get a chance to work either day. Still, I am not going to complain too much as I have to go by and collect my check from the assignor tonight and I have a good idea of how much will be in there, and it is decent to say the least.
This next weekend, I am doing the last tournament of the season. Last year it should have been called the icycle tournament as it was really cold, and there were some matches scheduled at 7:30am! This season, I am a backup ref on Saturday and Sunday I am working the U15 boys and U14 girls. We will see how all that goes but it should be fun.
It rained Tuesday through Friday and on Saturday, they make the decision to close the grass fields and not the turf fields. Sure enough I was on grass. To make matters worse, it turned out to be a decent day. Sunday was even better, but I come to find out that since the semi-finals were not played on Saturday, there would be no finals for Sunday either. So I did not get a chance to work either day. Still, I am not going to complain too much as I have to go by and collect my check from the assignor tonight and I have a good idea of how much will be in there, and it is decent to say the least.
This next weekend, I am doing the last tournament of the season. Last year it should have been called the icycle tournament as it was really cold, and there were some matches scheduled at 7:30am! This season, I am a backup ref on Saturday and Sunday I am working the U15 boys and U14 girls. We will see how all that goes but it should be fun.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Follow up from last week
I still have to sort out some things from this past weekend, it was another good weekend for some decent soccer but I did want to follow up from last weekend on my comment about my son's match.
My son plays U10 travel and many times, I am asked to help as an AR in his matches. The match was a blowout and at one point with the match at 6-0 or something like that and me perched right in front of the visiting team's bench, my son's team plays a ball from defense that makes it past all their defenders (who were on the attacking half). There was one boy on my son's team perched at midfield and when the pass (or clearance) goes by, he takes off. He was clearly onside as he was right behind the midfield line and the ball passed him before he made his run, so I held my flag down. SIDE NOTE: As a non-paid AR, I asked the center if he wanted me to flag things as normal, as if I were a real AR or just help with the out-of-bounds stuff. He said to do the full thing.
When the kid makes the run for the ball, I start running down the line and from my back I hear, "Hey Ref that was..." It was the coach of the other team. I could not believe he was giving me lip about my non-offside call. So as I am running away from him, I look back and say, "Please coach, do not give me any of that" in a tone that was not very civil.
When the play finishes I run back and expect to hear a ton of "he was clearly off-side" and "how can you be an AR" etc. so I said before he could say anything, "I do not want to hear it" to which he answers, "but that was a great call, all I wanted to tell you is that you did very well in holding the flag down".
I need to stop being such a hot head. Another lesson learned.
My son plays U10 travel and many times, I am asked to help as an AR in his matches. The match was a blowout and at one point with the match at 6-0 or something like that and me perched right in front of the visiting team's bench, my son's team plays a ball from defense that makes it past all their defenders (who were on the attacking half). There was one boy on my son's team perched at midfield and when the pass (or clearance) goes by, he takes off. He was clearly onside as he was right behind the midfield line and the ball passed him before he made his run, so I held my flag down. SIDE NOTE: As a non-paid AR, I asked the center if he wanted me to flag things as normal, as if I were a real AR or just help with the out-of-bounds stuff. He said to do the full thing.
When the kid makes the run for the ball, I start running down the line and from my back I hear, "Hey Ref that was..." It was the coach of the other team. I could not believe he was giving me lip about my non-offside call. So as I am running away from him, I look back and say, "Please coach, do not give me any of that" in a tone that was not very civil.
When the play finishes I run back and expect to hear a ton of "he was clearly off-side" and "how can you be an AR" etc. so I said before he could say anything, "I do not want to hear it" to which he answers, "but that was a great call, all I wanted to tell you is that you did very well in holding the flag down".
I need to stop being such a hot head. Another lesson learned.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Too bad I can't make them all cry
This past weekend I worked both days with interesting stories on each day, mostly anecdotal stuff, nothing really hard core ref related, at least on Saturday. On Sunday (in my next post), there is more juicy ref content.
Saturday I was slated to work 3 matches, U12 and U10 boys in the local rec league. Not particularly complicated matches, but the interesting thing about rec matches is that the parents are always keeping score and that the disparity in the level of play is always something to consider since you want people to have fun but you have to be mindful that the really good players are going to stand out...
First story of the day was that I seemed to have a knack for making the boys cry. In the first match, one team has a breakaway and a defender runs stride by stride with the attacker and is yelling at him like a marauding Viking all the way down. The attacker does not flinch and scores, but after the goal, I told the boy that he cannot yell to attempt to distract the attacker and that in a regular match that would be a yellow card.
I am not sure if he misunderstood or if maybe I was not age-appropriate in my language (though my 10 year old son would have understood) but he immediately looked at me and started balling. I had to explain to the coach what I said to the boy and he did not return to the field till the second half. And without incident, so at least it was not that bad.
In the second match, there were two terribly mismatched teams. One was very good, with 2-3 players that could have easily played travel and the other was one that barely had the basic notion of what soccer was. On the latter team, there was one child who knew one thing, attack the ball, get the ball and the concept of not fouling in the process was somewhat fuzzy. I counted 5 fouls from him in the first half. In the second half, with him team down 3-1, he really started laying it on thick. When his foul count approached double digits, I told him I had just about had enough of his fouling (and in hindsight, I should have talked to him sooner) and then when he fouled again, I asked the coach to sub him out since this league does not permit yellow or red cards unless something terrible happens. He was subbed and started tearing up as he walked off the field. Fortunately, with only 3 minutes left in the match, he did not return.
For the last match of the day, I did not have any crier, so at least I had that going for me, but seriously, I have to make sure that I choose a lighter tone when addressing children. I guess I have that personality that can come off as gruff and the boys did not respond well to it. Another lesson learned.
As a side note, on the last match, it felt like we regressed into medival times or something similar. One the yellow team there were two boys with distinctly strange names. One boy was almost my height (5'9") and his name was Thor. Yes, as in Odin's son. And then there was another boy named Augustus. Nothing interesting about the match, but the names served as some comic relief as the rain started to come down towards the end of the match.
In my next installment, I will describe another learning experience I had in my son's travel match with the other team's coach.
Saturday I was slated to work 3 matches, U12 and U10 boys in the local rec league. Not particularly complicated matches, but the interesting thing about rec matches is that the parents are always keeping score and that the disparity in the level of play is always something to consider since you want people to have fun but you have to be mindful that the really good players are going to stand out...
First story of the day was that I seemed to have a knack for making the boys cry. In the first match, one team has a breakaway and a defender runs stride by stride with the attacker and is yelling at him like a marauding Viking all the way down. The attacker does not flinch and scores, but after the goal, I told the boy that he cannot yell to attempt to distract the attacker and that in a regular match that would be a yellow card.
I am not sure if he misunderstood or if maybe I was not age-appropriate in my language (though my 10 year old son would have understood) but he immediately looked at me and started balling. I had to explain to the coach what I said to the boy and he did not return to the field till the second half. And without incident, so at least it was not that bad.
In the second match, there were two terribly mismatched teams. One was very good, with 2-3 players that could have easily played travel and the other was one that barely had the basic notion of what soccer was. On the latter team, there was one child who knew one thing, attack the ball, get the ball and the concept of not fouling in the process was somewhat fuzzy. I counted 5 fouls from him in the first half. In the second half, with him team down 3-1, he really started laying it on thick. When his foul count approached double digits, I told him I had just about had enough of his fouling (and in hindsight, I should have talked to him sooner) and then when he fouled again, I asked the coach to sub him out since this league does not permit yellow or red cards unless something terrible happens. He was subbed and started tearing up as he walked off the field. Fortunately, with only 3 minutes left in the match, he did not return.
For the last match of the day, I did not have any crier, so at least I had that going for me, but seriously, I have to make sure that I choose a lighter tone when addressing children. I guess I have that personality that can come off as gruff and the boys did not respond well to it. Another lesson learned.
As a side note, on the last match, it felt like we regressed into medival times or something similar. One the yellow team there were two boys with distinctly strange names. One boy was almost my height (5'9") and his name was Thor. Yes, as in Odin's son. And then there was another boy named Augustus. Nothing interesting about the match, but the names served as some comic relief as the rain started to come down towards the end of the match.
In my next installment, I will describe another learning experience I had in my son's travel match with the other team's coach.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Weather permitting
It has been a rough time for soccer in the DC area. It seems that it is wet on the weekends. I suspect that in mid November, we will still be making up some of the matches that have been suspended this season.
I have reached another first, the suspension of a match in mid play. It was the 12 noon match of a U13 travel boys and it was raining at a steady clip. I left home around 11:20 and got to the field at 11:35 thinking that the match would be called off because of the rain. But to my amazement, the match prior to mine was being played. The field was grass and not turf, so that made it more interesting. On top of that, the field I come to find out had just been aerated so it had a lot of things going against it.
So I walk out to the field and I am already soaking wet, there are indicators that there will be a little pool or two soon and the field looks bad. One of the coaches wanted to play the other was reluctant but said that this match was a postponed game from a couple of weeks ago, so to please, please play it. I had the issue that I did not want to tear up the field but it seemed that I was outnumbered (although I know that I was the final authority on it).
The game was not good. Sloppy play, sloppy passing, sloppy field conditions. The blue team was 10 times better than the yellow team and they got a goal from their star player #53 early but after that, it was all ugly. One player on yellow was adamant on telling me where I missed all the calls. Halfway through the first half he slide tackles from behind (and I did tell the kids that slide tackling was risky given the conditions) so he gave me a present to calm him down, a yellow with a good chewing out as well.
In the end, he did finish the match but the only reason that happened was because I had to suspend it with 12 minutes left when we started looking more like water polo rather than soccer. Lucky for him I guess. But it was wet all around for me and we all know how much I love reffing in the rain!
I have reached another first, the suspension of a match in mid play. It was the 12 noon match of a U13 travel boys and it was raining at a steady clip. I left home around 11:20 and got to the field at 11:35 thinking that the match would be called off because of the rain. But to my amazement, the match prior to mine was being played. The field was grass and not turf, so that made it more interesting. On top of that, the field I come to find out had just been aerated so it had a lot of things going against it.
So I walk out to the field and I am already soaking wet, there are indicators that there will be a little pool or two soon and the field looks bad. One of the coaches wanted to play the other was reluctant but said that this match was a postponed game from a couple of weeks ago, so to please, please play it. I had the issue that I did not want to tear up the field but it seemed that I was outnumbered (although I know that I was the final authority on it).
The game was not good. Sloppy play, sloppy passing, sloppy field conditions. The blue team was 10 times better than the yellow team and they got a goal from their star player #53 early but after that, it was all ugly. One player on yellow was adamant on telling me where I missed all the calls. Halfway through the first half he slide tackles from behind (and I did tell the kids that slide tackling was risky given the conditions) so he gave me a present to calm him down, a yellow with a good chewing out as well.
In the end, he did finish the match but the only reason that happened was because I had to suspend it with 12 minutes left when we started looking more like water polo rather than soccer. Lucky for him I guess. But it was wet all around for me and we all know how much I love reffing in the rain!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Interesting call
I am not going to bore you with the details of some of the games I have been assigned lately, a lot of U13-U14 girls and boys matches that are either very light or overly aggressive. But mostly, U13 girls, just moved into a large field, is like watching paint dry, they move the ball well enough, there is little contact and goals (rare as they are) are only scored within the 6 it seems. It has to be my least favorite age group.
There is one call that I will bring up during my center of a U15 girls match. The defender has the ball on the left flank and pressured by an attacker. The defender is facing her own goal and a teammate towards the penalty spot is calling for the ball. She passes it to her but then the keeper tells the teammate to back off and then proceeds to collect the ball with her hands. I blow my whistle as a passback but the gold team swarms me saying it was not intentional. And I had to think about it for an extra second. The intention to pass to the general vicinity of the keeper was clear, though she was probably not the intended target at the time of the pass, but I have to think full well that the keeper knew she was not allowed to pick it up. So in so many words, I explained it to the girls.
I knew I made the right call when my AR backed me up, but even more so when the coach of the team that was penalized did as well.
I have a couple of more stories from these last two weekends, just not enough time to detail it all out just now.
There is one call that I will bring up during my center of a U15 girls match. The defender has the ball on the left flank and pressured by an attacker. The defender is facing her own goal and a teammate towards the penalty spot is calling for the ball. She passes it to her but then the keeper tells the teammate to back off and then proceeds to collect the ball with her hands. I blow my whistle as a passback but the gold team swarms me saying it was not intentional. And I had to think about it for an extra second. The intention to pass to the general vicinity of the keeper was clear, though she was probably not the intended target at the time of the pass, but I have to think full well that the keeper knew she was not allowed to pick it up. So in so many words, I explained it to the girls.
I knew I made the right call when my AR backed me up, but even more so when the coach of the team that was penalized did as well.
I have a couple of more stories from these last two weekends, just not enough time to detail it all out just now.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Three Week Recap
Week 1
U13 and U14 boys on Saturday. Games are being played on a turf field with marking for soccer, football, lacrosse and others given the fact that there were white, yellow, blue and red/orange lines on the ground. The matches were nothing spectacular, but it was interesting that I called a PK on one of the matches I was the center and mistakenly used a football extra point line instead of the PK spot. The kick still went in, so no big deal, but still, something to learn. Also, on another match, the team was using yellow for the goalkeeper, and so we needed to change to another color, but one of the ARs had no other color. Not a good start for him.
Sunday was just U15 girls, nothing special there.
Week 2
U 15 boys on Saturday, very well played games, but one club's parents were obnoxious to the point of no return. As an AR in one of the matches that they lost, they gave me hell for not calling an offsides which I saw as onside. But their comments were to the tune of, "What do you expect when he has sunglasses". Like that is going to make a big difference, but yet, it lead me to realize that when you are doing the AR with the parents involved, it does not pay to carry a conversation with them as they can turn on you.
Week 3
The most boring two ARs I have done in a long time. I do not think I had to actually run at any time, just trot. Painful.
U13 and U14 boys on Saturday. Games are being played on a turf field with marking for soccer, football, lacrosse and others given the fact that there were white, yellow, blue and red/orange lines on the ground. The matches were nothing spectacular, but it was interesting that I called a PK on one of the matches I was the center and mistakenly used a football extra point line instead of the PK spot. The kick still went in, so no big deal, but still, something to learn. Also, on another match, the team was using yellow for the goalkeeper, and so we needed to change to another color, but one of the ARs had no other color. Not a good start for him.
Sunday was just U15 girls, nothing special there.
Week 2
U 15 boys on Saturday, very well played games, but one club's parents were obnoxious to the point of no return. As an AR in one of the matches that they lost, they gave me hell for not calling an offsides which I saw as onside. But their comments were to the tune of, "What do you expect when he has sunglasses". Like that is going to make a big difference, but yet, it lead me to realize that when you are doing the AR with the parents involved, it does not pay to carry a conversation with them as they can turn on you.
Week 3
The most boring two ARs I have done in a long time. I do not think I had to actually run at any time, just trot. Painful.
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