Passing the torch

This weekend was a wet one for many in the east coast. I had my fair share of matches and had some interesting things, but the most important one was working my first games with my son (who did awesome by the way).

To start off, I will go to the Sunday work. Two higher level matches (in terms of age). A U16 Boys match and a U17 match, also boys. I was ARing on the U16 match that featured a well known referee in our parts. He is somewhat of an interesting character, a lot of flair, a lot of other stuff as well.

To start it off, he was using an electronic whistle. I had never had one use it, but there is always a first. The problem was that it was not really audible. If you were in the vicinity (about 15-20 feet), you heard it, but farther away, it was difficult to make out what was going on. He later said that he needed to replace the batteries. Well, why didn't he? Or use a whistle...

To start things off, in the first 10 minutes, there is a ball played over the defense, keeper and attacker come to the 50/50 ball when there is a collision. Keeper had played the ball away and then collided with the attacker. No foul in my book (I was the lead AR) and the ball falls to another attacker who drops it over the defense for a goal. Center signals no goal because of the hurt attacker. Mind you that the time it took from the collision to the goal was 2-3 seconds at the most. Still, no goal for that team.

So what is the restart, since he stopped play for an injured player? Dropped ball, right? Wrong, for this referee, he decided to give the attacking team an indirect free kick from where the shot was taken that eventually resulted in a goal. When questioned at half time as to what he was thinking, he said, it was the fairest way to give the team a chance to score. But it is not in the rulebook, the other AR and I said. Well, but it was what was fairest, he said. We then suggested that this would be fair in high school, but not in weekend soccer.

Then comes a weak penalty for the other team at the start of the second half. It was really weak. Not something I would have ever called, especially not in a 0-0 game like that. The team converts the PK and then down at the other end, he calls for a free kick, close to the 18. As the players are lining up, the team losing try a quick free kick, which goes in, but alas, our great center decides that he was setting up the wall, though no one on the attacking team asked for 10, it was the defending team that asked for it. So for the second time that match, the same team had a good goal wiped off.

In the end, the match ended 1-0 but was not the result of the team, it was a bunch of hogwash. Silly actually.

The one about my son will have to wait until the next time, as I am out of time right now. But what a character he was.

Do coaches know the rules?

Pretty standard match yesterday I was working as an AR in High School (which I like less and less by the day) until late in the second half. A throw in by white that was more like a corner, a laser. Anyway, it gets flicked and tips off of a defender and into the goal. 

Coach from team receiving the goal if I looked at the thrower. I said I did. Then why did I not flag the illegal throw he asks. Because it was not an illegal throw I tell him. So his assistant walks up to me and said, "You mean to tell me that was not an illegal throw?" Again, now more than slightly irritated that indeed, it was a legal throw. To top it off, one of the younger kids on the bench then says real loud "I am a referee and even I know that it was an illegal throw!". At that point I ask all of them, what part of the throw in was not legal. 

The coach, assistant coach and idiot sub all basically say that part of his foot was on the field. And so therein lies my problem. How can they be so ignorant of the rules? In my case, I did tell them that unless the foot is completely on the field, it is legal.

After the match, the coach had the gall to ask my the other two members of my team if indeed it was right what I was saying. Ah, what can I expect? A coach that knows the rules. Nah, why bother.

Update on End of Season article

I just received an email from one of you asking to update the End of Season posting from November. Thanks for reminding me. Here is the skinny on all of that:

On the first issue, the referee that worked the center where I was an AR, did not really come to anything. The center and the father of the kid seriously hurt went with me to Alabama and did not have any issues. Apparently, the two high level referees that were doing the assessment on the adjacent field never actually filed a complaint or any other formal issue so nothing seems to have come from that.

On the second issue, I am quite disappointed on how it all panned out. If you recall, in the last match of his season, he received a red card for allegedly fighting. As it happened right in front of me, I saw what happened first hand. The center (who again, was far away and quite biased if you ask me) came over and proceeded to hand out two red cards. One to the aggressor and one to my son. The aggressor walked off after striking my son and my son, who again, did not strike anyone, received his card while laying on the ground holding his head.

When he finally got up and walked off, he had some choice words for the referee which was reported to the league. I thought that both players were going to get a two match suspension, the first kid for fighting and my son for language after the red card. Somehow though, the league found that my son was the only one that deserved a two game suspension.

What made this worse is that the new season is now upon us and the schedule is out. The rematch, is of course, the second match of the season, so my son has to miss it, and the other player gets to play it. Beyond annoyed. But it will hopefully teach my son a lesson into how to control his emotions. Between you and me though, it is hard to just walk off without saying something to such an injustice. I just wish there was something I could do with regards to this, but sometimes things just don't work out.

Anyway, excited that the season is starting out. The March tournaments were ok, but nothing spectacular. I may write up something over the weekend regarding one coach I had this last weekend, but there is not much there to say other than he behaved badly. Also, I am realizing it is hard to tone down expectations when you've been doing a certain age group for a while and then have to bring it down a couple of notches when the match is a U13 boys match instead of a U19 boys match. The measuring stick is totally different and you sometimes have to retrain yourself.

AYSO badge

I had never seen one until my daughter's last match for the tournament. I saw the referee and he had a different badge, one that I had never seen before. So before the match, I walked past him and gave it a good look. It was an AYSO badge. Nothing like what I had seen before, so I had no idea what to make of it.

The performance was fine, so no comments there, just that I had no idea what to make of his badge.

Soccered Out

Way too many games in the last 6 days leading up to last Sunday. I was out after the 15th game in 6 days and my knee decided it was too much. I am fine now but it was interesting to get assessed on a match at 8am when the day before I closed out a field at 11pm. It was a long weekend.

What is funny is that most of the referees I worked with this weekend were either grade 6 or something better. As a 7, I was one of the lower levels. Still, in my assessments, I did well and was given good tips on positioning  (and what to look for in an about to sprint attacker - answer: heels off the ground) as well as my center. In that one, the assessment came from Brendan Barry, an Irishman now associated with making the reffing in Virginia better. I certainly hope he can do it. He suggested I look at being a 6. Don't see how I would have the time, but will keep it in the back of my mind.

The matches were all high level. Really good soccer for sure. First touch is really important at the U19 levels and these kids were off the charts.

This coming weekend, I will be taking my two kids back and forth from the tournaments so there will probably be little reffing.

So much for Ireland

Well, the Ireland thing came and went. It was fun in a way but I was not impressed by the Irish team in this tournament. While the coaches were quite nice, the "lads" were anything but. And they had one heck of a vocabulary, and they chipped at the ankles when the ball had already gone, but they were fun to watch for a while. Game ended 4-1 against them.

But the center was a 4 and it was someone that I had recognized as having spoken at one of the VYSA conventions a couple of years back. And this is what I learned from him and then my next match, where I had a 4th official myself for the first time. Foul counts and almost total recall foul memory.

At halftime of the Ireland match, the center comes off and starts talking about the fouls, "so we have to look out for #14 red because he fouled at the center circle and then again 5 minutes later on the corner..."

My fourth official for my match took it to another level. At halftime, he says to me, "Well your foul count was 9-2 in favor of blue, but it was what had to be called, so just keep that in mind." I later found out he is a 5. And he was right, but I had no idea what the foul count was, just that I had called a lot more fouls for blue. He indicated that if I did not call more fouls for white, they might see it like I am not favoring them. And what is funny is that I knew I had to find something to call in favor of white. I just did not realize how unbalanced it had been in the first half. In the second half, I should have carded one kid who went fairly hard on another, but instead gave him a butt chewing. For a while I thought the game might spiral out of control, but a couple of gifts from the players (#20 white finally fouled for the 4th time and I gave him a card for PI) and then #20 blue that halted a promising counter attack with a "professional" foul and the testosterone level fell a bit. We finished well for a 1-0 match.

Starting off strong

It is the start of another season and this one is getting off with a LOT of soccer. The last really competitive matches I had done was in Alabama in December. I did a scrimmage in January but it was not really that competitive (U13 boys).

But since High School soccer gets off with a bang here around this time of year, I have become quite busy. I worked a couple of matches for the Premier League over this last weekend and now I am in the middle of working 6 straight days of soccer matches, mostly high school during the week and then a College Showcase tournament over this coming weekend. All said it will be 6 days and 15 matches in that time span. Never have I worked that many matches so quickly. I am on day 2 and I am quite tired.

But no rest for the wary. So far, I have not been that impressed with the level of soccer, so most people must be brushing off some of that rust from the winter months.

I was told that this coming Showcase tournament is going to be assessed by FIFA assessors (yeah right!) and one of the teams that I am involved with in the college showcase is from Ireland, so my first international match. But don't get too excited, it is only a 4th, as I believe that the center is a 4 or a 3. Never will get there, but hope to learn something from these really high level referees. More to come after the tournament.