Flasch186
10-29-2008, 12:13 PM
So last night was my first foray into reffing High School Soccer in town and the butterflies were ever present as I made my way onto the field but that was after a few setbacks.
First I arrived in my full referee's regalia but had realized upon arrival that I only brought my Red Jersey and not my yellow. As I approached the concession area where the rest of the referee's were gathered I noticed that they were all in yellow. did I miss the memo? Apparently not but the yellow was the default option. No one told me but luckily a fellow ref had an extra yellow from last season that I could wear.
I also was informed that since we run the much maligned 3 whistle system I could put my flags back in my car. Boy did I feel like a newb.
Finally I approached my assigned field with my 2 partner ref's and one of them informed me that he'd been reffing for many years and had just come back from a few season's break. He would be CR (Center Ref) while me and the other guy would be the AR (Assistant ref). The CR runs the middle at diagonal while the AR's would run a sideline half mainly concerned with offsides rulings.
About 5 minutes into the game my assessor decided to perch himself directly behind me and chirp in my ear incessantly. Surprisingly though I liked it as he kept me on my toes and gave me good direction. For my first time I thought I did well, enough so to surprise myself.
Our review came between periods while another ref grouping took the field. My assessor seemed content to chide me about hand signals although the one's he was telling me to do were wrong but this probably was less his fault and more to do with the fact that he is a ref for 3 different associations, FHSAA, USSF, and another one, each with their own intricacies. I laughingly corrected him on some things and he said, "yeah, youre right, but...." and basically resolved himself to the fact that I needed to get the intent down better than the signal itself.
After the 2nd half of the first half I went out for my turn as CR. Holy shit am I out of shape and out of position. The first 5 minutes, I was told later, I looked like a chicken with my head cut off. I did not anticipate the direction of play and found myself often in the midst of play instead of trailing just behind it and at one point even had to step over the ball (nutmeg style) to avoid getting involved in the play. After finally settling down though I sufficiently got through the half of the half and my assessor pretty much confirmed, nicely, what I already knew and he said it would fix itself through experience.
While I was unassigned for later games, I asked if they needed anyone because I certainly needed the practice. I was assigned to a grouping that held one know-it-all newbie and one newbie who knew he knew nothing and was content to be AR and didnt feel ready to try CR. The KIA newb ran CR for the 1st half of the 1st half and things were fairly uneventful and I did a good job running AR, making 1 offsides call and one call of the ball not being out while the team's slowed their play as if it was and i quickly explained, "Play! the whole ball is not out" and some 'overseer' nodded in approval over my shoulder as I turned to run.
A new assessor gave me my review at the end of my turn at AR and basically said I did a decent job (eventhough it seemed a bit sub of what I thought I did) and said that I needed to not hunch over. I didnt even know I was doing that and he showed me that Im hunching over as if to get a closer look of the offsides positioning. Anyways, I got it and will try to make a mental note.
I took on the CR spot of the 2nd half of the 2nd half and did a much better job of being in the right place at the right time, or better yet not being in the way. One big play though as I ran my diagonal. the AR on that side was often behind the position and instead of paying attention to the gay he would run to catch up. Well unfortunately one defender took down an attacker in the box and the AR didnt make any call, no play on, no foul, no nothing eventhough I saw that it clearly was a foul. So I blew the whistle and pointed at the PK spot and the teams reacted appropriately.
I set up the PK and the goal was scored. After the game the assessor asked us how we thought we each did and I answered that I thought I did much better this time than the last. The KITA newb, when asked how he thought he did, said that I shouldve blown my whistle louder on the PK. I asked, "Are you commenting about me?" and he said, "Yeah." and I laughed and said, "Oh, I thought he asked how you thought you did."
Anyways, the assessor said that the foul call wasn't my call really and that the AR was much closer to the call. I told the Assessor that the AR was out of position and I felt that considering that I was next best person to render a decision and he turned to the AR who confirmed that he actually didnt even see the play at all since he was trying to catch up. The Assessor reluctantly "Deferred" to me since the AR wasn't able to make the call but that it was a difficult call for me to make without being closer.
Anyways, I was exhausted and my lungs hurt from the cold air and I ran more than Ive run in years. I have to now buy a black jersey and some cold weather pants. It was fun and I look forward to my next Jamboree game which is Thursday night.
First I arrived in my full referee's regalia but had realized upon arrival that I only brought my Red Jersey and not my yellow. As I approached the concession area where the rest of the referee's were gathered I noticed that they were all in yellow. did I miss the memo? Apparently not but the yellow was the default option. No one told me but luckily a fellow ref had an extra yellow from last season that I could wear.
I also was informed that since we run the much maligned 3 whistle system I could put my flags back in my car. Boy did I feel like a newb.
Finally I approached my assigned field with my 2 partner ref's and one of them informed me that he'd been reffing for many years and had just come back from a few season's break. He would be CR (Center Ref) while me and the other guy would be the AR (Assistant ref). The CR runs the middle at diagonal while the AR's would run a sideline half mainly concerned with offsides rulings.
About 5 minutes into the game my assessor decided to perch himself directly behind me and chirp in my ear incessantly. Surprisingly though I liked it as he kept me on my toes and gave me good direction. For my first time I thought I did well, enough so to surprise myself.
Our review came between periods while another ref grouping took the field. My assessor seemed content to chide me about hand signals although the one's he was telling me to do were wrong but this probably was less his fault and more to do with the fact that he is a ref for 3 different associations, FHSAA, USSF, and another one, each with their own intricacies. I laughingly corrected him on some things and he said, "yeah, youre right, but...." and basically resolved himself to the fact that I needed to get the intent down better than the signal itself.
After the 2nd half of the first half I went out for my turn as CR. Holy shit am I out of shape and out of position. The first 5 minutes, I was told later, I looked like a chicken with my head cut off. I did not anticipate the direction of play and found myself often in the midst of play instead of trailing just behind it and at one point even had to step over the ball (nutmeg style) to avoid getting involved in the play. After finally settling down though I sufficiently got through the half of the half and my assessor pretty much confirmed, nicely, what I already knew and he said it would fix itself through experience.
While I was unassigned for later games, I asked if they needed anyone because I certainly needed the practice. I was assigned to a grouping that held one know-it-all newbie and one newbie who knew he knew nothing and was content to be AR and didnt feel ready to try CR. The KIA newb ran CR for the 1st half of the 1st half and things were fairly uneventful and I did a good job running AR, making 1 offsides call and one call of the ball not being out while the team's slowed their play as if it was and i quickly explained, "Play! the whole ball is not out" and some 'overseer' nodded in approval over my shoulder as I turned to run.
A new assessor gave me my review at the end of my turn at AR and basically said I did a decent job (eventhough it seemed a bit sub of what I thought I did) and said that I needed to not hunch over. I didnt even know I was doing that and he showed me that Im hunching over as if to get a closer look of the offsides positioning. Anyways, I got it and will try to make a mental note.
I took on the CR spot of the 2nd half of the 2nd half and did a much better job of being in the right place at the right time, or better yet not being in the way. One big play though as I ran my diagonal. the AR on that side was often behind the position and instead of paying attention to the gay he would run to catch up. Well unfortunately one defender took down an attacker in the box and the AR didnt make any call, no play on, no foul, no nothing eventhough I saw that it clearly was a foul. So I blew the whistle and pointed at the PK spot and the teams reacted appropriately.
I set up the PK and the goal was scored. After the game the assessor asked us how we thought we each did and I answered that I thought I did much better this time than the last. The KITA newb, when asked how he thought he did, said that I shouldve blown my whistle louder on the PK. I asked, "Are you commenting about me?" and he said, "Yeah." and I laughed and said, "Oh, I thought he asked how you thought you did."
Anyways, the assessor said that the foul call wasn't my call really and that the AR was much closer to the call. I told the Assessor that the AR was out of position and I felt that considering that I was next best person to render a decision and he turned to the AR who confirmed that he actually didnt even see the play at all since he was trying to catch up. The Assessor reluctantly "Deferred" to me since the AR wasn't able to make the call but that it was a difficult call for me to make without being closer.
Anyways, I was exhausted and my lungs hurt from the cold air and I ran more than Ive run in years. I have to now buy a black jersey and some cold weather pants. It was fun and I look forward to my next Jamboree game which is Thursday night.