Self Assessments from Week 3

Here are some self-assessments and situations returned to me from your fellow referees. Some very good analyses and lessons learned. These summaries show how good all of you really are, especially when you work as a team. My comments follow in blue type.

Parents who coach. I was an AR on the RED sideline which had some vociferous parents. The CR asked the coach to talk to one particular parent who was consistently 'coaching' the players from the sidelines. When the coach asked the parent to quiet down, the parent in a low voice used some profanity and whined that 'it's absurd for the refs to expect the parents to not say anything from the sideline'. I was tempted to turn around and say something to this parent but resisted since I have been trained to work through the coach. Of course, this parent continued his 'coaching' from the sidelines.

Well handled by the referee team here. Let's put a couple things in perspective: First, you will never completely eliminate parents, or wannabe coaches, from coaching unaccountably from the comfort of their beach chairs. Second, referees need to pick our fights. The AR was right not to "add to" this situation after the Referee addressed it. Here's a guide to gauge "coaching by parents." Is it affecting the game? Are players frustrated by it? Is it interfering with the game? Is the parent apparently usurping the coach's position? Is the parent in the technical area or running up and down touchline in front of the spectator line? Are parent's remarks negative or demeaning? Is parent trying to coach whole team rather than just his own kid? If answer to these questions is NO, then probably better to let the "coaching" go. But if answer to any questions is YES, probably good idea to address the situation, first through the coach. Of course, the farther away those "parents coaching" are from the touchline, the less a problem they are, so all the more reason to enforce that 3 yard spectator line. Well done!

Managing substitution period. I had to ask the coach to not allow his players to come off the field during the water breaks but he did not seem able to enforce this with his players. It was a U12 game so I did not get too excited about it. Also, when I asked this coach about his subs in the last 'quarter' of the game, he sat out 3 of the girls who had already sat out in the first half of the game while he had players on the field who had not sat out at all. I reminded him that each girl is supposed to play 3/4 of the game, he said he would be better prepared for his next game.

The referee is correct here: it's nearly impossible to get the coaches to enforce this. It really should not happen at all though. In a perfect world, the players coming off should step off the field and their sub replacements should step on. Again, this is an example of picking your battles. Best thing to do is quickly count the players on the field immediately after the substitution is complete AND before play restarts. Requiring the subs to sit in the technical area can make your count quicker and more accurate when you already know the team as 3 subs and you see all three sitting down.

On the matter of the coach not playing his players all three quarters. You handled it properly, but make sure you make a note on back of the game card indicating he was informed but chose NOT to play them anyway. The coach needs to be talked to by the Coach Administrator. Those kids paid for a whole season, and they are guaranteed to play at least 3/4's' of it.

Ball in and out of play. WHITE had the ball and were dribbling up the touchline. RED player was trying to attack to take the ball away; WHITE maintained control very close to the touchline. The ball actually rolled on the touchline but never went outside the plane of the field; the RED coach and parents thought it had gone out of play and were yelling that it had, I just shook my head that it did not go out of play, the CR called out "play on" and the girls never stopped playing. Of course, the vociferous parents made their comments but I did not respond; it was the right call.

Another well handled situation by the referee team!!! You are the only neutral team out there. Expect teams and supporters to act in their own interest, just don't let them influence your decision. Common error by new referees is to anticipate the ball going out of player before it actually does. You and your ref team did a great job!!! Only use "play on" to acknowledge that you've seen a foul but you are giving advantage. In this situation, say, "keep playing girls" or "still in."

Player management. A rather large kid in a U10 Boys match seemed to be getting a bit too aggressive (kinda pushing) and to make sure no accidents would occur later in the game, I took the player aside and told him to watch the pushing. A bit later in the game, I saw the same player blatantly push another player with one of this hands, I instantly blew my whistle and awarded a direct kick for the other team. I warned the player once again and thankfully, there were no more fouls committed by that player for the rest of the match. I should have corrected the player by awarding the other team a kick when he first started pushing, then he would've most likely not fouled for the rest of the match. Main lesson of the summary: Correct a problem before it gets worst.

Wow, can you believe this summary came from one of our youth referees? Beautiful!!! Eamon, you underestimate yourself. I think you handled this exactly right. I'm so impressed with your level of refereeing. "Player management" is a part of refereeing that only comes with experience and a higher level of understanding. Your first word to the player, just a friendly, private word, let him know about your concern. Such early intervention is important. When he fouled again, you called the foul and spoke to him with a public word (taking him aside as everyone saw you speak to him). Clearly, that had an effect, too. And notice, all done withOUT a card. As referees, we can never prevent all fouls, but we do want to prevent misconduct, and we can, through early intervention like what Eamon used. A great example of how "Refereeing is Thinking."

You are all doing a great job. These summaries show that. Thanks for the self assessments. I look forward to sharing more with you. Keep them coming.