Week 3 - September 27, 2008

Saw more great refereeing this week. Many of our new referees have used the last three weeks to hone their training and put it to good use. Many of our more senior referees have mentored these new referees to help them along . . . thank you.

You all have homework this week. Keep reading to the end…

THE TECHNICAL AREA AND SIDELINE BEHAVIOR
Consistent use of the technical area and spectator lines has been a positive influence on the games so far this season. Continue to establish “boundaries,” literally and figuratively, BEFORE each game starts by asking coaches to have spectators behind the MARKED spectator lines (3 yards off the touchlines). When such lines are marked before the game, spectators tend to set up behind the lines without any prompting. Also remind coaches to remain inside their MARKED technical area. Kimberly King and I recently sent out diagrams of the technical area and spectator lines.

Substitutes should also be sitting down in the technical area so if a player is injured and needs to be subbed out, the subs are right there to get it done. Remember too, when subs are sitting among the spectators it’s hard to know if they belong to your game or if they are athletes for another team, just in the same uniform. If you know a team has a squad of 14 players, you can get a quick assessment of how many are on the field by seeing the three substitutes in the technical area, 14 – 3 = 11. If you don’t see the three, then you should quickly count to make sure you don’t have more than 11 on the field.

CAUTIONING PLAYERS – Here are a few tips on how to know if you should caution a player.
Does the player need it? Does the game need it? A referee should ask herself these two questions anytime she contemplates the need to caution a player. If a friendly or public word, even a stern-talking-to will work just as well, then that’s what we should do, especially with youth matches.

What to caution for… There are 7, and only 7, caution-able offenses, and only two of them deal with fouling: Unsporting Behavior and Persistent Infringement. Let’s talk about those.

To caution for fouling that is unsporting, the foul should be considered by the Referee as reckless, which means it was more than just careless, and done to gain a tactical advantage or to intimidate the opponent.

Persistent infringement can be cautioned when the referee notices a pattern of fouling, whether by a single player against several opponents, or by several players against one opponent. Usually PI is cautioned when the pattern is seen in a short amount of time. The pattern of fouls do not have to be reckless and some might even be trifling or not called due to advantage. Few players below the age of 14 commit such fouls and cautions for UB and PI should be infrequent in U14 and below. Remember, Does the player need it; Does the game need it? If not, keep the card in your pocket and use your player-management skills.

HOMEWORK. I have an assignment for everyone:
I’d like you to summarize a situation you experienced as a referee or assistant referee this week and post it here. Your summary should be a short self assessment. Take a situation that you either handled well or one you maybe did not handle as well as you like, but you learned something from it.

Here’s an example of one.

In the second half, RED was attacking in the opponent’s half. Play moved toward my touchline, within about 5 yards. GRN player was beaten by one step by the RED player with the ball, so GRN reached his arm out to push RED, just enough to throw off his balance. I quickly glanced up to see the referee was blocked in his view, then I quickly saw GRN extend his arm across RED’s body and push a second time. I realized that as GRN had now fouled RED twice and the Referee was apparently blocked from view, I signaled the DFK for RED. I felt my decision was necessary to avert possible retaliation by the RED player should the fouling continue unaddressed. The Referee acknowledged my signal and we restarted play with the free kick.

Here's another:

U10 match, Blue was attacking in Gray's penalty area. A high ball was heading to Gray's goal as a Gray defender reached up with his arm above his head. The ball glances off his fist but continues to the goal. Everyone starts yelling "handball, handball," but I realized the ball could still be scored so I did not blow my whistle, but instead yell, "advantage, play on!" Within less than a second, the ball landed at the base of the goal post, hit the posted and the goalkeeper fell on it. I blew my whistle and pointed to the penalty mark, indicating a penalty kick. The advantage that I originally called was not realized so I called the foul and awarded the PK.

Self assessments of our games makes us better referees by reflecting on our strengths and weaknesses and learning from them. I look forward to reading some of your self assessments. By the way, professional referees are required to write self assessments after their matches. Good enough for them, is good enough for us.

PAUL VERNON
Dir. of Referee Instruction and Assessment
Region 112