the ADMIN pages

Sorry for the delay on this post-- been swamped with last-minute Christmas Eve stuff.

The second day of the tournament was much more relaxed, as I suspected. We didn't need to convert any fields in the middle of the day, and I managed to keep the standings up-to-date the entire day.

Another new referee (read: not a ref in the regular MAX Indoor league) was assigned a few games today. As has happened a few times, my assignor asked me to evaluate the guy's reffing since my assignor wouldn't be at the facility until later in the day. Strike one: the ref shows up 10 minutes before game time. In general, referees are supposed to show up a half-hour before games if possible, and this guy was specifically told to show up early (I saw the e-mail) so that I could brief him on the tournament rules. Strike two: he doesn't have a whistle. That's right, no whistle. I have about 10 whistles in my bag, including one specifically for referees who I'm working with that don't have a whistle (which happens unfortunately frequently in my rec park district league). As I watched him work, he seemed to make decent calls and whatnot, but he appeared to be a center-circle ref. Meaning, he rarely ventured outside the center circle of the field. Most competition authorities ask referees to be "match fit" and be able to run within 7-20 yards of play. (He later told my assignor that he pulled a hamstring and couldn't run.)

We had one incident during the U14 Boys final. After the game, two players (separately) from the losing team called the referee an asshole. To his face, no less. This referee is a grade 5 state referee (higher than our assignor), and hence, doesn't take crap from anybody, let alone two punks like these kids. We got their information and are reporting them to the IYSA, with the recommendation that they be suspended from a few games in their regular outdoor league.

The fun stuff: my high-school division games. I was kind of disappointed, to be honest. I was expecting a bigger challenge. The games I did were easy. The teams weren't even unfairly matched, either. It was a piece of cake. I'm hesitant to accept this as the norm for high-school girls' soccer, though, because I've seen my own high school's team play, as well as line a U19 girls match that featured the two best teams in the state (ironically, my center for that match now works in the MAX Indoor league). Nevertheless, it was easy stuff. Nothing fascinating to report.

No games next week, but the league administrator is starting another indoor league right here in my hometown, so I'll be working that every Sunday come the middle of January.

A round-up of my "holiday sale" Official Sports referee gear order: short-sleeve gold, long-sleeve gold, short-sleeve black, long-sleeve black, long-sleeve green, three pairs of socks (including one with the new style), USSF shorts, write-on cards, whistle wristband, some UnderArmour, and USSF warm-ups. I'm most excited about the warm-ups, since the new jerseys are back-ordered until next year, before the spring season. And nothing distinguishes you as a (good) referee like a pair of warm-ups.