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.

Today, I was reminded me why I love reffing at tournaments: the networking.

I love talking with fellow referees, especially those who are better than me. I'm a lowly grade 8 (the lower the better), which is the default grade that nearly everyone starts off at. I've been this way for longer than most referees who have ambitions to upgrade—my current assignor, a state (grade 6) referee, started the same year I did. My only problem is that I don't have the mandatory game requirements for upgrading to a grade 7, the next step up the referee ladder: 75 as a center referee, and 25 as an assistant referee (linesman), all of which must be fully documented with dates, locations, and teams. I worked only in my local, recreational park district league (and a few scattered tournaments) for my first 4 years as a referee. These games are not USSF-affiliated, meaning that they don't count for anything, namely, upgrade requirements. I only just started doing real games (club/traveling soccer) in the middle of the spring 2007 season.

The tournaments I've worked at in the past have always blown me away for the random conversations I have with other referees. They've got stories about tough games, dumb spectators, and moron assessors (the people who determine if you've got the skill to upgrade). I take it all in: synthesizing information has always been a strength of mine. Not only that, but I apply it in the games I referee. I also like to watch good referees as they work games. The little, intangible nuances I pick up on while watching games are often better than the best advice I'll get from other refs.

Continue reading ‘MAX Indoor Holiday Tournament, Day 1’ »

I apologize for yet another referee update, but I've been reading a ton of ref blogs lately and am in the mood for writing my own.

The second week of games at the McCook Athletic and Exposition Center was played today. I have pretty much established my routine: ensure referees show up on time for their first game (refs are usually scheduled for 3-4 game blocks), stand-in for a few seconds where needed, and do my few assigned games. The rest of my team, I spend doing... whatever I want. Today I finished up the latest Vince Flynn book, Protect and Defend (worthy of a blog post of its own), knocked off several e-mails, and got a ton of web development done for the two projects currently on my agenda.

Game analysis: My first game, a U10 boys, went okay. I usually complain about the lack of action in age levels below U12, but with indoor soccer, everything moves faster, and the level of competitiveness is much higher (or at least appears to be). I made roughly 85% good calls in this game. The out-of-bounds line got moved on me by the league director 4 minutes into the game, and my first game of the day on any given day isn't usually my best, unless it's extremely competitive and absolutely forces me to wake up. I was still in clerical/administrative mode from the morning (this was a 1:00 pm game), so I was a tad slow. Even so, I was confident in the most "controversial" (very relative) call of the game: a defender stops a ball with his foot and passes it back to his keeper, who picks it up. I whistle for an indirect free kick for the other team. They have a player right there, ready to take the kick-- the offending team has absolutely no time to get ready. The kicker shoots it straight at the keeper, the keeper deflects it right back to him, and the kicker puts it in the net. All while the rest of the offending team is trying to run down to get into a wall. One of the coaches of the offending team took issue with the kick back to the keeper, claiming his kids don't have the foot control to direct their passes (they do) and that the pass was not intentional. I felt pretty proud that I was able to quote straight from the LOTG and explain it to him. When this attempt failed, he complained about the lack of time for his team to build a wall. I explained to him that the team taking the kick is perfectly entitled to a quick restart. (Ironically, the other coach from this team is a fellow referee-- he even refs in this league/facility. He was rather quiet when this coach was questioning me after the game.)

My second game, a U11 girls, was much better. I was on top of the play everywhere I went, and am proud of every call I made. The coach of the losing team congratulated me profusely, and while I generally tune out coaches, I enjoy praise.

My third game, a U13 boys, was 95% good. The U13s and up are played on doubly large fields as all the younger ages, so I got a fair bit of running in this game. And, just my luck, one of the teams was from my hometown club (Woodridge Storm). It's the "better" of two U13 teams the club had this past fall season. I've actually grown to respect the guys on this particular team for several different reasons. Two of them are referees in the local rec league who I worked with a few times-- although one of them still plays pretty dirty, and I called more than one foul on him today. Also, the entire team seems to really work well together. I believe they are 1-1-1 this season so far. Of course, one of the coaches felt compelled to admonish me for yelling at his players (in particular, his son) for encroaching on a free kick. I did 2 of their home games during this past fall outdoor season.

The biggest surprise of the day came when my assignor introduced me to Bob Lemke, referee. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped... seriously. Bob Lemke sits on my district school board, of which I attend virtually every meeting. He actually recognized me too.

Hm, I'd like to see him in action on the field. Don't want to pass judgment on his refereeing skills based on his lack of skills on the school board. *grumbles, but only half-jokingly*

While I am coming to the realization that my job is mostly clerical (recording scores and handing out referee pay), I do enjoy the chance to actually don my uniform and use my whistle during the usually boring off-season. Speaking of my whistle, I'm sticking with my super-loud Fox 40. Some people like to hear the sound of their own voice. I like to hear the sound of my own whistle.

Today marked the first day of the MAX Indoor Soccer league. While this league is played indoors (winter in Chicago is not good soccer weather), we use "outdoor" rules--there are no boards or blue cards. Offside is modified to the 18-yard-line, slide tackling is prohibited, and the clock is always counting down from 43 minutes. (As soon as one game is over, the referee starts the scoreboard clock for 43 minutes. As soon as the next pair of teams is ready, they may play.)

I've been retained as the full-time stand-by official. In other words, I am on-site at the facility for the entire day, and if a referee doesn't show up, I step in. In addition, I collect scores, help keep fields on schedule, and answer questions from referees or players. I also get assigned 3 games during my stand-by time, mainly so I don't eat my uniform out of boredom.

I like my new job.

The facility has wifi, so I sit in the lobby (or the quiet, secluded conference room) and surf the Internet for the majority of the time. Every 40 minutes or so, unless I'm required to step in for a referee for a few minutes or am scheduled for games myself, I collect scores, help reset the clocks, and get all the next teams going. Piece of cake.

Today I stood-in for a combined total of 7 minutes waiting for other officials to show up, did 3 easy games at the end of my shift, and got a ton of programming done. I'm going back tomorrow.

No real incidents to report from my actual games. The teams, while very young, were actually all very good. No cards, no loud coaches, and the people who own the facility are really cool. My Fox 40 whistle is almost too loud in there, though. Might have to switch to something else for indoor.

I've never written about this on the blog before, but I need a means to vent. Understandably, very few of you will understand the referee culture, but I'll do my best to explain.

As some of you may know, I work as a referee for youth soccer games in my area. I've been a ref for 5 years now, and attend a mandatory 6-hour recertification class every year. Originally, I started out doing low-level, recreational games in my hometown. In these games, there's no serious physical play, only two members of any given team are any good, and the coaches have absolutely no clue what they're doing (okay, the last one is true for all coaches :-P).

In the past year I've started officiating for traveling soccer clubs in the area. These are real games. The kids all know which direction to kick the ball, the coaches are certified as such, and the games are much better. While they can sometimes be very taxing physically, especially if I have several games back-to-back on a given day, I prefer them to the recreational games for one reason: they don't bore me. Oh, and they pay better.

It's important to point out that each league is independent of one another, although they are all loosely affiliated with national and state organizations. The slight exception is that some of the rec coaches are also coaches of my town's club teams, so I interact with them frequently outside of the recreational league.

But anyway, back to the recreational, park district league I work for in my hometown. As I said, the games are frequently very boring. However, with nothing else to do on a Saturday morning, why not get paid good money ($20-25/hour) to stand around and exert your authority?

Now, I could spend a whole post talking about some of the, er... lackluster referees in my town. In fact, I'll add that to my list of topics to write about later. Let's just say that many of the people I frequently work with--most soccer games are refereed by a three-man team: one center official (in charge) and two linesmen (assistants)--are not very um, good. They couldn't tell you the difference between a foul and misconduct, they're afraid to make controversial calls, and they don't take well to criticism. In general, they don't take their job seriously. I've seen referees in this league answer their cell phones while they're on the field. If you take away one piece of soccer knowledge from this post, know that a referee answering his cell phone in the middle of officiating a game is absolutely ridiculous, unprofessional, unheard-of, and wrong. One of my assistants (a kid a few years younger than me that I've known for years) during a game I did last Saturday accused me of taking my job too seriously. Let me tell you something: when you're a soccer referee, there is no such thing as taking your job too seriously. Referees are responsible for upholding the integrity of the game they are tasking with officiating and the sport of soccer in general. You shouldn't be okay with screwing that up.

Back on topic (here's where I get pretty heavy into the soccer lingo): with the exception of the stated rules of the league as well as the notion that this is a learning environment for kids, I apply the same Laws of the Game (LOTG) and standards of behavior to the recreational league that I do for "real" games. I don't take crap from coaches or players on the field. 95% of the time in the local league, this isn't a problem. But occasionally, mostly in the highest-age division in the rec league, coaches have a problem with the way I run things. One example: there was a coach several weeks ago who started arguing with me about my calls in the middle of a game. He was getting pretty vocal, and it was impeding my ability to do the game.

Allow me to interrupt to explain some soccer stuff: a yellow card ("caution") is shown to players who (among other things) show dissent towards my calls. A red card ("send-off") is shown if they (among other things) get two yellow cards or do other serious, violent acts. The rules of "real" soccer permit coaches to be verbally cautioned and/or sent-off, but we don't show them a card. However, the local league states that referees are to show coaches the card if they receive one. Good link for more info on cards: http://www.wikihow.com/Understand-Soccer-Referee-Signals

Back to this coach: I had stopped the game to talk to him twice already, and he was getting on my nerves, so I gave him a yellow card for dissent. Let me reiterate that cards are pretty much unheard of in this league. It's low-level play, and coaches generally know their place. I probably gave more cards just this past weekend (7) doing club games than the entire league got all season. This past season in the rec league, I gave a total of 3 cards (that I can remember): two send-offs for abusive language and a yellow card to this coach. And I've "stirred up trouble" on two other occasions this season. Once, I took issue with a spectator smoking on the sidelines during a game of 4th- and 5th-graders. He refused to leave until I got the coaches to go over there and handle it. One of the coaches later told me he "disagreed with the way I handled it." The other time, I sent a report to the league about one of the coaches who was yelling pretty profanely at his kids (also a game of 4th- and 5th-graders) and did some other questionable activities on the field.

Ugh. All this background for a tiny bit of actual content. Anyway, let it be said that I've probably raised quite a bit of hell in this small-town, recreational soccer league. At least, compared to any other referee. I know for a fact they've discussed my actions at the weekly board meetings several times. But let it also be said, I am not without my supporters on the board. It is my understanding that the board president and his assistant coach (also on the board), who are coaches for both a recreational team and a club team in my town, think I'm a decent ref. The aforementioned assistant coach actually came up to me recently (after the below-described events) and told me he thinks I'm the "finest referee they have" in my town. But there are several board members (who also coach) and non-board-member coaches who think I am "cocky" with players (according to one of the referee directors who sits on the board). Case one: the board secretary coaches a club team of very young players. This lends credence to the fact that his kids aren't top-notch players, just like every other nine-year-old boy. I only did one game of his this season (a club game). It was 40 degrees out, it was nighttime, I was given no assistants, and the field was in pretty poor condition. Needless to say, even I'll admit I didn't call a perfect game, but I think I did a damn good job considering the circumstances. He, however, sends a scathing e-mail to the referee director for the local league (remember: the leagues are completely independent) saying how bad of a job I did.

Case two: one of the local league's board members is an assistant coach for a U12 boys club team. Now, this particular team is pretty physical, especially considering their relatively young age. The first game I did for them this season, I cautioned 5 players. This assistant coach wasn't at the first game I did for the team, but prior to the start of the second game I did for them, he pulled me aside and told me (in no uncertain terms) that I shouldn't be giving yellow cards at this age. I disagreed, explaining that his team's level of physical play was unacceptable. During that game, I cautioned one of his players for telling me to "get my glasses checked" after I made a call. Dissent, plain and clear, even disregarding earlier comments from this player. The coach erupted at me, yelling that "we had an understanding" that I was not to give any yellow cards. I ignored him, although I very well could have sent him off considering the language he used towards me. As I said, he sits on the board of the local league, so I'm sure he's ranted about me to the local league too.

One of the two referee directors in the local league mentioned to me on the last day of the local season that they had received 3-4 complaints about me from coaches. He said specific complaints were "too many yellow cards" and being "cocky" with players. As I said, I gave one yellow card the entire season in the local league, but some of the coaches from club teams sit on the local board, so I'm sure signals are getting crossed there. He also questioned the yellow card I gave to the coach in the local league.

I should mention that I never heard any of this from the other referee director (the head one), which kinda put me off. Either she disregarded it, or didn't feel the need to tell me.

Fast-forward to a tournament sponsored by the local league a week later. I issue a yellow card to a player (whose family is very prominent in the local league) for dissent. I put it out of my mind-- I was completely justified and I knew it. The same referee director who told me to be conservative about my yellow cards questioned the earlier card as I was finishing up for the day. That really put me off. The guy is a good referee, no doubt about it. And technically, he is my boss, although in the referee culture it's not really thought of that way. But when he starts questioning my authority to use cards as I see fit (which I personally rarely do in the local league), I don't take kindly to that. And the tournament itself was a separate entity from the local league-- higher-level play.

Anyway... what I'm trying to say with this massive post is that I have been slightly turned off to this local league. Several board members are apparently questioning my actions on the field outside of their jurisdiction, and one of the referee directors himself is telling me not to use cards in the local league--which I generally don't do anyway. If they want to ostracize me from games in the league, that's fine. I'm at the point where I am dividing my time for several different leagues, most of which have games that, frankly, aren't boring. I'm starting work for an indoor league shortly that will run until April in a pseudo-managerial position that pays very handsomely. For the first several years of my being a referee, I relied on this local league as my sole source of ref income. Quite frankly, I can do without them now. This past season, I got anywhere from 3-5 games a week. I'd be happy with less next season. Less stress for me--in a small town that has a problem with referees who are sure of themselves on the field.

If I sound cocky, or by some coincidence a board member from the local league finds this, so be it. I have a high level of respect for most of the coaches and directors in the local league, but all I'm asking is that I not be second-guessed. It's no secret in the referee community that coaches generally don't know what they're talking about (we're only half-joking when we say this). And don't get me wrong, I'll be happy to work for your league, but only if you want me to. My only concern is that I hope I'm not asking for too much when I say I dislike conversation going over my head regarding my calls.