RefPlanet.com – Be A Referee!

Post edited 1:28 pm – Feb 18 2011 by Chas

Thu, 9th Sep 2004 12:50

A little about myself:

I am [as of the date of the original post] 21 years old. I was born in New York City, in Little Italy. I played a bunch of sports starting when i was 11, and took up football (the real kind, with a round ball) when i was 13, as a goalkeeper. I'm pretty good, and played semi-professionally last year.

I began to referee Basketball when i was 14. I tried to enter courses for American Football, but was denied for being under the age of 18. When i turned 18, i began training to become an American Football referee, which i am still doing to some extent, although my primary focus is Football.

Tomorrow evening is a big day, as it will be the conclusion of training, meaning i will receive my first badge! It's only an American Youth Soccer Organization Local Badge, but it's a start!

Statistics:
Career Appearances
Men (Amateur):
-Referee: 48
U19 Boys
-Referee: 10
U19 Girls
-Referee: 47
-Assistant: 5
U14 Boys
-Referee: 4
U14 Girls
-Referee: 11
-Assistant: 34
U8 Boys
-Referee: 1
Total:
-Referee: 121
-Assistant: 39

Discipline
Yellow Cards: 34
Second Yellow Cards: 1
Red Cards: 8

Milestones
1st Cap as Center Referee: 19 September 2004
25th Cap Overall: 8 January 2005
50th Cap as Center Referee: 5 March 2005
100th Cap Overall: 22 May 2005
AYSO Intermediate Referee: 14 November 2005
100th Cap as a Center Referee: 25 February 2006
USSF Grade 8 Referee: 6 February 2011

Posted: Mon, 13th Sep 2004 15:31

My first two matches will be this Sunday morning!

Head Referee for the Girls' U13 Division
NEXT SUNDAY, September 19th.
Are you available? We try to play each game with a center ref and two
assistant refs. There is a need next week for an asst. ref for the 8:30 game and a center ref for the following game at 9:50.

The field is a new artificial grass field at 138th & Amsterdam.

In case it isn't obvious, i said yes, and my debut will come on Sunday morning, as an Assistant ref, followed my first match in the middle!

Post edited 2:37 am – Feb 19 2011 by Chas

Mon, 11th Oct 2004 08:55

Hey,
Had a couple weeks off. As they immediately promoted me up to U13s when i started, AYSO had already made the schedule before i could get on it. I am a "floating" ref, which is actually now working out very well.
Yesterday i was to be an assistant in two matches. The first one was really good (i made my first offside call, where the kids actually trapped a striker who was camping on her end, which i thought was impressive), the second one i'll get to in a moment.

In the third match of the day, the main referee was running late, so i was asked to fill in, so i did (strangely enough, i've got something like 15 matches in the next 6 weeks as a result of filling in for people as the floater. Well, i'm not complaining.). The match was fun…the main difference i notice between me and other referees in the division is that i am a lot faster…a LOT faster. And i tend to sprint up and down the pitch (granted, at 21 i'm the youngest referee by far, and the only one without children, and it's not that hard to sprint for 30 minutes at a time with a bunch of 7th and 8th graders, but still…). I know sprinting is bad because it means you're out of position, but i'm never really out of position…i just tend to sprint whenever i'm meant to jog. I made one strange call…a striker with no help was tripped by a defender, but stayed up and could have run for goal despite being triple teamed, so i called it back for the foul. I could hear people talking about advantage, so at the end of the ensuing play i took a wide run to center so i could pass close to the assistant referee to let her know that the 12 year old was triple-teamed with no help, so i felt she would be better off with a restart than trying to take on three players. The best option would have been to call advantage and see if she can get a shot away, and if not then make the call, because she would have been past all three defenders had she not been tripped.

Now, that last match as a AR…in the second half the other assistant and i switched positions, which is normal, as in most cases, the AR is a licensed referee who has a child in the league, and is therefore not allowed to line up in the child's offensive half. In this case, my end was in the shade and very cold, so we switched so that we both could have the sunny side of the pitch. That, and so we both could get abuse from the coach on that side as well.

This man was shouting at his players (coaches are there to provide positive instruction, not point out mistakes loudly and in front of everyone to embarrass the player). He argued almost every call in the match, to the point where i had to tell him to stop arguing if he wants to avoid being dismissed. Rather than stop, he tells me that he has a right to disagree, and that he doesn't get paid to be there (last i checked, no one in AYSO gets paid, and everything is paid for with registration fees and sponsor deals). He yelled at (someone who i hope is) his daughter for not wanting to go into the game for the last 15 minutes. At the end of the match i went to the referee and let him know, but it didn't matter because 1) the referee heard it all too and was going to submit a report, and 2) the guy was already coming at us to shout some more abuse. I submitted a report as well, since i had the best listening position and could provide more details as to what he said and did. His attitude had an effect even on his players, who seemed very nervous and edgy, which resulted in the first yellow card i have seen on this level, as a player very badly tripped a player after she had already passed the ball away. I will be warning the coach and alerting the other referees before every match his team plays from now on, in order to prevent him from repeating these actions (this is apparently not the first time he has done this in the 4 week old season).

I won't let that little incident ruin my experience, as i still had fun and learned a lot from being in the center. I've got better at anticipating the ball's location, staying in my half when i feel the ball is about to be cleared right back to where i am, staying back for the goal kicks if i think the ball is going to be turned over. I tend to let a lot of physical stuff go, but always give out verbal warnings during and after the incidents. I've got better at watching for holding and the like, not just seeing the ball and players' feet. It should be fun again next week :D

Career Appearances
-Referee: 2
-Assistant: 5

Sunday 31 Oct 2004

Halloween, and two more matches as an AR. Nothing really exciting to comment about, except that in the match after my two, the ref crew was pleased that i pointed out that one of the team's goalkeepers was wearing the same color as the rest of the team just before the opening whistle, so the problem was quickly sorted and i was given honorary fourth official status for the match, which i wore proudly as i sat on the ground a few meters away from the pitch

Career Appearances:
Referee: 2
Assistant: 10

Whoops, didn't post for a couple weeks, so here's the run-down:

14 November 2004
My four matches were quite smooth and easy, including my "final exam". Called a lot more handballs than normal, and nearly was driven to give my first yellow card because a girl wouldn't STFU about her teammate (the GK) handling the ball outside of the area. Honestly, i had the wrong angle to see if she did, but the AR on that side saw it and raised the flag immediately, so there really was no question. The conversation basically went like this:

Me: Handball, free kick to Green.
Girl: What? Handball?
Me: Yes, handball.
Girl: That isn't handball.
Me: It's handball.
Girl: No, it isn't.
Me: Handball, free kick to Green (reaching for pocket).
(at this point the girl goes away)

I guess you had to be there…

Career Appearances:
Referee: 4
Assistant: 15

30 December 2004
Finally received my assignments for the upcoming Winter season. I have committed to all the league's matches (3 matches per week, 8 weeks), beginning on 8 January. I may not have to actually officiate in every match, because the league might be able to find another referee to join me, but i let the league know that they won't have to worry if they can't find another referee.

8 Jan 2005
Opening day of the AYSO Winter Season. I didn't know how long it would take me to reach the gym in Brooklyn, so i left New Jersey at 8 in the morning, needing to be there by 11:00. The PATH train is a fast trip into NYC, and apparently it was only three stops on the NYC subway to reach my Brooklyn destination, so i ended up at the gym around 9:30 Apparently it's a good thing i was so early, because the boys U19 division was having its matches, and when i got there, they all assumed i was the referee for the next Boys match, because no other referee had turned up. So i ended up officiating in that match, as well as my scheduled three.

For the first time, i actually took down notes during the match. I had written up the data sheets for my matches before arriving, so all i had to do was fill them in with the proper data. I only tallied the goals, since i wasn't sure i could write anything else down fast enough. By the second match or so, i was getting pretty fast with documenting goals, so next week i might try to also write down the number of the scoring player. I don't want to waste time doing it, because technically i don't need to keep the stats during the match, so i'm adding a little bit of extra duty at a time until i'm comfortable. Practice makes perfect, after all.

P.S. the last match was my 25th cap!

Appearances:
-Referee: 8
-Assistant: 17

To be perfectly honest, i remember **** all about my matches on 22 Jan, 29 Jan, and 5 Feb, except that there were three of them each day, except for one where i had 4. I guess they were rather uneventful.

Now, starting on 7 February i've had the pleasure of refereeing in the Rutgers University Intramural League. It's been a pretty good experience so far, as i wasn't really used to having to deal with gamesmanship, hard fouls, players arguing…you know, the good stuff :).

I kept my card in my pocket for the first game, still refereeing the way i would referee a Girls U19 match, which tends to be reasonably clean and trouble-free. On the 9th, however, i had to give a couple for dissent because the players were getting absolutely ridiculous.

Tonight i made personal history, as for the first time ever, i sent a player off. It was a straight red with 4 minutes to go in the match for, as we refs like to call it, "OFFINABUS" (OFFensive, INsulting, or ABUSive language). According to the FIFA rules (it is stated twice, in Law V and in Law XII), a referee "may send off any player who uses offensive, insulting, or abusive language" during a match. If anyone here has played youth footy in England (or really anywhere), you know that referees are known to send off players for using any swear word, even if it's directed at no one. Now, this is the United States, and in the four major sports here, using swear words is accepted (unless they are part of dissent, in which case it isn't accepted). I tend to follow that train of thought when i officiate: i doubt players realize that they can be sent off for cursing in general, so i let it slide but warn them that they shouldn't curse during games.

Today, in my third match of the night, i had to draw the line, as a player not only was cursing, but was cursing directly at me about what he thought was a questionable non-call (a 50-50 ball that two opposing players went for, both of whom failed to get the ball and ran into each other. I let play go on because it would have been harsh to give a penalty in favor of the offense on a 50-50 challenge (the incident occurred in one team's penalty area), and the ball ended up at the feet of a defending player, so there was no reason to call a foul in favor of the defense). The player just wouldn't stop his tirade though, and when he started the cursing, i blew the whistle (the ball was going out of play but i blew before it went out) and sent him off (remembering to give an indirect free kick to the non-offending team at the spot of the ball when i stopped play :)).

What a way to get my 30th cap in the center!

Appearances:
Referee: 31
Assistant: 17

21 Mar 2005
Playoff time at Rutgers University. Semifinal II was my 60th cap in the middle. The games were played with a ton of commitment, evidenced by the 5 yellow and 1 red card issued in the three matches (well, "evidenced" is the wrong word, but you know what i mean). The #3 and #4 seeds knocked off #1 and #2 in the semis, and faced off in the final, which was won by the #3 seed. They therefore succeed my former team as Rutgers Champions. A player called me biased in the last minute of the finals, after a bunch of other incidents where he would scream and curse at me, so i finally sent him off for insulting language, to which he responded by giving me the middle finger. Obviously he understood why he was being sent off, as any player who behaves like that shouldn't be on the field. Rather than try to restore order and get play restarted so the last ten seconds of the game could be run off, i just terminated the match. The competition rules allow for the result and the goals to stand, so it was no big deal to end the match ten seconds early.

I'm very excited about the rule changes taking effect in July, most notably the new rule allowing referees to issue cautions and red cards after the final whistle. The threat of getting a suspension due to a card received after the final whistle should help prevent players from surrounding the official at the end of a match (*ahem* Man United).

Anyway, about two weeks off until AYSO's Spring season kicks off. I'm still committed to the Girls U13 division in NYC, so i'll be back to my roots for the Spring.

Appearances:
Referee: 61
Assistant: 17

10 Apr 2005
Today, i learned two things:
1) Don't stay up all night working on a website, and then go straight to your refereeing assignments in the morning. Especially when you have four games to referee.
2) That insane intramural league has hardened me more than i thought.

So, i was so excited about getting my new website up and running after 7 months of development (www.refplanet.com, by the way), that i stayed up all night tweaking the php scripts and perfecting the categories for the resource listings (and starting my crawl through the Internet searching for new entries). Before i knew it, it was 530AM, and my alarm was set for 600! So i made my pasta and stayed up, and went to my first game, which was an U14 boys game at 910.

The game went well, but at one point i created the most deafening silence possibly in AYSO history.

Alright, so it's Blue v. Red. The ball is rolling deep in Red's defending end, towards the corner. Blue touched it last. A Blue player sprints to the ball, and, just before it goes over the line, saves it, but just ends up kicking it over the goal line anyway, for a goal kick. I signal the goal kick (for Red), and the Red coach starts yelling that it's a throw in (for Red). Why he wanted a throw in instead of the goal kick is beyond me, as the goal kick is in a better position than a deep throw. I continue to verbally alert to the players that it is a goal kick, and the coach gets louder about the throw in. His players are starting to get confused about whom they should listen to.

Finally, i find a quick way to resolve the situation: as loudly as i could, i say "HEY!" directly at the coach. When he looks, i put my finger to my mouth for two seconds, and then tell the players that it is a goal kick. The coach turned white, the parents were silent, and the players were…well…they looked relieved, because the coach was geniunely confusing them. I could honestly say that this is something i would never have done before February with those insane Uni students in the Rutgers Intramural League.

In my other game in the middle (i had two games in the centre and two as an AR, 20th overall AR cap), a Girls U14 match, i had to silence another coach, who was arguing that his player was not the last to kick the ball before it went into touch. He was right; his player was not the last the kick it. It was kicked off of her shin, and then it went into touch. It does not matter who kicked it last, just whom the ball touches last. This coach was a bit more embarrassed about the matter, and came to me at halftime to apologise, so i told him not to worry about it. I don't take things personally, but i like the game to run smoothly for the players, and coaches yelling things that are contradictory to my decisions are confusing for young players.

I think my "hardening" will benefit me in the long run, because it taught me a lot about player/coach management, and it helped me to be a bit more fearless when it comes to dealing with unruly players.

Brooklyn AYSO has offered to keep me on their roster for the Spring Season, but i was not told which division they expect me to officiate. If i do it, it would be an extra trip into New York every week, and matches on both weekends. Depends on the division, i suppose.

Appearances:
-Referee: 65
-Assistant: 20

Wow, i just noticed that i never bothered to update this at the end of the Spring season.

Well, Considering i didn't, and considering i can't remember much from the end of last season, i'm guessing the matchdays went over well. I did three games at AR and one in the center on 8 May, same schedule on 15 May, three matches as AR on 22 May, and two ARs and a center on the 29th. Throw in two boys' matches on the 8th and 22nd. I was off for the final two weeks of the season.

I decided to take the summer off, as i have reached enough caps to qualify for promotion to USSF. I can't actually be promoted until the fall, so rather than risk injury, i spent the summer doing schoolwork. Yesterday was the start of my pre-season, with some jogs and sprints. I need to read about the rule changes when AYSO posts them. I also need to start thinking about where i should go if i receive the USSF badge. At that point, i would be eligible to be paid for matches, but AYSO is a volunteer organization and the two branches with which i've been involved, West Side Soccer League and Brooklyn AYSO, have been very good to me (aside from WSSL sticking me with AR assignments all the time ;) ). I am fairly certain that i will stick with Brooklyn AYSO again this winter, and i'll have to decide what i do after that at another time.

Fall season is nearly upon us, and my first promotion awaits…but will it be the last?

Career Appearances:
Referee: 71
Assistant: 33