RefBlog

New version of the blog software

I'm trying out the latest-and-greatest blog software. There shouldn't be much of a difference between what you see now and what's you saw yesterday. The biggest change that I can see is a change to how popup images are displayed, which I don't use often, anyway. There is an example of that here you can try.

31 December '06 - 15:12 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Thoughts about my dad

The website was down a couple of days, because like myself, the person who hosts the website was out-of-town, and their DSL connection dropped. I could tell it wasn't just this server, because I know of another site that's on another physical server, and I couldn't reach that, either.

Several things hung over my head during the christmas holiday, the first was how I could feel it when I hadn't gone to the gym; I've been going regularly (meaning six days a week, and until this last week, one week was five and none were fewer) and for some reason the YMCA was closed for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (my local gym was open on Thanksgiving, and only closed on xmas day - they'll also be open, with reduced hours, on New Year's Eve and Day) and the desire to go there was borderline pathological. Of course, that may have been because my mother was driving my nuts, which was another thing that was hanging over me, but something I won't get into here (sorry).

The final thing was that my dad said he was interested in reffing soccer. Is this a good thing? Sure - but it did make me think. The thinking was purely on the selfish side, of course - reffing's been my thing, and I can choose to talk about it only if and when I want. I know the good and the bad side of the game, and am also not sure I want to subject my dad to that as well - but he has seen me referee before (including a high school game a few years back, where there were no major incidents, but a parent decided to come have a personal spazz while we were talking anyway. Since we also live 10+ hours away by car, the only time we'd actually work together is if he's visiting during the summer (maybe I could talk him into the USA Cup).

It'll be interesting to see if it pans out. In the meantime, I'm checking the SRC website for his state to see when the Grade 8 certification clinics start. (more)

30 December '06 - 18:25 - - default| Only one comment - § ¶

Best of 2006: A cop already? (USA Cup Diary)

Once again, I've selected what are in my opinion the ten best pieces I wrote over the calendar year. It's done partially because I like to reflect over what I did, see what I learned, and mull over the ups-and-downs; partially because it's "the thing to do" at this time of year. But let's be honest, the real reason for it, and it's the same reason it's the "thing to do", is because there's not much to write about this time of year - this winter in particular.

The pieces are in no particular order - I lined them up and had them randomly selected, but I think it's kind of nice timing that this particular article drew the first slot, because it shows the best and the worst about the USA Cup. The reason the timing is nice is because of a discussion thread on Big Soccer about it. It seems the perception is going downhill: too hot, too little pay, competition not as good, etc. I have to admit, this was not my favorite USA Cup, I think there were some serious problems this year (such as a referee shortage that only got larger as there were fewer games to officiate), and I worry about next year (can they recover from last year, and I've heard worrying things about how they're going to handle referees next year).

But I have to say, that if you have time free, it's one of the best places you can go to referee: you're exposed to more styles on the field, both from players and officials than you will from any other tournament on this continent. Over my years, I've been on the field with teams from Ireland, Scotland, England, Costa Rica, Columbia, Brasil, Canada, Mexico, and others I can't recall. I've worked with referees from England, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, Mexico, Italy, Belgum, Brazil, Angentinia, and others. I've had games with former FIFA officials as a newly minted grade eight. You won't find that anywhere. And yes, while the level of play will be better at other tournaments, the diversity cannot be matched, and I've found myself learning new things at every tournament.

This year's tournament was different, in that in many ways my role at the tournament started changing. In my early years, I was placed with more experienced officials to learn from them (in one game in my first year, I was paired with two FIFA referees); now things are starting to change. I was put with officials less experienced than myself and found myself having to not only work past their inexperience, but in trying to teach them and bolster them up. Not nearly as awe inspiring as my first few years, but I hope, even though I'm not as an exciting a draw as an offical from overseas, but helpful.

As far as the level of play goes, there is one thing that's very important to know. The bulk of the games are assigned by computer, and because most of the officials from overseas have a State Badge equivalent or better, and because there are plenty of State badges from this country in, you won't get good centers until you upgrade. With the number of games going on, you won't be seen by assessors very often. It's taken me seven years and I finally was assigned a center in a playoff (although to avoid self flattery, I think that's also because of some of the referee shortage we faced this year - it was massive and horrible). You could, and probably fairly, say that the tournament takes advantage of the referees by paying them so poorly (there was a $1 increase in game fees, but a $4 increase in dorm fees), but if you referee for money, please please quit. You're not doing the rest of us any favors. That being said, it is nice to at least recoup your expenses, so I'm not bashing those of you who won't go because of money, just of some of the reasoning that may (read that last word) be behind it.

Now, to the actual article (more)

25 December '06 - 16:13 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

I don't suppose an apology is in order?

I got a call while at work from the center referee from my last high school game. It appears he got ahold of a video of the game, and said my offside call was spot on; the mechanics were off (but I knew that), but the call was dead-on - and there was a foul before the goal as well (something he thought, but wasn't 100% sure of). I'd like to see the video myself, and see if it passes the same skeptical eye that I put to television commentators.

If it does, can I email the coach and ask for an apology for the ripping he gave me? No, that would be (said in extreme sarcasm)unprofessional (/sarcasm). Because while it's OK for coaches to go off on a rampage, my rubbing it in would only get me in trouble. Feh.

17 December '06 - 17:36 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

Not with a wimper, but nowhere near a roar

That's it - my last soccer game to referee until spring. I won't miss getting at up at 6:30 in the morning, or getting home past eleven at night, to pull in these games. But it's going to be really really strange not having any soccer for five to six months; all my jerseys are hung up, which I don't think has ever happened.

The finals games, most of which have just been not fun to referee, ended not with a bang, not with a wimper, but nothing much more than a small whine. The first game was a blowout with no issues; the second started nice, but also turned into a multiple-goal shutout; the third was an even bigger blowout, but the team that lost had one player that had some skill on it, but still tended to come into play at a speed that was greater than his skill, but everything was easily kept in-check; the final game had the only real type of work for me, and even that wasn't difficult.

One team wanted a handling call by the goalkeeper outside of the area. Close? Yes? Both ball and keeper in the air? Yes. Is that kind of call going to be made? No. It's actually the type of thing that really pisses me off watching US coverage of soccer: a ball close to going in (say, hugging the goal line) is subjected to a replay from an angle that's not directly on the goal-line, and the announcers will use that to say if the referee was correct or not. That's bogus, because unless that ball is physically on the line, a ball in the air will more likely look like it's past the goal line with each increased degree of angle. I'm sure the announcers, or someone on the broadcast staff knows this, but it doesn't make good commentary. God forbid they get some good perspective on it.

Sorry, bad pun.

But in this case, it's why I remind (sorry, reminded) captains every game that line calls will (would) suck. I also called a PK against the same team that wanted the handling call; the attacker was just manhandled in the penalty area, to the point that he was, not knocked off his feet, but pulled up. I didn't wait to see if he could gain his balance back (he did); he lost his attacking opportunity, and frankly, it was rather cynical defense.

So, I got to leave my final indoor game with one singular, "You did terrible, ref". Yawn. I haven't had a game out here all winter that had enough skill for me to screw up enough to be terrible.

10 December '06 - 12:02 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶

High school reffing levels

In the USSF, the levels referees can obtain are pretty simple to grasp - the lower the grade number, the better the grade (sort of like golf):

9: Recreational Referee (aka in the peanut gallery is the "Blue Badge"): Center Recreational U14 and below.
8: Entry Level Referee (where about 90% of referees join and stay - more if you could the thousands who have quit). Qualified to center youth games.
7: Referee with aspirations to State: Center youth and "mixed leagues"; not sure what that means, but in my case it's 2nd division Men's amateur and 1st division Women's. Albeit there's another men's league that's higher than the league I'm work in.
6: State Referee: Works any adult amateur games up to the 2nd division (presumably the higher men's league than mine).
5: State Referee with aspirations to National: I've seen them run lines on USL first division matches and women's international friendlies, center some of the lower-rungs of the USL.
4: National Referee: Center or line professional games, line some international matches.
3: National with aspirations to FIFA. The requirements include "By invitation of US Soccer". You don't apply for this grade.
2: FIFA AR: The coveted triangular badge. Technically called "United States Soccer Federation International Assistant Referee".
1: FIFA Center: Brian Hall, Kevin Stott, and others.

That big long list is basically there to compare what we have with High School:

Referee

I would take levels 9, 3, 2, and 1 out of the picture from the USSF, but still - that means assignments are based upon how well you know the assignor, how well the assignor likes you, and how well you didn't piss off the coaches. Considering hundreds of schools to assign for in this area, this means post-season assignments primarily depend on your USSF grade, even though it's not supposed to figure into anything it's how you stand out, and how much you didn't piss off the coaches.

Around here, at least, the number of high school referees is dropping considerably - I know I'd rather work college than high school, and it looks like the local high school sports authority is going to do two things to help improve the level of reffing while making things a little more even on who can do what when. So the draft proposal for the state includes three levels - I have a feeling the requirements for the 3rd level (their levels go from 1-3 with three being the highest), will put off a bunch of the USSF National and National Candidates (think of it like a Grade 5+ - with the ref making the actual push for a National badge) who work only a few games plus the state tournament, and probably have better things to do with their time.

Level 1: Entry-level, can only work regular-season games. No real change in requirements from what we have now (open-book take-home test with 80% or better score).

Level 2: Can work section contests, no state tournament. The added requirements are a minimum rating from the coaches (I'll omit the usual rant - but will say that the ratings, as they're presented to the referees, contain absolutely nothing of value to help us improve our ability - they don't even break it out by position), observe other officials in playoff situations, and spend a year in a mentorship program. Mentorship? They don't have enough people to perform assessments - how are they going to force referees to have mentors? Oh, yeah, read on...

Level 3: Can work all contests, including the state tournament. The added requirements are an increased score on the rules test, a higher coaches' rating (see above), then must have three of a number of requirements completed each year: recruit a new official, perform a presentation at a parent and/or player meeting, become a registered mentor (and work it), attended an advanced clinic (or equivalent - I wonder if the USSF advanced clinics will count), attend a non-high school camp or clinic, join an observation program (and in so doing shift the burden of the lack of assessors over to the referees - nothing said here about compensation), and a few others about being a board member of your local officials association, of which there are none for soccer in this state.

Supposedly, I'd be grandfathered into Level 3, because I've worked in the state tournament (three times, now). But mostly I'll just have to see how things turn out in he final version. I wonder how many referee who do work college will want to bother with the requirements to keep reffing at Level 3 in High School; I've heard it said that soccer in the U.S. is one of the few sports where you'll get referees who work both the college and the professional levels - unless they get a bye in the requirements, they're going to concentrate of the games they enjoy more (and in my admittedly limited scope, while I know plenty of college referees who will work the tournament, all would say college is more enjoyable than high school). Furthermore, if there were easy ways (without an explicit bye for NISOA members) to keep the Level 3 status, everyone would take it. 

Mostly, I just hope I can work college games and be done with high school.

06 December '06 - 16:28 - - default| No comments yet - § ¶