Columbus Soccer Ref

Somone over at Big Soccer posted this and thought it was well worth passing along.
Link to the YouTube video is here
The Referee’s Alphabet by Half Man Half Buscuit
A is for my authority, which many players seem to question, thinking they’re somehow going to make me change my mind.

B is for babies, which a lot […]

Well. . .tonight I did a U19B middle and ran into a couple of coaches (same team) who definitely had absolutely no grasp of the big picture - or sportsmanship - at all.  Here’s the situation. . .we have Gold vs. Orange.  We’re at the 87th minute and Gold is leading 4-1.  There were a […]

If you’ve ever seen Ocean’s Eleven, you probably remember this quote.  Early in the film, Basher (played by Don Cheadle) is detonating a bank vault - only to be done in by the ineptitude of one of his accomplices.  While he’s being arrested, Rusty (Brad Pitt) manages to get him away from the police and […]

So far this season, I’ve dismissed a coach. . .and I’ve sent off a player for a second caution, but tonight was the first straight red-card of the season.  It was a U19G match and as an aside, the quality of play was beyond bad. . .but I digress.  Gray attacker was dribbling with a […]

It’s been a while since I’d really posted anything, in large part because work has been sort of crazy.  It can get that way when you own your own business.  But I didn’t realize I haven’t posted in 2 months.  Wow does life get away.  Nothing earth-shattering this spring, so here are some snippets. . […]

Well, this past weekend were my first matches of the season.  For mid-March in Columbus, the weather was unbelievable.  Sunny with highs in the upper 50s.
In my first match, I was in the middle for a U19B match.  I’d been fighting a chest cold for a few days and was concerned about how it would […]

At a referee meeting yesterday, we were briefed on one of the new directives from US Soccer.  Last year in the MLS “Week in Review” series, US Soccer looked much more closely at the use of elbows in general as well as contact that takes place above the shoulders.  This year, US Soccer has released […]

As I wrote my post about my goals and challenges for 2009, it occurred to me that if I made mention of this, I didn’t do so strongly enough.
As referees, we work out and prepare for the season. . .we go to recerification courses and other advanced training. . .and during the season we leave […]

Well folks. . .we’re into the last week of February and just like last year, my 2009 calendar says that March is only a few days away.  And here in Columbus (Ohio South), that’s when the spring season gets underway.  So what’s on tap for 2009?

Well. . .first, is getting serious about fitness.  Over the […]

I’m currently a Grade 7, but for the last couple years I’ve elected to do my recertification during the Grade 6 makeup recert in the fall.  Because Ohio South is changing their recert procedures, I probably won’t be able to do that again.  But all the same, getting the instruction that the 6s get has […]