I don’t feel like I have too many things that really bother me, but ARs who can’t bother to wear the proper uniform or assemble a kit with the bare necessities is definitely one of them. Appearance is important since it’s the first clue that players, coaches, and spectators have as to whether you know what you’re doing. If you show up looking like a rag-bag, it’s hard for people to have confidence in your abilities. When I get an AR who wears white socks, shoes that aren’t predominantly black, have their shirt untucked, or such, then I immediately have less confidence in them. After all, how should I expect them to properly apply the LoTG if they can’t even wear a proper uniform?
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The older I get (late 30s), the more I believe that referees want one thing more than anything else. It’s not a “four whistle match”. . .it’s not perfect weather. . .it’s not more pay. What I think most referees want is more comfortable footwear. Think about it. The players play one or maybe two matches a day. But on a busy weekend, I’ll do four or five matches a day. So I’m always on the lookout for better and more comfy shoes. Which isn’t particularly easy since I have wide feet.
As most of you are aware, USSF debuted a new style of referee jersey at the 2007 MLS Cup. Are you buying?
I’m hoping to be invited to referee at Youth Regionals in June, so I feel it’s pretty important to have them for the spring season. For most people, though, there’s just not a lot of reason to spend the money replacing the older style shirts since they will be good for a while - and the phase-out date still hasn’t been announced by USSF.
Because I live in a cool-weather area (mid-Ohio), I waited until early March to to place my orders. I figured Official Sports’ backlog would be cleared by then. WRONG! I initially ordered (all in Medium):
- Long sleeve gold Pro shirt
- Short sleeve gold Pro shirt
- Short sleeve black Pro shirt
- Short sleeve red Pro shirt
- New-style USSF Coolwick short
- 1 pair of new-style USSF-logo socks
Official Sports and lots of others sell the match logs, report forms, and such. Forget that. I just made my own using MS Excel and print them using my color laser printer, though an inkjet would work just fine. Here’s a picture -
I’ve added a link in the “Referee Gear” section to download this in PDF format. The PDF file will have two cards per letter-size sheet of paper. I print them on 110# white card stock which is available from Wal-Mart or Staples. I’ve found the heavier stock easier to handle during a match because it holds up better than regular printer paper when taking it out of my pocket.
Feel free to download, print and use these. You can even give them to your friends. All I ask is if you like it, let me know and tell people about columbussoccerref.com.
The wisest referee I know is now retired, but I still call him often to draw on his experience and insight. A few years ago, he taught me about the Moment Of Truth. Basically, the Moment Of Truth (MOT) is an incident - usually a hard foul, physical play, etc - where how you handle it will set the tone for how the match will be called that day. It’s a moment where your your decision to penalize or not to penalize will establish the boundries for the players. It tells them how far you’re willing to let them go. While I can’t predict when the MOT will come in my match, I want it as early as possible. That way, as early as possible, the players know how I will call the match that day. Then it’s on me to call the same behavior the same way for the rest of the match. The smart players will adjust, and there are mechanisms in place to deal with those who don’t.
But if I’m having problems with match control, I can often look back at my MOT and how I handled it. Or mishandled it, as it were.
For a long time, I’ve been thinking about the mentoring of soccer officials. While I think it’s particularly important for the young and new referees, I also find myself (as a Grade 7 with many years of experience) wishing there was someone with more experience who would provide feedback, answer questions, and provide guidance on a semi-regular basis. I know USSF is trying to make assessors and assessments much less adversarial, and I’m already on the list for the next assessor’s course, but there are never enough assessors to go around. And ideally, I’d like my mentor to be available by phone or e-mail just to “talk shop” about refereeing once in a while.
But I think mentoring is especially crucial for the young and new referees. I think most everyone can agree that the Entry Level Referee Course that everyone takes when they first become a referee is merely a primer to the laws of the game. I really don’t think it does a very good job at teaching someone how to actually be a referee - and all the things that go with it, like foul recognition, dealing with assignors, coaches, players, fans, and such. I feel like a new referee leaves the entry level course with a decent knowledge of the LoTG, but ill-equipped to do matches. I really think a mentoring program would not only better equip new referees to handle matches, thereby improving the retention of new referees, but it should also improve the professionalism of referees as a whole as the new referees are provided with good examples from mentors. And when that happens, the level of referees as a whole will improve.
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2 comments CSR | Mentoring |
Welcome to the Columbus Soccer Ref site. The goal is to provide opinion, commentary & discussion on refereeing The Beautiful Game.
It should be noted that the posts are strictly my opinion and don’t necessarily reflect the views of USSF, the leagues in which I referee, or anyone by me. By the same token, the content of the comments are the views of that person.
So. . .welcome. . .enjoy the articles.
- CSR (Columbus Soccer Ref)