As mentioned before, I'm skipping the high school season; in this case because I've got other regularly occuring activies that happen the same days as high school games - and frankly sometimes I just need a year away (see many many rants about high school soccer). But I am working games at the same sport-centered school I've been fortunate enough to work for the last two winters. Click to continue reading...

What a bummer: all set to be a national; assessments in-hand and doing the physical (which are not located anywhere near this state) you yank a hamstring. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a pretty good definition of sucks. But he's a great referee, who on more than one occasion has helped me out (including one big ass saving), both on the field and off; I hope he'll get another chance next year. Click to continue reading...

If the 3rd division women's game was the warm up, the 2nd division men's was the test. And while there were no flying colors, the knee held up pretty well. I could definitely tell I had some issues, being I'm at beginning of season form, and the teams are in the final third - but there were no cock-ups, and I held up pretty-well with play. Click to continue reading...

I decided to forgo the high school season again - mostly because I've looked at my schedule, and realized that I'll just be too busy to do it; most of the games are on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays - all of which I have booked well into next year. Instead I'll do some women's league games, which run on different days of the week; this has the added benefit of not being on (as) crappy fields, so I'm less likely to turn or tweak anything. Click to continue reading...

OK - I haven't reffed in two weeks. I banged up my knee pretty good and only started exercising on it again earlier in the week. I turned down the U19 boys state cup final, saying that while I'd love to do it, I don't think that's the game we want to test out my knee on. It sucks, but I try to be honest and do what's best for the game, even if it means taking me off of it. Click to continue reading...

The title is a bit misleading, I know. But it's not about popularity, but instead height. And I'm kicking myself because I meant to bring back the program from the professional game I saw, but I didn't so instead of having a nice little list of players and their heights, I just have to recall from memory and ignore the specifics. Click to continue reading...

If there's a typical men's league game, it can be roughly divided into three sections:
• First 20 minutes: both teams whine, complain, and exaggerate to see what they can get away with. If there's a big mouth, he looks for someone to prod into getting a yellow card.
• Next 50 minutes: The teams realize that I won't make idiot calls or buy their attempts to get a PK. Click to continue reading...

Eh, what can I say, other than what I've said in previous years pretty much confirms what I've been saying for a while now: my body seems to want to stay at this weight and at this level. Trainer, no trainer. Better eating habits, worse ones. It's the same. This year I sloughed off the winter running regimen in favor of playing other sports and staying busy. Click to continue reading...

I don't normally deal with teams this young. Part of it is that, outside of the State Cup (which this is) I had been focusing on adult games in order to upgrade - but even when I did youth games, I started out on the U15s and up, because was an adult and apparently had the temperament to deal with them (if not the skill). Click to continue reading...

I wondered if I'd even be allowed to referee this game. This year the youth soccer association is requiring all referees to go through background checks (that makes three in the last twelve months - if these things count against you like multiple credit checks I'm going to be really really annoyed). Due to my being out-of-town a lot lately, I caught the tail-end of the rectification classes and background check information (which I found out about at the recert class); I had to send a check to the association to pay for it, but the post office didn't pick up the letter from my mail slot so. Click to continue reading...

I just finished my annual re-certification class, and while there were no major changes in the Laws of the Game for this upcoming season, there was a major change in one of our favorite bugaboos, the handling call.
For years, probably decades, millions of idiots got the mistaken impression that just because a ball hit the arm it should be called a hand-ball. Click to continue reading...

It sounds like it's a national thing, but maybe not - but this year we took our USSF re-cert tests online. It was timed, so you couldn't hunt online for every single answer (like the high school exam), and was pretty straight forward. This won't be an exciting entry, but I thought I'd list off the pros and cons of the online versus the paper method. Click to continue reading...

The more I think about this piece, the more I think about "mind over matter". If you ref, like when you're carrying a full soup bowl, that you think you're going to have trouble, will you? Or are you merely carrying realistic expectations based on not only your own, but others experiences? This is also a great one on the differences of the indoor game versus outdoor; and when the indoor game is done at any old place, as long as people are willing to pay . Click to continue reading...

A referee I've worked with for a while, went to Regionals with him and he has a lower threshold for carding someone than I do. That's fine - it doesn't make him or myself any better or worse. But if the teams are up for it, I do like to let them play physical, be it men or women. And this women's game was one of the few that has been even between the boarding school and just about anyone - it was against a newly formed superclub (a merger between two of the best clubs in the state, and the local professional soccer team). Click to continue reading...

Refs are human beings - which means on one hand players, coaches, and fans should treat us like one; on the other it means that if you don't, we will do what we need to do. That may mean tossing you, and it may go as far as making fun of you, or even gloating when your behavior finally catches up to you. Click to continue reading...