COVID-19
5 years ago
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The first big test
Well, I got my wish. My first big test is coming up this weekend, where I will be the referee on a tournament final (Girls U15). There are some good clubs that are going to be at this tournament. I'm hoping that the AR's that they assign are good. I don't want to do a match that I can't trust the AR's to do a good job on.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
U16 -U19 games galore!
I was invited to attend a local rec league assignment meeting for the U16 and U19 intercity games they cover. In this league, it's quite an accomplishment to get to do the upper level games.
I was invited on the recommendation of two referees I have worked with before. One is a referee who started as an AYSO referee about 6 months before me. The other referee is a AYSO National 1 and USSF Grade 5 referee who has mentored me at various times.
There was about 8 referees that attended this meeting. We sat around and divided up games for the first 4 weeks of the season. I'm getting 2-3 games a weekend for the first month. We will have another assignment meeting soon to handle the rest of the season.
I was invited on the recommendation of two referees I have worked with before. One is a referee who started as an AYSO referee about 6 months before me. The other referee is a AYSO National 1 and USSF Grade 5 referee who has mentored me at various times.
There was about 8 referees that attended this meeting. We sat around and divided up games for the first 4 weeks of the season. I'm getting 2-3 games a weekend for the first month. We will have another assignment meeting soon to handle the rest of the season.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Mentoring Session
So I attended my "mentor" session on Wednesday. From the list of email address on the message I received, I figured there would be about a dozen referees showing up. Boy, was I wrong. There had to be 40+ referees!
Most of these referees were brand spanking new youth referees, fresh out of their Grade 8 class. I think I counted 6 adult referees, including myself. Most of these referees will be handling the U8, U10, and U12 rec games that the association covers. Since I already cover 2 other rec leagues, I am hoping that I'll get a chance to prove myself on the upper division (U16-U19) and local club games.
The first hour of the session was covering the basics: Be on time, look professional, checking the field, checking in the team, getting paid, how to deal with the coaches/players/spectators, etc. It's fairly basic stuff if you have been officiating for as long as I have, or if you are a responsible adult.
The next hour plus was spent on an actual game (boys U12 signature teams). The mentor referees divided us into three groups: centers, AR1 and AR2. I was chosen as a center, based on my previous experience. I was also chosen to be the first up on the field, so that allowed me to do the greeting of the captains, the coin toss and the kickoff.
The mentor then had some advice for me while I was on the field. His first bit of advice was that I was running too much, and that he was worried that I would get tired. I will admit that I do run quite a bit, seeing as though I like to go deep into the corners and run wide as well. I train to do this, and on this level of game it pays off because it's sometime difficult to read what's going to happen. It's funny that a more skilled game seems to involve less running for the referee because the players are better at controlling the ball and running an offense.
After my 10 minutes was up, they swapped me out and somebody else took over. I stayed and watched the rest of the match. I chatted with one of the other experienced refs who was also being evaluated, and I hope I get a chance to officiate with him. He seemed to have a similar outlook on how to officiate and the knowledge of the game as well.
My biggest takeaway from this mentor session would be on how to run a mentor session. I've been thinking about how to get the AYSO referees I train up to speed and at least somewhat comfortable on game procedures. I'm going to try and setup a mentor session just like this.
Most of these referees were brand spanking new youth referees, fresh out of their Grade 8 class. I think I counted 6 adult referees, including myself. Most of these referees will be handling the U8, U10, and U12 rec games that the association covers. Since I already cover 2 other rec leagues, I am hoping that I'll get a chance to prove myself on the upper division (U16-U19) and local club games.
The first hour of the session was covering the basics: Be on time, look professional, checking the field, checking in the team, getting paid, how to deal with the coaches/players/spectators, etc. It's fairly basic stuff if you have been officiating for as long as I have, or if you are a responsible adult.
The next hour plus was spent on an actual game (boys U12 signature teams). The mentor referees divided us into three groups: centers, AR1 and AR2. I was chosen as a center, based on my previous experience. I was also chosen to be the first up on the field, so that allowed me to do the greeting of the captains, the coin toss and the kickoff.
The mentor then had some advice for me while I was on the field. His first bit of advice was that I was running too much, and that he was worried that I would get tired. I will admit that I do run quite a bit, seeing as though I like to go deep into the corners and run wide as well. I train to do this, and on this level of game it pays off because it's sometime difficult to read what's going to happen. It's funny that a more skilled game seems to involve less running for the referee because the players are better at controlling the ball and running an offense.
After my 10 minutes was up, they swapped me out and somebody else took over. I stayed and watched the rest of the match. I chatted with one of the other experienced refs who was also being evaluated, and I hope I get a chance to officiate with him. He seemed to have a similar outlook on how to officiate and the knowledge of the game as well.
My biggest takeaway from this mentor session would be on how to run a mentor session. I've been thinking about how to get the AYSO referees I train up to speed and at least somewhat comfortable on game procedures. I'm going to try and setup a mentor session just like this.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
It's about time
My first post talked about sending in my AYSO-USSF cross certification form... In January. I managed to get cross certified. I then went ahead and did nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Ok, I stared at the nice card and badge that USSF sent me. Other than that, I spent the spring refereeing more AYSO games and attending my son's baseball games and pratices.
So I finally managed to get going (about a month ago) and put my name in with the local non-AYSO recreational league as a referee. I have plenty of referee friends that do both leagues, so it will be a good transition point. I even managed to get my first games of the season this last weekend at their pre-season tournament.
I also signed up for one of the local associations that covers another rec leage, as well as some clubs and an adult league. I have a "mentor" session tomorrow evening. What it really amounts to is am evaluation session for any new referees coming into their ranks. They want to be able to evaluate you so that the assignors know what level games to give you.
I'll try and keep this thing updated a bit more often.
So I finally managed to get going (about a month ago) and put my name in with the local non-AYSO recreational league as a referee. I have plenty of referee friends that do both leagues, so it will be a good transition point. I even managed to get my first games of the season this last weekend at their pre-season tournament.
I also signed up for one of the local associations that covers another rec leage, as well as some clubs and an adult league. I have a "mentor" session tomorrow evening. What it really amounts to is am evaluation session for any new referees coming into their ranks. They want to be able to evaluate you so that the assignors know what level games to give you.
I'll try and keep this thing updated a bit more often.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Time to make a change
I've been refereeing AYSO soccer games for 3 years now. I'm enjoying it, but am looking for more higher level games to test me. So I've managed to complete my AYSO-USSF Cross Certification Form and will send it in. This will get me a USSF grade 8 certification, and I'll be on my way.
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