Akron Soccer Ref

Red cards and upgrades

2009-05-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a couple weeks, but I've been busy with soccer. Here's the quick overview of my recent experiences...

Did my first State Cup game as an AR in a B15 game. Worked with a great State level referee. Good times.

Red carded a 14 year old two weeks ago for violent conduct for running through and shoving a kid during a dead ball.

Red carded a kid in a Boys 18 game tonight for Denying an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity by Handling. First time in 11 years. And it happened in the last minute of the game. Oh well.

I'm also working on upgrading. My assessor has been a great mentor whose really pushing me. He's not ready to move me on quite yet, but he's confident I'll get there. I'll keep you posted.

See you out there.

Akron Soccer Ref

A rare card at a young age.

2009-04-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

I was the solo official on a Boys 11 year old game tonight. It was rather odd. The keeper from the visiting team was becoming increasingly frustrated as his team gave up goal after goal. He got to the point where he was barely keeping his language appropriate with his teammates, so I strongly recommended that his coach sub him out of goal so I wouldn't have to card him. The player started to calm down, but his teammate didn't. A few minutes later, one of his teammates was unhappy with a foul I called against him. He turns to his coach with his back to me, and made a motion dragging his finger across his throat. I of course laid into my whistle, and it was a simple decision to pull a card. I did wrestle with going red for "foul or abusive gestures." However, I decided with the kid as young as he was a yellow for dissent would have the necessary affect. I also spoke to the player after the game, and explained that his consequences could have been much worse. Luckily the coach had no issue with my call, which was great since the player was his son. I hate to pull cards out at such a young age, but the kids need to learn, and this was definitely a teachable moment.

I have an AR on an 18 year old girls game tomorrow night. We'll see how that goes. Good luck to you all, and I'll see you on the pitch.

The outdoor season is underway...

2009-04-18T16:15:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago, I finally got back out on the pitch after a long winter of doing a spattering of indoor games that really challenged me.

Week 1- April 4th-5th I refereed in a premier league tournament in Lodi, OH. On Saturday I did 5 games, all girls, aged 15-19, 1 center and 4 AR's. They were all pretty laid back. No big deal. Day two was a little more stressful. I had 4 games, 15-18 years old, boys. I was an AR on the first game which saw 4 yellow cards and a red as two of those yellows went to the same guy, both for dissent. For an 18 year old, the kid didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. I took out my whistle for the second game, during which I pulled my yellow card out 3 times. One for a nasty charge, one for a high kick that hit another player in the face as they ran up behind the kicker (which is why it was yellow and not red), and one for a late challenge that saw cleats connect with a shin guard. I also called a PK which the fouled player wanted to see a red against the defender for for DOGSO, but I was not convinced of the 4 D's. I was on the side again for the last two games, both of which saw a yellow card a piece, but were fine. It was great getting to meet some other referees in the area and continue to build my reputation as I am striving to get accepted to the State Cup finals in Copley.

I then had a week off for Easter which saw a great trip with the family and covering thousands of miles.

The local youth league got underway this weekend, and as of this writing I've only done one game. I had a girls 11 year old game today. It was rather uneventful. I did award a PK about 3 minutes in for handling the ball in the penalty area which the shooter proceeded to miss. And later in the first half I awarded a PK on the other end for a trip in the penalty area, which was also missed. The coaches have their work cut out for them this season. It was a nice warm up game though. I have 3 games tomorrow. And games almost every day for the next two weeks. Should be good times. I'll keep you posted.