Last year around this time I was getting my outdoor season together for indoor soccer. I was hoping to do the same this year. However, as I am finding out the hard way, nothing always stays the same.
The turn downs were not so bad because I managed to get replacemnts for the first 4 turnbacks. Unfortunatly I have had 4 more turn backs and found out my last turn back was not only going to play for me but play on another team. This was without appology on the mother's part. She was also a good goalkeeper whom I molded for a year on and off.
The reason: So she and her big sister (10 months apart) could play together. Understandable. I may not even have a team so it is rather moot at this point. What gets me is a couple weeks back I was talking to the coach I was working with last year. He was hoping to recruit both sets of sisters even though on half should be playing under 10s and the other under 12s. One set of parents stuck with me. The other didn't.
While the logic is good, I still feel betrayed by at least two people. The parent and the ex co-coach. We may have been working together next season but this changes things.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Awards well deserved?
I sat through my local club's AGM. It was the first time I ever did this. May be the last time I ever do this. Some of the awards were, lets say political.
Let's start with the referees.
Adult Rookie of the Year: Okay there was not many candidates out there to choose from considering how many of them sat in the classroom, but I will say, he did earn this one. He got out there and worked the trenches more then any referee and from what I have heard and what I have seen; he did well at it.
Adult Referee of the Year: This really should be an ironman award. He did a lot of games. Probably more then any adult. My problem with this award was while he was active, he was not great. This is a guy who wants to wear the most current socks, even if it doesn't uniform with his assistants. He also doesn't seem to want to listen to constructive criticism to help him improve so he keeps making the same mistakes. One grave mistake he did was letting a game play without the goals being staked. I would hate to be him if the goal fell on an unsuspecting goalkeeper. But when told about it, he was not phased. Give him an ironman award, but in my humble opinion, he doesn't deserve Referee of the Year.
Youth Rookie Referee: The male, he did well mechanically. I was actually pleased with his presence. However, he isn't what I would consider neat. I really have a problem with the white head band.
The female: I know the name but not enough to determine if good or bad so I will let that be.
Youth referee of the year: I really couldn't pick one if it were up to me; male or female. Either their appearance sucked or their work rate did. In many cases, both. My wife would have liked a certain young lady to get it because she does work hard...but on the line. Would like to see her in the middle.
The coaches:
I'm going to start with the most prestigius award in my opinion. This one is after a volunteer who passes away recently and was well regarded by many. When the award was being presented, the presenter was on the verge of tears if that doesn't give you an idea.
The recipient: A very good guy who has done a lot of little things to make them big enough to merit notice. From coaching two teams (which is debatable if he'll do that again, only he knows for sure), serving a committee which may or may not been a waste of time. It was informative for me on his and other member perspective, even if the information was not favorable. He's really good about keeping a positive attitude around the kids, even when his team is getting stomped on by the stacked team. He earned it and I loved his acceptance speech.
One could say it was political because he was up against a stacked team who taunted him with a phony crutch incident, but he was a sport about it and didn't let it get to him like his parents did. Actually he was a bit concerned for the player's well being.
Which brings me to the next award: That went to the father of the player on crutches. Personally I don't think he deserved it. I don't deserve it either, but this guy had to be in on the crutches incident (though he wasn't present at the game because of his U10 Girls). He basically got a stacked team which has been admitted by two of the committee members. I felt the award should have went to the one who won the division, not the cup. He and his team as a whole showed class in the last game my team played him from pregame to post game. Don't have a bad thing to say about him.
But as a final jab, I'm happy to finish the season knowing that my team was the only team he never beat.
Now the Premier coach award in my opinion went to the right guy. For someone looking at him from the exterior point would probably be afraid to approach him. However since I have gotten to know him from my referee class I have know him to be a really great guy. That isn't what got the award. His team took first. His female counterpart took first too. Why didn't she get the award even though she got one last year. Well she's nice too...off the pitch. On the pitch she starts out nice and when things don't go her way, she tends to be not nice. She's not a total bitch, but I remember cautioning a player who committed a tactical foul, injuring herself in the process. I waited until she was standing and leaving before I showed the card. She gave a very sarcastic "Wow!" where I wanted to say, "Ummm did you miss that part in the referee class?" Anyway I have refereed the male coach a couple times now and I never had to worry about his behavior.
The posts may be a bit stale as this is the dead time for soccer, unless you count High School.
Let's start with the referees.
Adult Rookie of the Year: Okay there was not many candidates out there to choose from considering how many of them sat in the classroom, but I will say, he did earn this one. He got out there and worked the trenches more then any referee and from what I have heard and what I have seen; he did well at it.
Adult Referee of the Year: This really should be an ironman award. He did a lot of games. Probably more then any adult. My problem with this award was while he was active, he was not great. This is a guy who wants to wear the most current socks, even if it doesn't uniform with his assistants. He also doesn't seem to want to listen to constructive criticism to help him improve so he keeps making the same mistakes. One grave mistake he did was letting a game play without the goals being staked. I would hate to be him if the goal fell on an unsuspecting goalkeeper. But when told about it, he was not phased. Give him an ironman award, but in my humble opinion, he doesn't deserve Referee of the Year.
Youth Rookie Referee: The male, he did well mechanically. I was actually pleased with his presence. However, he isn't what I would consider neat. I really have a problem with the white head band.
The female: I know the name but not enough to determine if good or bad so I will let that be.
Youth referee of the year: I really couldn't pick one if it were up to me; male or female. Either their appearance sucked or their work rate did. In many cases, both. My wife would have liked a certain young lady to get it because she does work hard...but on the line. Would like to see her in the middle.
The coaches:
I'm going to start with the most prestigius award in my opinion. This one is after a volunteer who passes away recently and was well regarded by many. When the award was being presented, the presenter was on the verge of tears if that doesn't give you an idea.
The recipient: A very good guy who has done a lot of little things to make them big enough to merit notice. From coaching two teams (which is debatable if he'll do that again, only he knows for sure), serving a committee which may or may not been a waste of time. It was informative for me on his and other member perspective, even if the information was not favorable. He's really good about keeping a positive attitude around the kids, even when his team is getting stomped on by the stacked team. He earned it and I loved his acceptance speech.
One could say it was political because he was up against a stacked team who taunted him with a phony crutch incident, but he was a sport about it and didn't let it get to him like his parents did. Actually he was a bit concerned for the player's well being.
Which brings me to the next award: That went to the father of the player on crutches. Personally I don't think he deserved it. I don't deserve it either, but this guy had to be in on the crutches incident (though he wasn't present at the game because of his U10 Girls). He basically got a stacked team which has been admitted by two of the committee members. I felt the award should have went to the one who won the division, not the cup. He and his team as a whole showed class in the last game my team played him from pregame to post game. Don't have a bad thing to say about him.
But as a final jab, I'm happy to finish the season knowing that my team was the only team he never beat.
Now the Premier coach award in my opinion went to the right guy. For someone looking at him from the exterior point would probably be afraid to approach him. However since I have gotten to know him from my referee class I have know him to be a really great guy. That isn't what got the award. His team took first. His female counterpart took first too. Why didn't she get the award even though she got one last year. Well she's nice too...off the pitch. On the pitch she starts out nice and when things don't go her way, she tends to be not nice. She's not a total bitch, but I remember cautioning a player who committed a tactical foul, injuring herself in the process. I waited until she was standing and leaving before I showed the card. She gave a very sarcastic "Wow!" where I wanted to say, "Ummm did you miss that part in the referee class?" Anyway I have refereed the male coach a couple times now and I never had to worry about his behavior.
The posts may be a bit stale as this is the dead time for soccer, unless you count High School.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Do local soccer leagues really care about appearances?
I ask myself that question a lot. Problem is I never get answered except for what I see in front of me.
A little under 2 years ago, I was asked to head the mentoring of referees. To make them better. I saw it as a challenge as I knew I had a lot of work to do. The first year, I saw vast improvement on dress and appearance. I saw referees, not all, but most referees be on time and dressed appropriately.
Problem is you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink. I lead a bunch of horses, young and old, but they insist on doing what they want, not what is right.
The beginning year two, we didn't even have a clinic and the one local clinic which would have really benefited more then what I brought to the table I will gamble maybe one or two were there. Even with the new material that I had possessed, there was no interest in getting a room. We had a referee coordinator...by name only. Where was he throughout the season? It got so bad on his part that other board members were stepping in to do his job. Pretty sad and not a legacy I would want to leave behind.
What happened during his absence? Very few referees dressed appropriately. If that was the worse issue, it could be cleaned up. However, referees, particularly in the youth, were not putting in the effort. Bad calls happen. It's a fact of the game. However if you are say watching two of the three goals happen and the referee is on the other side of the half-way line, not even running, it's a problem.
Now I am being asked to join a referee committee. From the sounds of things they want to eliminate the referee coordinator position and have others post on the board. I'm not certain how that is going to improve things, but it does beat hammering your own hand, realizing it hurts, but hammering it again, not learning the first lesson.
Here's hoping.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
To Replay or not replay?
Okay so some of us are still on the Henry handling the ball kick. Ironically before I thought of how good a replay would do anyone any good or would it open a serious can of worms. I am pointing to the latter here and could not agree more:
Is it just me...
...or has a good number of people lost common sense? I was refereeing and watching games and the one game I watched, I noticed not one, not two, but three different occasions where spectators entered the field and cross the front of the goal. One of those knuckleheads was on a cell phone. And they say texting and driving is bad.
On Saturday, I watched as several referees were just inappropriately dressed. What is inappropriately dressed? Two of the 3 referees were wearing the long pants and several were wearing anything but black shoes. If that was the least of our problems, I would be semi-okay with this.
However, I saw very little effort out of these referees. No running after the play. One game 2 of the 3 goals that were scored the referee was in the defensive half, not even trying to run. Unacceptable under any circumstance.
I was surprisely happy that, while he didn't have the right footwear, he was making the best effort which was better then the 98% combined that I observed. I went way out of my way to praise him. Get him a new pair of shoes and he is golden.
The following day I observed a final game. It was good to watch but a lot of critical errors happened in that game and had one team capitalized on it, would have made the game subject to appeal. First this idiot of a photographer was on the goal line taking pictures. By the time anyone notice this, there was a shot on goal...which hit the photographer, on the goal line. What the referee should have done was stopped the match right then and there. Restarted with a dropped ball. What does he do? He lets play continue. As a result, the attacking team almost got a goal, but it didn't happen. Lucky for the referee.
Second match incident, the game goes into overtime. Nobody scores, so when the final whistle is blown, nobody keeps the players off the field and on the field. As a result they don't know who was the 8 that was on the field. Luckily the one team that wasn't guilty won it. The soccer gods really smiled at the referee that day.
Real Salt Lake takes the MLS Cup for the first time
I sat and watched the MLS Cup like I do every year. It was the high priced LA Galaxy vs. the under dogs Real Salt Lake. The Galaxy was a favorite to win it but who could predict what happened?
Javier Morales and David Beckham both went in for the hard challenge and Morales got the bad end of the deal as both knee knocked. As a former player I have had this happened and I promise it doesn't feel good. Luckily I was able to play after 2 minutes. Morales unfortunately could not and felt like pond scum as a result despite the comforts of his coach, Jason Kries. The other downside was he had to put in Clint Mathis. Now Mathis at one time was a player who nobody in the MLS would mind having on the team with his goal scoring talent. Somewhere during the World Cup 2002 his value slipped and I only have seen glimpses of his former self. Only thing he is good for is getting sent off on a second caution for throwing temper tantrums.
Then Dovonan Ricketts gets his hand smashed. They try to keep him in the game, but after the goal against him (which I really don't blame his injury for), Ricketts takes of his glove as if he was saying to Arena, "Hey man, I'm hurt. Please take me out." Luckily Josh Saunders is a very close second string because he really came up big in saves.
Referee Kevin Stott... I wonder how he got this assignment. I do remember him to be 10-15 pounds lighter and able to run really fast. I guess age and comfort has gotten to him. You would think after he was a part of that World Cup SNAFU where 3 cautions was issued to the same player he would have woken up a bit.
He let a lot go. I know I know. They want flow, but Stott in my opinion forgot about 100% safty and 100% misconduct because there was plenty and then plenty enough protests to let you know, "We don't want that much flow!"
Now while I hate to see a championship go to kicks from the mark, I was really shocked Landon Donovan screwed that up big time. I thought of Roberto Baggio in World Cup '94. I'm sure Donovan felt like him at the time.
Beckham...Well while there was improvement in the team, I think he is still pissed they didn't win the MLS cup. I just wonder if he comes back for the another season after his stint with AC Milan.
Friday, November 20, 2009
The Irish were cheated, no doubt..
Yes I am talking about Henry's handling of the ball. He admits his part in the travesty of justice, but none the less, I don't think the protest of the Irish are going to be heard. Why? In the opinion of the referee, the handling of the ball did not happen and as a result, the goal stood the moment the referee restarted the match with a kick off.
Henry says the referee was at fault. To a degree he is correct. The referee missed it and therefore he got away with it. Just like Elizabeth Lambert got away with pulling the hair of an opponent, even though it was caught on camera. However Lambert was disciplined by her own college and rather harshly (as it should be). What punishment is Henry going to be dealt with? We'll just have to wait and see. Though I have one piece of advice for him. You want to admit you cheated, fine, but wait until the dust settles.
Henry says the referee was at fault. To a degree he is correct. The referee missed it and therefore he got away with it. Just like Elizabeth Lambert got away with pulling the hair of an opponent, even though it was caught on camera. However Lambert was disciplined by her own college and rather harshly (as it should be). What punishment is Henry going to be dealt with? We'll just have to wait and see. Though I have one piece of advice for him. You want to admit you cheated, fine, but wait until the dust settles.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
New Mexico/BYU massacre. Who is to blame?
Well there is enough blame to go around. Just ask all who was involved.
Elizabeth Lambert: The main character of this story. The first act of violence was to punch her opponent in the back in retaliation to an elbow to her. She should have been sent off for violent conduct. Then there was an over the ball tackle with a scissors kick. Over the ball or scissors? Either one should have warranted a send off. Yet neither did. There were a few other trifling challenges compared to what I just mentioned, but if the first two didn't warrant a send off, the final blow which caught the attention of the nation as a whole was the severe hair pulling to the ground.
Carlee Payne: Let's not forget the spark that started the forest fire. She threw the elbow to Lambert's chest. USSF have been going over in week in review regarding the use of elbows and whether it is used as a tool (yellow card) or a weapon (red card). Looked like a weapon to me. Probably wouldn't be anything to talk about had this not happened.
Kassidy Shumway: And let's not forget her little involvement. Mind you before she got yanked, she had a double fist full of shorts. I don't know about you but either I would be annoyed or excited by such foreplay. Hey, maybe there was more to the hair-pulling then I thought.
Last but not least;
Referee Joe Pimentel and his crew: Where the hell where they? What were they watching? Mr. Pimentel has a reputation for letting things go to the edge, but seems to manage to find a way to pull it back before things get out of hand. Apparently he let this go over. He eventually gave Lambert a caution for something marginal but let's these things go? Where were his assistants. What were their instructions?
Conclusion: Yes Lambert should be punished, but there is enough blame to go around. If Pimentel sent off Payne for the elbow and Lambert for the retaliation, they probably would not talk about this all over the internet and news. She get a few games next season suspension and still would have a soccer career to salvage. But now her career in college is pretty much close to over unless New Mexico decides to show some leniency. But hey, if Pimentel did his job, then New Mexico wouldn't have to do it for him.
Elizabeth Lambert: The main character of this story. The first act of violence was to punch her opponent in the back in retaliation to an elbow to her. She should have been sent off for violent conduct. Then there was an over the ball tackle with a scissors kick. Over the ball or scissors? Either one should have warranted a send off. Yet neither did. There were a few other trifling challenges compared to what I just mentioned, but if the first two didn't warrant a send off, the final blow which caught the attention of the nation as a whole was the severe hair pulling to the ground.
Carlee Payne: Let's not forget the spark that started the forest fire. She threw the elbow to Lambert's chest. USSF have been going over in week in review regarding the use of elbows and whether it is used as a tool (yellow card) or a weapon (red card). Looked like a weapon to me. Probably wouldn't be anything to talk about had this not happened.
Kassidy Shumway: And let's not forget her little involvement. Mind you before she got yanked, she had a double fist full of shorts. I don't know about you but either I would be annoyed or excited by such foreplay. Hey, maybe there was more to the hair-pulling then I thought.
Last but not least;
Referee Joe Pimentel and his crew: Where the hell where they? What were they watching? Mr. Pimentel has a reputation for letting things go to the edge, but seems to manage to find a way to pull it back before things get out of hand. Apparently he let this go over. He eventually gave Lambert a caution for something marginal but let's these things go? Where were his assistants. What were their instructions?
Conclusion: Yes Lambert should be punished, but there is enough blame to go around. If Pimentel sent off Payne for the elbow and Lambert for the retaliation, they probably would not talk about this all over the internet and news. She get a few games next season suspension and still would have a soccer career to salvage. But now her career in college is pretty much close to over unless New Mexico decides to show some leniency. But hey, if Pimentel did his job, then New Mexico wouldn't have to do it for him.
Introduction
Welcome to my blog. The purpose for this blog is to speak out in opinions of a certain referee who will remain anonymous. Reason being. He worries about retaliation from others who can hurt his career as a referee. I am high up there, not FIFA, but I do not do youth weekend in and weekend out. Let's just say I am between a 6 and a 3.
I have seen the politics of soccer. I have been a part of politics whether I wanted to or not. When the politics work, it works well for me. And when it is against me, well it really sucks to be me.
Mind you if you are a referee, you may get jaded on what I write. That's fine. But try to keep an open mind when you read this.
The opinions are my opinions alone based on observations and experiences. You may not agree with them and that is what makes America a great place to live. The right to disagree. If you do, please share why. You may have a valid argument I never considered.
Until then, consider this my opening whistle.
I have seen the politics of soccer. I have been a part of politics whether I wanted to or not. When the politics work, it works well for me. And when it is against me, well it really sucks to be me.
Mind you if you are a referee, you may get jaded on what I write. That's fine. But try to keep an open mind when you read this.
The opinions are my opinions alone based on observations and experiences. You may not agree with them and that is what makes America a great place to live. The right to disagree. If you do, please share why. You may have a valid argument I never considered.
Until then, consider this my opening whistle.
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