17 Sep 2005
Scheduled for three matches, one as AR and two as Centre (i'm now in a combined league which is considered U19, by the way). In these games, generally there isn't enough time to brief the ARs before the match, which turned out to be to my detriment in match #1.
Team A vs. Team D. In the seond half, Team D, leading 2-1, takes a shot on goal, and from my perspective (head on, about 15 yards from the play), it looks like a defender instinctively puts her hands to her face to stop the ball hitting her, hits the ball, and just lets it drop whilst someone else kicks it away. The AR waves his flag, and i know why he's waving his flag, and i wave him down. He shakes his head no and puts the flag down, and i signal that i'll explain when i get a moment. If i had time before the match, i would have told him to let me handle all PK decisions (which is common practise among officials), but since i didn't tell him, he signalled for it, and i waved him down. From his angle, it looked like the player reached out to the side to control the ball with her hand, but for me it looked instinctive, and the player didn't try to gain an advantage (she didn't try to play the ball after deflecting it).
Surely enough, with one minute to go, Team A scores the equiliser on a brilliant through ball and individual run on a counter attack (the attacker appeared offside at first, but she was actually in her own half of the field when the ball was passed, nullifying the offside). Match ends 2-2.
The AR whose PK i waved down was not very pleased with at the end of the match. I should also mention that his daughter is a forward on Team D. Ohwell...i've seen worse handballs in the box go uncalled (i'm looking at you Diego).
In my second match, i was Assistant Referee. At this point, i should mention that earlier that morning, it rained and was generally cool. By the time my first match came along, the temperature had soared to over 30 degrees Celsius (for the Yanks in the audience, it was about 95 degrees Fahrenheit). That field was hot, and steamy. That said, i thought i had prepared myself well for the season.
I hadn't. I cramped up during the first half. I survived the remaining 15 minutes or so, and then asked to be removed at halftime. So i took a rest for the remainder of the match, so i could be ready for my third match, which was immediately following this one. I don't care what you say, i still get a cap! Just think of it as a 46th minute substitution
So i took a break and stretched, and felt perfectly fine by the time my third match was to begin. Now, i was told that this was an U14 match, but these girls looked a bit older than 13...i certainly would not put them up against the teams i saw in my first game, whom i know are U14. Anyway, in addition to being larger than i thought, they were also mouthier than i thought, and one in particular was much lazier than a footballer should be, taking her sweet time on goal kicks in the first half (she was playing defender). The team took forever getting onto the field to start, but they weren't kicking off, so i warned then that i would start play in 30 seconds, and consequently started play before they were fully organised. I gave the back 4 and goalkeeper a general warning about taking too long on the goal kicks in the first half, to which the particularly mouthy one replied with a "friendly" abuse. Later on, the same mouthy one decided to kick the ball out of play on two consecutive plays, and argue that she didn't kick it out both times, to which i replied with a "friendly" warning. By halftime her team is already down 4-1.
Second half, the slow team now is kicking off, and are taking forever to get on the pitch, but they manage to successfully get two players onto the pitch who are willing to take the kick off, so i warn the team that i will make the two players conduct the kick off in 45 seconds, and if they delay the kickoff, i'll be forced to caution the player taking the kick. The players continue to stroll onto the pitch, with the mouthy one now playing goalkeeper and nowhere near her goal. 45 seconds passes, and the mouthy goalkeeper has barely made it to the penalty area, so since her team is kicking off anyway, i blow the whistle. These matches are on a very tight schedule, so i can't let them waste the league's time. Mouthy keeper spend about 3 minutes yelling at me from across the field about how i'm required to wait for her to say she is ready (that is a myth; the referee may wait for the goalkeeper, but doesn't have to when it is clear they are wasting time). I urged her to contact the league administrator about my irresponsible behaviour. It is no coincidence that said league administrator regularly starts matches with only one team on the pitch if the other team is taking too long to get ready, so i'm not too worried about any consequences! Anyway, mouthy goalkeeper actually keeps a clean sheet in the second half, but her team only gets on goal back, and it ends 4-2.
Besides the cramping, good start to the season. I won't have any games this weekend or next, because i am off to England! My next match will be 8 October. See you then!
Career Appearances:
Referee: 73
Assistant: 34
Scheduled for three matches, one as AR and two as Centre (i'm now in a combined league which is considered U19, by the way). In these games, generally there isn't enough time to brief the ARs before the match, which turned out to be to my detriment in match #1.
Team A vs. Team D. In the seond half, Team D, leading 2-1, takes a shot on goal, and from my perspective (head on, about 15 yards from the play), it looks like a defender instinctively puts her hands to her face to stop the ball hitting her, hits the ball, and just lets it drop whilst someone else kicks it away. The AR waves his flag, and i know why he's waving his flag, and i wave him down. He shakes his head no and puts the flag down, and i signal that i'll explain when i get a moment. If i had time before the match, i would have told him to let me handle all PK decisions (which is common practise among officials), but since i didn't tell him, he signalled for it, and i waved him down. From his angle, it looked like the player reached out to the side to control the ball with her hand, but for me it looked instinctive, and the player didn't try to gain an advantage (she didn't try to play the ball after deflecting it).
Surely enough, with one minute to go, Team A scores the equiliser on a brilliant through ball and individual run on a counter attack (the attacker appeared offside at first, but she was actually in her own half of the field when the ball was passed, nullifying the offside). Match ends 2-2.
The AR whose PK i waved down was not very pleased with at the end of the match. I should also mention that his daughter is a forward on Team D. Ohwell...i've seen worse handballs in the box go uncalled (i'm looking at you Diego).
In my second match, i was Assistant Referee. At this point, i should mention that earlier that morning, it rained and was generally cool. By the time my first match came along, the temperature had soared to over 30 degrees Celsius (for the Yanks in the audience, it was about 95 degrees Fahrenheit). That field was hot, and steamy. That said, i thought i had prepared myself well for the season.
I hadn't. I cramped up during the first half. I survived the remaining 15 minutes or so, and then asked to be removed at halftime. So i took a rest for the remainder of the match, so i could be ready for my third match, which was immediately following this one. I don't care what you say, i still get a cap! Just think of it as a 46th minute substitution
So i took a break and stretched, and felt perfectly fine by the time my third match was to begin. Now, i was told that this was an U14 match, but these girls looked a bit older than 13...i certainly would not put them up against the teams i saw in my first game, whom i know are U14. Anyway, in addition to being larger than i thought, they were also mouthier than i thought, and one in particular was much lazier than a footballer should be, taking her sweet time on goal kicks in the first half (she was playing defender). The team took forever getting onto the field to start, but they weren't kicking off, so i warned then that i would start play in 30 seconds, and consequently started play before they were fully organised. I gave the back 4 and goalkeeper a general warning about taking too long on the goal kicks in the first half, to which the particularly mouthy one replied with a "friendly" abuse. Later on, the same mouthy one decided to kick the ball out of play on two consecutive plays, and argue that she didn't kick it out both times, to which i replied with a "friendly" warning. By halftime her team is already down 4-1.
Second half, the slow team now is kicking off, and are taking forever to get on the pitch, but they manage to successfully get two players onto the pitch who are willing to take the kick off, so i warn the team that i will make the two players conduct the kick off in 45 seconds, and if they delay the kickoff, i'll be forced to caution the player taking the kick. The players continue to stroll onto the pitch, with the mouthy one now playing goalkeeper and nowhere near her goal. 45 seconds passes, and the mouthy goalkeeper has barely made it to the penalty area, so since her team is kicking off anyway, i blow the whistle. These matches are on a very tight schedule, so i can't let them waste the league's time. Mouthy keeper spend about 3 minutes yelling at me from across the field about how i'm required to wait for her to say she is ready (that is a myth; the referee may wait for the goalkeeper, but doesn't have to when it is clear they are wasting time). I urged her to contact the league administrator about my irresponsible behaviour. It is no coincidence that said league administrator regularly starts matches with only one team on the pitch if the other team is taking too long to get ready, so i'm not too worried about any consequences! Anyway, mouthy goalkeeper actually keeps a clean sheet in the second half, but her team only gets on goal back, and it ends 4-2.
Besides the cramping, good start to the season. I won't have any games this weekend or next, because i am off to England! My next match will be 8 October. See you then!
Career Appearances:
Referee: 73
Assistant: 34
