Hi all!
Bit of a late "I'm a new referee" post, but I've finally got around to posting it.
Last Saturday I officiated my first two games (back to back) for a local U13s league. To be truthful, I was pooping bricks a few days before the matches and it only got worse when I arrived to the pitch to find it was in an absolute state to the point where I was leaning towards abandoning the match. Not a fantastic start for my first game officiating, but football could not have been played on that pitch and I was aware of the safety of the juniors too. I had a couple of Team Officials/parents say the pitch would be fine for adults so it should be for kids.
But cue a clean up by the parents and teams, the match went ahead with no issues. Couple of careless tackles here and there, nothing reckless. I found myself ball watching a couple of times, especially when it was launched in the air. A couple of times I also drifted onto the same side as my AR's, but I found my positioning and my awareness of where the play was likely going get better during the match. Just the one caution for a deliberate push in the back from a frustrated player, but that was it for that match. Done and dusted.
Not 15 minutes later, and I'm officiating my second of the day. Again U13s, but I could tell soon from kickoff this was going to be a more eventful match. One side were running away with the match, and the other side were getting visibly frustrated which was where the tackles started coming in. Again only careless and nothing deliberate. Until a defender on the losing side slides in with a late tackle on a forward. Looked obvious to me, so gave the penalty and a caution for the late tackle. My mind immediately thinks the kids, coaches and parents are all going to turn on me though not one person said anything. Ball was placed on the mark, kids line up behind, penalty taken, and off we go again from the centre. After the restart at half time, the losing side decide to turn on the pressure and the match heats up. Lots of tackles flying in, frustration, swearing. The ball hardly stayed in play for long each time which was a shame, though again no other incidents.
One question for everyone, I found that due to rolling subs players were not waiting to enter the FOP. At U13s is this something you would be concerned about? I know we're asked to give a little leeway to the young ones, but there's also the flip side where they need to learn for when they enter the higher age groups.
Lastly I have to thank all the 'New refs' posts I read up on the nights before my match and the guys/gals that replied to them, the advice I used was priceless. I knew on the course this was a good decision, and Saturday only proved me right again.
Now onto the 10 matches I have scheduled in the middle for the rest of September.
Referee117
Bit of a late "I'm a new referee" post, but I've finally got around to posting it.
Last Saturday I officiated my first two games (back to back) for a local U13s league. To be truthful, I was pooping bricks a few days before the matches and it only got worse when I arrived to the pitch to find it was in an absolute state to the point where I was leaning towards abandoning the match. Not a fantastic start for my first game officiating, but football could not have been played on that pitch and I was aware of the safety of the juniors too. I had a couple of Team Officials/parents say the pitch would be fine for adults so it should be for kids.
But cue a clean up by the parents and teams, the match went ahead with no issues. Couple of careless tackles here and there, nothing reckless. I found myself ball watching a couple of times, especially when it was launched in the air. A couple of times I also drifted onto the same side as my AR's, but I found my positioning and my awareness of where the play was likely going get better during the match. Just the one caution for a deliberate push in the back from a frustrated player, but that was it for that match. Done and dusted.
Not 15 minutes later, and I'm officiating my second of the day. Again U13s, but I could tell soon from kickoff this was going to be a more eventful match. One side were running away with the match, and the other side were getting visibly frustrated which was where the tackles started coming in. Again only careless and nothing deliberate. Until a defender on the losing side slides in with a late tackle on a forward. Looked obvious to me, so gave the penalty and a caution for the late tackle. My mind immediately thinks the kids, coaches and parents are all going to turn on me though not one person said anything. Ball was placed on the mark, kids line up behind, penalty taken, and off we go again from the centre. After the restart at half time, the losing side decide to turn on the pressure and the match heats up. Lots of tackles flying in, frustration, swearing. The ball hardly stayed in play for long each time which was a shame, though again no other incidents.
One question for everyone, I found that due to rolling subs players were not waiting to enter the FOP. At U13s is this something you would be concerned about? I know we're asked to give a little leeway to the young ones, but there's also the flip side where they need to learn for when they enter the higher age groups.
Lastly I have to thank all the 'New refs' posts I read up on the nights before my match and the guys/gals that replied to them, the advice I used was priceless. I knew on the course this was a good decision, and Saturday only proved me right again.
Now onto the 10 matches I have scheduled in the middle for the rest of September.
Referee117