Open Age First Game

So I had my first match on Saturday and wanted to post my review and get any advice people are willing to dish out.

To start off, I only got assigned the morning of, as there was a referee drop out at short notice. I think this helped as didn't have too long to think and worry about it! Overall I think i had an OK game and would probably give myself a 6/10 if I had to give a mark.

The positives:

• Overall, I called everything as I saw it and stuck to my decisions on the whole.
• Didn't bottle giving a penalty at 0-0!
• Generally, moved around the pitch well and wasn't a "centre circle" referee, though positioning may need to be improved in some instances (see below).

The negatives:

• In hindsight, could have stopped the chat back (dissent) from the players earlier in the match as this started to become a problem as the match went on. The reason I didn't come down on this harder was generally there wasn't anything aggressive or accusatory just generally players from both teams questioning every close decision. Plan to give verbal warnings earlier on in the next match and get the cards out where necessary!
• Struggled to see which way to give the "50/50" fouls, so on the whole gave nothing and let play go on. I was generally about 10-15m away at these points so think positioning was OK, but know it's something i need to work on. Any suggestions on who best to deal with these situations?

The only other main talking point was an incident off the ball. Two opponents were tackling for the ball and once the ball was cleared the blue player had a little niggle at the orange player. I saw it out the corner of my eye and saw a leg kick out but not with any force. Because of this I only gave a yellow as there was no "excessive force" in the kick. Was I correct? Still in two minds whether it should have been a straight red for violent conduct.

I could go on and over analyse every decision but think I would slowly drive my self made with all the "what ifs"

Next game is on Saturday so hope to have learnt and improve on my performance for then.

steve183 said:

So I had my first match on Saturday and wanted to post my review and get any advice people are willing to dish out.

To start off, I only got assigned the morning of, as there was a referee drop out at short notice. I think this helped as didn't have too long to think and worry about it! Overall I think i had an OK game and would probably give myself a 6/10 if I had to give a mark.

The positives:

• Overall, I called everything as I saw it and stuck to my decisions on the whole.
• Didn't bottle giving a penalty at 0-0!
• Generally, moved around the pitch well and wasn't a "centre circle" referee, though positioning may need to be improved in some instances (see below).

The negatives:

• In hindsight, could have stopped the chat back (dissent) from the players earlier in the match as this started to become a problem as the match went on. The reason I didn't come down on this harder was generally there wasn't anything aggressive or accusatory just generally players from both teams questioning every close decision. Plan to give verbal warnings earlier on in the next match and get the cards out where necessary!
• Struggled to see which way to give the "50/50" fouls, so on the whole gave nothing and let play go on. I was generally about 10-15m away at these points so think positioning was OK, but know it's something i need to work on. Any suggestions on who best to deal with these situations?

The only other main talking point was an incident off the ball. Two opponents were tackling for the ball and once the ball was cleared the blue player had a little niggle at the orange player. I saw it out the corner of my eye and saw a leg kick out but not with any force. Because of this I only gave a yellow as there was no "excessive force" in the kick. Was I correct? Still in two minds whether it should have been a straight red for violent conduct.

I could go on and over analyse every decision but think I would slowly drive my self made with all the "what ifs"

Next game is on Saturday so hope to have learnt and improve on my performance for then.

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Sounds like you did really well
You've correctly identified that Violent Conduct involves 'excessive force', so it sounds like you got both KMIs (Penalty and Kick) right
Take into account that VC is excessive force or brutality when not challenging for the ball. Everyone's threshold for VC will vary slightly, but it's important to realise that wrongly punishing VC for offences that don't meet the criteria is almost as bad as not punishing those which do
The rest of what you've reported is all very normal. Welcome to the fold!!

Ask yourself the most important factor....did you enjoy it?

Ciley Myrus said:

Ask yourself the most important factor....did you enjoy it?

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In a word, yes. Difficult to enjoy in the moment sometimes when both teams are questioning your decisions but sure I'll get used to it and learn to manage it better.

I'm looking forward to my next game now so that tells you everything you need to know.

One thing I wasn't prepared for was the absolute physical and mental fatigue! I'm used to exercising hard but the combination of the constant decision making and physical exercise completely wiped me out!

steve183 said:

Struggled to see which way to give the "50/50" fouls, so on the whole gave nothing and let play go on. I was generally about 10-15m away at these points so think positioning was OK, but know it's something i need to work on. Any suggestions on who best to deal with these situations?

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How do you mean? Like a 50-50 challenge where the ball is loose and two players charge in for it?

For 50-50's the key factors for me are force used and who gets to the ball fairly first. Sometimes, even if both players go in too hard, I will stop play simply to calm things down and because if I let that go then someone is going to take it as a sign that I'm content with them flying in like that for other challenges.

A lot of it will depend on the mood of the match though, if both teams are happy and playing well, I might be more lenient with strong 50-50 challenges. Otherwise, I penalise the player who has been more dangerous with the challenge - watch the feet positioning in particular for follow-throughs, most will bend the legs, but the naughty ones will straighten their leg and leave the studs in.

steve183 said:

I saw it out the corner of my eye and saw a leg kick out but not with any force. Because of this I only gave a yellow as there was no "excessive force" in the kick. Was I correct? Still in two minds whether it should have been a straight red for violent conduct.

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I think it should have been red. Brutality includes "An act which is deliberately violent" (see: Glossary IFAB) so, even if it wasn't excessive force I think it still fits the criteria for a sending off. Plus, there's absolutely no excuse for him to be doing that.

Glad you enjoyed the game.

RobOda said:

How do you mean? Like a 50-50 challenge where the ball is loose and two players charge in for it?

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In this case I am talking more about situations where when the ball is in the middle of the pitch, its a bit scrappy, there are maybe up to 4 players all trying to win the ball and kicking each other as much as the ball. While there is no malice there is definitely "careless" challenges going in from both teams and fouls on either side. I know you should go with the first offence, but I found it hard to identify who that was in the general mess. A couple of times in the game one of the players would end up on the floor appealing, but I was hesitant to give the foul to that player solely based on the fall, as I felt it would just encourage the players to fall over trying to win free kicks.

RobOda said:

I think it should have been red. Brutality includes "An act which is deliberately violent" (see: Glossary IFAB) so, even if it wasn't excessive force I think it still fits the criteria for a sending off. Plus, there's absolutely no excuse for him to be doing that.

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I agree there is no excuse for him doing it and it is a silly thing for him to do (and this was the argument the opposition where trying to use to get him sent off). He was one of those players that was walking a fine line for a lot of the match, not doing quite enough to get a card earlier, but pushing the boundaries with both me and the opposition. This eventually had him substituted by his manager following my final warning after he committed another silly foul a couple of minutes after his yellow.

I think it is one of those that:

1. You have to see to make a final judgement
2. Is open for interpretation as Big Cat mentioned above

I appreciate the feedback

Rome wasn't built in a day.... reflect, learn, improve, enjoy....

We're all a bit daft doing this so even on those dark days when you feel you haven't got a friend in the world, the games gone to sh**, the players hate you, the managers hate you..... just think, it could be worse.... you could be a Middlesborough fan!!!

steve183 said:

One thing I wasn't prepared for was the absolute physical and mental fatigue! I'm used to exercising hard but the combination of the constant decision making and physical exercise completely wiped me out!

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Very good point. If our mental state is that of daydreaming, our mental capacity (or task concentration) is pretty much idle. Conversely, when a really difficult challenge faces us that we're not familiar with, task concentration leaves us with less mental capacity for anything else
Add a 5 or 6 mile tun into the equation, then dollop in a ton of conflicting noise along with a reasonable dose of pressure and it's hardly surprising that you've found it exhausting
It gets easier, once much of the process becomes familiar, there's more mental capacity available to devote to the task concentration needed to make good decisions. You'll also learn how, when and who to communicate with, so the rest is just noise
It's an amazing challenge overall, one that got me well and truly hooked within a few games
You've got it all to come is you're so inclined

RobOda said:

I think it should have been red. Brutality includes "An act which is deliberately violent" (see: Glossary IFAB) so, even if it wasn't excessive force I think it still fits the criteria for a sending off. Plus, there's absolutely no excuse for him to be doing that.

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"Brutality
An act which is savage, ruthless or deliberately violent"

I wouldn't describe a little kick out as any of the above. I think, as it has been described, YC was the correct decision.

JH said:

"Brutality
An act which is savage, ruthless or deliberately violent"

I wouldn't describe a little kick out as any of the above. I think, as it has been described, YC was the correct decision.

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Sounds Beckhamesque, which might have been a red card back then, but not on my FOP!

Folk forget the mental and psychical side is as important as the actions decisions on the park
You should come off a game drained, because your brain has been working as hard as your legs have (at least to start when everything plays on your mind)
Keeps you concentrating, which is good
Hydrate, I post this near every thread when folk say, "first game", its vital you are hydrated, in whatever form that works best , water, isotonic, oranges, you need to check your urine before the game and the clearer, the better, your good to go
Amount of refs I observe and at half time they stand there shivering and don't take liquids on board but are sweating, common sense guys, what do the players do at half time (yes, ok, apart from sneaky fag), they get fuelled back up. So should you. And fire on a trackie top for the 5 mins or so and stay warm, don't let your muscles cool down because 1 min later, your off on a 40 yard fast run again, oh and then stopping, and going back the other way !!! Lunacy to not be prepared as best you can.

Well done, first match under the belt and it seems to have gone really well. Whether all the comments on her prove useful or not you are already doing the right thing by reflecting on your performance to identify somethings you can improve on and things that went well that you can reinforce.
Only need to take issue with one aspect of your post, don't diss the centre circle refereeing aspect ; @Sheffields Finest and I made careers out of it.....we both now have one leg longer than the other!

Mintyref said:

Well done, first match under the belt and it seems to have gone really well. Whether all the comments on her prove useful or not you are already doing the right thing by reflecting on your performance to identify somethings you can improve on and things that went well that you can reinforce.
Only need to take issue with one aspect of your post, don't diss the centre circle refereeing aspect ; @Sheffields Finest and I made careers out of it.....we both now have one leg longer than the other!

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Your only ever 45 yards from any decision, none of this fitness lark and all the kit but no idea malarkey

JH said:

I wouldn't describe a little kick out as any of the above. I think, as it has been described, YC was the correct decision.

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We'll have to disagree.

By definition I think it is deliberately violent: An act intended to hurt someone. Simple as that imo.

RobOda said:

We'll have to disagree.

By definition I think it is deliberately violent: An act intended to hurt someone. Simple as that imo.

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A kick with force and I would agree, I sent one off recently for a forceful kick off the ball. The very nature of a 'little' kick is that it won't hurt them, it is done to provoke. If they wanted to hurt their opponent, they wouldn't do a little kick-out. Very entitled to your opinion, of course.

Well done!

Handling low level dissent is tough and takes getting used to - more games. You have to decide when it changes from a bit of bantz to complaining. Best advice is to act on the first dissent. If it’s mild and annoying, doesn’t have to mean a card, stop the game, isolate and warn the player, cut the grass... it does two things: tells the whole match you’ve had enough, makes it realy easy to give a card next time.

50/50s and kicking each other a lot... again tough at grassroots with mixed ability players... one thing is to talk to the players a bit ”that was tiny, carry on” ”try and play the ball” ”I’m gonns give the first one, you’ve kicked him three times and he’s lost the ball, I can see you tried to get the ball, make it cleaner”... balancing act though, no one wants non contact water polo referieeing and you must be prepared to identify clear fouls.

Well done though. I dreamed of 6/10s!