Hi all - thought I'd do a quick little update here as I have a few more questions and i'd like some advice. Did my third game yesterday U14's game 1st v 2nd both unbeaten. Both teams of similar ability both going for the win in a good spirited way. However both teams failed to find that killer finish in the final third and it finished 0-0. At the end both managers came over and shook my hand and said I had a great game which was a nice end to the game and felt good. Only blot for me was that I mis-read the play and got hit by the ball in the chest - it had to happen sooner or later right?
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The few questions I am seeking advice around are just general things really.
Equipment check - I am doing this around 10 mins before KO - I try and catch the team when they are sort of huddled together. I am checking for jewellery, any under armour and tape matches kit colour and that studs aren't metal rugby ones or sharpened. If I see any of these things that are wrong I request them to remove/change it before start of KO correct? With inspecting boots and studs I am expected to get every player to show me the studs on their boots? (This is what I have been doing but if it is OTT please do tell me).
Positioning - At the moment in open play I am trying to stay behind the play and to the left keeping a loose diagonal patrol across the pitch but obviously with no AR I keep this loosely and move further towards either touchline to get a better view of the play and ball going out. I sometimes find myself too close though so when doing this roughly how far should I be behind play?
For positioning at corners I currently stand on the edge of the area near the penalty arc on the side the kick is being taking facing in and move either towards the near post or towards the far post depending on how the corner drops into the box.
Offsides - For free kicks I am standing at either the left or right hand side the of players inline with them to accurately be able to judge offside, however I feel this may not be right as I then cannot see any other offences clearly committed if the ball drops in the middle of the players? Is there an alternative position I should be taking up to accurately be able to judge offside and get a better, wider view of play or is that just a consequence of having no AR to do offside?
My U16 fixture got called off early this morning due to one team not being able to make it and I've been allocated to an OA women's fixture for this afternoon which I am looking forward to (if slightly a bit nervous about taking charge of my first OA game).