The Ref Stop

First Game

OK. Not close to my first game, but here's an early one that still bothers me 40 years later. I was a teenage ref a couple of years in (yup, that made it less excusable) doing an 8U or 10U game with a brand new ref. We were using the dreaded two referee system. Near the end of the game, my colleague called OS near the halfway line--not noticing a defender 20 yards back. Feeling young and omniscient, I took it upon myself to run across the field to let him know. He was a bit bewildered, but kinda went "OK." So I quickly did a DB, thinking it would be the closest to what was happening before. Of course, none of the players had a clue what was happening, and everyone on both touchlines was utterly confused about what happened. I was right that my colleague blew the call, but all I did in trying to fix it was make things worse. :wall::wall: :oops:

Lesson not everything can be fixed--as in the Hippocratic oath: "first, do no harm."
 
The Ref Stop
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