The Ref Stop

First Time Being Assistant Referee

xPositor said:
County or League semi? Sussex run AR training nights for all the folk they've assigned to run lines for their semi/finals - check whether your CFA does or not.

Otherwise, my five top (?!) tips:

1/ Practice crabbing, if for no reason other than to get your leg muscles used to it.
2/ Hold the flag in the hand between you and the referee - this will most often be your left hand, but if running up the line towards the centre may be your right hand.
3/ Be crisp with your signals.
4/ Don't change hands whilst the flag is extended.
5/ Mirror the other NAR if required, if the flag needs to be brought to the attention of the ref (i.e. if the other NAR is flagging and the ref doesn't see it, you flag as well).
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Can I sound rude and not mean too
Point 5 is not taught, or encouraged, maybe locally, but certainly not globally

And even then, too advanced for someone just starting out
 
The Ref Stop
Ciley Myrus said:
Can I sound rude and not mean too
Point 5 is not taught, or encouraged, maybe locally, but certainly not globally

And even then, too advanced for someone just starting out
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I assume it would only be encouraged in the absence of both buzzers or comms
 
Ciley Myrus said:
Even then no, certainly here
We have voices
Hard enough for new AR to do own role, nevermind two
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I'm not sure I'd consider it fulfilling 2 roles, it's still the role of one person but you're helping out the referee. I would think it looks more professional than having AR's shouting across to the ref as well. I take your point though that it's one more thing for a new AR to take in when it's not a requirement
 
My fledgling career as an AR has been gathering pace over the last few months and I've somehow wangled a County Semi on Saturday
Some comments on the role;
a. Crabbing can cause blisters!
b. Resisting the impulse to flag early is more difficult than one might imagine
c. It took me a number of games to appreciate importance of following BOTH the ball and the second last defender
d. I have a phobia with respect to flagging in the wrong direction for a throw or foul etc. (Haven't erred yet, but I seem to delay slightly whilst making a mental calculation before raising the flag)
e. Linked to d.....mental commentary is insane 🤔
f. I routinely find it difficult to get the attn. of the referee, either by flagging or yelling (which i guess reflects badly on the refs)
 
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Ciley Myrus said:
Can I sound rude and not mean too
Point 5 is not taught, or encouraged, maybe locally, but certainly not globally

And even then, too advanced for someone just starting out
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Let's just clarify what mirroring when necessary means: as an AR, you raise your flag to mirror the far AR only when the R does not see the other ARs flag. The idea is nothing more than assisting the referee to identify the other raised flag. When the R looks at you bewildered as to what you could possibly be flagging for, you simply point at the other AR. (In my experience this is most common with a missed OS flag where the R got trapped inside the play--especially if it was a play where the AR had to wait and see who got the ball.)

Please don't mirror every flag and signal TIs on the opposite touch line! I recently had to talk an AR out of this habit--he thought he was being really helpful!
 
socal lurker said:
I think you and Ciley are writing at cross purposes. I think Ciley is interpreting "mirror" as something routine, rather than on the (hopefully rare) missed flag that the other AR can help the R identify.
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Indeed. As an AR, you will be able to see whether the R has missed a flag from the other AR. And as @socal lurker pointed out higher upthread, the most common scenario is a missed flag for OS - and it looks a lot more professional mirroring than shouting.
 
I wouldn't expect to see a mirrored flag if the referee has missed an offside flag as that could cause all kinds of confusion. But if the referee is looking directly at AR2 and missing AR1's substitution flag I would really be expecting AR2 to lend a hand here.
 
RustyRef said:
I wouldn't expect to see a mirrored flag if the referee has missed an offside flag as that could cause all kinds of confusion. But if the referee is looking directly at AR2 and missing AR1's substitution flag I would really be expecting AR2 to lend a hand here.
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I find this perplexing. If there is a missed flag, there is already confusion. If R sees the opposite flag, it is very easy for AR2 to point to the AR that matters. In the US (for those of us with out coms and beeper flags) it is standard and expected. I've never found it to increase the confusion when it has come up, whether I'm R or AR.
 
xPositor said:
Indeed. As an AR, you will be able to see whether the R has missed a flag from the other AR. And as @socal lurker pointed out higher upthread, the most common scenario is a missed flag for OS - and it looks a lot more professional mirroring than shouting.
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Are you saying you have been taught to mirror an offside flag from the wrong end of the pitch if you think the ref has missed it, really?
 
Ciley Myrus said:
Why not just shout?
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Because that could easily be lost amongst other shouts and/or crowd noise. Particularly if one bench has been moaning all game I'll switch off to their Reeeeeffff shouts.
I don't necessarily hear all shouts on a pitch either and it can be difficult to decipher what you need to hear and what you need to block out. A signal, such as a sub signal as example is a good one. I wouldn't use it for offside. But say ref misses an off the ball incident and play has turned the other way it might help to alert him to the flag behind his back.
This is of course in the absence of buzzers/comms.
 
JamesL said:
Because that could easily be lost amongst other shouts and/or crowd noise. Particularly if one bench has been moaning all game I'll switch off to their Reeeeeffff shouts.
I don't necessarily hear all shouts on a pitch either and it can be difficult to decipher what you need to hear and what you need to block out. A signal, such as a sub signal as example is a good one. I wouldn't use it for offside. But say ref misses an off the ball incident and play has turned the other way it might help to alert him to the flag behind his back.
This is of course in the absence of buzzers/comms.
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If an AR shouted "ref" to me I would probably removd them from duty there and then. We have names. Surely when you hear your name being shouted, something twigs.

I can understand a mirror flag for a sub. But, nothing else.

A ref who cant notice a flag, with shout from that AR and possibly shout from the other AR, needs to sharpen up their awareness.
 
I tell my ARs to use either my name or "flag"--in many ways "flag" is better as players may have my name, and there is only one reason anyone would yell "flag." (I tell them that "ref" will go in one ear and out the other as my brain assumes someone is just whining about something.)
 
Yip, ref, is no good to me either, it just gets lost in the noise
Use my name and as per whatever scientific study, I have more chance of paying attention.
If an AR callec me ref, I would ask them what my name was...
 
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