So the weeks are just blowing by like the pages of a book.
Friday
I didn’t end up going running on the day of my last post. The track was closed so instead we went for breakfast. Sometimes I say ‘we’ randomly. I usually associate it with the activity I am doing meaning either my co-ref in the game or my training partner for running. We might have been counter-destructive to training with breakfast but that’s a secret.
I wrapped up expenses for last season having paid for my assessments during the upgrade on the Friday. I also pulled up the pile of expense receipts for refereeing for the past month. I have a system of highlighting in pink, all the items and costs and in yellow, the date of the transaction so look-up later is much easier.
I modify the format of my expense sheet every year to adjust for things that would have been more convenient so my yearly expense sheets are inconsistent in between each other in format but hopefully a lot easier to read/manage!
The weather on Friday also warmed up to near zero so I decided to chill my morning chocolate milk in the snow.
Later that night the registration test for Small-sided “Soccer” came up. By the way, my reference to quotes is not at the small-sided. It’s at the word as you may have seen in an earlier post. I didn’t score too well. At all. In fact I’m sure I was looking at the wrong rule book! I’m sure they referred to that one but the questions being weird were evident i.e. presumed answers to questions not being an option.
Saturday
Anyways, the next morning I was notified that the test was up so I was on the website within seconds. A little nervous to press the Start button but I went through. The questions were fairly straightforward with the worst part at the beginning 9v9 rules. I was soon through the five of those and then onto the straightforward worded questions, 1 minute and a half later I was hesitating on the video decisions at the end (being a little nervous that it might be of an alternate view/decision to other people). Luckily it wasn’t when I hit the Submit button a few minutes after starting.
96% and foiled on one of the 9v9 questions! First hurdle for the year over.
It had been snowing for most of Saturday but it wasn’t cold. Just a lot of snow to get through. I checked my watch again later in the day and I contemplated staying active. I messaged a fellow ref but the indoor track was closed for the evening. Only one option left and that was playing in my game. I had to walk a little to get there. Clock was ticking on whether I wanted to leave the interiors to brave the outdoors. Guess what happened? Of course I did. Who could resist the opportunity for some court Futsal?
There was definitely a fair bit of snow that had fallen but I trudged through to the bus stop, a 3 minute wait and was soon at the facility. Given the weather, I wasn’t expecting too many players at the game. I was mentally prepared this time to be goalkeeping but unfortunately I still hadn’t had my hands on tape for my wrists and fingers. Still trying to find an inexpensive and disposable option. I definitely need to find some because my wrist is still tweaked a few days later.
The game was lots of fun since I leveraged all my knowledge of Futsal goalkeeping and the rules of the game to give my team an advantage with no pressure on the referee of course (ask them if you don’t believe me). I managed to make a little more than six saves and interceptions to keep us in the lead and the game ended 10-3. I was pleased with my overall performance.
One goal was from a chip over me from a corner kick that was headed in at the backpost by an attacker. Another from a 3-on-1 attack and finally a 1-on-1 after having been beat, I dove to try to pounce on the ball rolling in but was unsuccessful and ended up tussled in the back net. It’s hard to describe the frustration of being a goalkeeper when a goal has just been conceded. Pure annoyance.
Some chatting with referees followed, evaluation tips and general feedback/Q&A. One of the things most unorthodox with my position is that I serve in a strong role in referee development and improving their ability. I spoke to several referees on their experience and mentored them through some first games (some quite tough that too). I completed some scheduling and administration for referee pays.
Sunday
Only games on the day were on Sunday night so I trudged through the snow late in the evening. It wasn’t very cold for my normal gear so the walk wasn’t bad. It was more of a trek getting through the snow just as it was the day before. Speaking of the day before, that felt like eons ago.
I arrived at the court early enough that the previous set of games were done and the previous ref greeted me with a smile (he was playing in my first game of the night). He had completed his games well on time which was good to hear. I was happy to see the gym set-up appropriately.
I quickly removed the winter layers and changed into my Futsal boots to start my warm-up. The gym set-up made it easier to run along the far touchline so I jogged building pace slowly on each set and I felt my muscles slowly warming and the blood flowing well. I was also watching my heart rate go up. It was approximately at 140-150 for most of the jogging. 160 during the final sprint. I then ended off with a set of dynamic stretching exercises but I think I have been neglecting my calves. Need to remember to do the tip-toe/back-of-the-heel exercise more. With all the sudden movements in Futsal, definitely important to have good conditioning.
During the last game of the night, I noticed one of the players playing in a red warm-up jacket was wearing a necklace from a slight sparkle. Once he subbed off a minute later, I ran across the accordion system to get into position which happened to be right in front the bench. As my co-ref was dealing with a restart, I took a few steps back and leaned to let the player know. “Be sure to take off your jewellery”. He looked back at me quizzically and the rest of his teammates were looking at me. I turned back to face to field to keep up the court coverage and then said “The necklace under your black shirt” (it wasn’t visible over his jacket and black shirt anymore). He sheepishly started taking it off and his teammates looked at me in awe and started asking me what else I could see. They assumed that I had noticed it right through his shirt! I had a chuckle with that one.
I have noticed (only because I work with new referees) that you develop almost a sixth sense for things like this. It’s not that you are actively looking out for it. It’s that you are looking for the signs for it. I had the same exercise with a new referee as I sat at the third official’s position and told him that he should look out for jewellery at the half-time interval. He nervously looked from side-to-side and everyone on the court knew he was on the prowl having heard me tell him. Reluctantly he said that he couldn’t see anything a minute later. Meanwhile in the background I saw the three players take off necklaces and earrings knowing that I may point them out. That was interesting.
Rest of the Week
Early in the week I administered gamesheets for the league and made arrangements for the gym’s typical set-up.
I’ve looked at a lot of courts at other Futsal venues through photos and enjoy this facility solely because there aren’t hundreds of overlapping lines. Granted, there are 4-5 different colour lines but not as bad as I have seen. Would like to build some width however though to promote passing play in the league.
I also inspected the larger gym nearby alongside a player in the league to help me make design decisions. Hopefully it’ll work out. Here’s the larger area.
The weather has also been terrible recently. Terrible being a matter of perspective of course. Here are some more positive photos though.
Speaking of which, I managed to have my registration test mistaken answer reviewed and fixed! That means 100% on the registration test.
Lastly, I had a job interview on Thursday. The interviewer asked me to teach them anything within 2 minutes. My mind spun to pondering a technical topic and then something refereeing related. And then, my mind couldn’t think of anything else but refereeing. I hopped to the first thing I could think of. Law 12. I crash-coursed CRE and non-CRE fouls accompanied by how misconduct worked for them (careless, reckless excessive versus promising attack/DOGSO). I concluded it with the four Ds of DOGSO (although embarrassingly having forgotten direction to goal). I couldn’t help but grin after the interview on my choice of topic. It was a test of instructing ability. Kinda wondering if I should have taught Futsal v. Indoor football though now…
Hope I get this job!
Continue reading...
Friday
I didn’t end up going running on the day of my last post. The track was closed so instead we went for breakfast. Sometimes I say ‘we’ randomly. I usually associate it with the activity I am doing meaning either my co-ref in the game or my training partner for running. We might have been counter-destructive to training with breakfast but that’s a secret.
I wrapped up expenses for last season having paid for my assessments during the upgrade on the Friday. I also pulled up the pile of expense receipts for refereeing for the past month. I have a system of highlighting in pink, all the items and costs and in yellow, the date of the transaction so look-up later is much easier.
I modify the format of my expense sheet every year to adjust for things that would have been more convenient so my yearly expense sheets are inconsistent in between each other in format but hopefully a lot easier to read/manage!
The weather on Friday also warmed up to near zero so I decided to chill my morning chocolate milk in the snow.
Later that night the registration test for Small-sided “Soccer” came up. By the way, my reference to quotes is not at the small-sided. It’s at the word as you may have seen in an earlier post. I didn’t score too well. At all. In fact I’m sure I was looking at the wrong rule book! I’m sure they referred to that one but the questions being weird were evident i.e. presumed answers to questions not being an option.
Saturday
Anyways, the next morning I was notified that the test was up so I was on the website within seconds. A little nervous to press the Start button but I went through. The questions were fairly straightforward with the worst part at the beginning 9v9 rules. I was soon through the five of those and then onto the straightforward worded questions, 1 minute and a half later I was hesitating on the video decisions at the end (being a little nervous that it might be of an alternate view/decision to other people). Luckily it wasn’t when I hit the Submit button a few minutes after starting.
96% and foiled on one of the 9v9 questions! First hurdle for the year over.
It had been snowing for most of Saturday but it wasn’t cold. Just a lot of snow to get through. I checked my watch again later in the day and I contemplated staying active. I messaged a fellow ref but the indoor track was closed for the evening. Only one option left and that was playing in my game. I had to walk a little to get there. Clock was ticking on whether I wanted to leave the interiors to brave the outdoors. Guess what happened? Of course I did. Who could resist the opportunity for some court Futsal?
There was definitely a fair bit of snow that had fallen but I trudged through to the bus stop, a 3 minute wait and was soon at the facility. Given the weather, I wasn’t expecting too many players at the game. I was mentally prepared this time to be goalkeeping but unfortunately I still hadn’t had my hands on tape for my wrists and fingers. Still trying to find an inexpensive and disposable option. I definitely need to find some because my wrist is still tweaked a few days later.
The game was lots of fun since I leveraged all my knowledge of Futsal goalkeeping and the rules of the game to give my team an advantage with no pressure on the referee of course (ask them if you don’t believe me). I managed to make a little more than six saves and interceptions to keep us in the lead and the game ended 10-3. I was pleased with my overall performance.
One goal was from a chip over me from a corner kick that was headed in at the backpost by an attacker. Another from a 3-on-1 attack and finally a 1-on-1 after having been beat, I dove to try to pounce on the ball rolling in but was unsuccessful and ended up tussled in the back net. It’s hard to describe the frustration of being a goalkeeper when a goal has just been conceded. Pure annoyance.
Some chatting with referees followed, evaluation tips and general feedback/Q&A. One of the things most unorthodox with my position is that I serve in a strong role in referee development and improving their ability. I spoke to several referees on their experience and mentored them through some first games (some quite tough that too). I completed some scheduling and administration for referee pays.
Sunday
Only games on the day were on Sunday night so I trudged through the snow late in the evening. It wasn’t very cold for my normal gear so the walk wasn’t bad. It was more of a trek getting through the snow just as it was the day before. Speaking of the day before, that felt like eons ago.
I arrived at the court early enough that the previous set of games were done and the previous ref greeted me with a smile (he was playing in my first game of the night). He had completed his games well on time which was good to hear. I was happy to see the gym set-up appropriately.
I quickly removed the winter layers and changed into my Futsal boots to start my warm-up. The gym set-up made it easier to run along the far touchline so I jogged building pace slowly on each set and I felt my muscles slowly warming and the blood flowing well. I was also watching my heart rate go up. It was approximately at 140-150 for most of the jogging. 160 during the final sprint. I then ended off with a set of dynamic stretching exercises but I think I have been neglecting my calves. Need to remember to do the tip-toe/back-of-the-heel exercise more. With all the sudden movements in Futsal, definitely important to have good conditioning.
During the last game of the night, I noticed one of the players playing in a red warm-up jacket was wearing a necklace from a slight sparkle. Once he subbed off a minute later, I ran across the accordion system to get into position which happened to be right in front the bench. As my co-ref was dealing with a restart, I took a few steps back and leaned to let the player know. “Be sure to take off your jewellery”. He looked back at me quizzically and the rest of his teammates were looking at me. I turned back to face to field to keep up the court coverage and then said “The necklace under your black shirt” (it wasn’t visible over his jacket and black shirt anymore). He sheepishly started taking it off and his teammates looked at me in awe and started asking me what else I could see. They assumed that I had noticed it right through his shirt! I had a chuckle with that one.
I have noticed (only because I work with new referees) that you develop almost a sixth sense for things like this. It’s not that you are actively looking out for it. It’s that you are looking for the signs for it. I had the same exercise with a new referee as I sat at the third official’s position and told him that he should look out for jewellery at the half-time interval. He nervously looked from side-to-side and everyone on the court knew he was on the prowl having heard me tell him. Reluctantly he said that he couldn’t see anything a minute later. Meanwhile in the background I saw the three players take off necklaces and earrings knowing that I may point them out. That was interesting.
Rest of the Week
Early in the week I administered gamesheets for the league and made arrangements for the gym’s typical set-up.
I’ve looked at a lot of courts at other Futsal venues through photos and enjoy this facility solely because there aren’t hundreds of overlapping lines. Granted, there are 4-5 different colour lines but not as bad as I have seen. Would like to build some width however though to promote passing play in the league.
I also inspected the larger gym nearby alongside a player in the league to help me make design decisions. Hopefully it’ll work out. Here’s the larger area.
The weather has also been terrible recently. Terrible being a matter of perspective of course. Here are some more positive photos though.
Speaking of which, I managed to have my registration test mistaken answer reviewed and fixed! That means 100% on the registration test.
Lastly, I had a job interview on Thursday. The interviewer asked me to teach them anything within 2 minutes. My mind spun to pondering a technical topic and then something refereeing related. And then, my mind couldn’t think of anything else but refereeing. I hopped to the first thing I could think of. Law 12. I crash-coursed CRE and non-CRE fouls accompanied by how misconduct worked for them (careless, reckless excessive versus promising attack/DOGSO). I concluded it with the four Ds of DOGSO (although embarrassingly having forgotten direction to goal). I couldn’t help but grin after the interview on my choice of topic. It was a test of instructing ability. Kinda wondering if I should have taught Futsal v. Indoor football though now…
Hope I get this job!
Continue reading...
