ref week 5-21

Thank you all for coming last night.

It has been a pleasure to serve you all as the ref coordinator

Limited games this week.

Need a ref for second half of Friday night.

I am playing during second half so I cannot cover it.

Good Luck this week

Ref week 5-14

First of all

Happy Mothers Day to all of the Mothers out there.

Ref Meeting tomorrow night at 6 pm

See you there

Open ref shift Friday night earlt.

Have a great week.

ref week 5-7

We have several openings needing to be filled.

TK Sat, second half and Sunday.

Reff needed Friday late and Sunday late.

I may be able to help Sunday but wanted to see if someone else would take it.

Players in back to being their crazy self so I guess we may

need to tighten our calls again.

Thank you all, Have a great week.

ref week 4-30

Ref week 4-30

Here we go.  Open ref shift Friday night, open timekeeping Saturday and Sunday

HELP!!!!!

Ok, so, relearned a valuable lesson.

Players really think we, I, target them or their teams.

I thought we were past that after the Haus opened but it does still

exist.  Feleip had a similar experience so I guess we are all just a bunch

of biased referees...lol.

So the reality of it is this, remember people take

these leagues WAY TOO SERIOUS.

But because of this, we have to really try to change the perception.  

Happy Reffing and please let me know ASAP if you can help out.  

ref week 4-23

A couple of openings.

Friday night 3 game ref shift.  Sunday timekeeping shift.

Ref Week 4-16

First line of business...Monday I have a child turning 21...WTH, when did

I get old enough to have a 21 year old...lol.

Sorry, on to real business.

I followed my own advice last week and called a game in the first half.

In the end both teams were cordial post game with me and each other...they

both realized nothing good was coming from that game.

We have Saturday timekeeper slot completely open.

My availability is limited this week so I cannot cover anything more than

I have.

Have a good week.

ref week 4-9

Ref week for the 9th

EGO

I think this is what gets most officials and players in trouble.

Let me explain.

My ego doesn't allow me to stop a game when I think it might need to be

stopped because I feel I can handle ALL situations.

Players Ego's don't allow them to let things go during games that get heated.

So my message to you is this.

If you gut is telling you you may have to stop the game for everyone to be safe

stop the game.

There is a reason your gut doesn't win. 

EGO

Happy Reffing!!

ref week 4-2

Back to a full schedule.  Open ref shift Sunday evening.

We have new teams and new players coming in.  Keep in mind

they may not understand we really want to focus on safety.

Please remember to call games with Safety first in mind.

We also have some of the same old players that always like to say

"We aren't coming back, we are moving our team to SoccerHaus"

I know, I want to say, then LEAVE, but we cannot.

Do your best to bite your tongue as hard as it may be, especially

when the players that complain about it are some of the biggest issues we have.

Thank you for ALL you DO!

HAPPY EASTER!!!  

(enjoy the extras of today...go find your EGGS)

ref week 3-26

It is a much slower week than we are all used to.

Games should pick up more next week with Sunday coming back after Easter.

All, you have been doing a really good job officiating.

The only complaint I had was a person falling down and the game not stopping for him

to get across the field in a timely manner.

I have talked with the ref and A.R. and we all agree that nothing needed

to be done differently.  

I think we have been really good as a crew to stop play for people going down on the

field.  Keep up the same.  No need to change in my opinion.

Have a great week!

ref week 3-19

Ref week 3-19

Really needing some assistance on the weekends.

Saturday we have the full shift time keeping and at least the first shift reffing.

I am hoping I will be done with my things by the time I signed up for a shift Saturday.

Let me know if you can help.

I continue to try and figure out the psychology of reffing.

Meaning, the best way to get inside a players head when they don't understand a call, lash

out at another player, especially when they have no idea what happened but they assume a player

on the other team was involved.

I believe if I figure it out I will write a book and become a multi millionaire so

I will probably stop being a referee...then I won't worry about

what goes on inside someone elses head....

Makes perfect sense to me!

ref week 3-12

Big Holes Saturday...I mean I could just ref and timekeep everything...No, I'm not 

doing all if it alone.

ref week 3-5

Ref week 3-5

We have openings for refs on Friday early, Saturday 2 opening shifts and  a 3 game shift on Sunday.

Please let me know ASAP if you can help.

A lot of similar availability...makes it harder to assign shifts.

Happy Reffing!!

ref schedule 2-26

Ref week 2-26

We are in the latter stages of youth.  

When youth ends there will be fewer shifts available.

I generally choose refs based on availability, lack of complaints

quality of officiating, teams that are playing etc...

For this week.  Lets continue to work on how we communicate with players

and teams.  

Its not always easy...but customer service has to be number 1.

Thank you all for your hard work, dedication and everything you 

give to Lets Play.

ref week 2-19

Ref Week 2-19

Thank you all for another good week.

It funny, we have hit a stretch of players being confrontational 

with each other or officials and when we have calm games it feels

boring and slow.  I know it is hard to keep concentrating through those

games but the more boring games we have the better off we are.

When possible, communicate and explain.

Players do appreciate hearing from you, most of the time if you can tell them

I couldn't see it or I saw this or that they are more than happy.

Happy Reffing!

ref 2-12

Ref week 2-12

We have 2 games Sunday that need coverage for referee

Late games all week.  Be Ready.

Demeanor is are best used tool when reffing.  I lose mine, I did last night with a youth game,

as we all know parents are ridiculous at times.

But more with adults.  Try to let people have the ability to ask questions without taking

it as a confrontation.  Of Course it can be confrontational at times.  IF you

feel a player or players are crossing the line you can warn them that next time it is a card.

But if they are really aggressive just go blue card.  In those cases find the captain and try to explain

the situation.  Let the captain handle the player if possible.

ref week 2-5

A lot to cover but I will make the point quick.

Feel free to ask for clarification individually as I do not want to write a book

Bench blue cards should be handed out 1 at a time...it will not be general practice to hand out simultaneous bench blues.  Each case has unique reasons why you may want to but lets plays general philosophy is to no give advantages to opposing teams without due cause.  This can be a good off line discussion.

some parents and coaches are unreasonable still...really thought once we made it past the holidays this would quiet down but have no fear, it is back.  Be prepared.

I am also adding the schedule to the crew app.  Please look for it there as well.  If I can get enough buy in I would like to do the scheduling in the app.

Go to Calendar in the app, then you have 3 tabs.

Team, Personal and Coverage.

You can view your schedule in personal, see who is working team.

If your app is set up correctly it will notify you a shift is upcoming about 2-3 hours prior to start time.

ref week 1-29

January is already gone!!

Youth season has about 8 weeks left, then back to adults only

Let's make a good push the last 8 weeks of youth.  Appear to pay attention more

than we are, that is directed at myself, keep calling with safety first mentality,

card both teams to calm down  situations as needed, dual blues generally work well.

Thank you for everything!

Last 4 games Saturday night need a timekeeper.

ref week 1-22

Thank you to those who made the ref meeting.

One item I forgot about was double teaming in the board.

We are looking for 2 players actively pursuing the ball at the same time.

Have a good week reffing!!

Ref Week 1-15

Ref Meeting Saturday 11 am

Ref meeting Saturday 11 am.

Please remember to get me your availability Friday or Satur DAY!

Makes my life a little easier.

Round 2 of youth coming to fields near you!!  

Are YOU READY.

Ref week 1-8

Ref Week 1-8

Already ran through the first week of 2018!!

I believe we will see the teams start to calm down. 

College kids will be heading back to school, visiting family

will be returning home etc...

If not we will just red card everyone for a WEEK...LOL.

Good push getting through the Holidays.

Saturday games for sure start at 5:30 PM.  I do not know if there will be youth games on Saturday

or Mini Field but I went ahead and created the schedule in case there were games.

PLEASE CHECK the LETS PLAY WEBSITE

for ACCURATE GAMES TIMES, especially for SATURDAY!!!

Good Luck in the trenches!