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Sometimes you sign up for
a game where there is only the CR position in Arbiter.
Other times you show up at the field and nearing game
time you don't have a full crew of referees. Maybe
you are the only one who is there, maybe it is you and
another referee. This email is a reminder on how
to handle this situation.
The protocol is to check with
both coaches and ask if they have any grade 8 or grade
9 referees associated with the club. First ask the
visiting team, then give the home team a chance to provide
trained, certified assistants. If you can't fill
all of the open spots with trained referees, then you
fill the remaining spots with a "parent volunteer" who
is provided by the coaches. Again, ask the visiting
team first, followed by the home team.
Grade 9s and 8s are treated
as "assistant referees" and perform the normal duties
of an assistant referee under the Laws Of The Game.
They should have their uniform to be considered official,
but for rec games I usually take their word for it if
they don't have their uniform but say that they have been
trained. It is your disretion. For competitive
games, they should have their uniform shirt (at least)
and badge in order for you to consider them Assistant
Referees. If they don't, then consider them Club
Linesmen who have reduced responsibilities as described
below.
Your new assistants probably
have only a little (if any) experience. Thus it
is important that you have a good pregame discussion.
Introduce yourself and make sure they know your name and
you know their names. Tell them that if at any point
in the game they need to get your attention simply call
out your name. As you run through your pregame,
talk to them with a cheerful and upbeat attitude that
lets them know this is going to be fun!
If you have a club linesman,
remember that they have probably been drafted at least
partially against their will. They thought they
were going to the field to relax and watch their kid kick
the ball around, and now they find themselves with a job.
They will often be nervous and worried about making mistakes
and getting "yelled at" (ahhh....the irony!). Put
them at ease by making their job simple. Tell them
that as a club linesman, they assist you with one and
only one task: indicating when the ball is completely
"out of touch" (over the touch line). The moment
that the ball is completely out, they are to raise their
flag straight over their head. That is all they
have to do. They are not to call offside nor are
they to call fouls. Technically, they are not even
allowed to point direction of the restart, although for
recreational games I will usually instruct them that if
they know the direction for sure they can indicate direction.
Take a moment to instruct
them how to tell when a ball is completely out of touch
by doing a quick and fun little demonstration. Take
a ball and place it on a touch
line. Rolling the ball slightly, show it in positions
where it is clearly in, just barely in, and where it is
just barely out, saying "this is in, this is in, this
is out...". Now place
the ball just barely out of touch. Have them stand
a few yards down the touch line from the ball and, with
their feet right behind the touch line, ask them to turn
their head and look down the line and observe that the
ball is out. Now have them step back from the line
a yard and repeat the exercise. Note that now the
ball appears to be in! This points out the importance
of moving up to the line when the ball is near the touch
line to get the best angle to make the proper call.
For a grade 9 assistant
referee, it will be helpful to remind them of the specifics
of law 11, offside. Remind them
to stay positioned with
the 2nd to last defender (or the ball if it is behind
the 2LD). Discuss the three requirements for offside:
a player has committed an offside offense when they
are (1) in an offside position (2) at the moment the
ball is played and they (3) participate by becoming
involved in active play. When all three requirements
are met, the grade 9 AR stops and raises their flag
straight up and doesn't drop it unless waved down by
you. Explain how you would like them to judge
participation. Keep it simple.
When you hand them the flags, take a moment and demonstrate
the signals. Straight up for ball out of touch
and offside. Show them the proper way to indicate
direction of restart by raising the flag from their
side to 45 degrees and then lowering it. Tell
them to relax and take their time when giving
their signals, coming to a stop and then making a nice,
crisp signal. Keep it simple, make it fun.
After you take the field together and complete the coin
toss, point out where they are going to be positioned
and let them know they can move along the touch line
between the goal line and the center line and that they
don't need to venture past the center line. Shake
hands and send them directly to touch (hopefully you
have inspected the nets already!) and get the game started.
Have fun out there.
Bill Crisafulli
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