Month: August 2010

Minding the language

Keeping a form of control on ‘industrial language’ is one of those niggling refereeing problems. The referee has the power of dismissal for this criteria:

using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures

The language in question can be in use in any way: Towards the referee, towards a player’s own team, the opposition, a spectator… It just has to be deemed to fit the criteria by the referee.

The problem is: Where do you draw the line? An instinctive expletive after missing a goal? Frustration at an incomplete pass? A cry out in pain after a dodgy tackle?

In my last game acting as Assistant, the referee took great control of this. He briefed the managers and captains that he was not going to tolerate any swearing other than the instinctive type. Now, most referees will take firm action at any such language towards themselves but he was implementing a general policy.

It worked really well. He was very stern with those who went against it and the clamping down really helped with showing authority and good match control. I have had very good games where the only complaint afterwards has been about the language: “There were children present” / “There are houses bordering the ground” / “We tell our players to keep it clean; what about the opposition?”

Of course, NOT doing anything about it is still complying with the Laws of The Game, as this is one where it is down to the opinion of the referee as to what is offensive or not! However, is it right?

I’m going to give this one a whirl in my next game as I feel I may have been a little soft on general swearing up to now. Wish me luck!

The long weekend: Strong start, weak knee…

This weekend I have been appointed to three games. Two down, one to go, and things are going really well. I’m determined to keep up the momentum!

The first game was as Assistant Referee on the Combined Counties Football League. This was my first competitive game on this league this season (the others I have posted about recently have been pre-season friendlies). This was one of those occasions where the referee team has just totally gelled: Good bonding, all the decisions correct and great communication. I enjoyed every second. Not bad at all considering it was a local derby! There was the perhaps inevitable mass confrontation to take care of, of course…

It really helps when everyone on the team has the right, positive attitude: To do a professional job and have fun at the same time. Sometimes I have worked on teams where one member has been, well, a little bitter and twisted and it does bring the team down a little.

Today I had a pre-season friendly on another league as the man in the middle. This was also a fantastic game, helped by the fact that both teams genuinely treated it like a friendly! It was a joy to referee and helped by the fact that I really felt on form: Right on top of fouls etc and getting the tight calls right each time. Was very pleased to hear a spectator comment, “That’s the best referee I have seen round here”. That will keep my ego swollen for a few hours at least…

It’s not the only thing which is swollen: My right knee is feeling tender and I had to ice it after the game. It feels sore on the inside so not quite sure what it is. I hurt my Achilles last season from sprint ‘take-off’ and now I’ve hurt my knee from the sudden deceleration from sprinting when running the line! I need to be careful.

One more game to go (Assistant again) to polish off the weekend: Let’s make it a great finish!

Increase your speed: 60 second sprint protocol

RUN!

I attended my second Farnham Runners speed training session yesterday evening and it was great fun.

Here is the 60 second sprint protocol that was used. I’m not so good at doing this sort of training on my own as it is hard to stay motivated when it is so tiring! However, it all changes when in a friendly, welcoming and inspiring group.

A running track is ideal for this.

WARNING: This is High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Be sure you are medically cleared!

WARM-UP: Gentle jog (5 minutes) followed by 10 minutes of dynamic stretching. Build running speed up to 60%, 80%, 100% (only over a short distance). Heart rate clearly elevated by end.

INTERVALS: 60 second sprint on the track. Place marker at your furthest point. Walk back to start. When all participants back, go again. FOUR INTERVALS. Your marker only moves if you manage to go further. After the 4th one, stay at your marker and rest 60 seconds. Then it is a handicap race back to the start (60 second time limit).

REST: Four minutes.

REPEAT INTERVALS: Marker stays put from first set!

COOL DOWN JOG: Very light jog (5 minutes).

STRETCHES: 10 minutes.

This was exhausting and my quads were ready to cramp all over the place at the end (the stretches were super-important as a result). I am proud that I managed to get the furthest distance but my sprint speed has always been good: It is just my endurance I need to work on.

I had to slow for some of the intermediate intervals but managed to beat my best distance on the final one! Yay!

Not so friendly: A team playing itself

I refereed another pre-season friendly on Sunday. This featured a 1st team playing their own Reserves. You can’t get much more friendly than that, right? After all, all the players are club mates and love each other… right?

Hmm…

It started off with all smiles but then became a lot more competitive when the Reserves started beating the 1st team 2-0. This is never going to do much for a 1st team’s pride.

Although it became feisty it was, on the whole, not a difficult game. I was tired and dehydrated going in so I know I was not at my peak performance but those are both easy things to fix for next time.

There was dissent coming from one player which I used the stepped approach for and they were one step away from a caution. This took us into half time and I asked their Manager to have a quiet word with him. He turned into a model player in the second half which was great to see.

The flashpoint was when a player was tripped by the last defender: Denial of an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity (DOGSO). In Law, a red card if the referee sees it that way. The players from the opposing team were calling for him to be sent off… remember they were all club mates! The player tripped hurt his knee as well which contributed to it spilling over.

I decided to caution for the trip (the other team needed to see clear action) and ‘forced’ the player to be substituted due to it being a Friendly. This was effectively me choosing not to see it as DOGSO. In a competitive match I would not have hesitated to dismiss but this was a ‘Friendly’ level way of dealing with it. Of course, had it been a serious transgression (striking, knee height lunge…) this would not have been appropriate.

The match ended in exciting fashion: 5-5 and settled in the last minute. Even though there was more at stake AFTER the caution and the pace was more frenetic, there were no further serious issues to deal with. Great!

I have to say that the standard of football was very good (especially considering that this is Sunday football). There was some real skill, pace and teamwork from the players.

To be honest, I am really looking forward to most of the competitive league matches starting as match control will be much more straight forward in comparison.

Hard As Snails 10k: Fitness starts here

Run from the zombie... run run run!

I courageously / foolishly took part in the Hard As Snails 10k this year. I did no hill training whatsoever for this event which was an interesting strategy as the race description overtly stated “Features hills”.

Leading up to this, I had been neglecting my running training and was not hitting the roads as much as I should have been. All part of the closed season lull!

It was exciting, draining and fun. Perhaps a strategic mistake was that I was too happy ‘ghosting’ other runners rather than taking the initiative of setting my own pace. The downhill elements were very interesting as well as I could not slow myself down and I was thinking, “Don’t fall over, don’t fall over, don’t fall over…”. Thankfully, I didn’t as the First Aid crew were all the way back at the start!

I hit a time of 58:31 which is okay but I was ultimately disappointed: It put me squarely in the bottom half of competitors in my category and I REALLY suffered with the hills. To be expected considering my ‘preparation’ but it has helped me give myself a huge kick to get the fitness sorted.

I’m now determined to get my fitness back to my peak levels and beyond! I attended a fantastic speed training session hosted by Farnham Runners (5 x 800m) and the welcome, support and kind words have given me a huge boost. I was straight out today on a 6k lunchtime run, will be doing a speed test run tomorrow and have two games scheduled for the weekend.

I am looking forward to feeling the improvement (the weight loss will be handy too as I have gained recently) and a good benchmark will be the Alice Holt 10k next month.

Bring it on!

Selling It

I gave my third Toastmasters speech at Farnham Speakers yesterday. The goal on this was ‘Get To The Point!’ which is pretty self-explanatory.

I did have some other goals to try and crack though:

  1. ‘Pointless’ body language had crept into my previous speech. In particular, pacing the stage when it had no link to what I was saying. I was determined to make sure that any body language used had a point! This seemed to work well.
  2. A key topic in this speech is football refereeing, either part of which may make people turn off immediately! So I had to keep it engaging. I got a positive response on the content.

What do I need to work on?

  1. Notes. I’ve never needed them before but I referred to them on occasion this time. BAD. Must prepare more to ENSURE this NEVER happens again.
  2. Hands. A suggestion that sometimes to drop my hands by my side. I think this is a good one as it will add a bit more power to when my hands are actually used.
  3. Calm down. My nerves are still coming through and this links into just relaxing and practising more. This will of course also solve the notes issue! Spending extra days has reaped benefits before, as demonstrated when I repeated a speech.

Now I need to start thinking about what to talk about for my fourth speech! Toastmasters is a fantastic, supportive organisation for improving on public speaking… and I can see the confidence helping with my refereeing as well!

Match control: Are you listening?

Nicky Kriel wrote recently on the subject of “Do you listen when you’re networking?”. A key phrase I picked out from this was “Have you experienced someone speaking at you?”.

I certainly have. Football players experience this too. The unofficial forums for the Combined Counties Football League are buzzing right now with the start of the new season and their hopes and dreams. One I’m seeing repeated is that referees should be less ‘card happy’ and actually listen to players.

Surely this is obvious? I thought so but it seems there is a section of referees who do not tolerate any comments from players whatsoever. “I just asked why he gave that free kick and he gave me a yellow card!”. Not good. Selling decisions is as much about listening as it is giving the decisions.

Dissent is of course not to be tolerated. However, there is a clear difference being players wanting to know WHY a decision has been given a certain way and them crossing the ‘line of tolerance’.

Listening to the concerns of players is absolutely vital.. It sets the tone of the game. Responding to their questions when things are still calm (if perhaps a little charged) can stop things escalating.

It may even be a cry for help: “He nearly elbowed me in the face”. Say nothing? The player will feel unprotected which will lead to bad things. Say you will keep an eye out because you want his good looks to be preserved? Perfect. If your rapport skills are up to scratch you will know when you can get away with the ‘good looks’ comment too!

If a dictatorial style is all you have in your refereeing toolbox then you are severely limiting yourself. Remember who the most important people on the pitch are!

Stepping up: Promoted for one day

85 minutes in... what can possibly go wrong?

I’m back in refereeing action now that the pre-season is well under way. This has involved two ‘friendly’ matches for the Combined Counties Football League (CCFL).

Normally I can only act as an Assistant Referee on this league due to my current level. It is great for picking up tips on what does (and doesn’t!) work and my particular interest has always been effective man management techniques: Match control is all-important.

The second match was a real treat because I was appointed as Referee. This was allowed due to it being a Friendly although that is always a misnomer: A match is only as friendly as the players want it to be! I was reading a report of one previous friendly match for this league which had involved a 22 man brawl towards the end.

Oh, and the League Secretary was going to be in attendance!

The game went really well. It really helps when both sides just want to play football instead of hacking each other to pieces. To be honest, I find it easier to referee when the skill level of the players is higher: The number of clumsy challenges diminishes and the passing is more accurate so the game just flows better.

Some ‘quiet words’ were needed to calm things down upon occasion and this is effective for two reasons: Firstly, the player in question knows you are watching (and the stop in play allows things to calm down). Secondly, the OTHER players know you are watching out for them (so the risk of retaliation decreases).

I managed to step up my game and successfully take charge of my first match at this level. It may be a while before I can do this officially during the season but I can feel that I am ready. The League Secretary was happy as well!

Bring it on!