Baby boy #2 will be here tomorrow!

Just wanted to let all my regular readers know that I probably won’t be posting regularly over the next few weeks. I’ll try to get back to writing whenever it makes sense for me and my family.

I plan to get back to high school and adult amateur games in the fall so I’ll be training in some form or another, keeping my weight down and doing a good amount of video study to stay sharp.

Send good vibes please!

P.S. Remember, I have an archive full of solid content going back months. If you’re a new reader, feel free to peruse!

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That’s right. You can now find everything that was previously Grassroots Soccer Referees at refjourney.com!

When I started Grassroots, I didn’t know US Soccer was planning to scrap that verbiage altogether…

A recent update to the US Soccer Referee Eligibility Requirements have decided that moving forward, “Grassroots Referees” will now simply be referred to as “Referees.”

But no worries. I thought this was a good time for this Substack blog to move away from that terminology at the same time.

Plus I can rename it something that fit a little better with what I’m trying to do here. Talk about my referee journey.

The blog will continue to be powered by Substack. It just lives on a new domain and has some sexy new branding.

Please let me know if you run into any technical issues. I’ll get them ironed out.

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Let’s use this clip as an example: NSH vs ATL: Non-review for red card (denial of a goal) – not given

You can see the goalkeeper clearly handles the ball after a shot outside of his penalty area here.

My initial thought was that this might be DOGSO. Seems like an obvious goal scoring opportunity, right?

Actually, wrong!

Let’s review the DOGSO criteria this meets:

• Defenders - nobody near ✅

• Distance to goal - 20 yards ✅

• Direction of play - generally towards goal ✅

• Control of likeihood of control - he doesn't have control, as he's already taken a shot (nor will he get the rebound) ❌

Because the player has already taken the shot with no chance to recover the rebound, this cannot be DOGSO nor a DOGSO handball.

That means we have to analyze the play using different criteria for DOG.

The bar for Denial Of a Goal is very high. The ball has to be 100% undeniably going into the goal for DOG to come into play.

This shot is from almost half field. What are the chances this ends up as a goal?

All I know is that it definitely is not 100%.

So a yellow caution here is appropriate for UB.

Note: if the GK has handled the ball outside the area and the attacker collected the rebound (or was likely to collect the rebound), we would be returning to DOGSO criteria and giving a red here. Thanks, A!

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Sorry about that. I’ve had a lot going on getting ready for baby boy #2. Thanks for understanding.

Let’s check out some video today.

No penalty, caution for SPA (0:15)

We discussed this call in the Referees Discord Server and initially I had this as a red card for DOGSO.

I thought the pass was put right into the stride of the attacker so the likelihood of possession criteria was met given these players were professionals (not U13).

But I’m actually amending my thinking here. Any big cross like this that comes into the box is hard to gain possession of, even for pro players! I don’t think you can say the attacker would have likely possessed this ball. It’s more a possibility than a likelihood.

So a caution for SPA is appropriate.

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I worked my first USL match last night and the center was having a maintenance assessment done for them.

I got some feedback too and the biggest areas of improvement were:

• smaller steps to be balanced on the 2LD line and in position to transition into a sprint

• faster hips to make that standing > sprint transition faster

I took some time this morning to do a quick search for some exercises I can do to improve this.

Here are a few I’ve found…

• Reverse squats

• Heavy knee drives with kettle bell or band

• Light knee drives (fast, light resistent)

• Hip range of motion + elongate

• Couch stretch

I’m not saying this was an exhaustive search for all the best exercises on the planet. But it’s a good start to give myself some basic exercises to add to gym days to get my hips better prepared for the demands of an AR.

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I’m working a USL-W match tonight and the officiating team will be using comms.

Important to note that Grassroots referees here in the US (such as myself) are not supposed to use comms. But in this case, it’s allowed by competition rules.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned about comms basics…

Here’s a presentation with full detail that’s a good resource too: Effective Use of the Communication System for Referees, Assistant Referees and the 4th Official (sorry if this link’s not working. I’ll have it working soon!)

The basics

• Comms are not meant to replace the signals and mechanics that the officiating teams use without comms.

• You must discuss comm system use during the pre-game, even if you have experience and comfort with the system.

The ground rules

• Speak clearly and loud enough to be heard

• Avoid negatives unless you are only saying “No no no” or “nothing there”

• The timing of any input is just as important as the advice being given (avoid talking when the Referee or AR is highly concentrated or already involved in dialogue with players, unless it is time-critical)

• Avoid talking when referee is in a crowd of players. Wait until the referee makes eye contact or asks for input

• The AR should not say “foul” when the result will be a penalty kick. Instead, the AR should say “penalty”

• When the referee is moving up field the referee may ask the trailing AR to watch for potential problems or problem players

AR to Referee basics

• Throw in: Say the jersey color of the team that will be taking the throw, corner, or goal kick

• A tight decision on the goal line or touch line: Say “Good” or “Still in” for when the ball remains in play

• If a restart is taken quickly: Say the “Ball in” so all members of the team are aware that the ball is in play (can be Referee to AR as well)

• Alert the referee to violent conduct behind the referee’s back

AR to Referee offside

• Broadcast offside decisions when the ball is kicked. This makes it easier for the referee to anticipate a flag or start to run

• Avoid saying “onside” as it sounds too similar to “offside” (just say “He’s good” or just “good”)

• To help differentiate, the Referee may ask the AR to repeat “offside” 3x vs saying “he’s good” only once. Again, another way to differentiate the two in the event the message doesn’t come through clearly

• If the AR is unsure which player touched/played the ball through to an offside positioned attacker:

  • AR should say “Help, Touch?”

  • Referee will reply “Touch” (refers to attacker) or “Defender” (keep flag down)

  • Ideally the Referee will anticipate this situation and say “Touch” or “Defender” when the play occurs so the AR can move to the next phase (talk about this in pregame)

AR to Referee fouls

• If AR sees foul that the referee may not see, the AR can say “foul”

• If the AR is in a more credible position or has best angle, the AR should then support with flag

• Fouls right in front of AR should be supported with standard flag mechanics.

AR to Referee misconduct

• AR advice on 100% misconduct must be given.

• Avoid saying “I think”, or “at least” a yellow when trying to decide between a yellow or red card

• If the AR doesn’t know, the AR should not guess

• The AR can advise the Referee to verbally warn a player vs giving a yellow card

• The AR should advise the Referee about persistent infringement and players being targeted

• When the Referee calls the foul and is “between yellow and red”

  • Can say “I have yellow” or “I have red”

  • The Ref can invite the AR to contribute

  • The AR should give an opinion in this instance but should be clear if not 100% sure

AR to Referee tactical info

• For potential quick transitions, the lead AR can inform the referee about counter-attack scenarios (i.e. numbers up on counter, etc)

• This info can tell the Referee whether the need exists to sprint immediately, or whether it is ok to save energy when moving up field

• Trail AR should monitor players that are not in view of referee when no threat of offside exist

Help Help Help!

• Should the Referee end up far behind play on a counter attack – The Referee should say “Help”

• This alerts the lead AR to be prepared to act on behalf of the referee. The AR may signal for fouls in the center of the field during the time while the Referee is too far away

• The Referee will tell the AR when caught up and in position, so AR knows when mechanics return to normal

Teamwork

• The Referee should acknowledge having heard teammates (verbal, hand wave, or gesture)

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1. No penalty, drop ball (0:19)

This is an interesting one because when I first watch the replay, it doesn't seem clear and obvious there wasn't a foul.

But if you're calling a foul here, what is the actual foul?

The replay doesn't show any actual holding so would I go with challenging? Impeding?

I'm still not convinced it passes the bar for clearly and obviously not a foul but I can see why the referee said there’s no foul here since it doesn’t fit cleanly into any DFK foul categories.

2. No foul, play on (2:46)

Not sure how this wasn’t sent to review by VAR for a clear and obvious direct red card for DOGSO!

All 4 DOGSO criteria are easily met here so I’m actually pretty shocked this wasn’t reviewed.

3. Onside, goal allowed

This is just a good "came off the defender so attacker is onside" play.

It can be difficult to see who it came off last without VAR so just something that requires extra attention and good officiating team communication.

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You probably saw I found and took this offsides video test a few days ago.

I shared my results in the Referees Discord Server and got this reply from a top-level referee.

Takeaway: The 5 I got wrong were wrongly signaled offside. Disallowing good goals because I incorrectly call for offside is something I’ll get badly marked down for in the future. Definitely something to keep in mind and make sure I’m as close to 100% in my offside decision making as possible.

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I worked 3x adult 7v7 games last night.

One mistake I made twice was that I didn’t see when the goalkeeper tipped it over their own crossbar but got a very light touch on it.

The touches were so small that they barely changed the trajectory of the ball.

They were also light enough that I didn’t hear them.

It’s a pretty informal league so after both incidents, the defending team told me the GK had gotten a touch so I went with the corners.

What was funny was I was easily able to see when the goalkeeper got a touch after any other movement like a dive, even if the touch was very light. Not sure what the difference is but when the keeper’s hands went straight up to parry over the bar, I missed them.

Takeaway: These were games downtown and there were a surprising number of sirens and other sounds crowding our game. It was also raining. This combination made it harder to hear light touches. But higher-level games are going to have lots of crowd noise so it’s something I need to get acclimated to. I need to really turn on when shots are taken, especially high ones apparently.

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I got 20/25 right. Not great!

Here are some takeaways from my results…

1. I got 4 of my first 6 WRONG

Silver lining: I got 18 of the final 19 right?

Takeaway: Once I get into the flow of a game, I’m much better. But this means I have to be fully warmed up and ready to make the right call from the opening whistle of games. Clearly based on these results, it’s something I have to focus on improving.

2. I missed trailing legs keeping attackers onside

This seems simple but it’s one of those things that you get better at the more you see it.

Now that it’s been highlighted for me a few times here, I’ll be able to better see it when I see it again.

Takeaway: be acutely aware of trailing legs keeping people onside.

3. Don’t be distracted by movement that doesn’t affect offside

There are a few clips where defenders jump, raise hands, spread themselves, etc.

At the end of the day, these can affect the offside line but shouldn’t diminish my focus.

Takeaway: Keep intense focus on the trailing part of the body of the 2LD. Additional movement can affect this but shouldn’t distract from making the right call.

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No foul, no penalty (3:04)

The voiceover seems to think this is a foul and a penalty but I disagree.

It seems to me that the defender didn’t “trip” the attacker here but instead established his space and the attacker initiated contact.

There’s a slight push but the attacker looks to be going down before the contact is made.

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I was told recently I should start a Google Sheets document to record all my games.

I think this is a great idea in addition to blogging here. I can go into more detail here in my writing on Substack but it’s good to have a full accounting of all the big games I’ve worked.

• I’ll need to present a game log to earn a promotion

• I’m only recording my bigger games (adult amateur, U18+, bigger tournament games, etc). Maybe I’ll include lower-level ones in the future too if I have big learning moments in them.

• I highlight bigger youth games in yellow and USSF-certified adult league games in green.

Here’s what I’m recording for every game…

• Date

• Time

• Competition

• Age

• Gender

• Division

• Home Team

• Home Score

• Away Score

• Away Team

• Field

• Referee

• AR1

• AR2

• 4th Official

• PKs (H, awarded)

• PKs (A, awarded to)

• 1st YCs (H)

• 1st YCs (A)

• 2nd YCs (H)

• 2nd YCs (a)

• Straight Red (H)

• Straight Red (A)

• Weather

• What went well?

• What didn't go well?

• Points of improvement

• Notes

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FIFA Refereeing Fitness Test (and audio files for training) | This is something we all have to pass at some point. Whether you need to start training now or feel like you have your fitness under control, it’s best to know what’s in store for our futures.

I went out today to give this a shot.

It’s what referees here in the US have to pass in order to earn their Regional badge.

I really meant for it to simply measure my fitness progress as I’ve been refereeing more and exercising more regularly to be the best match official I can be.

And guess what? I passed!

To be honest, it was easier than I thought it would be.

Here’s everything I did during training that I think made this all possible…

Everybody will train for this fitness test differently. Some people are natural runners and will pass easily without having to do much formal training. Others like me will have to work hard to get themselves in shape for it. Everybody has a different path; choose the one that’s best for you and get after it!

1. Get to an appropriate weight. I’m 6’2 and used to be a weight lifter. I maxed out around 235 pounds. Since having issues with my lower back and starting to referee, I’ve stopped lifting heavy and am down to ~200 pounds. This has made it much easier for me to run longer distances and in general move around for longer without tiring.

2. More often than not, stick to the right diet. I’m going to be honest; the hardest part about losing weight for me was restricting calories. And I’ll be honest, I’ve had good weeks where I stick to my plan and bad ones too where I went off the rails. To me, “eating clean” isn’t a switch I can just throw into the on position and do it forever. It’s a constant battle. But for me, if I could eat well even in short spurts, this helped me eventually push days into weeks and overall try to eat well more often than not. The 2 things that helped me accomplish this most were the Lose It! app (free version) and the Never Binge Again book.

3. Work weekend tournaments. This means days that you’re working multiple games back-to-back. This could start with 2 in a row. Then maybe 3 matches over 2 days. Eventually 3 in a row 2 days in a row! This doesn’t have to be all centers; a good mix of center and AR is optimal. When you’re really starting out, I think it’s important to only work the number of games your current fitness allows. But as you get your legs under you, working more games helped me push myself to make the runs and be well positioned in the last game which can prove difficult! Over time, it gave me a great foundation for fitness.

4. Regular spin classes. I know these are not for everybody but I think committing to 2-3 sessions per week was the best low-impact exercise to get me ready for the fitness test. Because the test is 40x hard runs and 40x rest periods, I thought it was important to train with some of the same on/off cadence workouts. Spin classes put me on a back and had me moving between low, medium and high resistance. My gym just started offering this really cool digitally immersive class that seems a lot cooler and less traditional spin so maybe something to check out.

5. Low-weight and body weight exercise. I do still go to the gym 1-2x per week to lift weights. But it’s a far different workout than some of the power lifting I used to do. Now I focus much more on body-weight exercises and maybe a few weighted ones with a priority on more reps and higher rep quality than amount of weight. I focused almost entirely on calves, hamstrings, quads, hips and abdominals. I do some upper body work but it’s mostly focused on upper back and shoulders; almost no focus on arms or chest.

6. Low-impact weighted walks. I had a good friend (thanks, E!) tell me he start “rucking” and I thought this would be good added exercise especially for off days. Now most of the time I take my dog for a walk, I throw on a weight vest for it. This helps me get some extra cardio in but even more, it helps me improve my core strength and stabilizing muscles that otherwise might not get a workout. This generally makes me feel like I have more functional strength and allows me to more easily avoid injuries, back problems, etc. Plus my wife doesn’t tell me to stop slouching anymore!

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Just a few notes from the in-person Advantage clinic I went to last night.

Factors for giving advantage

• Severity of foul

• Direction of play

• Location on field

• Location of other attackers & defenders

• Control (or potential control) of ball

• Excitement, promising attack

• Potential OGSO

• Skill of players

• Options

• Player reactions

• Space

• Proximity to touchline

The touchline

If a player is boxed in by the touchline after a foul, it obviously affects advantage. The touchline acts as another defender in these situations.

More practical advice

• When playing advantage in the penalty area, there’s no need to give the advantage signal. Just stay on top of play and maintain a slow whistle.

• If a player is fouled as they're passing to a player who's immediately penalized for offside, the original foul should be penalized instead. The more time that goes by, the less reasonable it is to come back to the original foul.

• Observe both teams in the first 5-10 minutes to understand their ability and make advantage calls appropriate for their level.

• In many U12 games, players will stop when a foul happens. But if they keep playing, it’s OK to give a more advanced advantage as long as you explain it and educate the players. They’ll need to understand it soon so why not help them learn!

• You should never signal advantage right when a foul happens. Signal advantage when it's clear the advantage is developing.

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This weekend I worked:

• 1x adult amateur game (AR1 w/ no 4th)

• 1x G19 tournament semi final (center)

• 1x B19 tournament semi final (AR2)

• 1x B19 tournament group match (AR1)

I felt very confident this weekend. Not in the sense that I’m in control of everything. Just that I’m really starting to feel comfortable with my refereeing abilities and that I can trust them to perform well.

Here are my takeaways from all four games in one quick list…

1. Using the wrong hand

A few times over these games, I raised my flag for the ball going out of bounds or a foul with the wrong hand.

Typically, you want to raise your flag with the hand that’s the same direction you’re going to signal so give the referee a good idea of who committed the foul you’re calling.

Takeaway: this is a very fixable problem, unlike some! Be a little slower to raising my flag for a foul or out of bounds call and do so with hand of way I’ll be pointing.

2. The almighty 3-count

I was formally assessed in an adult amateur game a couple nights ago. I got mostly good feedback but was told I could be better tracking the 2LD during non-active periods (especially when the ball is in the other half).

That way if there’s a breakaway or change of possession, I’m 100% on the offside line already and not just close to it.

I was advised to do a regular 3-count to give myself a formal cadence to check the offside line. It's pretty much just a very quick glance back from play every 3 seconds or so to place the 2LD and adjust positioning.

This was immensely helpful for me. I used it regularly in my 2 AR games yesterday and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say it helped me stay on the offside line 10-20% better.

It also just helped me generally focus better and not let my attention lapse.

Systems, for the win! ⚙️

Takeaway: officially add the 3-count to my refereeing arsenal. This can go alongside calling offside earlier in lower-level games.

3. Being more injury-aware

There were a couple moments in the G19 where I needed to do a little better keeping players safe.

There were 2 moments where players went down. Both were critical moments of the game during which I had to give 100% of my attention to very promising attacks and goal/no goal situations.

In both moments, it took me ~10 seconds to realize there was a player down.

Takeaway: 10 seconds is simply too long to realize a player has gone down with an injury. I either need to always give a quick glance after big players or make sure my ARs know during pre-game to help keep an eye out for injuries or late contact.

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My takeaways:

• When match is over, talking with players: “We are not gods. We make mistakes.”

• Yellow cards are a tool but the ultimate tool is gaining the players respect.

• The AR made a big mistake in this match and allowed this goal. You can see the white player in the middle of the 6 is clearly offside when the ball is shot. “If you had been in the right position [2 steps to his left], you would have gotten that decision right.”

• Referee’s families are watching the game and make this comment. “Did you see? But then nasty. I’ve never seen him look nasty. When they are there, their faces look so different. But do they have to take on that bull-like position?” You often have to put on a performance and tap into a different side of yourself during a high-pressure match. Sometimes I feel like a different person when I’m out there. This comment definitely resonates. If my family saw me working one of these matches, they’d probably make similar comments!

• “What we see doesn’t count. What matters is what is said about what we see.”

• An AR’s flag came off during a Euro 2008 match. Just like mine!

• Consoling players after losing a big game is OK. It’s not showing favoritism; it’s showing empathy.

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My takeaway:

• Björn Kuipers: “Let’s say I had an agenda that was really full of obligations. And when C19 came, there was no football, no lectures, no obligations. Only time for family. And I saw I have too little time in previous years to my children. My daughter was born in June when there are always tournaments. She’s 15 and I could only be at 4 birthdays. I missed 11. In the future, I’ll be more a family man, less a business man.”

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I AR’d a semi-pro UPSL game last night. It was a lively game that ended 3-2 and was a ton of fun.

Here’s what I’ll be taking away…

1. Know the stakes of the game

Before the game, I did look up where both teams were in the standing. The league has 12 teams: one was in 4th and one was in 8th.

When we were doing our pre-game, the other AR mentioned that if the 4th place team won, they’d jump up to 2nd place in the league.

Takeaway: I’m not sure why I didn’t consider looking at what a win, draw and loss would do for both teams in the standings. I honestly just overlooked it. In the future, I’ll need to know this information so our officiating team can understand exactly what’s at stake for both teams.

2. Be aware of the level when it comes to the ball being out of play

We had a pretty experienced 4th Official with us.’

He saw one ball I called out of play and at halftime told me the ball hadn’t gone fully out of play.

I understand the ball has to be completely across the boundary line to be out of play. But because I’m inexperienced working at this level, I’m not as familiar with just how much skill the players have to keep the ball in play.

Takeaway: Be a little more patient before calling a ball out of play. At the semi-pro level, they can save a ball that younger, less experienced players can.

3. Don’t log goals until I’m 100% sure they stand

The game last night got pretty intense and was 3-2 in the 75th minute or so.

The winning team put a cross in the box in and a player scored with a diving header on the far end of the field from me.

The players all went in for a massive celebration and I went to record the goal in REFSIX.

When I looked up from my watch, the ball was flying through the air and players were all running towards it. Wait…what?

I raced back to my offside line and was lucky not to be out of position for a CMI.

We discussed this after the game and the player who scored was simply offside.

Takeaways:

1. Only log goals when I’m 100% sure the goal was legitimately scored.

2. Don’t let massive and loud celebrations make me lose my focus on what I need to assess at that time; was or wasn’t the goal allowed.

4. Chasing balls all the way to the goal line

I’ve learned pretty well how to move all the way to the goal line whenever possible to spot if a ball goes out of bounds, signal for a goal kick, etc.

I was told that when a shot is hit hard from outside the penalty box and it’s clear to everyone it’s a goal kick, I should jog to the goal line to signal for it.

This gives all the officials a little breather and is something certain observers want us to do.

Takeaway: Even if the call is clear to everybody, move to the goal line. Do everything the right way, especially the little things.

5. Remember to end REFSIX after 1st half, halftime and end of game

Whoops!

Takeaway: Always end the half/match in REFSIX after running to the referee at the ends of each half. At least I’m getting better with my R6 goofs!

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Not too much in this announcement, really.

Yesterday, you could read the entire Grassroots archive at grassrootssoccerreferees.substack.com.

As of today, it’s all been moved to grassrootsrefs.com.

I tried to get ahold of grassroots.com but it was (obviously) already owned and probably way too expensive to buy anyway…

The blog will continue to be powered by Substack. It just lives on its own domain now.

Please let me know if you run into any technical snafus. I’ll get them ironed out.

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Just a heartwarming video that gave me good vibes today.

There’s tons of negative referee treatment energy going on after the Anthony Taylor’s Europa League Final and subsequent travel through the airport.

The behavior in the video linked above is abhorrent. But it is a reality of how the world we live in can treat us.

After this disgusting video was making the rounds, another was as well…

Jake Humphrey: “How would you like us to view referees?”

Anthony Taylor: “More understanding and more empathy. Yes, mistakes are made and we’re far from perfect. But there’s many other facets that contribute to a result in the football match. And so before you start trying to blame one individual, maybe try to consider all the things that go into what’s been decided.”

Today though, let’s focus on how referees should and can be treated. With respect.

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