Being self-reliant

Us grassroots referees don't always get the level of detail about games we want. We have to work with what we have and control what we can control.

You’ll be well-off if the only people you need to rely on are yourself and a small, close-knit group of fellow referees (and your family, of course).

I have 2 games this afternoon in a new league I haven’t refereed in before.

As we all know, we generally follow IFAB.

But every competition also has competition rules specific to that competition. Some slightly tweak the Laws Of The Game and some override them in ways.

Before working in a new competition, I always like to have a brief chat with my assignor. Usually this just happens via text or email. I’d prefer a call but it doesn’t happen often.

Here are a couple questions and answers texting with my assignor last night about my games today.

Q: Is the field for tomorrow’s matches grass or turf? I want to make sure I have the right footwear! [Include link to school so he knows which field I’m talking about]

A: That looks right.

Q: Also looks like potential scattered thunderstorms tomorrow PM around there. Competition policy is for the host complex/club to notify about cancellations before 9AM of game day so I’ll keep an eye on my email, texts. And if there’s no cancellation by 9AM, it’s up to me to cancel if thunderstorms roll in last-minute, right?

A: Any update will be in our game management system.

As you can see, I’m getting some pretty light answers to my questions.

And one thing I’ve definitely noticed with most of my assignors: all conversations are shorts, concise and usually don’t answer all my questions.

Ideally, would I like more from this assignor? Yes.

But the reality of the situation is us grassroots referees have to understand and accept that these short, uninformative answers may happen for good reasons.

Assignors have really hard jobs trying to meet contract requirements by filling as many games as possible. This assignor is probably talking with 10 referees on a Friday night trying to find replacements for the referees who can’t make their games last-minute.

Let’s be clear; most assignors are likely overworked and under-appreciated.

Takeaway: When assignors are short with me or don’t answer all my questions, I need to deal with it.

First, I need to be thankful to them and always be gracious for the games they do give me. Second, I need to be more resourceful.

I did look up the field for my matches today but was unable to find out if it was turf or grass. So I’ll bring my cleats and turf boots to make sure I’m prepared.

And when it comes to weather, of course I’m the final decision-maker when it comes to safety of play. I shouldn’t have wasted my assignors time asking that question.

Finally, I can always check in with my fellow officiating team before the game to double check competition rules. How long are the halves? Do players have to sub off after yellow cards? How lenient are the substitution rules? These are all things I can figure out with my crew day-of if needed.

It’s a referee’s job to make big decisions in challenging, stressful environments, often with less data than they’d like. I’m confident in my ability to do this on the field and I need to be confident doing it in my pre- and post-game as well.

P.S. I’ve got my very first 4th Official appearance in the US 4th-tier tonight. I’ve done a good amount of prep for it which I’ll share in a post sometime next week. Let’s go!

Know a soccer ref? Feel free to share this with them 💙