My first serious player injury

I encountered my first serious injury on the pitch last night. Here's how I handled it...

The last thing you want to see during any match.

I worked 3x Adult Women’s 7v7 matches last night. The level was generally pretty low and with a small field, I didn’t get much fitness work in but it’s a good way keep my referee brain active.

Here’s what I’m keeping with me moving forward!

A broken arm

Don’t worry - I won’t go into detail here. I’m not sure about you but I’m a bit squeamish around injuries having experienced a few serious ones myself in my playing career.

All I’ll say about it is that one player tried to cushion their fall with an arm and ended up with a small break in their arm. They knew it immediately and told me and the other players.

Their teammates wrapped a makeshift sling around her arm and from what I can tell somebody drove her to a local hospital or ER.

Some thoughts…

“Oh shit” is not the right reaction

I’m cringing a bit when I tell you that the first words out of my mouth when the player told me their arm was broken were, “oh shit.”

Really? How embarrassing.

I’m supposed to be a leader out there on the field and keeping the game and players calm. And the first thing I say tells everybody I don’t know what to do and that I’m not in control of the situation.

I think I just need to be more prepared for something like this to happen. That way I’m not simply reacting in the moment but know exactly what needs to happen next. This will lead to less off-the-cuff comments and more appropriate action.

Tell your assignor or league admin immediately if appropriate

In a more serious game, obviously you’ll need to finish the game and can detail the incident in your post-match report.

But in this informal setting, I called the league admin immediately to let him know what had happened and what steps I was taking. I also detailed the incident in my post-match report and texted with him to keep him informed with all the information I knew.

Everybody appreciates a self-reliant referee. Of course, he wanted to check on the player from a personal standpoint. Also I’m sure all players signed a liability waiver to play in this league but it’s important for league admin to take all the appropriate steps as it relates to keeping players safe so my quick information helped him do that.

Make sure this experience leads me to handling serious injuries better next time around

I know from studying LOTG that my role when there’s a serious injury is to:

1. Stop play

2. Get that player off the field

I have no medical role to play as the referee.

But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to take control of the situation and do everything in my power to keep the player safe while this is happening.

While I knew generally what my role was, it was different in the moment when there was a bit more pressure.

Now that it’s happened once to me, I’m confident I can use that moment to be calmer and know next steps better next time.

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