Escape route

Have you ever been hit with the ball? Have you gotten in the way of players and heard any complaints from them? Oftentimes we know just a second or two in advance when we are about to be hit with the ball or when we are about to get in the way. But we still get hit or get in the way. Why is that?

Sometimes it is because we just try to backpedal to escape. But in many cases, the best escape route is go toward the ball. It may sound counterintuitive. But if the ball is coming toward you, go toward the ball. Within a second, you have gone past the ball and all you have to do is make a 180-degree turn. Now you have given space to players. You are close enough to the play but not too close. 

Watch the video below. The referee gets very close to the ball. But it was avoidable if he had realized that the best escape route was in front of him, not behind him.

Awareness

Our job is not done after we call a foul. Yes, it is true that we talk a lot about foul recognition. But even after we call a foul, a lot can happen. Sometimes, what happens after a foul is more match critical than the foul. So keep your focus. Don't let your guard down.

Below, you will see a referee making a correct pushing foul decision. But his focus remained near the foul location. He was not paying attention to the ball or other players.

 

Teamwork

How often have you heard that teamwork and eye contact were important? Eye contact allows the whole referee crew to be on the same page.

In the video below, a seemingly easy goal kick or corner kick decision is being made. The ball gets crossed from the AR side an goes out on the referee side. Two players, one from each team, challenges for the ball, making it unclear for the AR who touched the ball last. The referee takes initiative and signals. But just in case his AR has different information, he briefly looks at his AR. 

This is all you need. A quick look at your AR will help you make sure that your AR is following your signal or your AR has the same information with you. Otherwise what would happen if your AR has information you did not know about? It can easily lead to two people signaling for two different restarts.

DOGSO or advantage

On a game, we are sometimes faced with a decision that has a single correct answer. For example, you observe a challenge and you decide it is a foul. If it was a foul, you made a right decision. If it was not a foul, it was a wrong decision.

But sometimes we are faced with a decision that does not have a single correct answer. What is there is a possible DOGSO situation where you could give advantage. In the video below, the referee is faced with such a difficult decision. There is a possible DOGSO situation but the attacker continues to play. The referee gives an advantage. But the attack ends near the top of the penalty area. Was this the right decision? Was there a better option? Hindsight is 20/20.

What is important is self-reflection. First of all, was this a DOGSO situation or a SPA situation? Was the referee aware of the risk associated with giving advantage on misconduct?

This is not a matter of right or wrong. It is the matter of how you process the situation in front of you and make a decision.

Sprints

It is impressive when a referee can use explosive movement or sprints effectively. Some mentors may praise a referee for their use of sprints. But it's always important to ask if all the sprints were actually needed. When we sprint, our heart rate goes up. When we run fast, our vision is not as good. A raised heart rate and a compromised view both contribute to lowered accuracy of our decisions. Therefore, although a ref that can run fast may impress us, a ref who does not rely on unnecessarily sprints are actually more impressive.

In the video below, the referee makes a good sprint. But what could have done to avoid having to run so fast? Watch where he was when the attack started. He was on the defensive half of the field. As a result, he was far from the next phase of attack and he had to sprint. If he had positioned himself ahead of play, he would not have had to sprint at all, or at least sprint as fast or as far.

Anticipation

Good positioning and movement aided by good anticipation is critical when the referee has to make an important decision after a quick attack. It is easy for the referee to be delayed with a quick attack and loses good proximity or angle because of it. 

In the video below, the situation may look very common. But notice how the referee did not realize there was big space in front of the attacking team with a numerical advantage. Because he was slightly delayed, by the time he started moving, the attacking team had speed. 

Although the challenge inside the penalty area between an attacker and the goalkeeper was not a foul, the referee did not have good proximity (and possible angle, either). Consider space and numerical advantage. Try to position closer to the attacking area because challenges in the attacking area are generally more impactful on the game outcome than those in the midfield.

Get the angle

Have you ever caught yourself misreading the next play and ending up far from the next challenge? Think of a counterattack. You didn't think there would be one but there ends up being one. Now you're 50 yards away. What do you do?

Sprint as fast as you can? It is an option. But your first priority is to get the right angle. Imagine there is a wall in front of you. What's behind the wall? You cannot see. You won't be able to see any better even if you got closer to the wall. But what if you could see the wall from the side? Then you would be able to see behind the wall, even if you were far away from it.

Of course, we want to be close (proximity). But proximity does not necessarily mean we will see a challenge. It is better to see a challenge correctly and have players complain that you were far away than to miss a challenge completely and have players complain you missed a foul even though you were standing right next to it.

Watch the video below. The referee got caught. But he was quick to gain an optimal angle. Don't just sprint. Get the right angle.

Team officials

When the IFAB LOTG started allowing the referee to show a yellow card or a red card, it was not new in Michigan. Especially because team officials' negative behavior is anecdotally connected, at least partially, to the referee shortage and referee attrition, it is important that when we, as referees, see problematic behavior, we must address it appropriately.

The LOTG has three levels of misconduct for team officials: warn, caution, and send off. The days of "ask, tell, remove/dismiss" are gone. Now it is "warn, caution, and send off." Law 12 has a lot of details about what behaviors warrant what sanction.

Below, you will see the referee taking an appropriate action against a team official who dissented by both word and action. This was not just a minor disagreement with the referee about a call. Therefore, the yellow card was the correct decision by the referee. It is also important to note that the AR raised his flag to get the referee's attention. This was great teamwork.

Escape route

When a play gets close to you and you are afraid that you would be in the way of the players, what do you do? We simple back step to move away. While this may work from time to time, have you had a situation where the play also followed you and you remained in the way?

We oftentimes think of backpedaling as the one and only way to stay out of an active play area. But we must use our anticipation skills and agility to remain out of the way. Sometimes, moving to the side can be a much better option.

In the video clip below, you will see a referee correctly recognizing that he would be in the way. He decides to move backwards. But the play follows him. As a result, he almost got hit with the ball. But see how much space he had to his left. Had he moved to his left, he would have maintained an equally good view of the play without being in the way of the players.

SPA

We have talked about SPA and how we can use S+S+O as a set of considerations to determine if an offence you observe should be cautioned for a SPA (link). Let's review it again with another video.

Below, you will see a fast attack developing from a goal kick into the opponent's half of the field. Speed is high. There is a lot of space. There are some options for the attacker. A twist to the story is that the AR is involved in this decision making. She flags for an offence, but fails short of letting the referee know that a yellow card should be given. 

What would you do if you were this AR? Your referee calls a foul. You know it is a SPA. Would you call her over?

Explosive movement

Sometimes even when we make a correct decision, players (and coaches, parents, and spectators) disagree. But if we are close to the incident, we can better "sell" our decisions.

Below, you see an example of a referee using his explosive movement and sprint speed in a very smart way so that he was very close to the next phase of play. When he calls offside, he was very close to the ball and nobody questioned his or his AR's decision.

As soon as you recognize that you might be away from the play, increase your speed. Use your explosive movement and sprint to stay close to play.

Positioning

In order to see a challenge, we must position ourselves to see between players. If you are looking at me from the front, you won't know if anyone is pushing my back. If you are looking at me from the back, you won't know if I am pushing someone in front of me. So you have to see between two people in order to correctly assess pushing, holding, and similar fouls.

When a GK is about to punt a kick, we need to anticipate where the ball will land. Oftentimes players will gather around the landing area to challenge for the ball. In the process, there may be some offences. Please watch the video below as an opportunity to learn how to position yourself better. As a general rule of thumb, you want the play to be between your lead AR and yourself. You also want to position yourself so you can see between players.

Offside (gaining advantage)

Making a correct offside (gaining advantage) decision can be tricky. As referees, we may forget the fact that a player who receives a ball was in an offside position first. But we may believe they were on just because they were onside when a deflection or a save happened. 

If a defender makes a deliberate play on the ball, offside is reset. But when there is a deflection or a save, it is not reset. Please see the video below. At the moment of the first shot, there was an offside player. The ball is deflected and saved before the offside player scores. This goal cannot stand. Because the defender did not deliberately play the ball (there only were a deflection and a save), the player who seemingly scored the goal must be penalized for offside (gaining advantage).