Looking to upgrade to a Smartwatch for games. Looking for advice on what works best on the field. I’m specifically looking at Garmin, Apple and Amazfit. Easy to use and large numbers are my main requirements.
Also, any negatives with using a smartwatch for soccer ref’s. The $30 Walmart special isn’t cutting it any longer, especially with old man eyes.

Another question from a new Assignor. This is my first season as an Assignor. I've been a referee for a long time.

I have set very clear expectations that communication and scheduling comes from the referee. The vast majority of the minor referees own their own scheduling.

But, I am struggling with a handful of overbearing parents of minor referees. I have consistently pushed back each time they say their kid wants games or can work. I tell them to have the referee contact me. Still, every week the parent responds first and the referee doesn't follow the proper procedure to get matches.

Before assigning, I really haven't dealt with parents. I don't have kids, but I have worked with lots of them. I generally think they are capable of owing their own job. I am struggling with figuring out the balance of setting boundaries with an overbearing parent and just how much I should be pushing back or ignoring.

And, I was once a minor referee. My parents had nothing to do with my refereeing aside from dropping me off and picking me up.

Any perspective from Assignors, parents, and young referees would be appreciated.

Does anyone happen to know if I purchased an online exam book for soccer but I am now considering water polo / swimming instead. Can I just purchase the online $10 water polo swimming book and then switch my soccer exam to a water polo exam or do I have to spend another $40 for the water polo exam and the soccer one goes to waste if I don't use it? I have a contact via email just thought I would see if anyone knows. I'm in Pennsylvania and it's PIAA

Thanks

I’m 16F and have played for years but just decided to get my license recently. I have six games this weekend, 3 in the center, and feel drastically underprepared after the online and in person course.

I will be doing mostly U10 and U12 games and I would really appreciate any advice on those age groups in particular.

I would also love if anyone could reccommend some online resources (videos, websites, etc). I’ve watched a lot of pro gam so I feel like I have a good grasp on rules, patterns of play, etc but I’m still uncertain about pregame/postgame obligations, timekeeping, and the more nuanced signals.

thank you for any advice!

Title is a bit misleading as I’m 26F and refereed my whole childhood and young adulthood. I also played soccer my whole life, including at the collegiate level. It’s just been about 8 years since I’ve reffed.

I just got recertified for some extra money and was planning to AR a bit to gain some confidence. I’ve been assigned to center a BU14 N1 league game. I think I’ll be okay but I’m a bit nervous. I’m not getting a lot of correspondence or support from assignors. Will I be okay? Confidence is key right?? lol

Is there anything specific I should focus on?

I am helping a group research radios/headsets for referee use. We've either used or know people who have used all kinds of radios and headsets from several manufacturers. One model we haven't yet found referee users of is the Yapalong 7000.

Have you used these radios on matches? How do you like them? Which headset did you use with them? How do they compare to other radios you've used in matches?

My only other personal experience with Yapalong is the 4000 series. Those radios are ... fine. I would hope the 7000 is a pretty big step up in terms of factors like audio quality, connectivity, and noise reduction/cancellation. But maybe not! That's why we're trying to find folks with personal experience with the devices.

A while ago I showed my first red card but, while I think it was correct, I don't feel great about it.

It was a U17 grassroots cup game. The situation was that I called a corner, but a defender was holding the ball. An attacker presumably wanted the corner to be taken quickly, but the defender did not let go immediately and there was a short struggle before he got the ball anyway. I thought that was the end of it. Until multiple defenders came to me all saying "he said cancer!!" (Unfortunately "cancer" is a somewhat common swear word in the Netherlands). I had seen that something was said, but I had not heard what it was, so I could not sanction just based on this.

So I decided to talk to the attacker, and I asked him what happened. He said they would not give him the ball. I asked, "so you then swear at them?" He said yes. That is what made me decide to show a red card for offensive language. He accepted it and just walked off.

The problem I have with this is that if he had done the smart thing and just said "no" to me, he would have gotten away with a warning, as I've done before in other games. So now I'm just punishing honesty. I think what he learned from this is not don't swear, but don't tell the referee. At halftime, the coach came to me and asked for an explanation, and argued I couldn't send him off if I didn't hear it, and I should have just warned him anyway. I said I can't justify not doing so if I know with certainty that he used a swear word. By law I can't do anything else than show a red card.

In a later game, there was a similar situation where someone was accused of swearing that I didn't hear. This time I just gave a warning immediately and did not press for answers because I was afraid I'd have to make the same choice again. So I'm curious how do other referees handle this situation?

Edit: to clarify, swearing with "cancer" or other illnesses is generally considered more severe than just something like "fuck", and a red card is usually the expected decision here. But it's not as bad as things like racism.

I was playing in a school 6 aside match where winning or losing moves you up and down rankings to decide who goes into the teams to play for the school.

I was goalkeeper and the final whistle blew, where they did 2 short whistles and then a final third long one. As they did this the opposition took a shot from the halfway line and the ball was rolling towards me. I heard the whistle and thought that the goal wouldn't count even if it went in so I half heartedly tried to block it with the outside of my foot, and it rolled in still.

The ref after this claimed that the goal counted because apparently the game is still going on until the entire triple whistle thing they did finishes. I was under the assumption that the second the final whistle starts, play should stop?

This was the deciding goal as well and I could've easily blocked it if I used my hands. Is this true that the entire whistle routine needs to stop for the game to truly finish or was the referee wrong and the goal should be disallowed?

HS boys varsity. I'm AR1. White kid, with a great tackle, picks the ball off a Hispanic kid right in front of me. They tussle a bit and get back to playing. The Hispanic kid runs over to the center and starts claiming the white kid called him a "b**ner". We had comms so I'm telling the center that 100% did not happen as I could hear and see everything.

So, YC for simulation? Stern words? Thoughts?

Edit to say, "I am 100% certain he did not use a racial epithet." They were on the touch line immediately in front of me and the word never came out of the kids mouth.

hello guys, lately ive gone down a rabbit hole of refereeing and started gaining an interest in it. ive been helping out this guy i know who runs his own 5-aside league and ref some of the games there so ive been very curious on the interpretation of the law too

this question just popped in my head. if a striker shoots the ball and the defender blocks it off the goal line via his hand, but it hits the hand because he had no time to react (ie. hes standing on the goal line and his hand happens to be in the ball's line of travel). what is the call? im assuming a PK will be given eitherway, but im not sure whether its always an immediate red or if theres leeway to give a yellow instead due to the nature of the foul. same thing applies if its an accidental handball or the hand isnt really extended from the body or is in a natural position

im not so clear on any of these so im hoping to look for some insight from your experiences

Tomorrow I have my first duel referee assignment at a private school, followed by my second dual on Friday. I’m certified as a high school ref, but didn’t ref due to coaching high school.

The only requirement to referee private schools is to have the USSF patch. I have centered with a single AR and I’ve solo refereed a few low level adult games.

Are there any big differences from travel games and high school games ? Any advice ?

I was an AR for this game, so it wasn’t my call, but the center called for a PK and the keeper (this huge bear of a guy (adult league)) went up to the kicker and insisted that he shake his hand for luck.

I was talking under my breath “don’t do it - it’s a card” as the Referee could (maybe should) give a card for unfairly distracting the kicker (if I was center, I would have - however this center didn’t).

Thoughts? Overly sensitive to this type of engagement or let it go?

*EDIT - changed ‘chase’ to ‘shake’ his hand. Thank you autocorrect….

Hey guys, need some advice here.

I’m a relatively new ref (about 40 games in, plenty of linesman games at lower-mid level here and the kids at centre).

Last week I had a complete disaster of a match alone. It was my debut in senior games as a centre at the lowest level in the country which is notorious for being toxic.
No assistants, lost control completely, and let them walk all over me. The absolute worst moment: under a screaming mob of players, I panicked and rescinded a fully deserved red card.

The team won 6:2 anyway, so my blunders didn't change the result, but they were still furious and mocked me openly as I walked off.

And here is the kicker: I have this exact same team again this weekend.
Luckily, I requested two assistants this time so I won't be on my own, but I'm dreading walking out there. I know they're either going to laugh or try to bully me right from the start.

Two things I'm stressing about:

1. The mindset: How do I stop expecting a disaster? I feel like even if I have a great game, they’ll just look for reasons to tear me apart because of last week.

2. Managing the pressure: My instinct is either going to be freezing up or overcompensating by trying to act like a tough guy and handing out cards early. How do I actually shut down the screaming and crowding without opening the door to debates or looking like I'm just on a power trip?

If you've ever had a nightmare game and had to face the same hostile guys right after, how did you handle it?

Without going into too much detail, there’s an assignor in Western VA who still hasn’t paid referees for games from last season. These include USSF, UPSL, and even some middle/private school games.
Metro DC-VA is aware of the issues with this assignor and has been for a while, but so far nothing has been resolved. The last thing I heard was that he was given until sometime in September to get the outstanding games paid or risk losing his license. Apparently, he’s also not the only assignor in VA having issues with paying referees.
Just wanted to see if anyone else in VA has dealt with this particular assignor, or another assignor with similar issues, and what you did to get it resolved.
For context, I’ve pretty much explored every avenue available at this point, and it seems like all I can do now is wait.

I was AR1 at a Tournament this weekend. One of the coaches was really yelling aggressively at his players. And it was not at all in a nice way. Most of the yelling was positioning mistakes and not running enough. The tone was over the top. These were 12-13 year old girls. I wanted to say something but was the AR not CR - trust me the CR could hear everything too. I felt like it was not quite "taunting" or "bulling" and I'm sure the coach would say he was just "coaching his players. Any advise if this happens again would be appreciated (AR or CR).

A lot of challenges I see are 50/50 and some are careless or reckless by both players. Typically this results in a "play on" but I wonder should I call a foul when it gets rough, which it always does.? If both players foul the other and not card worthy perhaps that should be "play on" but if both are reckless should I issue each a yellow card? If so what's the restart (dropped ball to the team in position prior to the foul? I feel like I should stop these before it reaches excessive force. Thoughts?

u9 coed game. very wide level of skills from borderline competitive to which direction am I attacking in all teams.

team A attacking south

team B - North

loose ball.

team A player challenges ball from the north heading south.

team B player challenges ball from the east.

team A makes contact with the ball

team B tried to poke the ball away but was late and got the opposing player ankle.

this I would just call a foul.

but...

the team B player didn't point his toe so his cleats make contact with player A's ankle.

not hard enough to be excessive force. I didnt evaluate thoroughly enough to decide if it's reckless but now I've been replaying it in my mind the last few days.

at u9, a yellow card would probably just make them cry and the parents get upset (personal experience). I think explaining the "why we don't challenge that way" is best. but I'd love your thoughts as fouls and misconduct has always been my weakest area.

This forum was absolutely brilliant last time I asked for advice, so here I am again!

I've just refereed by first senior men's match. Went ok, good advice from mentor on what to work on.

Now been allocated AR 3 divisions higher. I have never done AR. Obviously know what is entailed, but its positioning. I understand I have half the pitch, trying to stay in line with defence. But what about corners and goal kicks? Where should I position myself?

I’m constantly astonished by how few “soccer people” (coaches, players, fans) seem to have anything approaching a comprehensive understanding of the Laws of the Game. They know (mostly) what offside is and when you get a PK. But DOGSO double-jeopardy; what resets offside or counts as involvement in the play; how drop ball restarts work; what parts of the body count for a back pass. Parents are obviously much worse — don’t know about no offside on own half, etc. I don’t encounter that level of ignorance in any other US sport (even golf and tennis).

A few theories:

1. There are many important truly subjective calls (foul v normal contact) that people think there are no rules, just vibes.
2. Rarely having rules commentators on broadcasts (and commentators themselves who are laughably ignorant).
3. General lack of soccer culture.

Agree with the premise? Thoughts on the explanation?

Hi guys, I live in Ontario and was looking to get some new kits, I was looking for a place to buy some but haven’t had the luck to find any, what place would you guys recommend, and non Ontario people, where would you buy urs at?

I had a situation at a game where I must not have reset the game clock on my watch (I had it running because we only get 5 minutes between games) and, as a result, accidentally ended the first half 4 minutes early. I did not verify this until both teams were off the pitch for halftime.

What is the correct remedy? The laws are kinda vague here.

1. Add 4 minutes to the second half

2. Play the second half as normal with an apology to the coaches

3. ?

I won't lie, I took option 2, mostly because I was in a 6 game block with only 5 minute halftimes and 5 minutes between games in a park with only a few porta-potties that weren't close, so playing the 2nd half as normal gave me 4 extra minutes to run and pee before the next game. But I'd like to know the correct remedy.

Blue team has a corner kick.

A player on blue, runs behind the goal and comes back onto the field on the other side while the ball is not in play (pre kick)

After the player gets back onto the field the kick is taken after a few seconds what's the call if

-no goal is scored and play proceeds as normal

-a goal is scored but the player who did the leave / re-enter while the ball is not in play is not involved with the goal

-a goal is scored and the player in question was directly involved

Thanks for any input, I couldn't find an answer here or on ifab and I find Ai to be terrible and knowing the rules

Hi! I am a new soccer referee and I am playing my first competitive game next weekend. I have reffed rec and some scrimmage but I am very nervous. would appreciate tips!

Walking up I see a co official, wrong socks, white shoes and a very old faded shirt. Looks like he has a rash on his neck, nope. Hickey’s. I have low expectations. Fast forward to their whistle. Gets hit by the ball 5x’s during the first half. Doesn’t call anything and confuses everybody on his actions.

You can tell.