Question Number: 25552

Mechanics 10/4/2011

RE: Rec Under 13

Sarah K of San Antonio, TX US asks...

Good morning -
Slightly different kind of question today. I am the Assignor/'Senior Ref' at our Club. Last week, I assigned 2 newbie refs to AR a U12G rec game along with a very experienced Ref at center. I briefed the Center so he was aware. Sometime in the second half as I was wandering about the fields oberserving games and refs, I saw a free kick being awarded to one of the teams. It wasn't clear from where I was exactly what was going on, as the other players were outside the PA (implying a PK, though sometimes rec players don't know they can be on the goal line on an IDFK), but it didn't look like the ball was on the Penalty spot. The girl kicked the ball, the goalie touched it (though I couldn't tell whether she touched it before or after it crossed into the goal), and the Center signalled a goal. At that point, the coach of the defending team started yelling that it was supposed to be an indirect kick and that the goalie didn't touch it. I started walking over to the coaches' sideline to see what was going on and the coach started complaining about the ref. I was unable to talk to the Center (as he had restarted the game) and the AR basically had no idea what had happened. After the game, when I spoke with the Center (in anticipation of emails complaining about the reffing), he told me that a player had passed the ball back to the GK in the GA and she picked it up. He then moved the ball back to 'about the Penalty Spot' (instead of to the 6yd line) for the free kick. He then commented that he had forgotten to raise his hand signalling IDFK, but that the GK had touched the ball before it went in. Basically, he did a lot of things wrong and didn't really realize it until I spoke with him after the game. Since I hadn't seen the original offense and didn't know what was going on until after the fact, I don't think there is anything I could have done. Is there? If I had seen the offense and what was going on, I probably could have (discretely) signalled the Center (or at least approached him before the restart). Thoughts?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Sarah
There is nothing that you could have done in this situation. It is a matter entirely for the referee crew to deal with based on their knowledge and understanding of the Laws.
The assessor's role is simply to observe, make notes and then speak to the referee crew after the game. What you can now do is ask the CR to brush up on his knowledge of the Laws and free kick mechanics.
As regards the incident the only gripe from the coach appears to be whether the GK touched the ball or not.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

During the match, there is nothing an assignor or an assessor can do to 'help' a referee in trouble. The laws do not permit instant appeals from a referees error (some leagues provide for protests after the match) and trying to fix the situation in the moment usually makes things worse. The referee loses confidence and makes more errors because the referee is thinking about the past rather than the present. The referee gets angry because the referee has been publicly embarrassed and quits rather than learns. Moreover, as you found, the person near the field doesn't know all that the referee saw or judged.

With new referees, you can ask someone to be at the field to be a mentor - - particularly when the entire referee team is new. A mentor is someone whom the referee can ask for guidance before or after the match or at the half. In a youth recreational match, a new referee might choose to ask the mentor for advice or confirmation during the match (but this can lead to other issues if players/coaches start 'appealing' to the mentor). The key to mentoring is that the mentor is a resource for the referee and the mentor waits to be asked (assists but does not insist). It seems that you had hoped that the referee could have mentored the new assistants, but even experienced referees sometimes are not good mentors.

In my experience, referees often get confused about the restart when the keeper touches a ball deliberately kicked by the foot of a teammate. Invariably, the referee places the ball at the wrong location or forgets to raise the arm. This referee compounded the mistakes, but with some guidance can learned from the experience.