Referees: Ask Us Anything

[Anonymous]

2 refs for a u16 game, where do the refs position themselves and how do they determine the offensive responsibilities?

We had a game one ref was on field with usual responsibilities the other ref stayed on one side monitoring off sides and out of bounds etc but at half switched to the other end so the same team had a ref monitoring off sides while no one was monitoring the other team. Shouldn't the ref on the same side so they would monitor the other team? or should both refs been on the field but close enough to the sidelines to be able to make most of the calls?

It didn't impact the outcome of the game but certainty the number of off sides calls.

[Anonymous]

How do you as a ref. draw the line between stalling and good clock management. Lets say 5 minutes left in game up 1 goal. NCSL has no stoppage time correct? How do you deal with winning team Kicking the ball far off the field at every chance they get? Or substituting on every dead ball.

[Anonymous]

RantingSoccerDad wrote:Someone suggested a referee AMA on the VYS thread. That actually seems like a good idea.

I've only been reffing for a couple of years. For my first two years, I did a wide range of games -- many different age groups, several different leagues and tournaments, etc. Since I caught COVID-19 in March and felt that my lungs hadn't fully recovered, I eased back into it this year doing U-9 and U-10 games, mostly in the VYS House league but also some NCSL games and WAGS Tournament games. I feel good, so I'm taking some slightly bigger challenges toward the end of the season.

I know other refs lurk here. And I know a lot of parents have questions (or faulty assumptions).

So ... ask away. And answer away.

Why do you miss so many calls, and always seem to favor the other team?

[Anonymous]

Why do many refs struggle so hard to apply the offsides rule? What kind of training is provided on this rule?

[Anonymous]

How are referees assigned to matches? Is there one organization in the DMV that assigns all games? Does ECNL, CCL, NCLS etc have their own specific referee pools? How does this work?

[Anonymous]

Many refs seem to be overweight elderly men. Why is this?

[Anonymous]

What does a player need to do (or not do) to effectively shield another player from the ball to allow it to go out of bounds, or allow their goalie to make a play for the ball? Effective, meaning they aren't called for interference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many refs seem to be overweight elderly men. Why is this?

Don't worry. Covid will fix this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are referees assigned to matches? Is there one organization in the DMV that assigns all games? Does ECNL, CCL, NCLS etc have their own specific referee pools? How does this work?

There are referee assignors. There are so so many. For example, there is one assignor that does all NCSL games, there are multiple assignors that do EDP, ECNL, MLS Next, NPL, State Cup, etc. Most clubs have their own assignors for their rec leagues and SFL home games. All these games get dumped into a huge database called Game Officials. Individual referees contact the assignors and then that assignor grants that referee access to view and request games assigned to that assignor. So for example, I work with 4 assignors, so I see dozens and dozens of games available each weekend. I can "self assign" games with a click of a button and let the assignor know. Each tournament has it's own assignor as well. So there is actually competition between assignors to get more games for them to assign. With that said, I always find it funny when people say...NCSL refs suck or NCSL gets the worst refs, or ODSL or whatever....leagues do NOT have their own pool of referees. I hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does a player need to do (or not do) to effectively shield another player from the ball to allow it to go out of bounds, or allow their goalie to make a play for the ball? Effective, meaning they aren't called for interference.

Make sure the ref doesn't see what they're doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do many refs struggle so hard to apply the offsides rule? What kind of training is provided on this rule?

I find offside to be one of the simplest rules to apply in general. It could get complicated with rebounds in a crowd in front of the goal. The training is reading the Laws of the Game and a watching a few videos. That's it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are referees assigned to matches? Is there one organization in the DMV that assigns all games? Does ECNL, CCL, NCLS etc have their own specific referee pools? How does this work?

There are referee assignors. There are so so many. For example, there is one assignor that does all NCSL games, there are multiple assignors that do EDP, ECNL, MLS Next, NPL, State Cup, etc. Most clubs have their own assignors for their rec leagues and SFL home games. All these games get dumped into a huge database called Game Officials. Individual referees contact the assignors and then that assignor grants that referee access to view and request games assigned to that assignor. So for example, I work with 4 assignors, so I see dozens and dozens of games available each weekend. I can "self assign" games with a click of a button and let the assignor know. Each tournament has it's own assignor as well. So there is actually competition between assignors to get more games for them to assign. With that said, I always find it funny when people say...NCSL refs suck or NCSL gets the worst refs, or ODSL or whatever....leagues do NOT have their own pool of referees. I hope that helps.

My understanding is that assignors will generally try to ensure that higher level games get more experienced refs though - no? The refs we used to get in DA seemed to be consistently better than those at lower levels of travel soccer. And we never got teenagers just learning to be refs like the younger kids used to get...

[Anonymous]

How much are refs paid ? please list a break down age , league. field vs sideline

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does a player need to do (or not do) to effectively shield another player from the ball to allow it to go out of bounds, or allow their goalie to make a play for the ball? Effective, meaning they aren't called for interference.

So in order to "interfere" a player needs to be within distance of the ball to be able to play the ball. So a player can position his body in between the ball and defender as long as they are in a leg's reach of the ball. They cannot instigate contact with the defender while doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are referees assigned to matches? Is there one organization in the DMV that assigns all games? Does ECNL, CCL, NCLS etc have their own specific referee pools? How does this work?

There are referee assignors. There are so so many. For example, there is one assignor that does all NCSL games, there are multiple assignors that do EDP, ECNL, MLS Next, NPL, State Cup, etc. Most clubs have their own assignors for their rec leagues and SFL home games. All these games get dumped into a huge database called Game Officials. Individual referees contact the assignors and then that assignor grants that referee access to view and request games assigned to that assignor. So for example, I work with 4 assignors, so I see dozens and dozens of games available each weekend. I can "self assign" games with a click of a button and let the assignor know. Each tournament has it's own assignor as well. So there is actually competition between assignors to get more games for them to assign. With that said, I always find it funny when people say...NCSL refs suck or NCSL gets the worst refs, or ODSL or whatever....leagues do NOT have their own pool of referees. I hope that helps.

My understanding is that assignors will generally try to ensure that higher level games get more experienced refs though - no? The refs we used to get in DA seemed to be consistently better than those at lower levels of travel soccer. And we never got teenagers just learning to be refs like the younger kids used to get...

Yes, some games just are available in Game Officials and those assignors have their smaller pool of referees.