Begin Officiating at 50?

[Back In The Saddle]

But he's from Cali. This is a very slow progression for him. If he weren't 19, he'd be doing D1 by now.

[ranjo]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

That's why we have the Mythbusters.

You should be pleased to note that I keep a copy in my pre-game notebook along with the top reasons to give and not to give a T.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Perhaps we should be discussing what age is too young to start.

I've never agreed with making someone so close to the age of the players the game official. The ability to control the situation just isn't there.

Agreed.

[ref2coach]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Perhaps we should be discussing what age is too young to start.

I've never agreed with making someone so close to the age of the players the game official. The ability to control the situation just isn't there.

Nevadaref your blanket statement is wrong for many very good teenage referees. In soccer I am a referee assessor. I routinely assess teenage referees working games of players within 1 to 2 years of their own age and doing an excellent job. "Ability to Control" is a function of personal ability and training, not a "group" characteristic.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by ref2coach

Nevadaref your blanket statement is wrong for many very good teenage referees. In soccer I am a referee assessor. I routinely assess teenage referees working games of players within 1 to 2 years of their own age and doing an excellent job. "Ability to Control" is a function of personal ability and training, not a "group" characteristic.

I'm a well-known soccer referee on the west coast. I've done literally hundreds of HS contests, including state finals, and youth soccer games at high level tournaments, including regionals.
I have seen lots of youth referees, and I have seen lots of youth referees doing a great job of calling fouls, throw-ins, goal kicks, and corners. These kids may someday turn into excellent referees, but right now are lacking in the people skills area. They are merely robots running around on the field blowing the whistle. There is next to no management going on. That's fine for a U12 or U14 game, but when the player reach HS age, especially for HS varsity matches, that's just not enough.

I have yet to see a youth referee CONTROL the environment at a game.

Perhaps you and I are not thinking the same thing when I say control the game. So let me attempt to define it. It encompasses all of the following.

A. Command of the field: Taking charge of problem players on the field and get them to fall in line by having a word. Using their voice as a tool during the game. If a card has to be shown, that's the way it goes for some knuckleheads, but a strong referee can get the majority of the players, especially kids, to behave as needed without using the cards. Most youth referees can't do this because they don't have that parenting ability/experience. Dealing with injuries.

B. Bench decorum. Is a hollering coach being dealt with? Is the adult on the bench showing proper respect to the young referee on the field? If not, is the referee demanding that from the coach? How are the substitutes behaving? Are they remaining in the team areas or are they up wandering around where they shouldn't be? Are the coaches bickering with each other? Are the substitutions being handled properly or are they doing it however they please? Using the captains to help.

C. Spectator situations. Are the parents acting in a proper manner for a youth or scholastic game? Does the referee know where the game/site administrator is? If there isn't one around is the referee capable of handling a situation with a fan? What if a fan has to be removed? Are the spectators where they should be? Do the ARs have enough room to operate? Do the ARs have to clear people out of the way themselves or does the Referee look out for his crew?

D. Awareness of upset players/people and potential problems. Knowing game time remaining, knowing which players are fouling frequently and dealing with that, knowing which players are the captains. Knowing the score, knowing who is in the book, knowing that a card will result in a send-off before looking in the book. Ramifications of bad blood from from previous games/seasons/or years.

E. Partner disagreements and over-zealous assitants. How does the Referee handle these? Can the referee tell an adult partner that his call is incorrect or unnecessary and isn't going to be accepted? Can he tell an over-zealous one to focus on his own area?

F. Odd situations. Does the referee have enough experience to handle the strange situations that sometimes come up? Has the referee seen that before and know what to do? Is there enough wise judgment in this person to make a quality decision? Can the official think out of the box?

G. Applying the spirit and intent of the rule vs the letter of the law. Was the person even around when the rule was written/changed/clarified. Does the person understand the history of the development of the rule?

H. Big game pressure and situations. Rivalry games. Dealing with bad blood from previous years? Is the required courage there to make the tough or unpopular call?

I. When the referee walks onto the field do the players and coaches think, "Good we have XXX today" or something else less positive?

I have yet to see a referee under the age of 21 who can do all of that. Most under the age of 25 don't. I'm not saying that it isn't possible for people of those ages to do a quality job, especially when they are partnered with someone who is older. However, if the adult/veteran is handling the game control/game management and the younger official is just focusing on the basics, then he isn't really taking care of business. Someone else is doing a good deal of the work for him and that is allowing him to succeed.

I'm convinced that "ability to control" has a great deal to due with age and maturity. Very little of it can be taught. I must be learned from experience. Feel free to disagree, but I am certain that I am more than qualified to make the statement that I did.

[CaRef5]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Perhaps we should be discussing what age is too young to start.

I've never agreed with making someone so close to the age of the players the game official. The ability to control the situation just isn't there.

everyone is intitled to their opinion... but im pretty sure i could sell my control of the game anywhere i officiate




and i am not a "soccer ref" i dont just run around blow my whistle lookin like a "robot", and imo soccer is a much easier sport to officiate then basketball. Disagree if you like but im only 19

[Adam]

Originally Posted by CaRef5

everyone is intitled to their opinion... but im pretty sure i could sell my control of the game anywhere i officiate




and i am not a "soccer ref" i dont just run around blow my whistle lookin like a "robot", and imo soccer is a much easier sport to officiate then basketball. Disagree if you like but im only 19

I'm just curious, but what exactly do you base this opinion on?

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by ranjo

You should be pleased to note that I keep a copy in my pre-game notebook along with the top reasons to give and not to give a T.

There's reasons not to?

[Jim Henry]

Welcome! 50 is NOT too old!

I’m 54 and now in my eighth season. For me it may have been a mid-life crisis. Looking for something different to do. My son was playing grade school ball and so my interests in the game was re-sparked.

My games are 5 thru JV. No desire to do V games.
I like being part of the game. Like the exercise and like to be a “teacher”, not a coach.

I hate, like every ref, making a mistake. But you’re going to blow a call. Learn from it. Check the rule or case book and move on. I hate the parents screaming at the refs. At least with a screaming coach, I can take care of it with a warning or T.
Proficient? Hey I learn something every year. This forum and case book always keeps me on my toes, and I look up situations that have occurred in my games or games I watch. Seems like there is always a unique situation every year that I double check the ruling in the book.

Best wishes!

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

I'm just curious, but what exactly do you base this opinion on?

The fact that he's too young to know any better.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

The fact that he's too young to know any better.

I remember when I was that young and knew everything.

I miss that.

[jdmara]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Perhaps we should be discussing what age is too young to start.

I've never agreed with making someone so close to the age of the players the game official. The ability to control the situation just isn't there.

I'm sure I'm going to take an unpopular stance but I'm going with Nevada on this one. I was thinking about this last night after reading the first few posts of this thread. Although I consider myself a young official (only 26), I think that with age comes a lot of great qualities that official's must possess to excel. The major thing that many younger official's fail to possess is emotional maturity to handle tense situations (especially with disgruntle coaches). It's just a fact of life that emotional maturity isn't something we are innate with from birth. On the other hand, I've met many "older" adults that still don't have this skill either.

My $0.02

-Josh

[CaRef5]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

I remember when I was that young and knew everything.

I miss that.

yeah, maybe you should ask for youth for christmas

[JRutledge]

You should be able to start at any age as long as you can do the job. And working a kid’s game is very different than working a varsity game. I do not see many 18 year olds working games where the players are their age in the first place. If anything they might work with players that are much older. If youth is overplayed, so is how old you are. We are not in a position to get all upset if someone wants to officiate. We need all the good people regardless of age to work games.

Peace

[ChrisSportsFan]

50 is not to old at all. You have years of life experience which you will be able to apply. Not sure what type of business you are in but I'm guessing you have people skills that you can transfer over to the officiating world.

I love the adrenaline rush before during and after every game.

I really don't like it when people don't know the rules. I think many fans, coaches, players and even some officials would really enjoy this game if only they knew the rules.



Considering young officials...my 15 yo Son already has about 250 games under his belt and it's amazing to see his growth. He does a great job calling the game but his game management still has a long way to go. We discuss many situations and then he tries to apply them. He's generally in the right place and looking where he is supposed to but still needs to improve on his mechanics. I try to tell him that if he calls a good game and has sharp mechanics then people will say "he's young but he knows what he is doing". I believe this paragraph applies to all of us except maybe not the "he's young" part.