Thinking about becoming a soccer official

[BlitzkriegBob]

I am currently an NFHS softball and volleyball official, and an ASA and Little League baseball umpire. I live in a rural community in Indiana. I know we should be a hotbed for soccer since IU has such a successful program, but in my neck of the woods soccer is just a club sport with limited participation. While watching my son's high school football game last Friday, the mother of one of his teammates came over to ask me if I had ever thought about officiating soccer. She runs the soccer club and I guess she is having difficulty finding officials. I told her that I had a pretty full load of volleyball scheduled for this year and probably wouldn't be able to help her out, but she has now planted a bug in my ear about doing this.

I've always enjoyed soccer, and was in a similar situation myself as these kids since my high school in Texas in the late 70s and early 80s offered only club soccer. I would love to help out this program, but to be perfectly honest, I have a little concern about the physical requirements of officiating soccer. Volleyball is fairly effortless, and most fast pitch softball and baseball games don't have serious demands either. The only time I get a good workout is when I'm doing 4 slow pitch men's softball games as a one-man. I'm in decent shape, but I'm about to turn 43 and my body has taken a pounding over the years.

So here are my questions. How much do you typically run during a high school or middle school match? What about the assistant referee or linesman? How much training do you do to prepare for your season? What other physical demands are there? Are any of you as old as I am?

My expectations if I proceed with this would not be to officiate World Cup soccer, but merely to help out the local soccer program. In doing so, I would demand that I give the kids my best possible effort, but would like to make sure that my body can handle it before I commit to anything.

Thanks in advance for any advice, tips or suggestions you can offer.

[CecilOne]

Your age is certainly not a factor. I'm a lot older than you and I know quite a few others who are and we often do dual system HS Varsity/JV doubleheaders. Get a physical and do some pre-season running. If these are HS age players, you will run a lot, so conditioning is important. It is more demanding than a night of SP, although on your feet that long and by yourself in one-pitch is comparable except for the distance at one shot.
You said you've taken a beating over the years, but again a physical and some running will tell you if you can handle it. It is an easy sport to learn the basics, but I would recommend attending some kind of clinic even if you have to go a distance for it.

This forum gets very little participation compared to the NFHS forum
http://www.nfhs.org/scriptcontent/va...f=14&submit=Go

[refnrev]

BB,
You raise an interesting question. Here's a rambling response.
I'm 47 and started my HS season yesterday and, like all first days, I'm so sore that I feel like I've been run over by a truck today. I had three HS Boys games in the tournament. Nice temperatures but very high humidity. Questions to ask yourself are:
1. Are you talking about becoming a rec league ref, USSF ref, or IHSAA?
2. How much wear and tear has your body been through? That's going to be far more important than your age.
3. What are your knees like?
4. What's your weight like?
5. What's you overall health like?
6. Do you like the smell of Biofreeze? It will be your best friend!

If your interested in rec league and younger USSF games it's not very strenuous. USSF always uses a CR and two ARs, or for little guys and girls just one person. IHSAA uses either a 3-man crew or 2-man depending upon where you are. Often the skill and strength of the schools involved determine that. If you're going the IHSAA route, you might want to do MS or JV games at first. You could also ask or just be a linesman for a year to see what it's like, but if you do that become an expert on offside! In Indiana HS you are automatically put into an association based on where you live, so you'll want to get to know the assigner if your area association uses one. Southern Indiana (at least in the Evansville area) is a soccer hot bed and I officiated a lot of games in the E'ville, Washington, Vincennes area along with the Illinois schools around there. The rural schools often have problems finding officials, unless they use assigners through one of the associations.

There are some other things to keep in mind in Indiana. It's a state where the HS and MS volleyball seasons run concurrently. Also, the HS boys and girls both play soccer in the fall, where in many states the boys play in the fall and the girls play in the spring. Also the MS soccer seasons are in the fall. If you're going to ref soccer also, you're going to have a very full fall and will probabaly want to do USSF in the Spring.

Finally, every sport has a different "feel" and "environment" than others. I've done Indiana HS and MS basketball, soccer, and volleyball. Each one is very different but I enjoyed all three. But I love soccer and recommend it highly!

[ref2coach]

Both of the above answers are detailed and well thought out.
You asked "how much running"
In the DSC as the CR my pedometer tells me I average from a low of 3.5 miles to a high of 6.25 miles.
In an NFHS Dual Referee 1 average from a low of 1.6 to a high of 3.25 miles.
In a Middle School match .75 to 2.0.

It depends a lot on the skill of the team. Do they keep the ball on the field and in play? Do they kick the ball as far as they can and then chase the ball, which requires that I also "chase the pack"? Two very athletic teams playing "long ball" results in the most distance covered. Two very skilled teams playing short pass and control results in "medium" distance covered. Two poorly skilled teams that cannot keep the ball in play results in the shortest distance requirement.

[huh?]

I've never clocked it, but my initial reaction was that you should be able to run 3 miles or so nonstop without difficulty if you are going to be a hs official and do a good job. if you cannot, consider doing lower level and/or younger age groups. it is good to see r2c's numbers confirm that

I hope it worked out for you to get involved, and i hope you can find some sort of decent mentor to help your learning progression.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by huh?

I've never clocked it, but my initial reaction was that you should be able to run 3 miles or so nonstop without difficulty if you are going to be a hs official and do a good job. if you cannot, consider doing lower level and/or younger age groups. it is good to see r2c's numbers confirm that

I hope it worked out for you to get involved, and i hope you can find some sort of decent mentor to help your learning progression.

He did not say non-stop or 100% running.

[huh?]

Originally Posted by CecilOne

He did not say non-stop or 100% running.

No, he did not say non stop, or at 100%.

However, if a person cannot run for 3 miles or so, continuously, at a base pace, he is unlikely to be able to move well enough to officiate a varsity level HS game between two decent or better teams.

To be very good, I would suggest interval work, not simply 3 miles at a base pace. Just like players, a referee should be fit enough that his fitness does not become a drag on his decision making. with fatigue often comes slow or poor decision making. if an official knows this, but is not fit enough to move well for the entire 80 minutes, as needed, he will likely sacrifice some of his movement along the way - and miss being in a good position to make a decision.

Players get subs, officials do not, and this 24-30 minutes (8-10 minute miles) of continuous running is really not much in comparison to the demands of officiating a hs aged game. yea, you can get by with much less as an official, but the poster said he wants to be good at what he does, and not give less than what the student athletes deserve. imo, this is it.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by huh?

No, he did not say non stop, or at 100%.

However, if a person cannot run for 3 miles or so, continuously, at a base pace, he is unlikely to be able to move well enough to officiate a varsity level HS game between two decent or better teams.

To be very good, I would suggest interval work, not simply 3 miles at a base pace. Just like players, a referee should be fit enough that his fitness does not become a drag on his decision making. with fatigue often comes slow or poor decision making. if an official knows this, but is not fit enough to move well for the entire 80 minutes, as needed, he will likely sacrifice some of his movement along the way - and miss being in a good position to make a decision.

Players get subs, officials do not, and this 24-30 minutes (8-10 minute miles) of continuous running is really not much in comparison to the demands of officiating a hs aged game. yea, you can get by with much less as an official, but the poster said he wants to be good at what he does, and not give less than what the student athletes deserve. imo, this is it.

OK. Just that I can't run 3 miles continuously. As long as I get up to 1 1/2 miles before the season, have no trouble covering HS V & JV double-headers, usually covering more of the field than most dual officials.

[huh?]

Originally Posted by CecilOne

OK. Just that I can't run 3 miles continuously. As long as I get up to 1 1/2 miles before the season, have no trouble covering HS V & JV double-headers, usually covering more of the field than most dual officials.

You know, I guess I discount the dual system because I dislike it. There is no doubt less running involved there, and one can probably make it work out fine. We see more 3 man systems in my parts of the country, and my thoughts are tailored toward that.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by huh?

No, he did not say non stop, or at 100%.

However, if a person cannot run for 3 miles or so, continuously, at a base pace, he is unlikely to be able to move well enough to officiate a varsity level HS game between two decent or better teams.

To be very good, I would suggest interval work, not simply 3 miles at a base pace. Just like players, a referee should be fit enough that his fitness does not become a drag on his decision making. with fatigue often comes slow or poor decision making. if an official knows this, but is not fit enough to move well for the entire 80 minutes, as needed, he will likely sacrifice some of his movement along the way - and miss being in a good position to make a decision.

Players get subs, officials do not, and this 24-30 minutes (8-10 minute miles) of continuous running is really not much in comparison to the demands of officiating a hs aged game. yea, you can get by with much less as an official, but the poster said he wants to be good at what he does, and not give less than what the student athletes deserve. imo, this is it.

This is getting scary. I agree with everything you wrote here!

[huh?]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

This is getting scary. I agree with everything you wrote here!

aaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhhh