Questions

[mississippiump]

Thanks for all the encouragement, no wonder you guys have such an elitist reputation. I would hope that if any of you would want to officiate other sports that you would get more encouragement than I have received here.

[ref47]

on behalf of my fellow refs, pls accept our appology for sounding like you are unwelcome. more refs are needed in almost all areas of the country. i believe that what was being expressed was a desire for you to immerse yourself in the game of soccer, its rules/laws, and its traditions to become the best ref you can be. being unfamiliar with a sport requires greater study to learn the appropriate determinations for play. i never played soccer. i attended youth matches and hs matches for about 14 years before picking up the whistle. but, i came with a background in applying a set of laws to situations, a desire to learn, and the time to devote to it.

your previous experience as a sports official will help you. you have been observing play, applying a set of rules, making judgement calls, handling adverse situations. these all will help. if you easily remember rules/laws and have the desire to learn about the sport you will succeed.

we wish you well in your endeavor.

[Texas Aggie]

Thanks for all the encouragement, no wonder you guys have such an elitist reputation. I would hope that if any of you would want to officiate other sports that you would get more encouragement than I have received here.

Its hardly elitist. Its more common sense. I don't understand soccer much (and don't work it; I do hoops and football), and I played it for probably 8 or so years as a kid. Hell, I don't even umpire baseball (because if I did the batter would have to have a boat paddle to hit everything I'd call a strike), and I played more of that than anything. I would never recommend someone officiate a sport they haven't played at least some form of. You don't have to have been an all-american or even have played on your high school varsity team. But you better know the game pretty well, because almost everyone else on the field will. I understand the games of basketball and football very well and while officiating them isn't easy by any stretch, I have a very good idea of how to judge contact, for example, in basketball, and pass interference (or holding), for example, in football.

It isn't enough to just learn the rules and go out there. Officiating, in most sports, is about creating a balance of play and penalizing a team for committing a rules infractions that gives them an unfair advantage. To know what an unfair advantage is, you have to know the sport reasonably well. Soccer may or may not fit under that guideline, but to know whether it does, you need to know the game.

[refnrev]

Originally Posted by mississippiump

Thanks for all the encouragement, no wonder you guys have such an elitist reputation. I would hope that if any of you would want to officiate other sports that you would get more encouragement than I have received here.

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Sorry you didn't like the responses, but there was no intent to "put you down." There was a strong desire to let you know that officiaitng a sport in which you have little knowledge just doesn't make sense. I do three sports because I know those three sports. When my son wrestled, I loved to watch the matches and the officials, but would never have considered officiating because I didn't know the ins and outs well enough. I know that we need all the refs we can get. So I hope you take the time needed to be around the game and learn the game well so that if and when you do decide to officiate you will be ready and can take the pitch as a knowledgabe and official and make a great contribution to the kids and the game!