Game Report
 

Had my first USSF center today. I have done 3 lines in the past couple weeks, but have not centered since under NFHS rules back in the fall.

Gave 2 penalties, one of which was a DOGSO red for handling the ball on the goal line. One of my AR's was brand new (2nd game ever) and she flagged it immediately. I gave the PK and then went to talk to her. We discussed the situation and agreed on the red and identified the player. I had never done that before and was happy how well (I thought) I handled it. No complaints on the red. The other AR also helped call the second PK.

Did ok overall. My experienced AR told me to stay with the tackles a little longer before turning my head to the next one, because one team was coming in late out of frustration. I did my best to keep both the ball and my AR's in sight at all times, but I could have done better. The field was terrible and I found myself running through the center circle a lot, and being too close to play. On one PK my AR later told me that the keeper was off the goal line before the kick was taken, which I should have taken care of before the kick. It didn't matter as the goal was scored anyway, but I need to work on my PK management.

Sounds like you had a fun day! What age level? I ran the lines (in those days, we were called linesman, not ARs), but never did a middle with trained partners on the lines. I imagine going from 1-ref to 3 is quite an adjustment, like going from 2 to 3 in basketball.

If you mean the GK was off the line before you blew the whistle for the kick, wasn't the AR on the line to alert you? If he took that quick little hop forward, don't keepers always cheat that way? In either event, you handled it correctly--you can't penalize the offensive team with a re-try for the GK's transgression. Play on.

What is DOGSO? A lot of new jargon for me to learn!

U14 girls I think. I've never done 1 ref, so that is an experience that is foreign to me as well. I started doing the dual system, but quickly moved to three-person.

Yes, I never made sure the GK was on her line before whistling for the start of the kick. My AR was trying to get my attention but I never looked at him. I kinda painted myself into a corner -- if the keeper had blocked the shot and my AR had flagged then we would have had to re-kick. Basically, I didn't do some preventative officiating which I should have. And in soccer, certain types of preventative officiating (especially when it comes to management of ceremonial kicks) are expected.

DOGSO stands for Denial Of Goal Scoring Opportunity. There are two types, fouls and handling. DOGSO-Foul involves an attacker who is through or nearly through on goal and a foul by the defense that prevents a goal scoring opportunity. Think about the "clear path" foul in the NBA -- that is DOGSO-F in soccer.

DOGSO-Handling is when the ball is going into the goal, and a defender keeps it out by deliberately handling the ball. Think what Luis Suarez did 4 years ago at the World Cup. 3:22 of this video.

DOGSO = Denial of Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity
:)

I gotcha, but technically this situation falls under the language "denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball".

Does that mean we should call this DTOTAG (denying the opposing team a goal)???

I've seen the following acronyms used in reports: DGH (Denying a Goal by Handling), DOGSO-H, and DOGSO-F (or sometimes the shorter DGF). The first two apply to the first bullet point below, while the last applies to the second. Pick whichever is appropriate for the circumstances. (From your description above, it sounds like DGH occurred in the match that you did.)

• denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a goalkeeper within his own penalty area)
• denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick

Additionally, I will tell you that the "F" in the final one does not stand for "Foul," but rather "Free kick." Under LOTG the offense does not have to be a foul, just an offense or infraction. Under NFHS rules the infringement must be a foul punishable by a DIRECT free kick. One of many differences between the two.

Recently, it seems that several countries have moved to a code system for the various cautionable and sendoff offenses using C1 through C7 and S1 through S7.

Had my first U16 boys center yesterday. This was after two AR's (170 min total). About 25 minutes in had a striker and defender (also a captain) collide while challenging for the ball. The ball squirted away and then they started bitch-slapping each other. There were arms flailing everywhere. I was about 10 yards away when they started. They shoved each other away and the captain started yelling at me how the striker punched him. I didn't see one, yellow for both. I came off the field at halftime (0-0 tie) thinking I had done a shit job.

Two more yellows in the 2nd half -- one to a white jersey midfielder who was close to getting booked for dissent when he kicked the ball away after I called a foul on him. After two or three calls in a row against white (and now being down 1-0), they were starting to get a little frustrated. White had an attack developing near the bench when a blue player fouled to break it up. The white coach started yelling, but I already had my card out. Tactical yellow.

Had a couple fouls throughout the game where each player said "but I got the ball!!". Thankfully I was able to match up one of those calls that gave blue a good free kick from the left side of the area with a similar foul giving white a free kick from 25 yards. The blue defender started to complain, but I was already yelling "SAME CALL!" and pointing to the other end of the field. White took it quickly, but nothing came of it. Game finished with a true soccer score: 1-0. Still a lot to work on though, especially knowing how to answer the tough questions that players ask.