Dana, Stephanie, Jo

The season is two weekends old, where did the time go?

McArthur Island hosted TOYSL games and I was fortunate to watch several of our members in action. 

Below is commentary and clips, the goal is to provide some visual feedback for all members and recognize the hard work and effort of our officials. Scroll down to get the full experience.

I'm always impressed and in awe of new officials for taking the time to complete a course then put themselves out in front of others as a referee. I'm trying to remember my first games and I think I've blacked out most of the memories! Anyway, this post spotlights a couple of brand new KSRA members.

This was Dana's second game, ever. She had attended a couple of pre-season training sessions and now was putting into practice what she's learned. In clip 1, she is watching play. Flag is in her left hand. Play moves into her quadrant and she moves with it. At 13 sec mark she quickly checks to ensure she's in line with the second last defender. Around 25 sec, play breaks through and she does a quick turn and sprint (flag in left hand) to keep up. She stops with play and moves back up the field, switching the flag to the right hand. Well done Dana! (we'll loop back about the uniform in a bit).

Clip 1

Stephanie earned her badge this March. In Clip 2, watch as she is following play down her line, then switches to side step to fully face the field. She does small side steps to keep the play in front of her, then when play moves towards the half way line, she keeps in line with the back line. After a couple of steps she remembers to keep the flag on the field side and switches. Notice how she 'locks' the flag in place - arm straight, flag point to the ground. Awesome technique! Finally, it's subtle, but she twice quickly looks away from the ball and checks the back line. Well done Stephanie!

Clip 2

Jo is a second year official. She's worked hard to continually improve her positioning to get the best angle of view. Clip 3 is a corner kick. Jo is positioned to keep most of the players in front of her. The ball comes in, she adjusts, then does a quick sprint as the ball is cleared to the side. Ball is played back in, there's a shot and Jo is in position to see the play develop. As the clip ends she's moving up field but still keeping an eye on the keeper. Well done Jo!

Clip 3

And back to Dana. 

Clip 1 was first half. Dana made adjustments to her kit for the second half which shown in the photo at the top.

#welldoneDana!