Quinn, Emi, Stephen

So, this edition of OiA highlights referees in a fun, theme based post! Can you guess the theme?

Wait for it...

Summer Movie Blockbusters!


In this clip we see our local Superman Quinn fly down the touchline. He gets to the goal line then calmly signals corner kick. Look at the form, the composure, the posture! A Man of Steel.  Well done Quinn!

We turn our attention to Emi, whom we see patrol the touchline ever vigilant for transgressions of the Laws. Watch as Emi faces play, and is continually adjusting to remain on the offside line. She turns and runs to keep up with play, constantly switching her view between the ball and the offside line. She judges the attacker (in white) to be in an offside position when the ball is played. She also judges that the player is the only attacker able to play the ball so she signals offside. In short, she brings The Heat! Well done, Emi!

And now and example of field movement and keeping up with play, courtesy of Stephen! The action starts with a corner and Stephen correctly positioned as per FIFA recommendations. The kick comes in and breaks up the far touchline. Stephen easily moves with play, crossing the field, ending up near the play in the other end.  As he's moving he checks with his AR, a fine example of teamwork. You could say he stalks the play like a Wolverine! Well done, Stephen!

Tatjana

So, after a break, OiA returns rested and raring to go!

Tonight OiA was fortunate to see one of KSRA's up and coming officials, Tatjana.

OiA was double fortunate to have access to technology to visualize the referee's performance. Using a "satellite" equipped with a "tractor beam" GPS we discover the following:

More than 5 km over the 90 min and the avg speed up a tick in the 2nd half (a sign of good fitness).

Looking at the gps track... 1st half Tat ran a very good diagonal. North-south coverage was between the two penalty areas. And within the diagonal good movement.

1st half

In the second still very good north-south coverage but diagonal less pronounced. However, windy conditions at Hillside keeps the ball to one side and the game lacked east-west passing. And yet, Tatjana still moved from penalty area to penalty area.

2nd half

Overall, a very good example as field coverage and movement. Well done Tatjana!

Graeme, Dylan, Marissa, Sophia, Ashley, Jared

This past week OiA was fortunate to watch six small side officials. These officials range from first year (in fact first couple of games) to veterans (2nd year reffing). Common thread? They all are eager and demonstrated a desire to do their best. OiA is pleased that the future of officiating is in such good hands.

Graeme is a first year official (2nd game I believe) but showed an awareness and attention of a seasoned official. First, prior to the starting kick off he noticed a goalie wearing the same jersey as his teammates, and so Graeme instructed the coach to put a pinnie on the keeper. Then, during the game, after a substitution (which at this level is a wave of players entering and leaving the field), Graeme counted and noticed a team was short a player, and advised the coach. Two good examples of awareness! In this clip, Graeme is following play, watch as he makes small movements to keep play in view. Ball crosses the touchline, he blows his whistle and signals direction. You don't need to blow your whistle every time the ball goes out (cause then the whistle loses effectiveness), but considering this is game #2 in his career, OiA doesn't mind. Well done Graeme!

Dylan is a new official who attended several pre season training sessions, and the results certainly show. Dylan demonstrates confidence and control as shown by his opening kick off routine as shown in the next two clips.
In clip 1, Dylan *carries* the ball to centre and places it on the mark. No unprofessional dribbling or throwing the ball here, no siree! He goes to his kick off position (correctly  standing to the left and slightly behind the ball) and awaits the other team. Jump to clip 2 and both teams are ready. Dylan *counts* the players, starts his watch, blows his whistle and makes a great arm signal.  

In this next clip, we catch up with Dylan in the middle of a substitution. Remember, the story about Graeme counting to ensure the correct number of players before restarting? We see Dylan do this, then he blows his whistle to restart play and gives a direction signal. Play moves and he crosses the field to keep it in view. Well done Dylan!

Marissa is a friend of the show. OiA caught up with Marissa as she was completing an injury procedure. You can see the coach assisting off the injured player and Marissa sets up for a drop ball to restart play. She correctly positions herself and drops the ball. Perfect. A couple of notes... if a coach or trainer enters the field to assist an injured player, that player needs to leave the field, or be substituted. This happened here. Next, because Marissa stopped play when the ball was on the field, proper restart is a drop ball where the ball was when play was halted. Again, this happened here. Referees don't want to 'direct' the restart (eg. tell the players who can participate or tell a team to kick it back), that is for the teams to decide. Marissa restarted the game properly and with no fuss. Well done Marissa!

Sophia is a new official and this is her second game in the middle. During the game she (correctly) called several fouls. We catch up to her just as a goal kick is coming in. She has good position then follows play through to another goal kick which she signals. Well done Sophia!

Finally, OiA watched Jared in action. Jared is a returning official and this clip shows Jared demonstrating several positive attributes.
First, ball goes out and Jared signals direction. Throw comes in and Jared determines it is a foul throw, so he blows his whistle to stop play. He does a quick demo of why the throw was illegal (lifting the back foot). The next action he does is subtle, but shows awareness - he points to where the throw should come in (because the other team wasn't certain). Another foul throw which Jared whistles back (showing consistency) and then play finally resumes. Play comes at him, he makes way and turns his body to always be watching and moves easily to keep it in view. He makes it look easy. Well done Jared!

Trevor, Marissa with a touch of Nathan and Emi

Today's OiA features Trevor and Marrisa with Nathan and Emi thrown in for good measure! A cornucopia of officiating excellence!

Trevor is a Regional referee. In this clip he is patrolling the touchline (looking resplendent in Adjudicator kit). Watch as he is focused the entire time on his task. He easily follows the offside line, breaking into a light jog when needed. He continually switches his view from offside line to the play and back again, especially when he is moving back up the field. Strong, confident body language, but relaxed at the same time. Well done Trevor!

In this next clip, we encounter a player setting up for a corner kick. Scan over and we find the referee, Nathan, correctly positioned for the ensuing kick (near where the penalty arc meets the penalty area), per FIFA.

FIFA recommended positioning for corner kicks

The kick occurs and carries across the net and then over the goal line (for a goal kick). Emi is correctly positioned on the goal line and correctly signals goal kick. Finally, the clip ends and we see Nathan sprinting to his goal kick restart position.

FIFA positioning on a goal kick

And last but not least, OiA presents Marissa.  Marissa is working as AR. Marissa has been working hard and the results are showing! As the clip opens, Marissa is observing play, flag correctly held in her left hand. Play breaks and she follows. She turns and signals offside, but the referee overrules her. No big deal, she continues and runs to catch up with play. With the offside signal, Marissa correctly raised the flag in her *right* hand, straight up. She then lowered it to indicate the area of the field (far, middle, close). To make this a perfect sequence, we like AR's to signal offside by raising the flag in the right hand, straight up, then hold it there until the referee blows his whistle or signals to lower it. In this case the referee decided to not accept Marissa's signal and play continued. This happens and Marissa didn't pout or get angry, but worked to catch up to play. A fine example of teamwork from the referee (for acknowledging the signal, and Marissa for making the signal then continuing on). Well done, Marissa!

Zahkary, Kaitlyn, Kassidy

Todays OiA is sponsored by the letter K.

We start of with a couple of examples of in-game dynamic movement. In other words, moving and positioning yourself to keep up with play and be in position to call fouls.  (As opposed to the ref who stays in the centre circle the entire match - don't be THAT guy!).

Example 1. This clip starts with Zahkary watching play. There is a break up the right touch line, watch was Zahkary not only moves with it (breaking into a light jog), but he moves closer. At 15 sec he calls offside and correctly signals it with a whistle and arm straight up. To assist the younger players he moves to the spot of the restart to show where the ball is to be. He then moves downfield and gives himself a wide angle of view. The ball is kicked and he lowers his arm when the ball touches another player. Ball crosses the touchline, he moves closer and indicates direction. Nice sequence! Only feedback is that Zahkary doesn't need to keep his arm up for offside the *entire* time (cause that makes your arm tired). He could call offside and raise the arm, then lower it as he moves to his restart position, then raise it again before the kick. Overall, Well done!

 

Example 2 of in-game dynamic movement. We catch Kaitlyn using a diagonal movement to follow play. The diagram shows her movement.  
At 16 sec as she is heading back up the field, around the center mark, play turns towards her. Kaitlyn does a neat about face and continues moving. This game does not have AR's but Kaitlyn is running a diagonal as if she did have AR's, and because of this she will be well prepared for when she has AR's. A great example of diagonal movement. Well done Kaitlyn!

I think I've written this before, but it bears repeating... I'm always impressed when a young official officiates adults (either as ref or AR). Sometimes, I think people forget the courage and determination it takes for youths to make decisions that affect adults.

Which leads us to Kassidy, a brand new official working her first game as AR. We catch up with Kassidy running down the touchline keeping up with play. Flag is correctly facing the field in her *left* hand. She runs to near the goal line and turns and faces the field. She switches the flag to her *right* hand, which is correct procedure when an AR is facing the field within the penalty area. Kassidy follows play up the touchline and when the ball goes out, she makes a direction signal. The flag should be a bit higher on the signal (think top of flag, top of head), but this is her first AR assignment and the important issue is that she made the signal. Form will follow! Well done Kassidy!

Danielle, Hailey

OiA was fortunate and caught a game with a couple of young officials with bright futures.

Danielle completed the entry level course this year and this is her 3rd game. 

In this clip, Danielle is near the halfway line facing the field with the flag correctly held in her left hand. Play breaks through and she turns and runs to keep up. Flag remains in her left hand (facing the field of play) and as she runs she keeps watching the play. Ball is kicked over the goal line for a goal kick. She stops, faces the field and makes a confident goal kick signal. Well done Danielle!

The other AR was Hailey, who has been reffing for a couple of seasons. Last summer she attended the BC Summer Games. She demonstrates great AR mechanics.

In this clip, Hailey is watching play, side stepping to face the field. As the ball is played forward, she continually shifts her focus from the ball to the offside line. She moves with the 2nd to last defender. Ball crosses the touchline, outside her quadrant. She looks at the referee and mirrors his signal. Perfect.

This next clip starts off and we see the ball played near the goal line. Pan over to Hailey and we see she has followed the ball all the way. She smoothly follows play back up and when there's action she moves to keep with the offside line. She faces the field side stepping as much as she can. Here's the kicker... whistle sounds to end the game, which means she was putting in this much effort right to the end! Fantastic effort and concentration. That's the difference between a good official and a great official. Well done Hailey

Finally, what is teamwork? Well, it can be as simple as a referee and an AR making the same signal at the same time.


This image shows Danielle and the referee (Roger) in synch on a goal kick signal. If you zoom in, you'll see fantastic form by Danielle - body straight, left arm by her side, right arm holding the flag straight out. In addition, Roger is making a good goal kick signal using (correctly) his left arm. Notice the ball, between the referee and the AR. Great example of teamwork Roger and Danielle!

Rob, Matthew

OiA checked out some games at Mac Island today, and OiA liked what OiA saw. 
First we see Rob working the line like a boss.

The clip opens with Rob easily moving to keep up with the offside line. Ball goes to keeper, Rob turns and moves up field with the 2nd to last defender and switches the flag to the right hand. Watch as he checks the defender and the ball. The defense moves, he moves. At 29 sec he moves up field along with the defender. The clip ends with a ball out down the line from his position. Rob turns to the field and makes a nice, calm signal. The referee is shown in the clip and watch the two officials. They signal at the same time and there is eye contact, a great example of team work. Well done Rob!

Teamwork

Next, OiA observed a new official, Matthew. 
I'm always in awe of our young, new referees. They learn a lot in a short period of time then are asked to go put it into practice. 
In this clip, Matthew watches as the ball is thrown in, then calls offside at 17 sec. He moves back and raises his arm to signal indirect and holds it until the ball is touched by another player. Nicely done. To make this a perfect sequence, raise the arm signalling indirect kick when the whistle is blown. This clearly tells players that it's an offside.
Moving along, play comes back and a goal is scored. Matthew points at centre and moves to position. Sweet.

This next clip is the kick off right after the goal above. Matthew positions himself to the left of the centre mark. The ball is off the centre mark and Matthew notices and correctly advises the player to fix. He whistles to restart play then signals end of game. Matthews restart position on kick off was very nearly perfect - he was to the left of the centre mark, but he needed to be *behind* the ball. All-in-all, well done Matthew!

Kick off position as per FIFA

Leah, Kiel

It's back for 2013!
KSRA Officials in Action (OiA).
A showcase of KSRA in, well, action.
The goals of OiA are to:

• Highlight the hard work and effort put forth by Kamloops and area referees and Assistant Referees;
• Illustrate good technique and skill using video;
• Provide development commentary where needed to further assist the learning process.

Most times, the 'little' things officials do are unseen and unacknowledged.
OiA hopes these postings provide a bit of recognition to KSRA members and allows others to see and learn from each other.
(clips are best viewed full screen)

The 2013 outdoor season kicks off with a new referee - Leah.
OiA captured Leah on the line in her 2nd day of officiating.

The clip starts and Leah is walking back to centre matching the second to last defender. Notice the flag is in her *right* hand facing the field of play.  The ball goes out outside her quadrant, she looks at the referee, straightens up and makes a confident signal mirroring the referee. Notice the slow and calm delivery. Play continues, she adjusts her speed to match the defenders moving up. Play turns and she gets into a ready position and does little side steps to keep even with the offside line. Ball goes out, she mirrors the referee signal. Awesome!

In her next game, Leah is correctly positioned to observe a corner kick. Kick comes in, she sidesteps to follow play always facing the field. Leah moves up the field with the 2nd to last defender, then as play comes back, she turns and makes a run correctly switching the flag to the *left* hand (facing the field). She follows the ball to the goal line and after the ball crosses makes a strong, confident goal kick signal. Well done!

Next, OiA welcomes back Kiel, a friend of the show.
In the clip below, Kiel is running to follow play, (flag correctly held in left hand). Ball goes out, he stops, and makes a unhurried signal. You can see the 2nd to last defender continue past Kiel. After his signal, he walks back to pick up the offside line, and moves forward with the player (flag now in the right hand closest to the field). He checks the player once, then twice to ensure he is level. The player stops, he stops, and he's ready to go.

Well done Leah and Kiel!