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!