FCArmstrong

Quick review of the past weekend.

It was hot. Hydration breaks were added, since this was the first week with air temps over 80 degrees F, then add in the turf temp. The real feel with humidity was close to 100!

Sometimes you clearly see a foul, but realize that players may be able to work through the foul and make something magical happen, so you hold your whistle for a few seconds to see if you can apply advantage.

Over the past two weeks I’ve had two of these magical moments that ended with the ball finding the back of the net. Both allowed me to downgrade cards. One was going to be a DOGSO Red for a hold that started 25 yds out from goal and continued for 5 seconds until the player made a square pass to a winger for a perfect finish. The second was a SPA at midfield that continued on to goal as a 3v1. Reading the game and knowing when to delay the whistle allows a good referee to be invisible.

About Handball

There are times the ball finds a players hand without the player making an action toward the ball or without making their body bigger by extending their arms. These are the moments where we can’t bail out the player who made a poor service or if the time to react between the pass or shot is not enough to penalize for handball. There is also that second surface provision. Learn to play through handballs if a referee sees an unfair advantage gained by an illegal act they can blow the whistle a few seconds later.