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Ref Life: NE Regional 2025
Ref, drink, sleep, repeat. Ref, drink, sleep, repeat. Ref drink, sleep, repeat. Lots of games. Approximately 44 just for me of the 1087 that were played between Friday and Monday. Lots of work for the crew of around 80 officials covering 20 futsal courts inside the Atlantic City Convention Center. Lots of decisions. The average…
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Ref Life: US Soccer New Abuse Prevention Program Launch.
I’m not sure if you know what life as a referee is like or what it is like to get a new referee on-boarded, trained, reinforced and back on the field game after game for the first three years. After 15 seasons, I’ve seen a whole lot and have many tools in my referee tool…
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Ref Life: Reducing Clutter: Mental, Physical, at home, scheduling.
On the pitch: No room for dissent. No room for abuse. Make decisions that will benefit the development of new and learning referees. Continued reflection after each match and after working with new team members. On the physical front: Remove boundaries that impact my overall health. Practice saying no to more games. Practice only scheduling…
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Ref Life: Homophobic slurs in a U9 game?
Football is supposed to unite. Football is supposed to be for everybody. Football is the universal game that reminds us we are all on this same planet together. In Lancaster this past winter my ears heard it from one of the parents in a U9 pool play game. Luckily the little GK didn’t speak Spanish…
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Ref Life: Heat, Waiting for Advantage, Hand to ball in a natural position, video learning.
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…
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Ref Life: Role Model Mindset- Pay
How do we give the next generation of referees the opportunities they need to grow and develop? How do we let them focus on the game and not on the external factors that prevent them from feeling safe? I spent the past weekend working the Plum Kickoff Classic for PA West Travel teams. These are…
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Somos Americanos: One Nation, One Team
After watching the MLB game at Rickwood Field last night, I took a moment to reflect how far we as a nation have come since the 1960’s but realize we still have a long way to go. US Soccer has been introducing a new series.
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Ref Life: Story Corp – Parents
Is there anything you wish parents understood about being an arbitro? This beautiful game is not basketball where every time we see something we need whistle the play dead. Wait and let the players learn to play through a foul, maybe they will show you something magical. Just like life, futbol teaches us to work…
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Ref Life: Story Corps- Red Card memories.
Do you have any favorite stories from issuing a red card? Normally a 2nd yellow card for unsporting behavior is an easy red card to issue. Normally I don’t think twice about the caution. Normally I let the laws of the game guide me and don’t double thing the situation. Normally I don’t take into…
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Ref Life: Story Corp in Pittsburgh
Ok so this may not be truly about being a ref, but in the spirit of reflection and sharing our stories, this was an item I wanted to share. I have been blessed to have great mentors in my soccer life as a player, coach and referee. Some of my mentor’s may have told me…
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FCArmstrong 