Tag: confidence
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Ref Life: Developing new refs and the IFAB’s Footballrules.com

This is part 3 of a 5 part series. After recertifying for US Soccer officiating in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 the US Soccer Referee Program has made changes in how to handle situations. In 2022 coaches and bench personell were typically not issued cards. There was a training method that believed handling situations…
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Ref Life: When the US Futsal league in Pittsburgh, changes buildings.

New location, new courts, working through the house rules. US Futsal in Monroeville has a new home with Pro Sports at All American Fieldhouse
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Ref Life: Transitioning to indoor.

Here in Pennsylvania the outdoor season is closing out and the indoor facilities are starting up. We have dasher board soccer, futsal, small sided outdoor fields and even full sized outdoor fields. No matter what version of the game, we need to remember that we are not only responsible for applying the laws of the…
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Ref Life: Becoming a Referee Mentor in Pennsylvania.

US Soccer changed the hierarchy and naming strategy of it’s referee program a few years ago. Since all of the state associations that implement the US Soccer changes are run by volunteers getting everything up and running and onboarded often takes a little time. Here are the steps if you’d like to get back into…
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Ref Life: PlumKickoff Classic Tools for Managing The Temperature- field, sideline, crowd.

Referees– What tools do you have in your toolbelt to manage player safety, fair play, sportsmanship and a general positive environment for our grassroots community players in PA West? If you are a first year referee there is a good chance you never thought about using non-verbal or non-audible tools to control the game. Creating…
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Ref Life: Has the soccer gotten any better?

After a long weekend of officiating a lot of games from U12 to open men, I have my answer. The question I have for you is what do you think?. . . Has American Soccer Improved? I’m not a kickball fan. When I played my teammates and I kicked around on our own, played 2v2…
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Protected: Wrapping up Pro-Sports Futsal 2024-25 Season.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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Let the game be the teacher.

The coach is frustrated with the impact of Youth Soccer Regional Travel Super Clubs on futsal training in Pittsburgh. He’s exhausted from officiating bad soccer, limited opportunities for players to play and master basics, and the lack of creativity and experimentation. He suggests thinking outside the box or creating a new playing environment.
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Ref Life: when questioning isn’t questioning.

Originally this was published for the referee community. After bouncing it around with a few of my colleagues I figured it was time to share this with all. Remember be kind to your referees. They are likely giving up family time to make sure you have a game. Can you name US Soccer’s 6 tasks…
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Ref Life: When you miss something in real time.

Guess what? As a referee we are human and do make mistakes or miss things. Yep that includes me. I had an epic miss last night during my match. However as a referee team, we caught the miss and made the correction during the normal flow of the game. Did you know as a referee,…