Hello referee community. My name is Matthew Campbell and I am a USSF certified soccer referee. First, let me tell you a little about myself and then I will get into what I want this blog to be.
I began reffing when I was 14 (I'm now 26) and reffed through high school, but only sporadically. When I graduated I moved from NE Ohio to Upstate South Carolina and re-upped my certification. After nearly 3 years I upgraded from grade 8 to grade 7. I've been a grade 7 since this past May. I have refereed Adult Men's amatuer, premier, academy, all the way down to U11 rec where I'm the only referee on the field. This past summer I got the opportunity to referee at Regionals in Baton Rouge, LA. Quite an experience for which I am extremely grateful.
So what will this blog be about? The obvious answer is what referees go through on the pitch. That is, the calls, the fans, the coaches, cards, positioning, etc. However, you hear about that all the time in meetings, emails, videos, etc. I also want this blog to investigate our preparation, our training (physical, mental, and educational), our equipment, and our debrief or post-game thoughts.
For instance, how many times have you thought: I need some new shoes, but what are good shoes for referees? Hopefully I can give you an idea of my thought process. You may benefit and you may say "what a bloody idiot". Either way I hope to help you make your purchase a quality one.
Lastly, I want this blog to be a conversation. I want the people who read this to comment and bring other points of view to the table. Maybe we're talking about dealing with mouthy players - do you go straight to the book and show the yellow for dissent? Could you pull the player aside and have a quiet chat with him? Do you chew his ass out so that the people on the next field over can hear you? Tell me (and us) what has worked for you.
Hope you enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you.
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