RefTalk

Down here in the wonderful South our youth leagues begin in the fall and close in the early winter, just before Christmas.  For the second year I was invited by the State Cup assignor to join many very good referees for the semi-finals and finals of the tournament.  Because it was being held locally and I have a position on the local board I was asked to buy some breakfast food for our pre-tournament meeting.  Willing to help and also looking to make sure the local organization didn’t fail the rest of the state I jumped at the opportunity.

I came in early Saturday, about a half hour before the meeting and set up the food, steaming Chick-fil-A nuggets, Dunkin Donuts, and some other goodies for the guys to scarf down.  As I was setting up in the hotel conference room I noticed four black bags, approximately 12”x8”x10”.  No markings on the bags whatsoever so I just assumed they were bags the hotel used or gave away to big groups.  Thought nothing more about them.

We began the meeting: what to expect at the tournament, field marshals, etc.  All very important stuff but nothing out of the ordinary for a tournament.  Then, the kicker: Our SYRA starts talking about how the State Committee wants to go in a new direction and really improve our quality of refereeing throughout the state.  He pulls one of the black bags and says “That’s why we bought four sets of RefTalk for the tournament and at the end of the tournament one set will go to each of the areas of the state.”  I think everyone in the room was floored!  I certainly was.

Unless you are already at a very high level of refereeing you probably have never used RefTalk.  I never have and certainly didn’t think I would until I reached at least grade 6 and maybe got on a USL game as a fourth or some such event.  To use it for your run of the mill youth games?

Of course with anything new there is a learning curve and on such important games as State Cup you don’t want to throw a monkey wrench into something that’s already working pretty well.  If I would guess I would say some of us were nervous over adding technology to our games.  I definitely was a little nervous but I’m pretty sure the excitement of the opportunity pushed the reservations out of my mind.  We got to the fields extra early to make sure we got the equipment strapped on just the way we wanted, leaving enough time to warm up with it on to make sure everything fits right and we adjust whatever we need to adjust. 

As we put the devices on we could tell the coaches were even looking over at us with smirks, probably chuckling a little to themselves about the refs using their new toys, but also we could sense they were impressed.  Seeing us use RefTalk showed them we cared deeply about our performance and wanted every tool that enabled us to do our best.  For ourselves, yes, but also to do our best for the game.  I used the device in three games over the weekend and we didn’t have problems with coaches or players in any of my games.  Talking to other referees they had similar outcomes.  I would like to think it was just our fantastic refereeing that was responsible for this good behavior, but I think RefTalk helped shape the coaches’ impression of us before the games even started.

Not only did RefTalk help us in that fashion but on the field it proved to be very helpful.  I can think of several instances throughout the weekend where being able to communicate over such a long distance proved to be a huge asset.  One particular incident happened in our first game.  I was AR2 and around my side of midfield an attacker and defender got tangled up.  The attacker looked like he might just fight through the confusion but the defender finally brought him down.  Foul on the defender, but nothing with intent or malice that we could see.  Also, not a tactical foul.  However, the attacking team felt extremely aggrieved and protested loudly.  Our center did his best to get everyone calmed down but still they hollered for justice.  Remembering “Kill The Referee”, the documentary following the referees of EURO 2008, I pressed the button to activate my mike and encouraged the center to just get the game moving again, blow the whistle, tell them to start and get out of the area.  He listened and did exactly that.  The ball was in play not two seconds later with no other thoughts to the play that just took place.  Without RefTalk this would have been impossible.  Had I been center I would have done exactly what my center had done, try to calm everyone down, explain it was just an accident, and let the protesting go on and on.  You get tunnel-vision in situations like that.  But to have the ability for your crew to talk to you and bring four minds into the conversation proved very beneficial.

You also get instances where technology is a hindrance.  We had such a case in my last game of the weekend, my only center.  I really screwed the pooch on an incredibly easy play.  So much so that even my assessor could tell something didn’t look right. 

On the far sideline, in front of the parents and fans the ball got kicked out of bounds.  There were a few bodies in the mix and I didn’t want there to be any confusion between myself and my AR as to which direction to go.  Instead of doing what I always do and raising one hand slightly to the side I want to go with my other hand pointing the same direction across my stomach I decided I should try to buzz my partner and verbally communicate which way I wanted to go.  Wouldn’t you know this would be the time I couldn’t find my button?  I struggled for what seemed an eternity, probably 1-2 seconds, over what should have been an easy call.  On top of me looking like an idiot my AR is sheepishly looking at me waiting for me to do something. 

I think when you total up both sides of the ledger, the pros and the cons of RefTalk, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.  Certainly after three games I am no expert, but the positives that I took away from the weekend were worth the awkwardness I felt in a few instances.  RefTalk really raises your game to that next level.  It makes tough decisions easier to make because you can immediately get input from the rest of your team, or tell that what you saw or what you expect of them.

If any ever get the chance to use RefTalk I would highly encourage it.  If you have used RefTalk before I would invite you to share your experiences with it.