Safety First

My last blog post was about reffing for the next ref, in which I discussed that letting things go in your game may affect what the next referee has to deal with in his game.  This week I want to remind referees the main reason they are on the field: player safety.

These two topics go hand in hand.  If you let players get away with hard, dangerous challenges they will only do it more, whether later in your game or in the next game.  At the youth level we not only referee but in a sense we are teaching the kids how the game is to be played.  Our decisions have consequences, both in the game we're doing and in the game the kids play in the future.

The match that brought player safety to my attention was Manchester United vs. Liverpool.  Liverpool are up 2-0 in the first half at home.  Around the 40th minute, just a few before halftime, Jamie Carragher comes in high and hard, studs up, and violently clashes into Nani.  No attempt was made for the ball even though the ball would have been easier to get than Nani.  Phil Dowd, the referee, immediately called the foul and pulled the yellow card.  Meanwhile, Nani gets up, sprints over to Dowd, and then collapses again.  Whether or not this was a bit of theater I don't know, but I have seen the pictures of the injury and it does look quite nasty.  A deep gouge, blood running down the leg and apparently Nani is out for 3-4 weeks.

A yellow has been given, Nani is stretchered off, everything should simmer down now, especially with halftime only a few minutes away, right?  Wrong.  Almost the very next play Maxi catches Rafael on the thigh with his studs (although clearly playing the ball unlike Carragher) and Rafael ends up two-footing Lucas high and late.  Rafael and Skrtel end up with yellows for their efforts, although Rafael certainly deserved a sending off.

At this point you have to ask if there was anything Dowd could have done to at least prevent the second harsh challenge.  In my opinion Dowd is a quality referee.  There have been several instances in the last few weeks where he has gotten very tough decisions spot on.  But the Carragher decision was not right.  I'm not going to say it was "wrong", he was close to the play and immediately jumped in knowing what he was going to do, however, that kind of tackle is not needed in this game. 

The only saving grace for Dowd was that halftime was right around the corner, everyone had 15 minutes to cool off.  And, at this point both teams think they dodged a bullet in that each team should have had a man sent off.  But let me ask you this, what happens if this all happens in the 60th minute?  What does Dowd do when he has another half hour to play and tempers running high?

We cannot simply hope to get away with this in our games.  Young players are impressionable and if we let them think this kind of football is ok then we do them, the players they will injure, and the game a disservice.  We need to referee in a way that protects the talented footballers and punishes those who think the name of the game is to intimidate or injure the opponents.  Player safety is our number one priority.

Onside and Offside

One week ago Sian Massey was on top of the world.  Well, she should have been.  However, a great no-call in the Wolverhampton-Liverpool match was widely ignored as the story soon turned to the controversy surrounding the comments made by Richard Keys and Andy Gray, who work(ed) for Sky Sports. 

This was Massey's second game at the EPL level, the first being back in December.  I didn't watch the game last weekend, but when I did see the replay of the "incident", for lack of a better word, I was struck that there was a female running the line.  Let me clarify before I go on: I was not shocked that a female could run the line, only shocked because out of the many EPL games I've watched this is the first where I've seen a female as a referee.  The only other time I have seen a female this high in the ranks was when Amy Fearn took over for her male counterpart when he came down with an injury.  She was only on 20 minutes, but was very good from the articles I've read.

Now, let me say this first, I enjoy watching the NBA over the WNBA, MLS over the WUSA (and EPL over both), basically men's sports over womens - when I'm watching.  But this is not an issue of the athleticism and talent of the players, but an issue of the competency of the person, male or female.  As a referee we are called on to make the proper calls.  What is so upsetting about this whole debacle is that neither Keys nor Gray had enough common sense to think "she's obviously here for a reason, she must have plenty of experience and have been tested several times before to get to this level". 

I had the opportunity to go to Regionals last year in Baton Rouge.  In total, for all of the Southeastern Region (region 3), there were approximately 15-20 female officials, maybe slightly more.  Sadly, none were from South Carolina.  In the past 3.5 years of reffing I have worked with 3, maybe 4 female refs.  So when I got to regionals I was amazed at how many solid female refs there are, all tested and proven.  I got to work with one who was fantastic, Kathryn Heidke, and ended up sending of 2 guys in a U18 match.  I'm 26 and would not have had the balls to do what she did, especially at Regionals.

Having had the experience at Regionals my view of last weekend's incident became much more clear.  Sian Massey was not there to appease some feminist group - she was there because she was good, and in that high level game she was great.  The offside call is one of, if not the, hardest calls in all of soccer, no matter what level.  That call in particular was extremely difficult as the defender was moving up the field and the attacker towards the goal.  When two players are traveling in opposite directions like that the gulf between them widens so quickly, but that did not phase Massey.

An Instructor relayed a story a couple weekends ago about a gentleman who wanted to become a ref.  As they were talking on the phone the guy said he didn't want to do women's game, apparently not competitive enough for him.  Almost immediately this instructor said, well, you can call these guys, but I'm not helping you anymore. 

The game of soccer is a game for both men and women, especially in the US where women's soccer has done so much to grow the game.  Being a referee and being a woman are not mutually exclusive.  In the past we would see a woman's name on my line and think, "Oh boy, here we go", but now, after seeing how women have benefited this game and that they are beyond capable of refereeing a quality and fair game, we must reach out and encourage these women to stick with reffing.  Watch Sian Massey's call again and put yourself in her shoes.  Given that speed and the direction of the players, not to mention the English atmosphere at the park, I more than likely would have screwed that up.  Not to mention she has to be in top shape just to make that call!  The saddest part of all of this is that she has now been pulled off of two games for making the RIGHT CALL.

Next time you're on the pitch and you have a female referee make sure to go out of your way to help them, encourage them, learn the game from a woman's perspective.  Cheers to Sian Massey for reaching the top of English football.