You will soon have the opportunity to vote to combine MWSRA and the Capital Area Soccer Referees. Many of us can remember when the split occurred, and there is no denying the strong feelings that led to the separation or that resulted from it. No matter how you may feel about the causes or effects of the split, bringing MWSRA and CASRA together is the best thing we can do for ourselves as referees and for our clients, and is what almost every member of either association most wants us to do.
As you can understand, this merger required very delicate negotiation. Each side's representatives tried to protect their members in every way and preserve the benefits of belonging to their respective associations. I want to personally assure you the framework resulting from this process was very carefully considered with your and MWSRA's interests in mind. We believe it will give everyone the best that each association had to offer.
You will see this proposal in the form of a new constitution and bylaws, submitted to a vote of the membership. The proposed texts will be available in advance. For those who have access to the internet, we plan to have it by July 1 on the MWSRA web page at http://members.aol.com/MWSRAweb/index.html or at Tadd Dawson's web page http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/field/9920/. We hope to be able to circulate advance copies to our members, but we will certainly have copies for you if you arrive early for the June 23 meeting.
Larry Mittleman
President
There will be two business meetings, for the consideration and vote on the proposed new MWSRA Constitution and Bylaws to effect the merger with CASRA. The first meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 23, in the auditorium at Blair HS in Silver Spring. The second meeting, for the second vote on the proposal or for MWSRA's routine elections, will be at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9, again in the auditorium at Blair HS. Copies of the proposed Constitution and Bylaws will be available beginning at 6:30 on both dates. Paychecks will be distributed at the July 9 meeting. Attendance at both meetings is mandatory for all members; absentees will be fined.
MWSRA's annual banquet will be at 7:00 p.m., Friday, June 13, at the Indian Spring Country Club at 13501 Layhill Road in Silver Spring. By now you should have sent your reservation, with $5 per MWSRA referee member and $25 per guest, to Avner Koldaro at 5828 Mossrock Drive, Rockville, MD 20852-3237. There will be a gift for every referee and guest at the banquet.
by Pat Springmann
Thank you, thank you, to all of you who called your assignors and took assignments and arrived promptly and worked hard. With only one or two exceptions, everybody was on time for their assignments. Those who were late get fines to remind them to take their assignments seriously.
The worst problem we had this season, and it gets worse and worse, is referees working games while out of uniform. I don't mean referees who go to a field to watch and end up filling in for a no-show, although if you expect to be paid for an emergency fill-in like that, I hope you have your uniform in the car. Wear the proper uniform when you work if you expect to get paid. Anyway, the big concern is referees who don't wear the uniform shown in the USSF Referee Administrative Handbook. If you're out of uniform, our bylaws provide that you'll be fined. The referee uniform is basic black. The Handbook makes clear that the fuchsia jersey is the alternate color for USSF referees, or may be worn as the primary jersey in Summer. Summer is from June 21 to September 21. Uniforms fade from sun and repeated washing, and have to be replaced from time to time. Besides faded uniforms and fuchsia jerseys, we had referees in white shorts, white socks, day-glo rain ponchos, pink-and-white-and black jackets, black-and-white knit hats, long sleeved sweatshirts under a short-sleeved referee jersey, mismatching warm-up pants, weird hats and white sneakers. If you aren't properly dressed and equipped, you won't even look like you know what you're doing. If you aren't thoroughly professional, you're not really a referee.
Wear the proper badge for your match. Wear only one badge - Can you believe we have members who wear more than one badge on their jersey?. Wear your USSF badge, and only that badge, for affiliated one- or three-referee matches. Wear the High School badge for high school, jayvee and middle school games using H.S. Federation rules. Wear your MWSRA badge for two-referee matches.
Don't, DON'T use the two-referee system in a USSF-affiliated match when your third official doesn't show up. Use a club linesperson. MSI, in particular, insists that you not try the dual system.
I wonder why referees would take an assignment and not record it. Please pay attention, write it down and check it when we talk. You know if you're a no-show, you get fined for letting down the players and teams.
To help with last-second coordination on Saturday mornings, I now stay by the phone until after 11:00. If you're lost, sick or whatever, call me.
Be careful about school fields. Tilden Intermediate and Northwood High schools are holding schools. These days, Westland is using the Tilden building while Westland's building is being renovated. To confuse things, Tilden's students outgrew their old building and they have for years been at the former Woodward HS building. So, you may get an assignment for "Westland at Tilden" or "Tilden at Woodward." Be careful not to go to those schools' original locations.
Call your assignors. Jerry's phone number is (301) 559-7400, or you can reach that same line from long distance by dialing (1-800) 391-4703 code 69. My phone number is (301) 261-6907, or from long distance, (1-800) 785-6023 code 21. Both 800 numbers reach our local lines, so it won't help to use the 800 number if our local lines are busy.
Keep up the good work, and keep working to improve what's not so good.
Pat
Call Maryland Youth Soccer (410-987-6017) for tickets as low as $10 for the Women's Cup '97 final match. See the US Women, winners of the 1991 Women's World Cup and 1996 Olympics. Game starts at 12:30 on Sunday, June 8 at RFK.
Why have mentors? We need to help new referees adapt to the stress and questions that arise during their games. By giving support and direction to our new referees, we should dramatically improve our retention of a very precious resource: our referees. Also, mentoring adds to the instruction and learning process, helping experienced referees transfer what they know to the new referees. Mentoring can make refereeing more satisfying for all involved in the process.
Who can be involved? Any new referee who has questions or who would like help should be involved. Actually, any referee who wants to improve should participate. Experienced referees can give something back to the game and to the referee community by becoming a mentor.
Where will the mentoring happen? Anytime two referees can communicate: at games where either one or both are working, at meetings and clinics, and even over the phone. How does mentoring work? The mentor and new referee should establish whatever system works best for them. One way is for the new referee to call the mentor, whether once a week or more or less often, but at least once a month, to talk about how the season is going and the games the new referee has worked. Also, the mentor can watch the new referee, at least for half a game, and offer advice and comments. An excellent method is for the two to work a game or games together, giving plenty of opportunity for questions and advice.
The program can be formal or informal. Those who want a formal link can arrange one, while those who want to informally help or be helped can also take advantage of MWSRA's program. Contact Tadd Dawson (phone 301-681-5518, e-mail Tadd.Dawson@USA.net), and he will try to set you up.
MWSRA congratulates Jim Quinn, Maryland Referee of the Year, and Jim McGoldrick, recognized by the American Red Cross for 50 years of service as a Red Cross volunteer.
It's illegal to swear at a soccer match in Guadalajara, Mexico. Local officials, concerned about lewd insults to referees, banned swearing at soccer matches in Mexico's second-largest city, according to a Reuters report. Violators of the December 5 ordinance can face a stiff fine of 30 days of the minimum wage and 36 hours in jail.
by Jim Allen and Dave McKee
The assessor, with personal experience of match pressures, will consider how the referee responds to the challenges presented by the players and the level of play, and not how the assessor would have refereed the match. The assessor uses eight criteria to develop realistic expectations consistent with the level of the referee, the level of competition, and the level of the play. These criteria are on pp 45-49 of the USSF Referee Administrative Handbook. The focus is on the referee's ability to control the match. At the end of the match the assessor must be able to answer the following questions:
Did the referee:
Did the players:
If the answers to these questions are all yes, the assessor must acknowledge that the
referee had control of the match and the referee deserves a good assessment. If the
answers are no, and the referee did not control the game, the assessor must be able to
tell the referee why this happened. The assessor should give some weight to the referee's
grade and experience, and to the level and quality of the match. The feedback should
identify:
In addition, the assessor observes the positive actions of the referee. These include,
but are not limited to:
During the match, the assessor also observes the assistant referees and their ability
to communicate effectively with the referee. Did the assistant referees:
If the answers to these questions are yes, then the assistant referees deserve a good assessment. If the answers are no, then an explanation is required as to what the assistant referee needs to do to correct the lack and improve his or her work.
In addition, the assessor observes the refereeing team before the match, during the halftime interval, and after the match. This will include, but is not limited to, checking the field, nets, balls, and player equipment, and adhering to the game schedule to ensure kick-off at the assigned time.
The assessor's observations will also include recognition of actions by the referee to anticipate and head off problems. Ultimately, good referees orchestrate the match. This is made evident through the continuous flow of the game, with little attention being focused on the referee. A good referee always makes a difficult game look easy.
Many things combine to give the referee match control and, therefore, an acceptable performance. In evaluations involving promotion to a higher grade, the referee's performance must match the guidelines for that level, not for that at which he or she is currently registered. In addition, the referee must be deemed to have been sufficiently challenged by a competitive match at the appropriate level.
The FIFA Referees' Committee has a representative from each FIFA region, and works to oversee refereeing world-wide. Some of the members of the committee are members of the FIFA board, others are appointed by their regions.
Chairman: David H. WILL Scotland Deputy Chairman: Ricardo Terra TEIXEIRA Brazil
Farouk BOUZO Syria
Mario RUBIO VAZQUEZ L. Mexico
Weheliye Farah ADDO Somalia
Carlos A. ALARCON RIOS Paraguay
Lars-Ake BJORCK Sweden
Volker ROTH Germany
Michel VAUTROT France
regional representative, Oceania
Sunday, JUNE 8 -- USA-Italy, last match of the annual Women's Cup tournament. 12:30 pm, RFK Stadium. Discount tickets available from Maryland State Youth Soccer Association, phone (410) 987-6017.
Friday, JUNE 13 -- MWSRA Annual Banquet. 7:00 pm, Indian Spring Country Club, 13501 Layhill Rd., Silver Spring. Admission $5 for referee members, $25 per guest,purchased in advance; $10 surcharge on all tickets paid at the door. Call Avner Koldaro, (301) 468-6628.
Monday, JUNE 23 -- MWSRA Business Meeting, attendance mandatory for all members, to consider and vote on proposed Constitution and Bylaws to effect merger with CASRA. 7:30 pm, in the auditorium at Blair HS in Silver Spring.
Wednesday, July 9 -- MWSRA Business Meeting, attendance mandatory for all members, for second vote on proposed Constitution and Bylaws or for MWSRA elections. 7:30 pm, in the auditorium at Blair HS in Silver Spring.