USIndoor's Official Magazine is a quarterly publication, dedicated to owners, managers, program administrators and other professionals, startups and providers involved with indoor recreational sports facilities.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/54454
USINDOOR REFEREES OFFICIATE PASL LEAGUE FINALS T he Premier Arena Soccer League held its National Finals in Sacramento, California, August 2-3. The referees selected by PASL were all trained and certi- fied through USIndoor's Referee Training & Development Program. Stated David Simmons, a National Instructor and Assessor for USIndoor, "The success of the officiating at this tournament is a direct reflection on USIndoor's referee program. USIndoor provides referees with the training, education and opportunity to develop into first class officials. The top amateur indoor organizations, such as the PASL, can select from the vast pool of highly skilled referees for its league." Dave Simmons, Jerry Goodman & Mark Bailey at the PASL Finals, held at Off the Wall Soccer in early August. Simmons empha- REFEREEING sized that the real beneficiaries of the program are the recre- ational arena owners. By using USIndoor certified referees, many of the problems created by using non- certified referees are eliminated. O fficiating adult co-ed games are arguably the most challenging games–even for experi- enced referees. First and foremost, the refer- ee needs to be well-versed with the special rules for co-ed play. The Official Rules provide that a team may not have more than one man than woman on the field at any time (not including the goalkeeper), regardless of penalty or other circumstances. Besides prescribing the number of men and women allowed on the field at a time, some league rules include a "touch rule." When a touch rule applies, the men are allowed only a limited number of consec- utive touches of the ball before it must pass to a woman or contact the other team. Other rules award two points for goals scored by women, compared to one for men. Be sure to get a copy of your league's complete set of "House Rules," either from your referee coordinator or facility, as far in advance as possible to game time. While some co-ed rules can be tricky, the main reason that co-ed can be challeng- ing is because of cross-gender dynamics. There are all of the elements typical of other men's and women's games, and then there emerge the "male" and "female egos," as Dr. Freud might say. Macho and chauvinistic behaviors can 22• August/September 2003 • GOAL Indoor COED GAMES by Said Sanhoury, USIndoor Director of Officials tend to escalate emotions, increasing the difficulty for a referee to maintain con- trol. Under such circumstances, the ref- eree must be quick to notice such behav- ior developing and be just as quick to dif- fuse potential altercations. For the sake of clarity, referees need to be aware of men's behavior as much as women's. While the referee's tools for exercising and maintaining control are the same as under other circumstances (e.g., verbal and non-verbal communications, warn- ings, and cards), the most effective tools are readiness and early awareness. Essentially, what a referee needs to com- municate is that protecting players is the job of the referee, not of another player. Therefore, the referee should be pre- pared, when appropriate, to communi- cate effectively what he or she considers to be inappropriate conduct on either or both sides of an altercation. Such man- agement requires a delicate balancing, which requires as much politics, judg- ment and mediation, as formal action. Said Sanhoury is USIndoor's Director of Officials (ref@usindoor.com.) For a copy of the Official Rules, see the ad on page 22.