Into The Book - EPISODE 2

We are eight weeks into the Adult Amateur season. Below are the updates statistics for FFL and UPSL in SC / NC. Along with the stats for these leagues we have some new videos hitting on some of our Points of Emphasis for the 2022 season as will as some other development points that we think will help in our matches this season.

UPSL 2022 Misconduct Data - 29 games

• Players Cautions - 116 - 4.46 / game

• Player Send offs - 6 - 0.23 / game

• Coach Warnings - 6 - 0.23 / game

• Coach Cautions - 6 - 0.23 / game

• Coach send offs - 1 - 0.03 / game

Cautions
Reckless Challenges - 62
Stopping a Promising Attack - 24
DOGSO Foul in Penalty Area going for the ball - 1
Lack of Respect for the game - 5

Send Offs
2nd Caution - 3
Abusive Language - 1
Serious Foul Play - 1

Bench Behavior and management is one of the points of emphasis for the 2022 season. We have seen six warnings and six cautions in the technical area this season so far. It is important for us to us a combination of our personalities and the tools given to us by the Laws of The Game. There are important questions we must ask ourselves when dealing with behavior from coaches / staff in the technical area.

• Was this behavior public? - Was the verbal part of this loud and persistent to the point that it has effected the players on the field or were there arm motions, pointing and public gestures towards the match officials OR was this quite between the 4th official and the coach voicing small frustration.

• Did they leave the technical area to show the dissent? - When a coach shows dissent from inside their technical area we are in the usually in the area of Warnings and Cautions. When they leave their technical area and aggressively dissent towards a match officials then they are moving towards red.

• Has the dissent been persistent? - While a coach may be only showing minor or low level dissent we cannot be continual. Our job as 4th officials is not to constantly walk over and talk to a coach. If a coach is continually dissenting towards our decisions we should be warning them. Keep in mind that with the law changes over the last few years Warnings are now part of misconduct for coaches.

Bench Behavior and Management

In this first video we see that one of the assistant coaches disagree with a decision on the field. The coach stands up and aggressively moves to the edge of the technical area, without leaving it. The coach publicly throws his arms and kicks his leg out while yelling at the 4th official. You can see the 4th official quickly address the behavior of the coach and instructs him to sit down. At the next stoppage he informs the referee to issue a caution to the assistant coach.

Note how the 4th official does not come over and explain the decision or justify it to the coach. It is strictly about the coaches behavior. We are not here to explain decision to a coach who is behaving this way.

Dissent Management

We have seen 11 Yellow Cards Shown for dissent so far in the UPSL this season. As we dissect some videos of dissent let’s also discuss why players do this during games.

• Frustration

• Challenge the authority of the Referee/AR

• Intimidate the Referee/AR

• Bring the game into disrepute

Clear dissent has the ability to affect the Referee’s match control and their ability to manage the game and the players. This is why a strong response to dissent needs to be taken to maintain or re-establish authority on the field when a player attempts to take it away.

The clear visual signs are easier to deal with because they are public and there for everyone to see. However, the dissent by word can be more difficult as it may feel like the Referee is making themselves the center of attention when a yellow card is issued and it is not entirely clear to the public what it is for. However, some of the comments and manner in which the comments are delivered cross a line, and PRO Management asks the Referees to be strong when they are disrespected by individual players and take appropriate action.

The following are examples where the players are showing clear dissent which has to be dealt with:

There are two aspects to this video with, as a referee, where we choose to move in to a situation and how we choose to manage it.

Once the call has been made, as the referee, think about continuing your movement past the injured player. Once you’ve stoped at the injury you now have multiple people standing close to the head of a possibly injured player. You want to avoid any of the white team becoming upset that you or the black team are standing over their player. Walk past the white player and show the card you now have space between any frustrated players and the injury.

Once you have either called on the trainer or confirmed the trainer is not needed the dissent must be addressed. Simply ignoring this behavior tells players that this is okay and can be done again later in the match.

Similar to the previous video a player runs from distance to dissent towards the referee. The blue player even goes as far as stepping in front of the referee as he goes to give a caution for SPA to the original offender.

After awarded a direct free kick, the Referee is surrounded (mobbed) by a group of players. The Referee identifies the most aggressive player and issues a yellow card for dissent/mobbing. While the mobbing is going on, another player approaches the AR to dissent the decision. The AR correctly recommends to the Referee that a caution be issued to this player for dissent as well.

A GREAT TEAMWORK MOMENT

This clip is one that we know nobody needs help in identifying Red or Yellow. It is a great reminder of team work and where our attention should be focused in certain situations as ARs and 4th Officials.
We would never expect the referee to see this foul with the ball where it is. This is excepted for the AR and 4th Official to see and tell the referee as quickly as possible to stop the game and issue the correct misconduct of a Red Card for Violent Conduct. It is vitally important in this situation that you either have a number or as much information on the player who committed the foul as possible. IT IS NOT OKAY TO SAY I HAVE A RED CARD BUT I DON’T KNOW WHO DID IT.

AR / 4th Official: Where should you be looking where in this situation:

As the Trail AR in this situation your focus should be in the middle and far channels behind the referees back. This should be a part of every pre-game talk by both the referee and the AR. There is no need to be looking where the ball is as you cannot provide any useful feedback on a challenge on the ball from that distance.