National Youth Champs part 2

Hey,

For those interested and without a direct link to someone who attended, here's the Referee team photo from the FFA National Youth Championships, held last week in Coffs Harbour.

Great to see that a team photo is still being done.  If anyone has some from the last few years, would love to have a copy and upload onto the Ausref Flickr feed.

Would anyone be interested in getting a formal group photo done for next year's Kanga Academy referees?  It's a great way to keep track of who attended with you if you don't use social media sources - I'll have to suggest it to David K. 

Great that they are all supplied a formal dress shirt / track suit.  However, funny that its not a single brand, with Adidas supplying referees and Nike on the Coaches jackets.  Perhaps different suppliers but positive recognition from FFA for the group by supplying equipment.

Does it make you want to work harder, attend training more, listen closer during coaching nights next season - I hope so, only 5 months till preseason....

FFA National Youth Championship

Evening everyone,

As I watch the third Brisbane based A-League referee officiate tonight's game, I've reflected upon the pathway that brought them to this level.  At some point in their careers, Jarred, Peter and Alan have all attended the National Titles on their way towards appearing on my Foxtel screen.  Watching Alan's match with its terrible weather right now, happy to be at home on the couch.

However, I digress and figured I'd put out some congratulations to all the referee's and assessors / coaches working hard in the last week at the FFA National Youth Championships for boys.  400 of the country's elite U/13 & U/14 players attended Coffs Harbour, supported by the elite future talent for refereeing in the country.  No doubt you had a excellent experience, being coached by Steve Fenech (NSW), Derek Rugg (Qld), Matthew Cheeseman (WA), Craig Zetter (SA), Paul Eldridge (Qld) and Adrian Lockley (Tas) and will take away great memories, new challenges and life long friendships.

I still remember my time at Nationals (back in the day) at Parklea (NSW) and the adventures we had and can't talk about publicly.  Remember, what happens at tournament stays on tournament.  But mostly I value the enduring friendships.

The big prize of the week was the All Star games, with the top crews selected .Well done to everyone.

Matthew Male - Day 4, with acknowledge to NNSW Football

U13's
Referee: Matthew Male (QLD)
AR1: Joel Cockbain (NNSW)
AR2: Cameron Fawcett (QLD)
4th: Joshua Cornick (NNSW)




U14's
Referee: Lachlan Daniel (NSW)
AR1: Kyle Bartlett (SA)
AR2: Karl Davies (NSW)
4th: Kearney Robinson (NSW)

Further pictures can be found via the NNSW Footballs Facebook page - not many, but some good ones.
 
Great to see the talent is spread across the nation.  From a recent conversation about the group I was in, we produced 9 FIFA badges out of 20 participants.  I wonder how many from this group will be able to say the same thing in a few years time???

P.S.  Just saw Owen Goldrick, Capital Football referee and Kanga Alumni and now A-League AR on tonights Wanders game - not sure if it was his first, but again excellent to see the system working - Owen also attended Nationals in 2011, so amazing progression - well done mate.

GCCC Day 6 Late update

Hey everyone,

Quick one just to let everyone know that more Gold Coast Champions Cup 2012 photos are going online overnight to the Flickr account for your viewing pleasure.  I had hoped it would be updated by now, but crashed sometime during my evening out.  Funny how even though I'm not coordinating anything, I'm still updating the blog late into the evening..... 

Been too tired to do much blog updating, even with only a few games per day due to high referee numbers involved.  I have been doing some coaching with local GC junior referees between games, so this takes some energy as well I guess. 
Always interesting to see who turns up for this type of event and how far they have travelled.  Several Brisbane juniors / seniors, Cairns junior, South Australia senior and NZ of course is represented.  
The quality of local refs is good to excellent given their resources and looks like their new structures have helped from what I observed in 2010.  Some new first years still making those first year mistakes, but overall the tournament must be happy with the service being provided.  Happy bunch too, with lots of humour and loud music playing in the early morning roll call to get everyone syched up.  Had my first ride on a golf cart yesterday, almost as dangerous as refereeing a U/12 centre.

Match officials golf carts are however a geninue OH&S issue around the grounds and I'm surprised that no one has been run down yet as they wizz between, across and around grounds, usually during live matches.  I even saw one drive directly onto the FOP tonight during an all in melee on U/18.  I wasn't sure what he thought he would be able to do, drive over the offenders wrestling on the ground? Way to much power, way too little direction as to their roles.

After some dinner I headed back to Field 2 to watch the end of the 18's match and support the New Zealand crew on the U/21's.  Unfortunately I was able to witness at close range a completely out of hand losing player in the 18's make some poor choices post game in confronting the Assistant Referee, expressing his view in some colourful language and then feeling the need to push the AR in the chest before being dragged away. 
I won't say too much as I'd hope the organisation running the tournament will deal with him appropriately and pass onto the relevant authorities any necessary reports to ensure this young man learns that this conduct is totally unacceptable in Football. 

U/21's was a fairly tame affair in contract, with Mark and the crew managing the game well, including a penalty within 20 seconds of kickoff, perhaps a record for this years tournament.

Left before the end to watch the opening matches of the Croatian Football Tournament, being hosted just down the road at the GC Knights ground.  Big turn out for the opening night, beer tent, rides and lots of buzz amongst a crowd easily several hundred.  GCCC coordinator Neil O'Connor strongly officiated the opening game, with AR's Geoff Talintyre (GCCC Coordinator) and Craig O'Neill (GC Football Referees Coach).  Craig did game two and it looks to be a competitive tournament for the next few days, so GC referee's will need to be on it (and those outoftowners who are helping out)

Off to bed - last pics from today have completed as I speak and I have a game at 9am in Nerang.  I'll have the afternoon off to relax and focus before running the U/21's Semi Final, rather unexpected appointment but a nice surprise regardless.  Unsure what will happen on Saturday with finals and might be happy to just watch the juniors / take pics, but think I may have some Croatian FT games.  We'll see....

Will try and update twitter / FB over the day.

GCCC Day 3, storms are brewing...

Evening everyone,

Here's your update from Day 3 of Gold Coast Champions Cup, a day that had it all.

Since the orientation day on Saturday, I've moved into my regular mini break location at Varsity Lakes.  Figured the travel would be too much daily and give me more time to relax / recover and do some blogging.

Day 1 (Saturday) had a few late afternoon older games, covered by the Gold Coast locals.  A full schedule of matches started on Sunday and the first red cards occuring at U/18 level and U/21.
For my first centre U/18 on Sunday it was a one sided affair 8-0 to a Olympic over Wanders.  No issues and got to work with Mark (NZ) and Ethan (GC local), who I'd watched do U/13 girls on Saturday afternoon.  Mark is visiting along with Pat and Steve from the North region, taking the opportunity to do some holidaying along with experiencing QCCC.  Mark had the U/21's tonight, but I left before his match.  Ethan is a local up and comer, having attended State Titles in Townsville earlier this year.

Today, I had U/15's at 10am, with Sho (FB) and Dion (GC).  Another one sided event, 14-0 to Nth Star over Devonport in hot conditions.  It leads the the conclusion that a mercy rule should be in affect at tournaments to stop games once they get to 10 goals.  11.50am U/17's was more fun, running a line for Darren Q (FB, Kanga Alumni) and Pat (NZ National Youth League panel, looking for move up) on the other side.
First half was 5-0 to Rangers, but Cook Island got back into the match with 3 quick goals in 13 minutes and it finished 6-4 to Rangers, 1 RC for some poorly choosen comments from a Rangers play directed to Darren.  Darren had been out of refereeing for a while but you wouldn't know it, back on form and should be a strong contender for finals on Saturday.

Some overpriced lunch and then watched as the afternoon storm rolled in, lightening and thunder (see below)

It's a interesting point to note about severe weather events and football tournaments.  The storm had been forecast and building for several hours.  It was fully occuring for easily 15 minutes overhead before the matches were suspended, way after the first lightening strikes were within a 5km distance.  Yet none of the referee's stopped their games and from what I saw, no one even consulted with the teams / coaches about the increasingly poor weather. 

Eventually the administrators determined the matches needed to be suspended and word was passed by available referees running between grounds.  This was quickly done and everyone found shelter until the storm cell passed, about 20 minutes duration.

Who remembers Law 5 - The Referee?  page 12 LOTG (Aus version)

• "stops, suspends or abandons the match because of outside interference of any kind"

 Is a severe lightening storm outside interference? Is it possible that players safety could be compromised (in the same way that a spectator running onto the field of play to punch a player) by a lightening strike / hail?


To quote the International FA Board decision, page 13 LOTG (AUS version)

"A referee (of where applicable, an assistant referee or fourth official) is not held liable for:
any kind of injury suffered by a player, official or spectator
any damage to property of any kind
any other loss...

Such decisions may include:

• a decision that the condition of the field of play or its surrounds or that the weather conditions are such as to allow or not allow a match to take place 

•  a decision to abandon a match for whatever reason"

So this IFAB decision makes it easy to make a decision to suspend or potentially abandon a match in severe weather conditions, as the LOTG absolves the referee from any decision he/she may make.

And locally, from the Gold Coast Football Competition Centre Management Rules, section 4.10.1

"Once the match has commenced, the Match Referee has sole responsibility to determine if the match should be suspended or abandoned due to severe adverse weather conditions, serious on field injury requiring ambulance or matters that may compromise the safety of the participants of the match" 

Remember, its junior football folks and as such player safety and protection is the first priority.  Let the administrators worry about delay in fixtures, rescheduling games and unhappy teams / parents.  I think everyone would sooner be safe and out of the threatening conditions than having to call a ambulance for a player / referee struck by lightening.

Be brave and make a early decision.  And if you haven't looked at it recently, Law 5 is a good bedtime read.

Have fun Tuesday and pictures from Day 1/Day 3 will be posted on the flickr account overnight (Thanks Scott - supporter of Tournament football and please checkout his site at Ausref.com )

Return to Gold Coast Champions Cup

Evening everyone,

Just a quick update.  Season's over here in Brisbane, with warmer days and post season adventures.  I've signed up again to officiate at the Gold Coast Champions Cup.
I was last running around on this 7 day youth tournament in 2010, having a mini - break from Hervey Bay and looking to see how it compares with the Kanga Cup.  At that time, only 1 coordinator was involved and lots of games daily and quality was average at best from a football perspective.  To be clear, I did have a good tournament throughout and was given the U/18's Final in pouring rain.  However there was no coaching or development, just games to referee.

Today's 20 minute meeting of officials was to sign off on appointments for Sunday and meet the coordinators (there is now 4),  collect the hot pink sponsored shirt and white hat.  Fees are GC levels, so I won't be making any money but its never one of my concerns.  There this year to see if there is improvements, talk up Kanga Cup to potential juniors and liase with the new RDO's for Gold Coast Football.

I believe there are 4 New Zealanders attending and some others from interstate, so I'll keep you posted on performances throughout the week and hope to upload photos again to flickr.

Friday there is a need for senior referees for the 38th Croatian Football Tournament, happening just across the road effectively, so my focus may change with senior appointments likely for that event.

Are you involved in any post season events?   If so, what do you think is their value?

Good refereeing if your still running around this week.

That special time of the year, Finals

Hi everyone,

Well it's hard to believe but finals have arrived along with warmer Spring weather and September.  Most if not all junior competitions around the country are hosting or have in the last few weekends the semi finals and finals for 2012's winter competition.

Football Brisbane is hosting the Grand Finals this coming weekend and whilst appointments have been known to some for upto 3 weeks, the final appointments have now gone out.  Congratulations to everyone who has been appointed to any role in Finals weekend (Referee or Assistant), they are all equally important and your attitudes / performance and skill has brought you this far.

 So, it's time to think about what your going to do this weekend?  I had a look at the Book of Knowledge (Google) and couldn't find any definiative blog / web site or article about how to be prepared for what may be your first or twenth final?  So here's a list, in no particular order, for your consideration based upon a few finals I've been involved with.

Prematch

If you normally train during the week, maintain your regular schedule but don't overtrain to get a edge this weekend - if anything try and avoid obtaining a last minute injury that may make you unavailable for the biggest game this year.

If nerves are there, acknowledge them.  Share your excitment with your family / friends, go for a run to burn off nervous energy, get lots of rest.  Go to bed early during the week to be well rested.

Check the regulations regarding finals for your league - specific to how to determine a winner, extra time, penalties if they are used.  Read it, know it and take a copy in your bag to the game

Read the instructions in the LOTG concerning how to determine a match winner.

Check your kit - time to empty out the bag of lolly wrappers, dirty socks and broken flags.  Ensure your gear is correct, sufficient and clean for the day  (including boots) - don't be looking for that blue shirt on Saturday morning.  And have your alternative strip - borrow a shirt if needed.  If possible, look up the teams and their colours.  Also be prepared to warm up with your referee / team if requested, so a plain white or black shirt would suffice if you don't have a warm up kit - some refs will want to do this and it may not be your regular process - be prepared.

Touch base with your team, especially if your the referee (captain of the team).  Check they can get to the game / offer to pick them up if needed, suggest a time to arrive (bit early if possible), congratulate them and ask if they need anything / have questions about the fixure.  It will help create that team focus, remind them they have a big committment for the weekend that your taking seriously (and so should they) and that they are a critical part of the team necessary for a successful match day.

Night before
Eat a good meal and have snacks for eating prior to your match the next day.  If is a 3pm game Saturday, try and eat lunch early then snack whatever you'd normally eat in preparation upto kickoff.
Get to bed early

Match Day

Arrive early to help calm the nerves.  Your at the ground safely, so no issues of being stuck in traffic / having to rush onto the field stressed or being replaced because your late - I've seen it happen and its a crushing event to the referee who missed out.  Meet your team, watch the preceding match, hydrate and take in the finals atmosphere.   Your ground coordinator / match commissioner / person in charge of the officials will be impressed with your promptness and professionalism.  Seek them out promptly upon arrival.

Don't interfere with the other officials teams preparing.  They are focusing on their match and going through their own process, so give everyone the space they need to be able to perform their best.

Get changed early if possible, warm up and if it's your normal process, visit the teams / check equipment / team sheets and match balls.  Remember that the teams / coaches / managers are under lots of pressure and stress as it's the biggest day of the season for them too.  Be aware of grounds running late due to extra time / penalties and keep teams informed if necessary.  Creating a professional yet relaxed atmosphere with the teams by being proactive today and do all you can to make their experience of the officials team positive - it may help during the match.

Liase with your ground official - Introduce your team to them, know their name, ensure they escort your team on / off the field and understand any expectations you have.  They are likely a parent, also stressed by the day's matches, so remember to smile and ask politely.

Give good, solid prematch instructions.  If your the referee, remember to model confidence and professionalism for your AR's, who may be on their first final and more nervous than yourself.  Smile, make small jokes and keep the atmosphere light in the change room.  If there are others in the room who don't need to be there (family, friends, other collegues who are watching your game), politely ask them for the space until your out the door.  It's your teams moment and on a busy day you need a few moments with them to focus and become the best team you can be.  Social time is for after the game.

Kickoff on time. Coaches will plan their teams final moments down to the seconds, with last minute warmups and inspiring words.  You'll create issues quickly if you start the match prior to it's scheduled kickoff time.  Again, be proactive and tell coaches when you require the teams lined up for coin toss / FIFA handshake (if appropriate for your competition) early in the day.

During the Match

• Stay focused and strong in the first few minutes.  You'll set the tone of the match early if your confident and this may relax the players to know they have a quality referee in charge
  
• Read the game early, determine the tempo and attitude of the game, adapt if you need to
  
• Do what you normally do - it's what has gotten you to this appointment instead of being home playing FIFA 12, so just relax and don't do anything that the players wouldn't normally expect.
  
• Be Consistent
  
• Smile lots even if your nervous - fake it until you make it, but you've made it so....
  
• Enjoy the experience

Half Time

• Get off the field quickly, don't discuss any issues / incidents until back in the privacy of the referees room.  Even then, don't try and analysis every missed advantage or decision.  Lots of time after the game for that (its 6 months until next season). Stay positive and re-affirm any instructions if needed.
  
• Hydrate, snack and relax - its half over
   
• If the match is drawn at half time, sometimes it's not a bad idea to take your water / sports drink to the sideline / halfway upon re-entering the field of play.  If you have to play extra time and its hot, the abiliy to quickly hydrate prior to extra time is good management for you and your AR's to stay focused and sharp for another 30 minutes.

Extra Time

If it's nearing full time, drawn and your competition allows extra time, follow your competition rules.  Ensure coaches and the captains know that the half time switch in extra time is not a break, just a straight switch.  A quick, friendly reminder before kicking off extra time is all that is needed.

Penalties

• If its nearing the end of extra time, drawn and your heading to penalty shootout, ensure your AR1 knows to mention to the coaches they should start considering their first 5 penalty takers and working on a list of numbers.  This may also be done by attentive match commissioners or 4th officials if you have one, but usually AR1 can do this easily.  It helps to keep the post match / penalty taking period flowing and not being hung up whilst coaches work out their kick takers.
  
• Be Consistent again here, as everyone is focused on you now more than any other part of the match
  
• Be clear in your final whistle / indication of kicks being completed.  Nothing worse than the referee / assistant knowing the game is over, but the teams / coaches / spectators being unsure.

After the Final Whistle

• Get together with your team quickly - AR's should run to the Referees side - your still a strong, professional team and having three officials together in the centre of the field can put off arguments from players / coaches / others post match about "that decision in the 3rd minute you missed"
  
• If your've completed a penalty kick to decide the winners, cross check your records with all members of the team who were recording before leaving the field of play
  
• If the atmosphere is positive, congratulate the winners and losers equally.  It's usually their best and worst game of the season, but players and coaches have performed to a high quality to get here today and it promotes good sportsmanship.
  
• Remember to shake hands with your team - they did their best today and in a public form everyone should be aware of their achievement and your appreciation of them.
  
• Some matches may have presentations on the field following the game - check with your ground official / match commissioner about the procedure to be followed.  This may include medialian presentations to the officials.  Hopefully, they do it before the teams and stand together as a team until your called up.  Stay on the field following until the teams have been presented, again a excellent display of your teams sportsmanship and appreciation of the teams performance.
  
• If a eager parent / friend is nearby, get a officials team photo following the final whistle.   It's a great memory to keep of the day.  Remember to have AR's outside, 4th official to the Referees right (if you have one) and Referee holding the ball.
  
• Get in the referees room, exhale and thank your team again - you couldn't have done it without them today and it's worth making a fuss.  Finish your paperwork promptly (including reports if necessary) as match commissioners may be waiting for it to send onto the football authorities and do your normal post match recovery.
  
• Go and enjoy the compliments from your collegues, peers and occasionally strangers following the game. We are rarely recognized week to week, but today your've earnt that nice comment or two.
   
• And if your match is followed by someone else, stay if you can to support them from the stands.  They will appreciate it.

Nothing listed here is new information that you may not have heard at coaching or experienced before.  Mostly just common sense and best practice.

What do you do differently on finals day?  Do you have a special dinner / lucky coin or specific routine you go through pre match.   Would love to hear from you out there.....

Remember,
it's just a game
enjoy your last weekend on the field.


P.S I'd also love to cross post everyone's final appointments from Kanga Alumni - if you got a local semi / final in your branch / association, let me know match details, how you went, funny stories about the day and I'll put it together in a post season blog for everyones enjoyment.  Also looking for information on those going to Nationals post season.

Olympics Final - It's Clattenburg

Just released, here's the FA announcement - well deserved, congrats and good luck team GB.

Update: Foxtel in Australia has it live on Saturday 11 August, 11:50pm AEST on channel 187, should make for good late night viewing.  Or if you don't have any games Sunday, repeated at 8:20am and 12:35pm, channel 185

Applying the LOTG

So the Canada -v- USA Women's Olympic game was a cracker by all accounts, and not without its own level of drama surrounding application of the Laws of the Game.  I didn't see the match and working off online reports, here's my take.

Referee Christina Pedersen, a Norwegian referee awarded a IDFK to USA due to the Canadian goalkeeper exceeding the six second rule.

Photo: afterellen.com
To quote the LOTG

"A goalkeeper is not permitted to keep control of the ball in his hands for more than six seconds.  A goalkeeper is considered to be in control of the ball:

• while the ball is between his hands or between his hand and any surface(e.g. ground, own body)

• while holding the ball in his outstretched open hand

• while in the act of bouncing it on the ground or tossing it into the air

Restart of play - indirect free kick from the position where the offense occurred"

 According to online reports, the goalkeeper was verbally warned twice (depending upon which reports you read) about this infringement by the referee / or assistant referee and still choose to hold / control the ball in excess of the six seconds.  Canada was 3-2 at the time of the decision, draw your own conclusions about what the goalkeeper was thinking.

Regardless, the referee awarded the IDFK in 78th minute and directly following a penalty decision was called for handball when the USA kicked the ball directly against a Canadian defender.  The penalty was scored and extra time was then taken, USA scoring in the dying seconds, winning the match 4-3.

The media has been in a frenzy over what is actually correct by the LOTG and other media reports have indicated that even on video replay the goalkeeper held the ball for 10 seconds.  Regardless it did change the course of the match and the outcome for Finals.

Here's some other reported links, all Canadian - The Star, The Globe and Mail

Following the match and comments made by the Canadians, FIFA today has indicated it'll wait until following the Bronze game to apply any sanctions - My San Antonio

It's an interesting reflection on the game in its professional -v- amateur status.  The media has made much of pointing to a lack of application of this section of Law 12 in professional leagues for several years.  Why is this the case, when weekly you can see goal keepers taking all the time in the world to put the ball back into play?
Does the lack of application come from elite referees being told to ignore this aspect due to its disruptive / interfering aspect in the flow of a match, with the referee attempting to not be seen / heard during the match?  Or is it just a forgotten part of law?
What do you think?

Applying this at a local Div 6 level Sunday league football may draw questions from players and abuse from uninformed spectators, but everyone will accept it as a part of the game.

The keeper cannot hold the ball longer than 6 seconds - why, because FIFA wants to ensure that the game is played quickly and fairly.  Doesn't anyone remember the time before this section was added to the LOTG and how much time was spent watching the keeper "hold" the ball?  The game is now quicker and more engaging for spectators, those same who are quick to post negative comments online.
The IDFK is applied to address the offense and potentally ensure that the keeper doesn't reoffend.

Unfortunately for Christina, the circumstances following that correct decision went against the natural outcome of the match.  This then created the entry point for the media to be critical of several incidents and create the "who's to blame" culture, in this case the referee (as normal). In my opinion, the focus is incorrect - look to the goal keeper who didn't follow the rules, not the person applying them.

Strangely, the human impact of this "sporting moment" is what makes our game great.

And if you happen to see a six second voliation this weekend, will you be as brave as Christina to apply the LOTG?

Peter Walton in the headlines

Evening,

Catching up on some of my regular referee sites / blogs and found this Pitch Invasion blog / podcast,  featuring in episode 7 Peter Walton, ex-EPL referee now General Manager of the North American Professional Referees Organisation (PRO), a newly created role / structure to develop USA referees. 

Peter and myself, Kanga Cup 2010

Peter was a Kanga Cup special guest / referees mentor in 2010 and U/11 Referee - yes, Peter filled in on a midweek game at UC when someone didn't show, heading out onto a Small Sided game in his Air Asia tacksuit. I was reliabily told the parents were more excited about the referee than the 10yo players.

The podcast by Peter Wilt and Tom Dunmore covers the following topics with Peter.
Structures, professional US referees, future vision, best practice, culture of football, some Olympic insights, Womens refereeing in USA.

Give it a listen

Peter also gave a web interview to ESPN earlier in July, also worth a look

And there was a web conference / Q&A in March hosted by USSoccer if you want even more.

Olympic Semi Finals Appointments

Afternoon everyone,

Here's the semi final appointments for the Olympics.  I have no idea if the Australian crew are still involved, given there is only the final to be announced, but here's hoping.  If anyone has the inside scoop would love to know.

07.08.2012 | 17:00 | México vs Japan - Foxtel has it at 2:05am Wednesday AEST, channel 189

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant 1: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant 2: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
4th Referee Bakary Gassama (GAM)

07.08.2012 | 19:45 |Republic de Korea vs Brasil - Foxtel has it following at 4:35am, Wednesday AEST, channel 189 (live coverage)

Referee: Pavel Kralovec (CZE)
Assistant 1: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Assistant 2: Antonin Kordula (CZE)
4th Referee Mark Geiger (USA)

Goodluck to all the crews involved.

Vic HAL Panels - FFV Article cross post

Thanks to Brenton for the FB cross post, here's the FFV announcement of HAL panels for Victorians.  Congrats to Shaun, Brenton and Lucien on promotion to Refs panel, great to see Victoria bringing their best to the fore.

Qld HAL Panels released

Evening,

Here's a link from Football Qld on the newly released HAL panels for 2012/2013.  Congratulations everyone, great to see Kanga alumni on here.  Well done also to FQ for making this public in a timely fashion

Recognition.....

Hey everyone,
Just catching up on a posting from FB (thanks Jeremy for posting this) about a article that appeared locally in Auckland Football Federations web site about the NZ Refs who attended Kanga and the other exchanges that have taken place this year. 

Had a quick look about the other states represented (including my own) and nothing on their web sites celebrating the achievements of Academy referees. 

Recognition of positive achievement of today's youth is a essential step for any youth focused organisation. 

And through the process of developing today's referees, all referee bodies are youth organisations - most start looking for referees at 13-14 (partly to cover junior games with small monetary value, but also to allow time for development).  Bodies look to promote talent just after they come of age at 18 and hope to have them on pathways (State / National Titles) by the late teens / early 20's.  For evidence, just look at Jarred Gillet,  a 25yo ALeague Grand Final Referee, grown locally in Brisbane through this type of process.

Go back just five years ago and the age of the Grand Final referee was 35 (Matthew Breeze) and back to 2005, first year of ALeague, 31yo Mark Shields. 

A conclusion then could be drawn that the future of refereeing is younger referees, empowered with high quality assessors / coaches / instructors, positive development pathways and elite level funding for fitness / coaching requirements to match the increasingly professional levels of football played locally / regionally.  This isn't a revoluntary statement - the highest performers have always been the youngest, brightest.  Just look at our Olympic athletes.  There will still be a place for the older guard (including myself there now), who still have something to offer the 95% of the football community that isn't at the top of the pile - Metro 6 here I come again this week, happy in my role / service to football.

Anyway, back on point... what referees body in Australia, in any sport, cannot afford to nuture and support their juniors with positive press, even if its internal?

The old school would say that the referee is best not seen / heard, allowing the game to flow and only intervene when fair play has been taken away.  And by extension that this applies to all aspects of the game, including celebrating achievements post tournament. 

Well that was the past folks and its time to enter the digital age. Mark modelled this when he started doing positive media on HAL referees performances this past season, both online and in TV media and he is not alone, but there are few who are embracing the new social media world of 24 hr tweets, FB posts, Youtube videos of match events.

FB recently began using media in a new way for senior coaching.  Taking selected sections from its internal Football Brisbane TV service (online streaming of top local games weekly), coaching nights have become very relevant to the members for both teachable moments / discussions and pats on the back of a situation / event in the match well handled.  Recognition at its best and innovative.

What is your body / branch doing socially?

Are they embracing "Y" gen and what they bring and demand of today's refereeing body?

Recognition is now a meal best served hot and quickly, just like junk food they eat at half time

Full Time Spain -v- Morocco

Thats it, 0-0 result in what looked like soggy underfoot conditions but nice afternoon sunlight in Manchester.

Busy afternoons work for the Aussie crew, 23 fouls and 9 offside decisions, and just the three yellows from the first half and on balance a fair result for both teams.  Spain did have one or two clear cut chances that they couldn't convert, but perhaps is indicitative of their performance at London.

Nice moment caught by the cameras as they walked off, with Pim Verbeek saying something to the guys and smiles all round - Pim was formerly Socceroos coach and no doubt knows Ben and the guys well. 

Perhaps he was wishing them well on appointments into the next round.  And as do I as I sign off for tonight and hope to bring you more coverage in Knockout round.

Goodnight

Half time Spain -v- Morocco

Rain pouring down at Manchester, Old Trafford.  Shame the crowd doesn't look like a big one, but the occasion must be excellent being in that famous stadium.

Even match so far, no score, two cautions to Spain, one to Morocco and several offside decisions given both ways. 
AR1 Matthew Cream
AR2 Haken Anaz
4th Wilmar Roldan (Columbia)

Keep it up in the rain boys.  Just like a Canberra or Melbourne Saturday afternoon game, given the conditions

More updates on the FIFA site for those not able to watch.

20 minutes...

20 minutes in
2 free kicks given, one each
Both AR's involved early with easy offside decisions

Ben looking comfortable and fit, using his quickness to cover the ground well

Ben Williams Spain -v- Morocco

Time for a bit of live blogging as Ben and the Aussie crew take control of their 2nd match of London 2012 Olympics,

Nice day in Manchester by the looks at kickoff

8 minutes gone, two offside decisions easy for AR2 - now sure who is on which side, but will update as I find out

Live TV coverage on Foxtel 185 Olympics #2 channel or BBC 4 Olympics channel if watching in UK

Ben William's London Olympic update

Evening everyone,

Been thinking on what to do in the off season (the other 51 weeks of the year until Kanga 2013) with the blog, and figured that with so many up and comer's from this year's Kanga RYA getting games at State / National levels, there may be some interest in keeping up with each other's officiating adventures through this medium. 

Here's a quick update

Ben William (FIFA Ref who spoke on Sunday night) flew out to London on 19th July and sent out this group email - really informative about his pathway so far.

Hi All,

Well, the day has finally arrived. After 20 years of refereeing and over 3 months since finding out that I was appointed to referee at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the day to jump on that plane, has finally arrived!

It has taken a while for the excitement to build for this tournament, as initially it seemed so far off, with many difficult training sessions in the cold Canberra winter ahead. However, over the past few weeks when the TV ads about London and the stories of athletes etc have been increasing, the reality has begun to set in that this is really happening.

I am so very lucky to have 2 world class Assistant Referees (linesmen) in Matthew Cream and Hakan Anaz, accompany me as part of my team of officials. These gentleman are not only excellent at what they do on a football field, but are blokes with whom I have worked for many years (Creamy since 1995 and Harks since 2002), and I am lucky enough to call my good mates. There have been a few bumps along the way, but we are now fully prepared to embark upon this journey (gee, I sound like I'm on a reality TV show, talking like that!).

We first found out about being selected on the short list of Prospective Referees for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, back in April while we were in Dubai for an Asian Champions League match. We'd just finished the game and were back in our respective hotel rooms in the early hours of the morning following the match. I couldn't sleep after the match and it was 4.39am when I got a text message from my very good mate, Ben Wilson, back in Australia, asking if I was awake. Benny had sent Creamy the same text and by the time I'd replied to Benny saying that I was awake, he had rung me. I answered at the same time as I heard a knock on my hotel room door. Creamy's room was in the other wing of the hotel and when he received the text from Benny, he took off running straight to my room. I answered the door to a very excited Creamy, whilst I put Benny on loud speaker as he told us the news that we'd been selected as one of 7 trios from Asia and one of 52 worldwide to fight it out for World Cup selection in Brazil in 2014. To say we were stoked, is an understatement! Hakan was in the room next to me, so rather than bash his door down, I rang and woke him up, saying that we'd received some terrible news and that he should come into my room. Creamy and I couldn't hide our excitement when he arrived, and he was greeted by the news and plenty of man-hugs. After not having a drink all trip, we cracked the mini bar in the hotel room for a celebratory drink. We rang Australia and spoke to our respective loved ones as well as ringing to congratulate Peter Green and Brad Hobson in their selection as one of 4 reserve trios from Asia also. Needless to say, we didn't go back to sleep until we had boarded the plane home and were somewhere over the Indian Ocean.

The following Wednesday, I had been at school, every lesson on class, and playground duties on top. I finished the last class, had time to grab my phone, notepad and drink bottle and head up for the whole staff meeting. I began walking to the main building as I checked my phone. There were plenty of missed calls and emails. I figured there must be some good news, so I quickly scanned through my emails to find one from FIFA, saying that my trio had been selected to referee at the London Olympics. I was pumped and quickly rang the boys to congratulate them.

Fast forward 3 months and I look back on how the build up has been, and I know that we've had a great preparation. I've been so pleased with the dedication and effort that Creamy and Harks have put in to get to where we are now - on a plane to London, about to represent ourselves, our families and friends, Capital Football / Football SA / Football Federation Victoria, Football Federation Australia, the Asian Football Confederation, and FIFA, at an Olympic Games.

There have been many hard training sessions where it may have been easier to sit on the couch in the warmth of our homes, many hours in the gym, at the track and on the fields, many rainy and cold sessions. There has been time away from our loved ones, much money spent and points used to get us around the country to work together. There have been hydrotherapy sessions, hot and cold sessions in the pools, sessions with our sports psychologist, sessions with our running coach, downloading and analysis of our heart rate data, analysis of our on-field performances, FIFA Laws of the Game Trivia tests, match scenario video tests, offside tests, weekly weigh-in and resting heart rate recording, FIFA medical screenings, and the list goes on. This is the reality for refereeing football these days.

I am thankful that I have a beautiful wife, loving family, great mates, and hugely supportive workplace, that allow me to continue to do this in search of my goals. I am also so very thankful that I have 2 great mates in Creamy and Harks, that have shown absolute professionalism and dedication to join me on this journey, and sacrifice so much.

We've been lucky enough to prepare not only individually in our respective home cities of Canberra (me), Adelaide (Creamy), and Melbourne (Harks), but travel to undertake training weekends together. We have also had matches arranged for us in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, so thank you to the people who made that happen, and to the boys for paying their way to fly around the country.

We are not the only representatives from Australia, however, to officiate in London. We also had Allyson Flynn and Sarah Ho selected as Assistant Referees on the Women's side of the draw. Allyson and Sarah both ran the lines at the Women's FIFA World Cup last year in Germany, and had the opening match of tournament in front of 73,000 spectators. These 2 ladies, in my opinion, are the best 2 females in the world at what they do. They both officiate in the Hyundai A-League (men's football) and are the only 2 females to do so.

All 5 of us had our final hurdle to overcome in the form of our FIFA Fitness Test, in Canberra on June 16. I had no doubt that all 5 of us had worked hard and it was going to be a mere formality of passing the test, submitting the paperwork and heart rate data, then London here we come. This was true and that box was ticked.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Allyson had picked up a niggle that didn't seem to be improving. She is absolutely super-fit and even with an injury, we were confident that she would have time to recover and still make the Games. The injury didn't respond to treatment and after the MRI
results confirmed that she has developed a stress-fracture in her femur, her London dream was over. This was particularly sad for me as Allyson has been training with me for years now in Canberra and to know how much work she had put in and how dedicated she is, to not be able to attend was heartbreaking. I know how shattered she must be, but to put a positive spin on a negative event like that, I am 100% confident that she will bounce back and recover from the injury, and be back bigger and stronger. She's still young enough to go through to the 2024 Olympics if she wishes! So there will be plenty more opportunities for Al, despite her being missed by all 4 of us other Aussie officials.

Hakan had pre-arranged a family holiday in Turkey, well before our Olympic appointment came through and the week following our Fitness Test, he flew out to Turkey with his family. I know he has been training hard (I can tell by his heart rate data) as well as working on his tan. I think Creamy and I will have to ask him to swim down the other end of the pool in London as my Canberra sun tan will be sadly outshone. Creamy's not much better either!

So, that brings us to today, the 18th of July. Departure day. Harks will fly direct to London from Istanbul, and I am meeting Creamy and Sarah in Sydney.  With my final training session completed in the morning, my gorgeous wife accompanied me to Canberra airport, where she saw me off. I flew up to Sydney to meet Creamy and Sarah. Being platinum on qantas and emerald on oneworld, allows me access to first class lounge in Sydney airport. Sarah was coming from work, so Creamy and I went up the escalator to enjoy the lounge. We sat down at the dining table for a sit-down restaurant-quality meal, and the traditional celebratory glass of champagne. Bollinger was the order of the day. We awaited our British Airways boarding call, and I am currently writing this on our way to London, via Singapore. FIFA look after us and are flying us business class, so we're looking forward to trying to get our body accustomed to London time, then put the bed flat and get some sleep.

We have our accreditation passes and that is supposed to allow us to get through customs at Heathrow a lot quicker, as it doubles as a visa. We're hoping that the recent media reports of 3-hour queues in customs, doesn't affect those of us competing/officiating!

We are not staying in the village when we arrive as FIFA have booked us into a very nice hotel in Mayfair. If you don't know much about London, have a look on a monopoly board and check out the prices of a hotel in Mayfair - that $200 you get for passing GO, doesn't go too far!

We don't know which matches we will be appointed to as yet. There are 24 group matches (4 groups of 4 teams), then Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, and then finally, the Bronze and Gold medal matches. The Final match is on August 11 at Wembley Stadium in London. The  other 5 venues are St James' Park (Newcastle), City of Coventry Stadium (Coventry) Hamden Park (Glasgow, Scotland), Millennium Stadium (Cardiff, Wales), and Old Trafford (Manchester).

There are 16 trios of referees, including us. So, we can assume that everyone gets one match, half of the trios get a second game, then it's up for grabs for the Quarters, Semis and the Bronze and Gold medal matches.

Whilst we would take the Final any day of the week, the reality is that we need to focus on performing well in the first match, and let the rest of it take it's course.

We will be training pretty much every morning, then back for lunch, then seminars and workshops every afternoon. We're not sure how much down time we'll get, so we'll play that by ear also. Matches begin for the women's matches on July 25, with our men's matches starting on July 26. The Opening Ceremony is on a rest day for us - July 27. We may be able to attend, depending in whether or not we have been involved in a match.

Well, we're about to land in Singapore so I'd best finish this email. The next email will be much, much shorter, I promise! It will come to you from London itself.

If you don't wish to receive these emails, no worries, just let me know and I'll take your name off the list.

Let the Games begin!! Until next time...

Cheers,

Ben Williams


The first appointments were released yesterday

Olympics 2012 Referee Appointments Match day 1
26 July 2012

M1, Group D
14:45 CET, Glasgow (Hampden Park)
Spain - Japan
Referee: Mark Geiger (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Hurd (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Joe Fletcher (CAN)
Fourth Official: Roberto Garcia (MEX)
Blog Observer: Chefren (ITA)

M2, Group B
14:30 CET, Newcastle (St.James-Park)
Mexico - Korea Rep.
Referee: Slim Jedidi (TUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Bechir Hassani (TUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Sherif Hassan (EGY)
Fourth Official: Juan Soto (VEN)
Blog Observer: Niclas E (GER)

M3, Group D
12:00 CET, Glasgow (Hampden Park)
Honduras - Morocco
Referee: Pavel Královec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Antonin Kordula (CZE)
Fourth Official: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Blog Observer: Maicon O (BRA)

M4, Group A
17:00 CET, Manchester (Old Trafford)
UA Emirates - Uruguay
Referee: Peter O'Leary (NZL)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Hintz (NZL)
Assistant Referee 2: Ravinesh Kumar (FIJ)
Fourth Official: Felix Brych (GER)
Blog Observer: Hubert D (POL)

M5, Group B
17:15 CET, Newcastle (St.James-Park)
Gabon - Switzerland
Referee: Wilmar Roldán (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Humberto Clavijo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Fourth Official: Raúl Orosco (BOL)
Blog Observer: Niclas E (GER)

M6, Group C
19:45 CET, Coventry (City of Coventry Stadium)
Belarus - New Zealand
Referee: Bakary Gassama (GAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Jason Damoo (SEY)
Assistant Referee 2: Angesom Ogbamariam (ERI)
Fourth Official: Yuichi Nishimura (JPN)
Blog Observer: Carlos S (COL)

M7, Group C
19:45 CET, Cardiff (Millennium Stadium)
Brazil - Egypt
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA, photo, ZIMBIO)
Assistant Referee 1: Elenito di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
Fourth Official: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Blog Observer: Philipp S (GER)

M8, Group A
20:00 CET, Manchester (Old Trafford)
Great Britain - Senegal
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)
Fourth Official: Benjamin Williams (AUS)
Blog Observer: Turan O (TUR)

I'll try and keep updating Ben's progress and wish him all the best from everyone at KCRYA.

KCRYA Photos All Uploaded

Hey everyone,

All the photos from KCRYA have now been uploaded (I think).  David L has some more that I'll pester him to send to me as we had technical difficulties getting his card into a reader on Friday night.  The only finals venue that I don't have pictures for is AIS Synthethic, so if you have some drop me a line and we can get them into the flickr feed for everyone to access / download.

Once again, happy to have them cross posted onto FB or anywhere, but attribution of the owner is requested and definiately no using them for commercial purposes without asking first please (as occured with 2011's pics).

I have some videos that I'll load somewhere once I get more time / bandwidth.  Flickr limits video to 90 seconds, so the hrs of presentation material may have to go to someplace like Dropbox or Google Drive.  Anyone have any recommendations or suggestions I be happy to hear peoples preferences.

Brilliant to see everyone gathering online and sharing stories and memories.  It was a brilliant week by everyone and I'd ask that you quietly promote the event in the most positive fashion you feel comfortable with, to change perceptions.  And the best way you can do this is to take all that you learnt during the week and apply it on the field / infront of assessors this weekend and into your local finals. 

Finally, attended FB Junior Coach night in the last few hours (Nth Side).  Was able to catch up with about half the guys (and one girl) from KCRYA.  They were very excitely showing assessment reports, talking about the experience and creating a buzz.  Very proud to say I now know these young people who positively represented themselves at an International Tournament, showing the personal qualities of respect, pride and committment for the uniform they wear. Well done for showing up tonight, it was a big week.

Good luck for the upcoming final rounds and finals in the next few weeks.  I'm off to actually do some paid work for the next few days (should be like a holiday to go canoeing / hiking as compared to KCRYA management), but hope to do some online feedback and perhaps gather your thoughts on 2013 in the coming weeks.

Signing off for now......

KangaCupRef

Travelling and AIS finals day pictures

Hope everyone who was still at RefHQ overnight had a good morning and a bit of rest before travelling home today.  I was on the Hume heading to Newcastle with David L by 4am.  We both appreciate that the noise last night died down early and everyone was able to get some sleep at a reasonable time.  As I publish the last few should be leaving the HQ for another year (thanks to David and Sigourney) and we hope to be back at the YMCA Bush Capital Lodge in 2013.  Good food, reasonable accommidation and evening events with flashing lights and sirens.

A layover at the Maskell Flight Club for the last few hours.  Great beds for cat naps, lunch provided, shower services and best of all free internet.  Highly recommended and I give it 5 Stars. As such, took the opportunity to upload all Paul Smiths pictures from AIS finals yesterday.  You can find them on the Flickr stream, see the link to the right.  Search for AIS.  All photos are searchable with tags, like AIS or Day5 or Finals as I upload them.  I'll try and put up the finals photos I have first and then go backwards to the start of the week.  I also have a large amount of video from presentations and some game football - yet to work out where to put it, but will use the blog to keep you informed.

Gotta go and catch a flight to BrisVegas....  Enjoy your first day back in the real world and safe travel everyone.

The end

Just after 11pm and the boys who remain at KCRYA are back from Ted at the movies and getting photos with each other and assesors, trying to capture the last moments of the experience before departures beginning at 4am.  Already about half the group have travelled home and are no doubt showered and enjoying the comforts of home. 

It's been a great week and today's finals were challenging but not beyond anyone's ability, with many good / excellent reports from around the grounds.  And thankfully no issues with the actual games beyond a few yellows and 2 RC, supporters well behaved generally.

Heading to bed now, have a very early start.  I'll continue to update the flickr photo vault (12 gig of photos from assessors to be uploaded) and will blog about reflections on KCRYA 2012 when I'm less tired.

Finished

Heading back to RefHQ from AIS dinner then movie to celebrate today's brilliant finals

Sent from my iPhone

Red card

RC for swearing by JPC, still 3-0 against Mt Pritchard

18's Final

Just after halftime at Boys 18 final 3-0 to JPC
Getting cold but lots of animated referees discussing today's finals experience
Kevin well in control

Mckellar Final day

Great weather and good quality refereeing today at McKellar for Finals. Watching Alex from WA doing the U/18 Girls then heading to Boys afterwards to finish the day at AIS

Awards Night postscript

Final post for tonight - uploading pictures from the Awards night now and hopefully will do more game pics from Thursday early in the morning before departure for the finals.

Thanks to David and Allyson for attending tonight to present certificates to all participants, Kanga Cup Referee unique shirts (credit to Scott Ferguson, it was old stock from a generation ago, but I can see it becoming a standard issue in 2013) for Finals Referees (10 out of 25 finals to KCRYA, 40%) and the naming of the Award winners.  The group seemed pleased with the winners, usually a good reflection of a choice based upon both on field and off field assessments done correctly by the assessors.


Evening finished with written feedback from the group about their experience followed by checking out the appointments by everyone.  Lots of happy referees and pizza arrived for a small party atmosphere until bedtime was finally enforced at 10:30pm.

Can't make a decision about where to go to watch / assess tommorrow. AIS has some guys I saw during the week who impressed and U/18's but the venue is ordinary to watch from.  McKellar Stadium is a great venue but perhaps less exciting games.

Think I'll sleep on it, bedtime is calling....

Qld Finals Update - sorry but I'm a Brissie boy at heart

Given some of my blog audience are from where I live, here's the breakdown of finals appointments for the Qld boys and girl who have been participating at Kanga 2012.
In no particular order....
From Football Brisbane

• Bradley Burton U/12 Cup Referee
• Brendan Sheppard U/15 Cup AR2
• Brett Pedley U/18 Cup 4th official
• Daniel Olson U/16 Cup Referee and Senior Referee of the Tournament
• Dylan Lambert U/18 Cup AR1
• Jasmin Smajic U/18 Female Cup AR1
• Joshua Oakley U/15 Female Plate Referee
• Nicholas Spanner U/12 Shield AR2
• Tori Hornsveld U/14 Plate 4th official
• Zijad Ahmetovic U/14 Plate AR2

And to support my old zone Wide Bay

• Llewellyn Evans U/13 Plate AR1
• Tom Wheeler U/12 Shield AR1

Excellent results guys, a very strong showing from a large Qld group.  You've proved once again that Football Brisbane is moving in the right direction and providing excellent quality in junior / youth development.

Particular happy for Bradley, Brendan and Llewellyn who I've assessed previously and everyone else, I'll be hoping to do follow up assessments in the coming months to see how your progressing.  Congrats everyone and get to sleep, kick off is in 10 hours

And the awards for KCRYA are....

Fun Awards given out tonight

•  Stiffest hair - Hayden
• The Spiderman - Dylan
• Father Time - Time
• King of the Clips - Wayne
• Mr. Sandman - Louie
• Foosball Champions - Central Coast Crew
• The Room Clearer - Jamie
• Umbrellewar AR -Tori
• Dream Crasher - Alex
• Sir Snorealot - Jeremy
• Facebook Fiend - Matt

Serious Awards given out tonight

Junior Referee of the Tournament

Jack Bell, 16yo, Eastern Suburbs Football Association

Senior Referee of the Tournament

Daniel Olson, 19yo, Football Brisbane

Referee of the Tournament

Kevin McMillan, 19, Auckland Football Federation

Congratulations boys and good luck for tommorrow

Thursday night fines...

Fines from today

Luke - no shoes at dinner
Damien - two RC
Dylan - RC
Mitch - clothing coordination
Luke - failed to bring a ball to the game, wrong size brought out
Brett - most disorganised rain (5 players, wrong sized ball)
Hayden - failed to bring a coin, rock paper scizzors, drew three times, then found his coin and the match )
Ian - run a line this afternoon, nice push, signelled the wrong way, cookaburra had a laugh, threw the flag away
Mitch - U/11 YC
Matt - Seagull award
Paul - farting during the fire false alarm that made everyone move quicker than the fire alarm
Paul S - socializing

Thursday update

The last whistle has been blown today on Semi Finals and the only games left for the Academy crew are finals on Friday.  Everyone who's back is showering and getting ready for the awards night after dinner and then the excitment and perhaps disappointment of the finals appointments.

Good evening to come and early to bed for everyone.  I'll post more pictures from the last two days (sorry, behind as usual) and some from tonight if I can get it done early

Monday night fines

Nightly as part of the review, we like to discuss the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the day's competition, specifically how we can get better the next day.  Highlighted issues included get wider, get closer and lots of good refereeing performances.

Small Fines applied for miscellanous issues in a light hearted manner with the KYRYA group included the following

• Paul and takeaway coffees -v- bus
• Kyle - something about inappropriate piecing
• Darren - didn't do the washing for Rm 6
• David - false accusations
• Kieran - birthday boy today, happy 20th
• Brett - inappropriate shoe purchase at Uni
• Wayne - lost....
• Jeremy - 2YC
• Louie - RC
• Daniel - 2YC
• Jamie / Dean - hat issues
• Wayne - clothing taste before breakfast
• Trent - misplaced 5 minutes somewhere
• Jeremy - only Kiwi not to be fined yet, watching the $$$
• David - dropoffs
• Lachlan -
• Brendan - made the kids cry (big meanie)
• Brendan again - stacked off the kickoff
• Mystery - midnight murmings
• Brendan again 2 - inappropriate comments, see Mystery previously

Now, back to business.  Tonight Allyson Flynn is presenting to everyone on the topic
"It's not just a man's world".  Allyson is the Referee Development Manager at Capital Football and FIFA Assistant Referee and has been a contributor to Kanga Cup over the years. 

Our own Paul Smith, FIFA Instructor and Kanga Cup 6 year veteran will conclude the night talking "Assessnig an Elite Referee".

 Another busy evening at KCRYA - hope to get to bed before midnight

Best opening ceremony ever!!!!

Late again, never seems to change at Kanga Cup how the time drains away and I'm once again updating the day after midnight..  Fortunately the tennis is on - no spoilers here, so don't worry and this will be quick

Seminar today, same same as previous years, but much bigger....
Today's stats

• 27 assessors / referee coordinators / mentors, 100% increase on 2011????
• 40% increase in referee participation, approximately 140
• 400 sausages cooked
• 4 versions of Monday's appointments already, waiting until morning to print out final copies for the day
• 640 matches scheduled
• 12 years that Norm Armstrong contributed to Kanga Cup as referees assessor, coach, 3am finals appointments club member - we observed a moments silence today in his passing last December, rest in peace my friend, your presence here is missed.

Beep test, high scorers being 14.5 and 13, but great job from all taking part - Thanks Mark for helping run warm ups at short notice

This was followed by lunch BBQ brought to you by The 3 Stooges (Nathan, David, Paul), with supervision from Sigourney.  "You want my meat anybody" - Quote of the Day; lots of pushing, shoving, YC offenses generally

Quick change into nice clothing and off to the front of the line and polite clapping at the opening ceremony.  Respect to the CEO for recognizing at length the contribution of the referees in Kanga with year.  Much better from 2011.

Tori took the oath on behalf of the Referees, great job in a big room.  Quickest opening on record, about 20 minutes of actual presentation and we're heading for supplies before a quick dinner

After dinner, Ben Williams attended and presented his road to the top and the challenges ahead as he prepares for London 2012 and World Cup 2014.  Really fasinating stuff, answered lots of behind the FIFA door stuff about refereeing at elite levels.
One a personal note, it's really rewarding to see Ben do so well after being a colleague / competitor at National Titles in 1995 - a group that produced 7 FIFA badges from 20 referees
With Mark Nester in attendance, (he got the U/16 Grand Final, Ben was 4th, I think I was doing Myspace updates on a very long phone cord????) it was a mini reunion of telling tall tales from an era ago.
Here's the group and some faces are still running around on your local field somewhere.....

So from memory lane, it's back to Day 1 reality tommorrow and everyone was in bed early and not talking, so presumably asleep. 

Early start, buses departing HQ from 7:45am carrying lots of hopes and dreams and excitment from this years Kanga Cup Referees Youth Academy.

Off to bed - don't forget to checkout today's photos on Flickr and follow me on twitter, live from U/18's at Hawker on Monday.  Some videos to go up later, but not tonight

Go Murray....

Bedtime.

Arrival Day

Good first day, almost everyone arrived who nominated and the team seems to be bonding well.
Dinner was lasagne, followed by indoor climbing and David Kurthi doing an "house rules" and introductions session.  I provided some sage advice about FB and social media usage during the week and following, I can only hope that they don't make too many mistakes...

Some details are leaking out about this weeks program....
 Allyson Flynn, Capital Football Referee Development Manager will be presenting whilst on crutches, speaking about the balancing act of being a FIFA AR.
 Ben Williams and Ben Wilson will make another presentation about the view from the top and hopefully some pre-Olympics gossip

On the rurmour mill, there may even be an appeared by Mark Shields, details to be confirmed........

For those of you statistically minded....

•  Record number of Referee mentors are in attendance (13 for those taking count)
•  Record number of new referees (42?) as opposed to returning (4)
• Number of times Louie has been caugh napping in 2012 (0)

 
Everyone is finally been encouraged to head to bed and aside from one room still making too much noise (I'm looking in your direction Rm6), I'm heading towards my bunk bed.

Sunday is early breakfast, Mentors meeting, Fitness "assessment" in the beep test (hoping to beat 14 this year) and some quality instruction from local lumerinaries.

Uploaded today's pictures to the Flickr account, look for AusRef or click the linke to the right.  Happy to add any to the stream, see me at RefHQ.
 Thanks to Scott Ferguson once again freely providing this great resource of treasured memories going back to 2001

Follow me on Twitter@KangaCupRef and visit the Kanga Cup Referees - 2012 event page

ZZzzzzzz..........

And so it begins again....

Quick update.  Welcome back Kanga Cup Referees for 2012.  Dinner is being followed by some local indoor rock climbing and then a introduction / house rules / expectations meeting.  Already the group is looking good, lots of excited discussions about football taking place and many new friendships being started.

Some look tired already from the travel day, so perhaps off to be early
Update and some pictures later