Thursday, September 3, 2009

Refereeing on a Small Field

There has ben much said about the size of the fields at the new APS Socer Complex. From the referees perspective, what adjustments have you made to your game when working on a smaller field?
In my first few games at the APS complex, I have noticed that I have to focus much more on positioning. On a large field, you have a lot more time to read play and decide where to move next. However, on the smaller fields I've found that your decision making must be much quicker. There will only be one small space to move into, and it must be done quickly. This requires you to be mentally focused at all times. Remember the ABC's of positioning as it will definately apply to your games:
A= I can see play and the potential problem area
B= I can see my AR
C= I am not occupying space the player need
Another thing I've noticed about refereeing on smaller fields is an increased use of back-pedalling. On the small field, you need to be close to play because the players are in such tight spaces that there will be a lot more body contact to manage. I've found that the quickest way out of close quarters is to back-pedal out of the situation, instead of using the added time of turning my body away from play and running away and taking my eyes off the ball.

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