You need to pull out that hot black uniform and make sure it still fits and don't forget that crusty whistle. It's like anything else. It's hard to take that first step, but once to move up to a jog, you remember the fun.
And fun it must be! People really do appreciate the job we do as officials. We cannot let a few ruin our good fun. You help shape the way children accept authority and adversity. You must show confidence, but also compassion. Your mission is a difficult one and from what I have seen you take your responsibility seriously.
That was very evident Saturday the 16th of August when over 60 of you devoted the day to learning more about your craft, your hobby, your love. Looking through the responses some of you wrote on our questionnaires you were pleased.
Some of your comments:
"I liked this a lot! Lets do it at least twice a
season!!..
"The US trainer was stimulating and interesting"
While one of you
thought:
"Too much time being philosophical but not really talking about
soccer."
It was not easy trying to put together a collection of specific topics that would be of interest to a majority of people. We wanted to emphasize professionalism to our advanced referees but did not want to exclude the rest of you. I hope you came away with some food for thought.
For the most part you really enjoyed listening to FIFA Linesman George Savic. We were afraid he might talk about experiences that were above our heads.
I feel that there are always some experiences a person has to offer that I can relate to in my own life. You have to read between the lines. I hope some of you did and took away some useful information, if not at least some neat soccer goodies.
See you out on the pitch,
PS. This will hopefully be a weekly section where I talk about experiences
relating to soccer officiating. Please feel free to e-mail me with suggestions
for topics you would like me to cover.