Tournament Fun, part 2
Monday, October 27, 2008
So, we (same crew) decided to do another tournament
this past weekend as well. The tournament is at the
same fields as the prior weekend, but hosted by a
different club. We couldn't make any Saturday morning
games, so we ended up with 8 assignements (4 on
Saturday and 4 on Sunday).
Now, we definitely felt a little abused at this tournament. Unlike last weekend where we had 12 games, we felt good - not just unabused - we felt appreciated and slightly pampered. At this tournament the assignments were crazy! and there were absolutely no breaks or people bringing us goodies (or even water). Here was our Saturday schedule (note the 2:00 was added when we checked in):
1:00 pm - U12 Boys - Field 1
2:00 pm - U14 Boys - Field 8
3:30 pm - U14 Girls - Field 8
5:10 pm - U12 Boys - Field 1
I know we reviewed the rules, but I accidentally left them in the car. Figured they would have them at the fields, plus I just went and checked in with the lady at the referee tent and asked her if U12 halves were 25 minutes long (5 minutes shorter than regular league games, like last week). She answered in the affirmative.
So I thought - Geez! If the 1:00 game ends on time 1:55, we have only a few minutes to get across the complex (at this complex there are only eight fields and they are all in a line, so field 1 and 8 are as far apart as possible). First game went fine and I reminded the field marshall to get a cart over here at the end of our game. Surprise, no cart, so we hooved across the complex and arrived 10 minutes late. I centered both U14 games since the other two are only 15.
The U14 boys game involved two very skilled teams. The first half went well - until - I blew the whistle for halftime (at 30 minutes). Geez - the whole place erupted claiming the halves should be 35 minutes. I calmed everyone down and went over to the field marshall to double-check. Sure enough, they were playing 35 minute halves (and the U12 game was supposed to be 30 minute halves, but because it was their first games, they didn't know any better). So we played an additional 5 minutes... unbelievably, two more goals were scored in that 5 minutes! The only other excitement in that game was a stoppage by me to have the coach calm his parents down. They went from just yelling in general, to yelling a a specific player on the opposing (winning) team. Suprisingly, he was happy to do so, and he remained with the parents the whole rest of the time. I didn't hear much at all from the parents after that. Thanks, coach!
After making it to the 5:10 game at 5:25 (finally, a ride this time), the more experienced 15-year-old started that game. It was a decent game and ended 5-2 with the winning team definitely dominating the whole game. Only one bit of crazines happened here, and I missed it until it was already full blown. Definitely another learning experience, though. This time I was AR1 (team side) and the keeper on the far goal was injured (cleanly) in an attempt to win a 50-50 ball. CR whistled a foul for the keeper, ran to the player, turned back toward the bench and motioned for the coach to enter the field. Then the craziness happened. I was watching the rest of the field, and then I heard some commotion. The coach that just entered the field was yelling, quite angrily, at someone carrying the keeper off of the field. My reaction was this:
What the? - why is he yelling at his assistant? - wait, there wasn't anyone with him on the sideline - who the heck is...? - oh, crap that's a parent!
Of course the CR (my son) had no idea what to do, and just let the parent continue to carry the player off of the field while the coach still yealled at him (the parent). I tried to motion for the CR to talk to me on handling the situation, but he waved me down and just started play. The rest of the game was uneventful. The coach came up to the CR and complimented him on a good game, but told him he should have kicked the parent out of the game. The coach was right, and I discussed it with the CR. I was wondering how I (or the closer AR) missed the parent coming on the field - and how did he get on the field so fast? The CR knew... It turns out that that parent was behind the goal the whole second half, giving instructions to his daughter. AR2 was too far away to stop him and CR had turned away to motion the coach.
Definitely a learning experience!
Now, we definitely felt a little abused at this tournament. Unlike last weekend where we had 12 games, we felt good - not just unabused - we felt appreciated and slightly pampered. At this tournament the assignments were crazy! and there were absolutely no breaks or people bringing us goodies (or even water). Here was our Saturday schedule (note the 2:00 was added when we checked in):
1:00 pm - U12 Boys - Field 1
2:00 pm - U14 Boys - Field 8
3:30 pm - U14 Girls - Field 8
5:10 pm - U12 Boys - Field 1
I know we reviewed the rules, but I accidentally left them in the car. Figured they would have them at the fields, plus I just went and checked in with the lady at the referee tent and asked her if U12 halves were 25 minutes long (5 minutes shorter than regular league games, like last week). She answered in the affirmative.
So I thought - Geez! If the 1:00 game ends on time 1:55, we have only a few minutes to get across the complex (at this complex there are only eight fields and they are all in a line, so field 1 and 8 are as far apart as possible). First game went fine and I reminded the field marshall to get a cart over here at the end of our game. Surprise, no cart, so we hooved across the complex and arrived 10 minutes late. I centered both U14 games since the other two are only 15.
The U14 boys game involved two very skilled teams. The first half went well - until - I blew the whistle for halftime (at 30 minutes). Geez - the whole place erupted claiming the halves should be 35 minutes. I calmed everyone down and went over to the field marshall to double-check. Sure enough, they were playing 35 minute halves (and the U12 game was supposed to be 30 minute halves, but because it was their first games, they didn't know any better). So we played an additional 5 minutes... unbelievably, two more goals were scored in that 5 minutes! The only other excitement in that game was a stoppage by me to have the coach calm his parents down. They went from just yelling in general, to yelling a a specific player on the opposing (winning) team. Suprisingly, he was happy to do so, and he remained with the parents the whole rest of the time. I didn't hear much at all from the parents after that. Thanks, coach!
After making it to the 5:10 game at 5:25 (finally, a ride this time), the more experienced 15-year-old started that game. It was a decent game and ended 5-2 with the winning team definitely dominating the whole game. Only one bit of crazines happened here, and I missed it until it was already full blown. Definitely another learning experience, though. This time I was AR1 (team side) and the keeper on the far goal was injured (cleanly) in an attempt to win a 50-50 ball. CR whistled a foul for the keeper, ran to the player, turned back toward the bench and motioned for the coach to enter the field. Then the craziness happened. I was watching the rest of the field, and then I heard some commotion. The coach that just entered the field was yelling, quite angrily, at someone carrying the keeper off of the field. My reaction was this:
What the? - why is he yelling at his assistant? - wait, there wasn't anyone with him on the sideline - who the heck is...? - oh, crap that's a parent!
Of course the CR (my son) had no idea what to do, and just let the parent continue to carry the player off of the field while the coach still yealled at him (the parent). I tried to motion for the CR to talk to me on handling the situation, but he waved me down and just started play. The rest of the game was uneventful. The coach came up to the CR and complimented him on a good game, but told him he should have kicked the parent out of the game. The coach was right, and I discussed it with the CR. I was wondering how I (or the closer AR) missed the parent coming on the field - and how did he get on the field so fast? The CR knew... It turns out that that parent was behind the goal the whole second half, giving instructions to his daughter. AR2 was too far away to stop him and CR had turned away to motion the coach.
Definitely a learning experience!