Clinic: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Over the weekend I went to a state-wide clinic for all ranks of referee (plus assessors and instructors), following the (good) idea of providing the same basic material throughout the program—youth, amateur and professional.  As is always the case with a big clinic, an observer will see the good, the bad and the ugly; this day-long effort was no different.  Let’s start with the good.

• The instructor was Herb Silva, National Instructor/National Assessor, and now part of the “new” referee program in Chicago.  Energetic, humorous, knowledgeable and infused with an obvious passion for getting things right and for getting the program right back on track.  He was the perfect out-of-stater (in case anyone in the audience is tired of listening to the familiar instructors from CalNorth).  He delivers the message but good!

• The response?  An audience of more than 240 officials (from teenagers to people as old as I am) in attendance all day.  That’s the largest number I have ever seen in a voluntary clinic anywhere!

• The material? 
1. All important stuff that is rarely delivered to new referees, and centered around the model of game-management, involving the concept of “flow” of the game (the old IBD 8 of Law 5); taking risks to create flow (including allowing “advantage” anywhere on the field); all without relinquishing control and safety.
2. Managing the behavior of club officials and personnel in the technical area.  If everyone does what they are supposed to do, this will really stir up youth soccer, and will (after a period of gestation) change the level of civility along touchlines all across the country.  Boy, do we need that! 
3. Managing dissent (yeaaaah!), free kicks and other restarts (and yes, Virginia! locations of throws-in are included!) 
4. Dealing with contact of arms into the head of an opponent, such as may have ended the career of a player in MLS in the last couple of weeks.
5. Tactical fouls and red cards.

• And the bad?  Nothing you can blame on the program or the instructor, but as I have noticed before, fully two-thirds of the members of the audience listened, commented with their neighbors, yet took not a single note during the hours of the clinic.  I’m getting the impression that the majority of NorCal referees have photographic memories and 100% recall . . .

• The ugly?  I was going to comment on the apparently poor fitness level of members of the audience, but since I don’t know who was a referee and who an instructor or assessor, it would be unfair for me to say anything.

• Bottom line?  Chicago is serious about taking us back to the days when we refereed according to the laws of the game.  And some people here may have missed an opportunity to hear and absorb the message.

Comments

[Dustin Edwards]

The Link that you put in doesn't seem to work for me. Also is all this included on the USSoccer Website or do I have to wait for a good clinic to come my way?

[Nate]

Do you have any more info regarding the program from the weekend? In particular, I'd like to hear more regarding sideline management in youth games. I've seen several different tactics on this, most having a low rate of success...

[Jason S]

I was there and took solid notes. The slides went by super fast sometimes so I hope to get a digital copy. There was way too much commenting going on during the presentation, causing me to miss a few details. I think this style of meeting needs to be held in every state so US Soccer can gain ground on what soccer looks like worldwide.

[James R]

I attended the clinic also and was quite impressed with the scope of the information that was presented. I scribbled notes furiously as Herb was flying through some of the slides. As an instructor, I hope to soon get a copy of the presentations also so I can disseminate the information to our local association. I plan on squeezing as much of this as possible into my entry level clinics.

[farside268]

We had the same presentation in my area. We were told that the information would all be online, and were actually discouraged from taking notes. While one may question the pedagogical merit of such direction, it may explain why so few people took notes.

[pat smith]

Teaching is getting at the heart, and mind,
so that the student begins to value learning,
and to believe learning is possible in his own case.
The teacher considers: the worse the material,the greater the skill in working it.
Pouring out knowledge is not teaching.
Hammering a task is not teaching.
Lecturing clearly is not teaching.
Knowing where to apply knowledge
is teaching.

[Dustin Edwards]

Totally with Pat on this one, teaching is a tough job just like reffing.

[Patrick Duffy]

Herb and Farhad Mansourian were the instructors for the Referee Training Seminar in Oregon two weeks ago. They did a dynamite job here, also. It was encouraging that they actually discussed the applicability of some of what they had to say to games below the professional level.

We distributed CD's of their PowerPoint slides (with the video clips) to all of the referees at the end.

Our clinic began with the physical fitness test and most of the failures were referees from out of state. Herb's comment was that, in 30 years, he had never seen the SRA "run with the troops" before. And, yes, at 59, I passed.

[Good for you, Pat! RE]