Central Oregon Soccer Officials Association Main Page

N E W S & I N F O R M A T I O N

Paychecks: This past week, paychecks were mailed for High School games. If you have worked High School games through the middle of September and not yet received a paycheck, please contact Dick Robertson (dickr @ bendcables.com or 548-1961). If you have not received a check yet, it is probably because Dick either needs your address or social security number. Please contact Dick if you want to be paid.

Attendance at our Wednesday night Meetings: The Executive Committee has decided to once again fine Officials who fail to attend the regularly scheduled meetings of our Association. The fine for missing a meeting is $5. Starting October 1, 2005; if you are unable to attend a meeting and need to be excused from the meeting, you need to contact me (salari @ oregontrail.net) at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. If you are unable to let me know at least 24 hours before the meeting that you are unable to attend, there will be a $5 deduction from your final paycheck. We believe a lot of relevant and important protocol is addressed at the meeting which is missed by a lot of Officials. In order to improve our consistency as an Association, it is our expectation that our Officials will attend our meetings. It is also a requirement from OSAA that Referees attend a certain number of training and continuing education meetings during the High School season to maintain their licenses. The frustrating thing about some of our meetings, has been that some of our Officials who need to hear the various points of emphasis are not present to learn and improve on those areas; thus we end up having recurring problems with the same Officials over the same issues. The mandatory attendance applies to High School Officials, and does not apply to our Youth Officials. Our Youth Officials are always welcome to attend our meetings in order to improve their skills and take part in the training discussions.

Athletic Directors: There is an attachment along with this Newsletter of all of our local Athletic Directors as per the Association request for an updated and current listing. Use this listing to contact Athletic Directors for verification of game time and location.

OregonSoccerCentral.com : One of the goals for our High School Assignor and Commissioner has been to try and stay at least 2 weeks ahead on the assigning of games, so that we wouldn’t have to be scrambling to figure out our work schedules and family obligations at the last minute. It is imperative that Officials check the website regularly (hopefully everyday) for changes or updates to the schedule. Game times and location are sometimes moved or the crew for a game may change on any given day. Please keep track of who you are working with so that you can carpool to games together whenever possible. It is also important to accept or reject the games that you have been assigned as soon as they are posted on the website.

Reporting of Games: Remember that if you do not fill out a game report online … there is no record of you having worked that game … thus you will not be getting paid. In order to be paid, you must fill out a game report online. If you issue a red card, you must call or email Claudio within 24 hours and notify him of the ejection. You must also contact Claudio if a game is canceled, called early or for any other unusual circumstance.

Available Games: Be sure to update your availability online at OregonSoccerCentral.com. You should also send an email to the various Assignors in our Association indicating your desire to work more (or fewer) games. The Assignors which you should contact are:

1) Claudio Muggia (acmuggia @ bendbroadband.com) for High School games;

2) Pat Evoy (coassign @ oregontrail.net) for OYSA and sanctioned youth games;

3) Kevin Collier (kevin @ bendparksandrec.org) for Bend Metro Parks & Recreational games.

High School Referees & Mileage: Please remember to keep a running log of the games you are driving to. We have decided to pay for the mileage incurred traveling to High School games when the season is completed. You will need to email or send to Claudio, a listing of all the games that you to at as soon as the regular season is finished. You will be paid for mileage incurred for playoff games by the State and not by COSOA. If you ride share or carpool to a game, remember that only the person doing the driving is eligible for the mileage.

T R A I N I N G

I wanted to share some of the not so positive feedback which I have received so far this season from some of our local High School Coaches & Players. Most if not all of the comments are typical comments which one hears year after year. My hope in listing the most commonly cited complaints is to use them as an educational tool, in order to improve our consistency and efficiency as Officials and as an Association.

Life is one big learning experience, so I don’t believe there is anything wrong with making a mistake, as long as you learn from it. Our less experienced officials have the most to learn, but even the experienced officials can benefit from improvement in these basic duties and responsibilities. We all have to remember that the kids, coaches and parents are depending on us to conduct their games in a safe and enjoyable environment. When we fail in our duties as Officials, a lot of the fun aspects of the game are lost and are replaced by increased violence and anger directed at opposing players and ultimately at us.

I am going to list the more commonly cited complaints and then follow each complaint with the proper protocol:

“One or more of the Referees did not show up on time and the game did not start on time.” COSOA’s Protocol: Referees show up at least 20 minutes prior to the start time of the match, in order to check players, obtain rosters, get game balls, check the field, conduct the coin toss, … and ensure that the game starts on time.
“One or more of the Referees did not control the game effectively. For example: a) Did not call enough fouls; b) Did not card or caution players when indicated [dissent, language, unsporting behavior, etc.]; c) Let the game get too rough by allowing too much contact and rough play.” COSOA’s expectation from each of its Officials is to ensure the safety of the players. That means managing the game in a way, so that injuries and confrontations are avoided whenever possible. We would rather our Officials call a game too tight, than too loose. There is a time and a place to let the players be more aggressive. There is also a time and a place to not let the play get too rough or aggressive. That judgment only comes from experience, but one key factor to consider is how often the players and coaches are asking for a foul to be called. Remember we are out there to help ensure the safety of the players and to help conduct a fair match.
“One or more of the Referees did not keep up with the play … was calling (or not calling) fouls from too far away.” COSOA expects all of its Officials to HUSTLE. It doesn’t matter if you are running a line, doing a dual or running the middle … you have to run and be in the right spot to ‘sell the call’. There is no excuse for Officials who fail to hustle and keep up with play. Ideally you should always be 10-15 yards away from the action.
“One of more of the Referees repeatedly did not recognize that we wanted to substitute.” COSOA expects its Officials to check the sidelines at each out of bounds or dead ball situation. Allowing substitutions to stand idly on the side, is a sign of an Official who doesn’t check the sidelines enough. It is helpful when Assistant Referees mirror each other’s substitution signals, so as to make things easier on the center.
“One or more of the Referees did not stop the game and attend to injuries appropriately.” COSOA expects all of its Officials to make the safety of the players one of their primary responsibilities. Whenever possible, attempt to check on a player who has gone down. There is a time and a place to allow for an advantage to take place, but we must all remember that safety of the players is our primary obligation to the game. It is also acceptable for an Assistant Referee to enter the field to check on a down player, if the play has moved onto the other side of the field.
“One or more of the Referees did not look or present him/herself in a professional manner.” COSOA’s Protocol: We want our Officials to wear the proper uniform as stipulated in the High School manual. We want our Officials to tuck their shirts into their shorts and to not wear their shorts too low. We have to look professional to the players, coaches & parents. COSOA wants its Officials to shake each coach’s hand before the match and introduce yourself and your crew to the coaches.

C O S O A C O N T A C T N U M B E R S

Claudio Muggia, High School Assignor & Commissioner