I'm not blind, I'm just a referee!

Hello, friends!

Today was my first foray into the wonderful world of soccer refereeing!  My church sent out an email a few days ago asking for folk to volunteer as referees for their soccer program.  Saturdays are my day off, I always like running around and helping out, so it seemed like a good idea.  As stated previously, I don't have much experience with soccer, but it's youth soccer!  How hard could it be?

Well, it turns out it could actually be plenty hard.  The game, even at the youth level, is way faster in person than it is when watching it on TV.  The hardest part is the out of bounds.  This might actually be harder on the youth level because there is a lot of "clumping."  You have 4-6 bodies all crowding around the ball, kicking it off each others shins and eventually it caroming off of someone and out of bounds.  Then you have to make the call as to who touched it last.  If there's any solace, it's that most of the kids don't know who touched it last either. 

After 4 hours of reffing in the 90 degree heat, I had a chance to sit down and think about the day that was.  There are some things that I like about being a referee.  I like the idea of administering justice and making sure that things stay fair.  I also like the idea of absolute power.  =0).  I'll certainly keep reffing for the rest of this season, but the truth is, I think I like coaching better.

My friend Ashely always tells me "You're such a coach!"  Whenever I have the chance to teach someone something, anything really, I'm always jumping right in.  It doesn't matter if it's football, statistics, whatever; if I have a chance to coach, I'm all over it.  They say that those who can do and those who can't coach.  If that's the case, then I can't do anything.

Here are today's stats:
Places biked: I biked to church, which was actually easier than I thought!
Distance biked: 9.0 miles ($.90)
Meter: None

Grand Total for the day: $.90
Grand Total so far: $43.97
Left to save: $538.65

Happy Biking!

~Adam