Dance like No-One is watching

So, I referee'd the first of 5 days of a tournament today. It was hot, it was tiring, but as always it was great to see the teams, the teamwork and the competitiveness. Teams have come from across the globe - USA, Columbia, Holland, Canada, Finland etc They were all great, men, women and children's teams.

Points to note though - for all Referee's out there;

We've all referee'd at a tournament, and we've all noticed those Referee's that turn up first thing, referee a match or two, then disappear - like they have just put on Harry Potters Invisibility Cloak - although they may possibly be found where the refreshments are - If you are going to referee a tournament, it's an all day event, and the referee's are a team to - if you see that someone has referee'd back to back matches for about 6 hours, and you have done one, go and replace them for a while - so they can get a drink or something??????

For those of you in a Referee Coordinators position - whoever you are (cos I didn't actually see you), ensure;

• That there are enough referees to fulfill all the matches
• That the referee's have enough water - especially when the temperature is 27 degree's
• That the referee's are getting breaks
• That the referee's get some lunch
• That you have given all the referees a brief about the event and how it's going to work 

Just Saying!!!!!!

Well anyway, as always I had a good day. Met new people and caught up with old friends. When I got home I decided to do a sport of footy practice in the garden - Always a mistake for me to put music on in the background - I just can't help myself;

Have a slice of the Party Cake

As I've said before, you need to enjoy life. Life is like a cake, made up of slices. If you do too much of one thing, you will miss out on others. There are times in life when one slice does need to take over for a while, whether it be family circumstances or a contract at work. But as soon as possible you need to bring back equilibrium;

My cake has the following segments;

• Family
• Work
• Social Life
• Love / Romance
• Home
• Creativity
• Health and Fitness
• Rest and Relax
• Spirituality
• Money

The list seems very busy, but all the segments are absolutely relevant to give my life that balance and well-being. The list intertwines constantly throughout the year, throughout life. Without spending some time with each segment, you could lose sight of what is important. 

I do work really hard, always working towards my next level that I wish to attain. I also spend a lot of time on health and fitness. But although my family are all very busy, we make time for each other whenever we can; one of our favorite things to do is to go for brunch at 'Homemade Pavilion' Nottingham. gorgeous food, beautiful setting, fantastic decor and what we really love is that they have a cupboard with loads of different board games in it. We usually opt for scrabble. We literally spend around 3 hours there, just chatting, playing games and eating. 

Well last week was holiday time, party time, social time. A time to let my hair down, to go overseas. to relax on a beach with the relaxing beautiful sounds of the sea. At night a time to dance the night away, meet friends old and new and basically recharge ready for a busy time ahead. I went over to Cyprus, a place I am fortunate to have visited before. A place that is near enough to go over and enjoy a weeks holiday, and one where we do still have family friends who live there - just in case.

 Now I'm back, rejuvenated. I've lots of things coming up, but will always work to my life balance. 

What's Occurring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finished college last month, the end of my compulsory schooling, the beginning of being responsible for my own future. My Mum is trained in psychology and has always instilled in us the requirement to take control of our own lives, not to blame anyone else for an outcome - even if someone or something else does something to stop what you want happening - you still have control of how you deal with it, and therefore still have control in the final outcome.

Another really important skill that she has taught me is 'Networking'. Of all the life-skills Networking is an absolute must.;

It's about meeting people,
it's about learning from people
it's about telling people what you want,
it's about knowing what you want, doing your homework about who can help you and how you can meet that person, then getting into a position where you do meet that person.

It takes work - but then it does works

I do meet a lot of people through playing and refereeing. When I was 16 I created a LinkedIn account, and by really concentrating on it, putting a lot of effort into it, and making sure it was right before going live with it, it has been brilliant. Within 2 years I had received the following offers;

Charity Football Match Official - with Mark Clattenberg
Soccerex Referee - which has since opened up so many more opportunities
Writing articles for various publications
Attendance at 'Kick it Out', which has lead onto my being on the panel

Through this initial beginning, my Networking has progressed even further, to my now having been offered an amazing 'Internship' at a major Football / Sport Agency - How incredible, and also what an amazing business to be in to carry on with the learning and networking - plenty of material for my posts!!

I've also been asked to be in a 'Documentary', to be filmed throughout this coming football season. I will be attending a production meeting in August - can't wait to tell you all about it.

I've also been attending trials over the last few weeks, which have again been arranged via Networking.

If you want to get somewhere, you have to work for it. If you know where you want to get to, do your homework, learn everything you can, then bring on the Networking. Its hard work, but worth it.

The Off-Side Rule Explained !!!!!!

So as Euro 2016 reaches its knockout stages and especially after last night, a few of my Icelandic mates who i used to play football with rang to tell me how sorry they were that England got knocked out.. not! I thought as we have gone and you have the knowledge of the referee signals that will be going on throughout the tournament, one thing that is constantly being brought to my attention is that, even though football is an internationally known and internationally respected game, so many people still have no idea about the offside rule, in my eyes what's not to get, but we will go through this together and get through it... hopefully.

The non football fans version is this.. 

'You're in a shoe shop, second in the queue for the till. Behind the shop assistant on the till is a pair of shoes which you have seen and which you must have.

The female shopper in front of you has seen them also and is eyeing them with desire. Both of you have forgotten your purses.

It would be totally rude to push in front of the first woman if you had no money to pay for the shoes.

The shop assistant remains at the till waiting.

Your friend is trying on another pair of shoes at the back of the shop and sees your dilemma.

She prepares to throw her purse to you.

If she does so, you can catch the purse, then walk round the other shopper and buy the shoes.

At a pinch she could throw the purse ahead of the other shopper and, *whilst it is in flight* you could nip around the other shopper, catch the purse and buy the shoes.

Always remembering that until the purse had *actually been thrown* it would be plain wrong to be forward of the other shopper' 

hopefully to the people out there who wouldn't normally watch football, next time an offside comes up you'll be quick to identify that an offside occurs and even better you'll actually understand what is actually going on!;

The football fans offside rule

first things first, as you will know it isn't an actual offense to be standing in an offside position. Basically, a player is in an offside position if they're nearer to the opponents goal line then both the ball and the second to last defender. 

You aren't in an offside position if: 

-You're in your own half

-You're level with the second to last opponent

-You're level with the the last two opponents

You will be penalised for being offside the moment the ball touches you if it's played to you by one of your own team mates. or if you are interfering in play, so either interfering with an opponent, play or gaining an advantage by being in the position you are.

YOU CANNOT BE OFFSIDE FROM A THROW-IN, GOAL-KICK OR A CORNER KICK!!!

The restart from an offside awarded is an indirect free kick to the other team from where the player on the field of play was caught in a position of offside.