Ref Base – Mentor Evaluations

You have good speed and fitness but are letting play get too far away from you before starting to run. Keep working on anticipating play and reacting earlier. There were many moments when play was getting to be 20 yards or more away from you before starting to run. There was an example in the twelfth minute when you called a foul for Rapids from about 35-40 yards away. While the call was correct, we discussed the importance of being closer to not only sell the call but to gauge for misconduct, mainly SPA in this instance. Running earlier will also help reduce the amount of hard sprinting you will need to do trying to catch up.

Good referee communication with your ARs throughout the match despite AR2 arriving at kickoff, precluding the opportunity for pre-game discussion. This included you quickly recognizing a number of offside indications from both ARs throughout the match. Good foul selection with acceptance from the players and coaches. This included a number of good "no-call" foul and handball decisions.

Good use of your voice talking to the players when appropriate throughout the match.

Generally good signaling throughout the match. There were a few restarts after calling offside where you needed to raise your arm to indicate an indirect free kick.

Paxton, as discussed, your height and fit physique give you a strong referee appearance. You look like a referee! This is a strength and there's no need to distract from this. During this match you wore a white Pittsburgh hat. Follow the referee uniform guidelines and, if needed, wear only a black hat with no logos. Your socks were also ankle high during the match. If the elastic is worn out, either replace them or get some black electrical tape to hold them up. Black velcro straps are also available to hold up your socks.

Overall, you did a nice job during this game, and it was within your skill level. Keep working on anticipating play and starting to run earlier. This will be critical as the levels you are doing get older and faster. You won't be able to make up for lack of anticipation with your own speed at those higher levels. You're also running with your phone in your shorts pocket. You mentioned this is necessary for a medical condition which is certainly a valid reason to carry your phone during the game. Do be aware it's impacting your running style as you're running with your right hand against your short pocket. You mentioned you have a sleave that you often use to carry the phone instead of keeping it in your short pocket. Also, be aware of critical moments for the referee. After goals you tend to immediately turn your back to start recording the score. Instead, keep your eyes on the vicinity until the players dissipate so you can quickly break up any altercations following the goal. We discussed following TLC - which means the score is recorded by the trailing AR, then the leading AR, and finally the center referee - helping to ensure two sets of eyes are always on the field. The injury in the 39' provided a similar moment. You correctly beckoned the coach on the field but stayed near the injured player as the coach arrived. Moving away from the injured player and out of the coach's path will avoid a potentially negative interaction should the coach direct dissent towards you while you have allowed him on the field.

Paxton should be ok to keep refereeing games at this level. However, I think we need to check in with him soon to see if his play anticipation is improving. There were numerous critical moments when he was just too far away from play, usually because he waited too long to start running. This will become an issue if you give him faster games.