Kari's Injury and Another Test

So much has happened in the last few days. First of all, for all of those wondering, we have lost one team member. Unfortunately Kari got injured during the sprint training session the day before the fitness test and, therefore, was unable to complete the fitness test on Saturday. Please join us in wishing her a quick recovery. For now, Marlene and I wait to see who we will get to work with.

A few days ago I mentioned how fitness tests can really stress out the referees--even when we are prepared. Well, another stressful test is the video test. Yesterday we took a video test which consisted of a two part answer for 20 video clips. For each video clip we answered whether the situation was: no foul, direct free kick, indirect free kick, or penalty kick. Secondly, we answered whether the situation required: no card, yellow card, or red card. After the test, we reviewed each situation in the class and had good discussions on what FIFA wants in each situation. These video clips are quite great as they help us get a better understanding and interpretation on the Laws of the Game as well as to aim for higher consistency among the group.




(Sonia Denoncourt - FIFA Boss giving instructions)

Contrary to what most people may believe, the best way to recovery from a hard workout (e.g. fitness test) is to do a another workout. On Sunday, our training incorporated 50 minutes of walking and jogging around a nearby park next to the river. Afterwards, we did 20 minutes of stretching and core strengthening. This training session was perfect as Marlene and I were definitely feeling a bit tight from the test. After the tournament is over, with all of these daily core strengthening sessions, I am hoping to have well defined abs : )








And lastly, above is a photo of the CONCACAF referees during the formal dinner. During the dinner, the third place match between Germany and Uruguay was shown on a big screen. The referees were presented with official medals for the U20 WWC and Adidas watches.