Last Few Days

So much has happened since the last blog post. Yesterday, while the officials from the semifinal matches had recovery training, we had our last day of technical training. The assistants lined up and performed some small sprints and agility work near the side of the pitch and the referees did their own exercises in the center of the field. We met up at the halfway line and got in position for our first situation. Just like a real game, there could have been an offside, a foul, nothing, or even a card and we had to work together to get the call right just like a normal match. Then we had an offside decision followed by another real game type situation in the penalty box. It was a really great opportunity to practice the teamwork that is so vital in a match. Unfortunately, the end of training meant we had to say goodbye to our players, but we did get one last photo with the guys. They were really great and had a fun energy.

After the training, we had our last group free time activity. We went on a cruise down the river on a boat and got a completely different perspective on the places we had seen biking. I think everyone really enjoyed one more chance to kick back as a group. It may have been a toss up whether that was more popular or the shopping trip at the end of the boat ride. I think my vote has to go to the boat trip though. There's just something about getting out on the water that's so relaxing.

We also had our last debriefing yesterday with clips from the semifinals to review and a few more administrative details to review before the last two matches. For those who are wondering, I will be working one more match. Carol Anne from Canada will be the referee and Rita from Mexico will be an assistant, Eun Ah from Korea will be the fourth official, and I will be the final member of the team working the final between Germany and Nigeria. We'll be travelling tonight to the match with the officials for the third place match, so I won't be able to blog again before I get back to the US. Thanks for following and I'll post some more photos when I get home.

Thanks

Marlene

Semi-Finals

Yesterday started with a good solid training. We started with a run through the forest and some intervals of higher/lower intensity. Then we had a session of teamwork exercises with some local youth players playing games and the referees without matches officiating. The local kids who have been coming out have been really great and really get into the exercises. They get just as fired up about winning the mini games as players in formal games. We ended with more core stability exercises (no pain, no gain I guess).

After lunch, we got on the bus to go watch the first semifinal (Germany versus South Korea). The weather was not our friend for the journey and there was a fair bit of rain adding to the traffic. The rain didn’t really dampen the enthusiasm of the fans though. There were still more than 18,000 people in attendance and they kept cheering as their team won a decisive victory. Here are the referees who didn’t have a match along with our technical instructors.

To make up for the lack of photos in the last post, here’s a photo of me with the Japanese referees at the farewell dinner.

Here’s a photo of the bike ride we took for fitness training the day after the farewell dinner.

First Release Day

Sorry we haven’t blogged in a while, but we have been pretty busy the last few days. We were able to watch the quarterfinal matches including one live at the stadium in Bochum. There have been so many interesting situations to learn from here and it’s really been a great learning opportunity for us. Yesterday was a day off of games and we started as usual first thing in the morning in the rain including a really cool run through the forest where we ran back faster than our way out.

In the afternoon we had the debriefing from the quarterfinals and lots of administrative announcements related to the first release of referees. Afterwards, there was a farewell dinner where we had one last chance to all be together and hang out. We got back from dinner pretty late, so I wasn’t able to get up this morning to say goodbye to VP. I’ve been depending on her to be the official team photographer for us, but I promise to be better for the next week and include photos in the next edition of the blog.

Second Match

On Tuesday, we worked our second match between Korea DPR and Sweden. The third match of group play is usually very important as it normally determines which teams move on to the next round and which teams don’t, and it also determines which teams play each other in the quarterfinal round. Our crew rose to the challenge and we prepared fully for the encounter between the two top teams in the group. Sweden won the match with a score of 3-2.


Veronica (USA), Hellen (Sweden), Carol Anne (Canada), Karolina (Poland), Anna (Sweden), Sasha (England), and Marlene (USA)


All group matches in the group stages are double headers, so we traveled to Augsburg with the crew for Germany vs. France. Monday evening we flew to Munich and then were picked up by tournament volunteers and driven one hour to arrive at the hotel in Augsburg. Augsburg is a beautiful city, and one the oldest cities in Germany and can trace it roots back to 15 BC. Our enthusiastic driver was determined to give us a quick 5 minute tour of the city and through the oldest street in Augsburg. As the trip was quite short, we were pleased to have gotten to see the lovely architecture of such a grand city as well as an opportunity to take pictures. We even got the chance to see the hotel where local referees stay when working Bundesliga matches. The other referees were waiting for us back at our hotel, so we didn’t get too much chance to explore, but even with the short trip it was nice to see a bit of the local area.






We had an awesome dinner at the hotel with all the referees and it was great to get to relax and have a good meal together. The hotel we were staying at was really nice and every room seemed to have a cool little balcony to view the city. The local organizing committee had even left small picture books in our rooms so we could see the sites of Augsburg even if we didn’t have time to explore them.



The next day, we had police escort to take us to the stadium. We arrived early and had time to catch about 20 minutes of the prior match. The packed stadium was loud with an electric atmosphere with many German fans supporting their team. This was the first match the German team played in Augsburg, so the fans were pretty pumped up. Even after we returned to the locker room to start changing, we were still able to continue to watch the match on the large flat screen TV in our locker room.





Warming up felt like the temperature on the field was much warmer than the reported 82 degrees. The humidity seemed to rise up from the field and the design of the stadium seemed to keep out the breeze. Fortunately for Marlene and unfortunately for Veronica, the shade had shifted from the first match to the second to cover AR1 instead of AR2. Both lines were still pretty slick from the rain a few days prior to our match no matter where the shade or sun was.

We had another fun match with Carol Anne and with the experiences of the first match, we felt even more comfortable knowing what she wanted from us and from the match. The game went well and our wonderful colleagues were kind enough to let us use their locker room to speed up cleaning up after the match.



Even the time at the airport hanging out with all the officials was a good time. It was really great getting the chance to get to know the Swedish assistants and English referee from the other match a bit better even if everyone on the plane thought we were crazy with all the laughter and story swapping from the ride back.

We learned the assignments for the next round today and will take the opportunity to watch some quarterfinal matches and probably take some on-field practice tests. Unfortunately, we have both been knocked out of the referee ping-pong tournament, but will be cheering for our friends.

We are having a great time at the tournament and are learning tremendously from the group debriefings and the practical application sessions.

Tomorrow we have the afternoon free after the training session. We hope to take advantage of the opportunity to do some site seeing and shopping...we are sure to have great photos for you on the next blog entry.

Marlene & Veronica

Fitness training & Recovery Session

Had a bit of trouble posting this yesterday, but here's the blog I meant to put up then.

Since our game, we have been keeping busy with a variety of activities. The day after our game, we had active recovery which, as the name suggests, is recovery through a light workout. We were given the option of working out in the park or riding bikes. The people who worked out in the park had a really good time with a variety of exercises, but there was no way we were going to miss out on the chance to explore a bit of the countryside. We went for an easy hour long ride along the river and were able to see a fair bit of the surrounding area. The path was quite nice, and other than a few quick maneuvers to dodge bikers and people on rollerblades going the other way the trip was pretty uneventful. It’s really great to have an opportunity to just relax and stretch the legs gently after the pressure of the match.

Today we had another lighthearted training while a number of the referees travelled back to headquarters. We started with something that can only be called soccer ball aerobics. Led by our fitness trainer, we did all the same things you would do in a normal aerobics session, but with a soccer ball and water bottles. I think the people watching all got a good chuckle out of our lack of coordination, but we had a really good time while still getting a pretty good workout.

After the soccer aerobics, we went on an adventure walking through the woods. At the end of the path we found a playground that they call an adventure playground here in Germany. Apparently, this is what they call the type of playground with wooden play structures and ropes. We played lots of games to bring out our inner child, but which actually required a fair bit of coordination and team cooperation. In our teams, we were given a number of tasks to complete and raced to finish. Veronica and I ended up on opposing teams (they had to break us up to keep our innate talents from providing an overwhelming advantage to any one team). We ended up exactly tied in the number of games won, but our team captain from Spain is still lodging the official protest and demand for a recount in the game where we had to make our way across some ropes with one wrist tied to a partner with tennis balls.

Tomorrow we travel for our match, so the chances are low we will be able to post again until we return from our match. Hope everything is going well back home with all of you!

2nd Assignment -- Korea DPR vs. Sweden

We are appointed to our second assignment of the tournament on Tuesday, July 20, at 14:30 (local time). The match is between Korea DPR vs. Sweden and will be played in Augsburg, which is the furthest venue from the referee headquarters. We depart tomorrow afternoon. Marlene and I will work with the same crew, Carol Anne (Canada) as the referee and with Karolina (Poland) as the 4th official. This is the last match of group play, and both teams are at the top of their group. This match could be a very exciting match! We are happy to have another opportunity to work with Carol Anne and to receive another assignment in the tournament.

Germany vs. Colombia

We finally reffereed our first match of the tournament and we are still pumped up from yesterday's match. The final result between Germany and Colombia was 3-1. It was an exciting match, full of decisions down to the final minutes of the match. 15,000 fans attended the match, and the atmosphere was loud and absolutely great.

Departure for Bochum was quite exciting. We met in the hotel lobby at 11:40 am for departure for the hotel in Bochum. Karolina (Poland) had already left with the first crew as she worked as the fourth official for the first and second matches. Right before we were about to leave our colleagues returned from their training and the timing was just perfect. All of the FIFA instructors as well as our colleagues gave us hugs, kisses, and high fives, all wishing us much success for the match. This farewell from our colleagues really made us feel like we are part of one big soccer family and it really set the tone for a successful day.



We arrived at the hotel in Bochum around 12:30 pm and were greeted by members of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and referee liason. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and they'd even made lunch reservations for us prior to our arrival. We quickly exchanged best wishes with the crew for the first match who were just leaving for their game when we got there. After a leisurely lunch, we settled in for a nice rest at the hotel before heading to the game. Ahhh, the life of a referee!


(Marlene, LOC Member, Carol Anne, and Veronica)

The LOC and our driver to the stadium were concerned about possible traffic, so we arrived several hours before the game and were able to catch a bit of the action from the first match between France and Costa Rica. Unfortunately, we missed the goals which were scored just after we headed down to the locker room. Carol Anne really kept us on schedule and organized so we didn't ever feel rushed and had plenty of time to get our heads in the game. Marlene went to check the equipment from the teams because Karolina was still working with the other crew on paperwork. Colombia was no problem, but she had to jump to check the German team. They really are as tall as they look on TV.


(First match: France vs. Costa Rica)



(Marlene gets ready before the rest of the crew to check the team's equipment.)


Warm up went well and we got the chance to get a feel for the stadium and the field before the pressure began. The fans were already pretty pumped up during warm up chanting and blowing the vuvuzelas. Some of them even had their faces painted. We got a nice 20 minute warm up and a good chance to sweat in the sun and with the humidity (the breeze from up in the stands didn't really make it down to the field).


(Carol Anne holding up the communication system. The radio sits on a 5'' band that wraps around our waist, in a pocket in the back.)


(The Jabulani is the official match ball of the tournament. The only difference from the ball used in South Africa is the FIFA U20 WWC Germany logo printed on the ball.)


When we lined up to head out to the field, it was clear that Colombia was really fired up for the game. They were singing even before they were all out of the locker room. The Germans were much more reserved and stoic. Even though there was a shortcut to the field we used for warmups, the official entrance was quite a distance away. The Colombians never stopped singing the whole time. The echoes through the hallways were deafening! With the communication system turned on already, we got the singing in stereo. As we were standing waiting for the General Coordinator to signal us to begin the procession onto the field, we were overcome by the feeling that this is what we train for. This moment is what you devote countless hours for officiating matches, getting up early or staying up late to work out, watch matches, study the laws, and discuss game situations. We managed to make it up the steep stairs and down the second set of stairs without incident and out onto the field. The rest of the preliminary ceremony passed in a blur of the German announcer, national anthems, and wishes of good luck with the players.


(General Coordinator Vairani Davio)


After the nets were checked, Veronica headed to the sunny side of the stadium and Marlene headed to the shady side with the coaches. Once the whistle blew, the decisions never stopped. Although the pace wasn't as high as Carol Anne indicated her first match was, the technical aspects were quite demanding. It was really great working with Carol Anne as this was our first time working together. We had constant communication during the match and we really appreciated her calmness, leadership, and composure.





We look forward to whatever comes next, especially watching the USA play this afternoon and feel really lucky to have been involved in such an interesting game. Thanks to everyone back home for the support!


Marlene and Veronica