MLU - reffing

so much that could be said about the MLU games at potlatch (i know this is almost outdated now), but for starters i'll try to give a little bit of the refs perspective. i reffed one game between the NW and the NE, and it was a pretty clean game for the most part, save some NW player's attempts to foul out. i didn't see things in this game like i saw in the SE games where the players were really putting the onus on the refs to make the call.

as a ref coming from an ultimate player's perspective, you generally don't want to blow the whistle, much like you'd rather not call the foul in ultimate. the difference is that when you don't make the call in self-reffed ultimate you are the one who potentially suffers. it was very easy for refs to swallow their whistle and let play proceed, even if it wasn't just.

my experience started as a line judge. in the game i reffed there were 4 officials, 2 on the lines and 2 on the field. a little more organization would have had the assignments a little better defined, but we made do alright, and i think it wasn't a lack of positioning which prevented us from making calls. in general i tried to go with the soccer model of linejudging, where i stuck to my sideline, and closer to one endzone. when the disc was going away from my endzone i looked for fouls on the mark and on receivers around the disc. when the disc was coming towards my endzone i looked for picks and fouls on the receiver. i didn't really even have the chance to make any calls, and i was a little hesitant about stepping on the shoes of the on-field official, but there really wasn't much to call.

in the second half i was switched to the onfield position. this time when the disc was going away from me i looked for travels and stalls and didn't concern myself too much with fouls on the mark (hoping my sidejudge would get those). again, there wasn't much to call, but i probably could have blown my whistle a few more times if i wanted to reign things in. as it was i think i called 2 travels (maybe 3) and one foul on the mark. a few times when the disc was coming towards me there was some upfield movement that i could have blown, but it looked like the contact turned out to be minor and incidental and play proceeded no worse for the wear, so i let it go.

from a referee's perspective, it's a very tough game to call. a lot of the contact is subtle but may greatly impact the game. i think a better definition of the responsibility of each official would have greatly improved the calls, just because there would be a focus point. as it was, i occasionally found myself just watching the game, waiting for something to catch my eye. more (read: any) training would have better prepared me for how to ref. i would guess that i was much better by the end of the game than i was at the beginning, and i think another game could have made me better still.

it's a tough job, but i think it was a great experiment for the players and at least pushes the envelope of the sport. i was explaining to someone before the tourney that there was a time, not so long ago, when playing the pull where it landed in the endzone didn't exist (you walked it up to the goalline), but it's only because people experimented with things that we found a new way to do things. maybe refs are the next brick mark.