NLLL 2013

Up in the city of Luleå (or at least right outside the city) the NLLL was held this weekend. The women had a two day training camp and the men had a four team tournament. For a while it was a close call if I (and many with me) were even going to make it as weather conditions throughout Sweden made the airlines cancel a lot of flights and the remaining were almost all delayed. Some players didn't make it the same day. I managed to get there with a 45 minute delay.

I had the honor of being the Referee in Chief for this tournament. We were two full-time referees and had a schedule for all participating teams to provide referees and time keepers. Seven (out of eight) games each for the full-time referees and some players did up to three games refereeing.

None of the referees from the teams had gone through the formal international beginners training, but some of them were approved Swedish referees. In the end we had referees who were confident in themselves as referees and we had players who pretty much refereed their first game ever. In all games there were at least one full-time referee and in most two.

The result? Much better than expected!

Why? Many different reasons.

• In all games we had three on-field referees and one CBO. We decided to stick with three on-field referees even though the field was small. This made it possible to get the positioning right also for the beginner referees and all angles were covered, which made it easier to see all that we needed to see.
• All players (and I really do mean all players) realized the reality of where we are with the Swedish referees today. There were almost no complaints towards our referees. There was not a single player being sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct against the referees. 
• It seemed like even the most inexperienced referees just were caught up in the moment and gave their best performance given the circumstances. 

Anything still missing? In Sweden we are almost only two full-time referees. We need more! At the same time the current Swedish refereeing program is only one year old. We will improve! It will get better!

Thank you all participants and organizers for a great lacrosse weekend. Do make sure you invite me next year!

Reflections about Berlin Open 2013

Many things where better than expected and some did not go as well as I would have hoped.

The women's team evolved a lot during the tournament. That was the best part. I wish I could have seen them more, but the referee schedule didn't allow me to. I really have no bad feelings about the opportunity to be a referee though and not about the schedule being extensive either. If I am to evolve as a referee, I need experience and that is hard to get without the games.

It was also extremely valuable to have the assessors by the fields, because they really pointed out many things that I had not understood during the referee camp.

Unfortunately we had one of the team in the hospital, but expecting a full recovery and we had one taken by airport security (to be released ten minutes later) so it is was eventful. Thanks for this year's Berlin Open!

Second day of Berlin Open

Six games in my first day. Five of them on the field and five of them with assessors. Many learning experiences and good feedback. Almost 30 degrees out. The day started off with some nice breezes, but the afternoon was hot.
Started off easy on my second day with a CBO assignment. The second game was never played as pne of the teams never showed up. All men's round robin games are now complete and I am waiting for the assignment of referees for the quarter finals.
The women are struggling a bit. They lost all of their round robin games, one of them with only one goal. Then a tied game against the same team earlier today. Hope for the best as they are playing one more game today against the home team BLAX.

First game in Berlin

Did my first game of refereeing today in Berlin Open. I was an on-field referee with Babs and Alex. The really good part of the game was that there where two experienced assesors at the game. They gave me very valuable feedback about what I should think about in my coming games. Valuable feedback. My first game with assessors since the referee camp. Five more games coming up today, so there will be plenty of time for improvement.

Last day of the Swedish Championships 2013

Final day. Each team had one full time game each. I had two games of refereeing. I had the honor of being the head referee at both the Swedish Championship final and the bronze medal game.

To sum up. A great lacrosse-event took place in Karlstad. With 8 teams at location it was a big lacrosse gathering in Sweden. Thank you KAUIF for a great lacrosse weekend. For me personally it ended up being seven games of refereeing men's games and one and a half game as an umpire of the women's games. I was the only full-time referee at the championship but I hope we can be more in the future. I want to thank all my co-referees!

Finally: Congratulations Farsta for securing another title as Swedish Champions.

Three games in one day

Yesterday was a good Lacrosse day. Turku came over from Finland with both a men's and a women's team to play against Swedish teams. I had the opportunity to referee them all. First Nordia played Turku (men) on Kärrtorps IP. Apart from it being good practise for the teams it was also a big opportunity for us referees to get into our roles as referees better.

Rushing of to the second game at Enskede IP. The second game was a women's game between a mix of Swedish players and Turku. By the time I arrived the game had already started. This was a good game for me in many ways. First I had the opportunity to see some of the Swedish players going to the World Championships in July playing a game. I have seen many of them playing before some time ago but some players I saw in a game for the first time. Also it was my first game as a women's umpire ever. A bit shaky experience as I do not have the knowledge of all women's rules. Fortunately Diana was already there and had command of the entire game but appreciated a pair of extra eyes.

After the game ended, back to Kärrtorps IP for the third game. This time it was a men's game between Farsta and Turku. Somewhat calmer game for us as referees, but again good experience.

In the end I managed to sell some T-Shirts in favour for the women's national team.

My own equipment

My order has arrived. I now have my own referee equipment. I am planning a lot of events in the the next few months. The first will be a practise game here in Sweden.

Going to be a referee in Berlin Open 2013

I have recently ended my "career" as a Lacrosse player. I realized the risk of long-term injuries got to big as I simply did not practise enough. So I decided to continue the contribution to the sport by becoming a Lacrosse referee.

I have already been a referee in quite a few games and even the RIC for some tournaments, but I have yet to receive my formal referee education (scheduled in April).

Berlin Open is one of the biggest club tournaments in Europe with 20 mens teams and 12 womens teams. I just got a spot as one of the referees of Berlin open 2013. Tickets are booked. Watch out Berlin, because I am coming back!