Behind the whistle spring 2026- Week9
Behind the Whistle
Behind The Whistle will be a CRO weekly check in and report for recreation referees working with CRO. This will be a place where we will highlight you all and shine a spotlight on the great things all of you are doing each weekend. You will also find coaching points on areas to work on and development observations from CRO mentors, trends we are seeing from teams, players or coaches in our leagues and messages from our League Directors to pass along to you all. We will close out each post with some off field administrative responsibilities that are vital to on field success. Take some time to read through this each week and contact us with any necessary information.
We hope you enjoy reading each week!
Referee Highlights:
Madeleine Shaw: Madeleine was working at Dilworth Fields on Saturday and she showed strong signal mechanics and verbal communication. This showed her confidence and control of the game and her support of the players through communication.
Madison Ganson: Madison worked at Freedom Park on Saturday. She stepped in to cover extra games, always shows a great attitude, is reliable and helpful. Madison was giving that little extra in each game to make sure she was making the correct calls and giving the game and the players her best effort.
Keep up the great work Madeleine and Madison!
Mentor Observations
Great things we saw this weekend
Respective to Feedback - Across all our games we saw some great work over the weekend from referees! CRO Mentors had some great interactions and coaching with many of you and it was great to see everyone taking in the feedback and applying it in their games. Growth, not mastery, is an important part of being a referee.
Signals - Mentors also noted that the referee's signals were looking really good out on the field. Keep it up! This is how we show confidence and communicate on the field.
Areas to work on
Positioning - Where we decide to put ourselves to see a foul will help us decide if it is fair or a foul. Work hard to see between the players as the ball moves. If your age group has offside work to position yourself with the second to last defender when the attack is coming towards you. When you’re in line it will give you confidence in your decision making at that moment. Hard work pays off.
Footwear - Wearing athletic shoes or running shoes are important for referees to be out on the field all day and move quickly to make decisions. Be sure to wear comfortable athletic shoes while you’re refereeing.
Game Reminders
We are past the middle of the season and teams records are taking shape and some leagues are close to tournaments. You might see more emotion from players and coaches and that is okay. Allow them to show emotion but if it crosses the line to yelling at you or personal remarks then you may have to give a yellow card.
You might also see more physical play, be ready for it. Work hard and keep calling fouls.
Admin Responsibility Reminders
Not getting games - Referees who may not have gotten games recently please email us. Tell us when you’re available and that you have not gotten games. We’re continuing to work on getting games out to as many people as possible. Be sure to also fill out the assignment request forms - https://www.croreferees.com/charlotte-assignments
Self Assign - Remember to check for available games. If you are not sure if you’re doing it write check the how to page here - https://www.croreferees.com/arbiter-support
Payments - Payment questions should go to Finance@CROReferees.com. FIRST you should check the payments page, https://www.croreferees.com/payments, to be sure you are missing a payment or it has just not been sent out. Know the payment policy info first.