After a whole post lamenting my shortcomings, here is a whole post acclaiming my better aspects from this season.
1. Pitch control.
Everyone has games where a player or two goes off on one. However, I've never lost control of a pitch, and I've always resolved issues swiftly. There are lots of big mouths in quidditch, often on the same teams that end up playing each other a lot, and for some of them now my reputation precedes me. As maybe the only referee this season to send someone to the penalty box for disrespecting an official, I'm firm but fair on such calls. People know I don't take bullshit, and those who don't know quickly learn. Pitch control is about confidence, attitude, and the way you conduct yourself as a referee, and it is almost entirely down to the head referee. A good assistant referee can't save a bad head referee, but also a bad assistant referee shouldn't affect the control a good head referee has, and this is something I am confident with. That said please don't go out of your way to try me, because it won't end well for you and it will just make me sad later.
2. Positioning.
I'm not one of those referees who stays on one side of the pitch and just moves up and down like a glorified assistant referee when I'm in charge, I get in the middle of play and see pretty much everything it is possible to see in one go. A couple of hairy moments in the cross-fire aside, I'm usually in the best place which is a compromise to seeing everything up close and getting in the way of tackles and/or passes, whilst also accommodating my speed, or lack thereof. As an assistant referee I also move a lot more than most people, and I'm perfectly capable of handling a full side of the pitch myself without getting stuck to a point or small sector. I'm also able to advise other referees on improving their positioning, or adapt mine to work with theirs if that is easier at the time.
3. Rules knowledge.
I have a reputation for being a walking rulebook, as much as one can be a walking rulebook without actually being MCP. I know most of the relevant rules, and a bunch of odd unusual ones too, and if it's one I know particularly well I can recite it. Though if you hear me quote a number I'm probably making that up. Strong rules knowledge is essential if you want to be a top referee, because it allows you to make decisions swiftly. If people know that you know your stuff, they are also less likely to question you at the time, even if you have got it slightly wrong. I keep my knowledge up to date by revising before a big tournament, and my friends also help keep my brain active by always coming to me with odd scenarios that happened in practice to see what would actually be legal. Thanks, guys. The main thing to remember is that your brain will keep hold of information it uses, so if you referee a lot you will remember the rules better. And I have refereed a lot.
4. Whistle skills.
Now I don't want to brag, but at World Cup Chris LeCompte called my whistle blowing 'excellent'. Coming from a background of playing the clarinet, I'm used to making distinct, fast noises, and applying those to my Fox40 was pretty simple. Life also got a lot easier when I switched from a wrist strap to a lanyard, though everyone has their own preferences and you should definitely do what is best for you! But I can do the whole 'paired blasts' thing, and my lung capacity is such that I can keep it up for a fair while, and I'm also very loud. I'm loud without a whistle too, but my whistle blast is especially piercing. There's no argument for not having heard my request to stop play, or start again. There's also no way to mistake a 'live quaffle' blast for a stoppage, which is why I will send you back to hoops if you drop your broom at such.
5. Limiting stoppages.
As an assistant referee, I barely have more than a handful of words to say to my head referee if I'm calling a delayed penalty. I see it as if I'm making an accusation in Cluedo - who did it, what was the foul, who did it affect, where are they. Done. More words are unnecessary in my opinion, and I will also encourage my referees to do the same when talking to me if I am in charge. I'm also wont to just adjudicate a foul without consulting my assistants if I am confident, so we can get on with our lives quicker. There's no point asking someone else if I'm just going to overrule them. I'm also more likely to end advantage quicker than some other referees, rather than ending up replaying a whole two minutes of a game because a pile up happened for a minute before someone finally got the ball out. I have a reputation for keeping games to time, and gaining precious minutes for tournament directors, because I just don't like spending too long on a brooms down. I get bored, too.
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