DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997              TAG: 9704160174

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 10   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, COMPASS SPORTS EDITOR 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

ANDY MCNABB STEPS AHEAD OF REFEREE FAMILY

YOU MAKE the call.

Here's the soccer scenario: An indirect kick is awarded to one team and the player goes up, runs over the ball and touches it. His teammate kicks the ball into the goal.

What's a ref to do?

Answer: It's a goal kick coming out, and the goal is not awarded because the ball was never properly put into play by the first player.

Tricky to some, but at the McNabb household these kinds of questions are regular dinnertime fodder initiated by dad Jim McNabb. Fortunately, nobody is stumped for too long as three of his sons, Brian, 17; Andy, 16; and Thomas, 15, officiate soccer games most every weekend. Just like Dad.

But it's Andy McNabb that knows the rules best.

A junior at Norfolk Christian, Andy was selected Young Male Referee of the Year for the state of Virginia in January. The award entitles him to officiate at Olympic Development Program games in Princeton, N.J., in June, and in the Region I championship in Erie, Pa., in July.

``I ref just about everything,'' says Andy, who guesstimates to officiating 500 games since he started at age 13. ``I had some U-12 boys last weekend, and I've done men's games, women's games, it depends on what they need me for.''

Brian McNabb was the first referee in the family, and Andy followed, largely because he wanted to earn extra money - games pay between $16 and $26. First he took a week-long class to become certified, and after passing a test, he began officiating lower level games.

Those, he says, are easy.

``We call 'em mall ball games; it's U-9s or U-6s, all of them go right to ball,'' he says. ``All you have to do is call out-of-bounds and goals because they don't know what a foul is unless one of them picks the ball up.''

McNabb, who says his primary concern is players' safety, regards U-15 or U-16 boys games as the roughest physically. Yet the hazards of the job rarely stem from slide tackles or overly emotional players picking fights on the field. McNabb is used to that, as he plays soccer, along with basketball and baseball, for the Ambassadors.

No, he says, his biggest headache is parents.

``They're the worst part of the whole job,'' he says. ``They really have no clue. One time I was working with Brian and we had to throw a guy out; he kept arguing.''

With all the refs in the family, it is up to mom Jamie McNabb to coordinate the schedule. She keeps a dry erase board in the dining room that lists the days of the week and the games each family member is working. But the work pays off for her, too.

``This is how we fund family vacations,'' she says with a laugh.

Andy has worked games in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, and the family comes along.

``At Thanksgiving we go every year to Sterling, Virginia,'' he says. ``It's a rec league tournament, younger kids, U-15s and under. You just do games all day long, and they pay really well because they're one mans. They pay about $20 bucks a games and you can get 21 games for the whole tournament.''

And although McNabb admits to being a cleaner player himself thanks to the job, his tendency to argue with refs while playing has hardly been diminished.

``I work a lot of games and so I meet a lot of refs,'' he says. ``Most of them do the same high school games so I see them working the games. They let me get away with a little more lip than everyone else. I let 'em know it sometimes.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by VICKI FRIEDMAN

Andy McNabb's referee award entitles him to officiate at Olympic

Development Program games in Princeton, N.J., in June, and in the

Region I championship in Erie, Pa., in July.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu