Arlington Soccer Earring Drama

[Anonymous]

I saw an earring ripped out in a game. The parents should be falling over themselves thanking the ref for noticing and having the girl remove them

[Anonymous]

Refs should also forbid the large nails. Large nails are more danger than the earrings.

[Anonymous]

My 9 yo noticed a kid on the other team had earrings in. She waited until she was about to score and yelled, "Ref, she has earrings!!". The ref stopped the play and the girl had to be pulled. No one told her to do this, but she'd been really upset about having to take her own earrings out so was very attuned to the issue. All of the parents were cracking up. A kid destined to be a lawyer. Rules are rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some got an email that adult men are yelling at tiny high school freshman female referees because their daughters need to take out their earrings or not play. This happened on 3 teams, no wonder they can’t hire refs.

Apparently this has been going on for years: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/655419.page

For rec soccer!!

Soccer dads are such pieces of shit. It's in the rulebook. They should start giving warnings, then banning parents from games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got that email - I am not at all defending yelling at those young refs or any of this boorish behavior, but I do think that this rule seems kind of dumb if we're talking about something like piercing studs that are taped over. This is an age when a lot of girls are getting their ears pierced, are trying to work around back-to-back and overlapping sports schedules, and rec soccer is not exactly high contact.

It is against the rules. You should have been smart and pierced your kids ears when they were younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got that email - I am not at all defending yelling at those young refs or any of this boorish behavior, but I do think that this rule seems kind of dumb if we're talking about something like piercing studs that are taped over. This is an age when a lot of girls are getting their ears pierced, are trying to work around back-to-back and overlapping sports schedules, and rec soccer is not exactly high contact.

Then challenge the rule with appropriate people, don’t challenge the ref who is paid to enforce the rule. Soccer dads are the worst.

Guess you have never met the soccer moms.

The dads are definitely worse than the moms. I've never seen a mom yell at a ref or a player. I have regularly witnessed dads yelling at refs and players. Dads who aren't even coaches (not that being a coach would give a pass - no one should be yelling).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because this is northern virginia

Happens everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is why I had to sit through every game my daughter was a ref. Parents yelling at her during the games. Following her to the car. One parent did this and I went up to them and said, do you really think your kid wants to see the cops come. It was such a waste of my time for 4 years, but I had to keep my kid safe.

You are a good parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a stupid rule because studs are not going to hurt anyone. And as someone whose kid plays year-round and also wanted earrings …and since you have to leave them in for months after they’re pierced…it sucks.

But then you’re leaving refs to decide exactly what a stud earring is and it’s easier to just say no earrings, since some truly would be dangerous. And there is absolutely no excuse to argue with refs about it. A girl on DDs team insists on taping over them and her parents support it- I’m glad it’s in an email now.

But all this said- we also had a girl play with a hard cast, which seems way more dangerous.

You're wrong. Studs can still be torn out of the ear and can still poke holes in the skin. Some girls on our team with fresh piercings wear silicone studs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Made my DD wait until the offseason to get earrings in. Problem solved.

But many kids don’t have an off season, between travel, indoor clinics, etc.

So it’s high stakes to the “soccer is life” crowd. There’s a scholarship on the line here!

If your children are playing that much soccer, then why on earth do they even need earrings? They'd just be taking them out all the time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Made my DD wait until the offseason to get earrings in. Problem solved.

But many kids don’t have an off season, between travel, indoor clinics, etc.

So it’s high stakes to the “soccer is life” crowd. There’s a scholarship on the line here!

So don't get your kid's ears pierced. Life is full of choices. You get to make one and deal with rules that come along with it.

[Anonymous]

Removal of jewelry is a safety issue for all players. This should not be controversial. No one should need to be told that players cannot play with jewelry, but I'm glad that some responsible parents insisted on adherence to the safety rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 9 yo noticed a kid on the other team had earrings in. She waited until she was about to score and yelled, "Ref, she has earrings!!". The ref stopped the play and the girl had to be pulled. No one told her to do this, but she'd been really upset about having to take her own earrings out so was very attuned to the issue. All of the parents were cracking up. A kid destined to be a lawyer. Rules are rules.

Or a prison snitch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a former rec coach, this was always a battle with parents. Almost every equipment check in with the refs, at least one girl had their earrings in. Email reminders to parents never worked. It's a safety issue, even with studs.

My daughters forget, but they always take earrings out when reminded by the ref.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 9 yo noticed a kid on the other team had earrings in. She waited until she was about to score and yelled, "Ref, she has earrings!!". The ref stopped the play and the girl had to be pulled. No one told her to do this, but she'd been really upset about having to take her own earrings out so was very attuned to the issue. All of the parents were cracking up. A kid destined to be a lawyer. Rules are rules.

Or a prison snitch

Haha! This made me laugh out loud.

So as far as "Rules are rules" rules go...verbally distracting an opponent is a specific example in the Laws for unsporting behavior and is a yellow card and, if the opponent misses the shot, is an indirect free kick (if the shooter scored, the referee would play advantage and give the goal but still give the yellow card) AND, if the referee determines that it was Denying an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity (DOGSO), your daughter could have been red carded. Rules are rules!....and after all of that is sorted out...maybe the referee will ask the shooter to take her earrings out. I wouldn't want her as my lawyer.