Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did the kids have fun? That's what's most important.

Tell that to Bruce Arena, trying to clean up Klinsmann's mess with no room for error.

Developing the player pool is what's most important. That only happens by training the best, and running off the spoiled kids (and their bratty parents!!!) who think "fun is most important".

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? It's just soccer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? It's just soccer.

I care.

This is not about "My team should've/would've won if that ref were on top of it!"

It's about avoiding injuries and calling dangerous/illegal plays. It's about teaching kids the rules of the game so they actually know what the hell they're doing (and 8 isn't too young to do that...I've seen 2nd graders correct refs). It's somewhat about avoiding parent/spectator upset when there is an egregious call.

We've had refs to ignore dangerous play, don't call clear violations (handball, improper throw-ins, etc...) and in a recent case one ref who did not know the score of the game when it was over.

It's a it ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? It's just soccer.

I care.

This is not about "My team should've/would've won if that ref were on top of it!"

It's about avoiding injuries and calling dangerous/illegal plays. It's about teaching kids the rules of the game so they actually know what the hell they're doing (and 8 isn't too young to do that...I've seen 2nd graders correct refs). It's somewhat about avoiding parent/spectator upset when there is an egregious call.

We've had refs to ignore dangerous play, don't call clear violations (handball, improper throw-ins, etc...) and in a recent case one ref who did not know the score of the game when it was over.

It's a it ridiculous.

SoccerRef wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? It's just soccer.

I care.

This is not about "My team should've/would've won if that ref were on top of it!"

It's about avoiding injuries and calling dangerous/illegal plays. It's about teaching kids the rules of the game so they actually know what the hell they're doing (and 8 isn't too young to do that...I've seen 2nd graders correct refs). It's somewhat about avoiding parent/spectator upset when there is an egregious call.

We've had refs to ignore dangerous play, don't call clear violations (handball, improper throw-ins, etc...) and in a recent case one ref who did not know the score of the game when it was over.

It's a it ridiculous.

Great, but do you know the Laws of the Game? Because if so, you're in the vast minority of the parents.
I've had parents scream at me to call dangerous play when a player kicks the ball when he's on the ground. That's not a violation.
I've had parents scream at me for a hand ball when a ball inadvertently hits a players hand. That's not a violation.
I've had parents scream at me for a foul throw when a player puts spin on it. That's not a violation.
And I've been screamed at by parents to protect their players after screaming at their own players to tackle harder or play more physical.
And yes, I've had U8 players "correct" me, when they clearly don't understand the basics of offside.

Yes, there are some terrible refs out there.
But you should expect a referee to be at about the same skill level ref-wise, as your player is soccer-wise.
Your U8 player makes a million mistakes a game, but you expect a 13 year old ref to get everything right?
Imagine if a ref yelled at your kid every time he missed a pass, or scuffed a shot.

When was the last time you went up to a ref after a game, and told them they did a good job?

Look, I have a U10 player on a top team, I know how bad the refs can be. But they're not going to get better if they get chased off. They're going to get better with years of experience, and that's never going to happen if they get scared to blow the whistle becasue they know they're going to get screamed at by someone.

Anonymous wrote:

You should volunteer to be a ref then.


Yes, we could use more people stepping forward for this lightly paid job. ("Volunteer" isn't really accurate.) But whoever steps forward could use more mentoring, and someone needs to be trained to blow the whistle every once in a while.

In other words -- it's a little too deep of a problem to be solved by two more people volunteering, er, applying.

You are right - complaining about it on anonymous internet boards is much more likely to resolve the issue.

Anonymous wrote:

SoccerRef wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? It's just soccer.

I care.

This is not about "My team should've/would've won if that ref were on top of it!"

It's about avoiding injuries and calling dangerous/illegal plays. It's about teaching kids the rules of the game so they actually know what the hell they're doing (and 8 isn't too young to do that...I've seen 2nd graders correct refs). It's somewhat about avoiding parent/spectator upset when there is an egregious call.

We've had refs to ignore dangerous play, don't call clear violations (handball, improper throw-ins, etc...) and in a recent case one ref who did not know the score of the game when it was over.

It's a it ridiculous.

Great, but do you know the Laws of the Game? Because if so, you're in the vast minority of the parents.
I've had parents scream at me to call dangerous play when a player kicks the ball when he's on the ground. That's not a violation.
I've had parents scream at me for a hand ball when a ball inadvertently hits a players hand. That's not a violation.
I've had parents scream at me for a foul throw when a player puts spin on it. That's not a violation.
And I've been screamed at by parents to protect their players after screaming at their own players to tackle harder or play more physical.
And yes, I've had U8 players "correct" me, when they clearly don't understand the basics of offside.

Yes, there are some terrible refs out there.
But you should expect a referee to be at about the same skill level ref-wise, as your player is soccer-wise.
Your U8 player makes a million mistakes a game, but you expect a 13 year old ref to get everything right?
Imagine if a ref yelled at your kid every time he missed a pass, or scuffed a shot.

When was the last time you went up to a ref after a game, and told them they did a good job?

Look, I have a U10 player on a top team, I know how bad the refs can be. But they're not going to get better if they get chased off. They're going to get better with years of experience, and that's never going to happen if they get scared to blow the whistle becasue they know they're going to get screamed at by someone.

You sound like a decent ref, though.

In reference to the bolded above, umm, how is that relevant? Even U8s deserve to have refs that are adhering to the rules they are taught. If not, why have rules?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You should volunteer to be a ref then.


Yes, we could use more people stepping forward for this lightly paid job. ("Volunteer" isn't really accurate.) But whoever steps forward could use more mentoring, and someone needs to be trained to blow the whistle every once in a while.

In other words -- it's a little too deep of a problem to be solved by two more people volunteering, er, applying.

You are right - complaining about it on anonymous internet boards is much more likely to resolve the issue.

Exactly.

If you don't like the level of the refs, maybe do some work on finding out WHY the level of reffing is so terrible. Probably because it's a terrible job. Work to change that, and you'll get better refs. But just complaining about it while refusing to get engaged (or do the work yourself) is ridiculous.

I used to coach youth sports and reffing was an incredibly thankless job. Parents are awful to the refs, who are often just kids themselves.

Anonymous wrote:You should volunteer to be a ref then.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should volunteer to be a ref then.

It appears that you are addressing me kid, I can say that at 70 years old. I've coached and refereed for over 36 years so take your comment and shove it and played throughout that time until I was in my late 50s.

SoccerRef wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? It's just soccer.

I care.

This is not about "My team should've/would've won if that ref were on top of it!"

It's about avoiding injuries and calling dangerous/illegal plays. It's about teaching kids the rules of the game so they actually know what the hell they're doing (and 8 isn't too young to do that...I've seen 2nd graders correct refs). It's somewhat about avoiding parent/spectator upset when there is an egregious call.

We've had refs to ignore dangerous play, don't call clear violations (handball, improper throw-ins, etc...) and in a recent case one ref who did not know the score of the game when it was over.

It's a it ridiculous.

Great, but do you know the Laws of the Game? Because if so, you're in the vast minority of the parents.
I've had parents scream at me to call dangerous play when a player kicks the ball when he's on the ground. That's not a violation.
I've had parents scream at me for a hand ball when a ball inadvertently hits a players hand. That's not a violation.
I've had parents scream at me for a foul throw when a player puts spin on it. That's not a violation.
And I've been screamed at by parents to protect their players after screaming at their own players to tackle harder or play more physical.
And yes, I've had U8 players "correct" me, when they clearly don't understand the basics of offside.

Yes, there are some terrible refs out there.
But you should expect a referee to be at about the same skill level ref-wise, as your player is soccer-wise.
Your U8 player makes a million mistakes a game, but you expect a 13 year old ref to get everything right?
Imagine if a ref yelled at your kid every time he missed a pass, or scuffed a shot.

When was the last time you went up to a ref after a game, and told them they did a good job?

Look, I have a U10 player on a top team, I know how bad the refs can be. But they're not going to get better if they get chased off. They're going to get better with years of experience, and that's never going to happen if they get scared to blow the whistle becasue they know they're going to get screamed at by someone.