Reply to Where are the referees?

Forum Index » Soccer

Reply to "Where are the referees?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think just about everyone is in agreement that we parents don't make it easy for the refs.  With that said, is it worse now than pre-Covid?  After so many pages of responses, do we have any ideas besides the following:

1. There are just more games now than a few years ago.  
2. After self reflection during Covid, a lot of referees just decided it wasn't worth their time anymore (I think this includes parents and coaches being abusive).
3. Referees don't want the referee pay to mess with their unemployment benefits.

Anything else?

[/quote]

1. There are not more games, just more games in different competitions with different assignors leading to inefficiency in assigning.

2. Yes, after a season off, many mid experienced refs found it easier to walk away.

3. I have not met a single ref who cited unemployment

So why are there so many games going uncovered? It’s a combination of factors with a) parent and coach behavior being a major factor, b) lack of training and support for referees being another coupled, c) changes in the ref certification system and changes in local leagues.

A) Parents and coaches are the top issue cited by young refs for not renewing. And for experienced refs, if you go a season without games (covid), you realize that there are fun activities you can do where people don’t yell at you. Few people get into reffing for money. We do it because we love the game or as kids see it as an easy way to make money doing something we like and that helps us become better players and students of the game. Abusive parents and coaches are a major negative force that weighs against the joy we get from the game.

I will come back to B, but skipping to C) Refs are certified by US soccer through state associations. Over the past 5 years much of the initial training has shifted to online. Then 2 years ago US Soccer revamped online registration and added background checks and about 3 hours worth of annual training on safe sport (congressionally mandated) and player health. That had a major impact in the number of certified refs because a lot of refs who worked a minimal number of games dropped out because the registration / certification process became a much bigger hassle. Followed by COVID impact on classes / recruitment for new refs and we are down significant numbers.

Locally, the shift away from NCSL/Wags has had an impact b/c NCSL/WAGS generally required each team to provide at least 1 referee to their club for games. Many of these were so called STARS refs who had basic instruction and were certified/approved for running lines. Fewer ncsl/wags teams means fewer referees. CCL doesn’t have this requirement, which was helpful in getting parents involved in reffing. Higher level competition doesn’t require it either because they think that by just paying more they will get bettter refs, but what’s really happened is that the pipeline has been shutdown.

And back to B). Training and mentoring are key to helping teenage referees and inexperienced adults become competent referees. The state associations traditionally worked with leagues and assignors to train and provide mentoring for young refs. As US Club Soccer and their various “club centric” leagues have grown, the USYSA side of things has seen fewer resources available for training refs. Sure, some assignors will work with clubs to create additional training and mentoring opportunities for refs, but the traditional pathways have gone away with the rise of US Club Soccer.

Also, in the Northern VA / DC market, there are few soccer complexes with multiple fields allowing allowing for scaled ref mentoring and support. I grew up outside of DC where I could play at 10 AM then spend the rest of the day at the same location working u10/12 games and u/14/16/19 matches all under the watchful eye of my clubs senior referees. If I had a problematic parent or coach, someone else usually took care of it before it became an issue. In the DC area outside of the soccerplex there are few if any places where you can have a club run a full days worth of games across all ages and skill levels. If I am working u/19 boys I can’t then go and easily mentor a 14 year old working u12 games because those games are not at the same place I am at.

Finally, pay is important, but only on the margins. If I have already worked 3 games, it’s going to take a higher game fee to motivate me to work that 4th or 5th game of the day and honestly, you really don’t want any ref who is on his 4th or 5th game. He is tired and bored. Better to put money and money effort into recruitment, training and support for our younger and newer referees.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics