My DS refs but will only do rec games. Pay is still decent and parents and coaches are not as competitive. Although he has seen some inappropriate treatment even in rec.

Yeah - I have been surprised at the frequency and tone of comments directed at the referees over the course of several years watching my kids play competitive soccer. Most of the time, the comments are all about fouls — usually alleged fouls that are not called, and sometimes fouls that are called. It seems to me that the inherent vagueness of how much upper body contact is permissible — exactly how much of a contact sport soccer is — exacerbates the problem.

It’s often difficult for the refs to get it right in real time, I’m sure. Heck - even in the past when I was drafted as a sideline assistant, it was sometimes hard to tell who kicked the ball out and whose throw in it was.

I don’t know what the answer is, but paying the refs more is probably a good idea, both to attract more adults to the job and to increase the quality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the referee shortage has and will continue to hurt this sport. Ref's need experience to become great and when parents make that experience suck, it hurts all players regardless of level of competition. Our daughter's Travel Volleyball required parents to certify as score keepers and line judges and each team must have certified parents ref a certain number of games in tournament. IT IS EYE OPENING how people treat you when you cross the line from player parent to ref. but a great teaching moment as how to treat refs in competition. Maybe DMV soccer clubs should consider.

I love it, draft parents at least for the sideline positions.

It's great pay for kids but like one of the prior posters said...do you want to put your kid in front of these maniac parents and coaches? And the crap that some parents get worked up about....it's like some NCSL D4 game and the ball goes out after a block tackle that you can't tell who it went out on and a 14 year old calls it one way, and parents want to scream about a throw in. Some of these players have zero soccer ability and parents are more concerned about their kid winning or losing a low level soccer game than they are about maybe spending time time with their kid to get them better.

Anonymous wrote:I think the referee shortage has and will continue to hurt this sport. Ref's need experience to become great and when parents make that experience suck, it hurts all players regardless of level of competition. Our daughter's Travel Volleyball required parents to certify as score keepers and line judges and each team must have certified parents ref a certain number of games in tournament. IT IS EYE OPENING how people treat you when you cross the line from player parent to ref. but a great teaching moment as how to treat refs in competition. Maybe DMV soccer clubs should consider.

I love it, draft parents at least for the sideline positions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should increase the referee fees/pay, provide more referee training, increase fines/penalties for offending parents and their respective teams/clubs.

Center refs make 70 bucks an hour! Cash!

not typically

ncsl 45 for just center games
65 for Center & AR

Some examples of pay...
EDP pays center referees $70 cash paid at the field for U13s.
NCSL pay centers $50 for U13s.
CCL pays centers $55 for U13s.

Assume those games take two hours from check in to score report. Cut the amount in half for an hourly rate. Add in gas and opportunity cost to see if it is worth the time.

Invested $100,000 paydays for coaches, jacked-up fees for the kids, and forgot to pay the refs the correct amount of money. Do not forget we also have over 50 clubs in the area demanding refs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should increase the referee fees/pay, provide more referee training, increase fines/penalties for offending parents and their respective teams/clubs.

Center refs make 70 bucks an hour! Cash!

not typically

ncsl 45 for just center games
65 for Center & AR

Some examples of pay...
EDP pays center referees $70 cash paid at the field for U13s.
NCSL pay centers $50 for U13s.
CCL pays centers $55 for U13s.

My daughter wants to ref and I will never expose her to parent monsters or some coaches

I think the referee shortage has and will continue to hurt this sport. Ref's need experience to become great and when parents make that experience suck, it hurts all players regardless of level of competition. Our daughter's Travel Volleyball required parents to certify as score keepers and line judges and each team must have certified parents ref a certain number of games in tournament. IT IS EYE OPENING how people treat you when you cross the line from player parent to ref. but a great teaching moment as how to treat refs in competition. Maybe DMV soccer clubs should consider.

Anonymous wrote:Arlington soccer just sent out an email to families about the lack of soccer refs. It said “Here at the local level, abuse of referees by parents, coaches, and players is the most commonly cited problem.” I’m a certified ref and I receive the emails from assignors almost begging for refs to cover games. My first thought, “do I want to be yelled at today?” Most days I answer no, and some games I could have covered go without a ref.

Why do you stay on their list if you don’t want to ref anymore?

Live stream for parents, one of the things I liked about Covid times.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should increase the referee fees/pay, provide more referee training, increase fines/penalties for offending parents and their respective teams/clubs.

Center refs make 70 bucks an hour! Cash!

not typically

ncsl 45 for just center games
65 for Center & AR

Anonymous wrote:They should increase the referee fees/pay, provide more referee training, increase fines/penalties for offending parents and their respective teams/clubs.

Center refs make 70 bucks an hour! Cash!

They should increase the referee fees/pay, provide more referee training, increase fines/penalties for offending parents and their respective teams/clubs.

Arlington soccer just sent out an email to families about the lack of soccer refs. It said “Here at the local level, abuse of referees by parents, coaches, and players is the most commonly cited problem.” I’m a certified ref and I receive the emails from assignors almost begging for refs to cover games. My first thought, “do I want to be yelled at today?” Most days I answer no, and some games I could have covered go without a ref.