Anonymous
11/25/2024 18:52
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Dear Lord. Had the “privilege” to watch my 13-year old daughter referee 6 matches this weekend at the Herndon All Star Rec Tournament. Watched her get verbally abused by two coaches, including one who continued yelling at her post-match at Hutchison Park, until I interceded from the parent sideline. (I have coached, I have my licenses, I’ve watched close to a thousand youth soccer matches the last 15 years with 3 daughters playing & me coaching so I know the sport) & told the woman to just stop. This was U11. Rec soccer. A 25 minute match. Her team lost by one goal. A clean goal. Her team never scores. And ironically the one match my daughter called where she didn’t make a mistake (admittedly she missed a few inconsequential calls in other matches). Please, coaches. And parents. Stop abusing referees. There were 18 boys on the field. One ref doing the best she could to get every call right. Take it down a notch, parents & coaches. Expect refs to not get it perfect every time. Sometimes you have a better view from your lawn chair or the bench than the center ref. Appreciate that & respect the fact they are doing the best they can. It’s youth soccer. Watch your kids compete & do their best. And please don’t expect perfection from referees. Thank you. Rant out.
This is the exact problem. A parent setting their 13 yr old up for failure and then complaining about it. What did you think would happen at a tournament in Herndon? I hope you learned your lesson and stop being so ignorant.
Anonymous
11/25/2024 18:49
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If people do a bad job, someone should let them know. The referee is getting paid. Using the word “abuse” to describe people complaining at referees is blowing things out of proportion. If you feel bad for the referee because 1/2 of the fans don’t like the way a close call went then stay home. It’s supposed to be competitive, people are supposed to get upset, and there will be a loser every game.
Upset? It’s a child’s game. Get some perspective.
And if you get upset at children’s games, you should stay home and not ruin it for everyone else.
I can tell that your kid sucks and you don’t like his coach. If you are allowing other peopele being invested in the outcomes of their kids sporting events ruin your enjoyment of the game than you are the problem.
Anonymous
11/25/2024 18:46
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:Dear Lord. Had the “privilege” to watch my 13-year old daughter referee 6 matches this weekend at the Herndon All Star Rec Tournament. Watched her get verbally abused by two coaches, including one who continued yelling at her post-match at Hutchison Park, until I interceded from the parent sideline. (I have coached, I have my licenses, I’ve watched close to a thousand youth soccer matches the last 15 years with 3 daughters playing & me coaching so I know the sport) & told the woman to just stop. This was U11. Rec soccer. A 25 minute match. Her team lost by one goal. A clean goal. Her team never scores. And ironically the one match my daughter called where she didn’t make a mistake (admittedly she missed a few inconsequential calls in other matches). Please, coaches. And parents. Stop abusing referees. There were 18 boys on the field. One ref doing the best she could to get every call right. Take it down a notch, parents & coaches. Expect refs to not get it perfect every time. Sometimes you have a better view from your lawn chair or the bench than the center ref. Appreciate that & respect the fact they are doing the best they can. It’s youth soccer. Watch your kids compete & do their best. And please don’t expect perfection from referees. Thank you. Rant out.
There needs to be zero tolerance for coaches or spectators who behave this way. They need to be ejected, suspended and publicly shamed. Their employers should be told about their behavior and they should lose their jobs.
Anonymous
11/25/2024 18:38
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:If people do a bad job, someone should let them know. The referee is getting paid. Using the word “abuse” to describe people complaining at referees is blowing things out of proportion. If you feel bad for the referee because 1/2 of the fans don’t like the way a close call went then stay home. It’s supposed to be competitive, people are supposed to get upset, and there will be a loser every game.
Upset? It’s a child’s game. Get some perspective.
And if you get upset at children’s games, you should stay home and not ruin it for everyone else.
Anonymous
11/25/2024 18:30
Subject: Referee Abuse
If people do a bad job, someone should let them know. The referee is getting paid. Using the word “abuse” to describe people complaining at referees is blowing things out of proportion. If you feel bad for the referee because 1/2 of the fans don’t like the way a close call went then stay home. It’s supposed to be competitive, people are supposed to get upset, and there will be a loser every game.
Anonymous
11/25/2024 13:42
Subject: Re:Referee Abuse
Former Cert. Coach, current Cert. Ref, current Team Manager for ECRL team here.
The problems with the Ref situation is similar to the problems with Youth/Travel Soccer in General:
1. Too many cooks in the mix (Assignors) for too many Leagues in the area. No one talks to one another in general.
I would contend that there is NOT a lack of Refs in the area to cover games. When I receive email blasts from Assignors, it generally goes out to over 1200 people from one Assignor. The problem is getting these folks properly Assigned.
In order to get a Ref assignment one must email the Assignor and request a game(s). Then the Assignor emails back if the Ref is selected and the Ref must Accept the game. If the Ref never hears back from the Assignor, the game was claimed by another Ref. Often I have requested games and did not receive the Assignment(s) and therefore did not Ref any games that day even though I was available to Ref. Point is there is no one System to get Games assigned to Refs. I believe there are enough Refs in the area to cover games, just the Systems are inept to communicate with one another to make sure all games get covered.
2. There are very good Refs from age 13 and up out there. There are some very bad Refs from age 13 and up out there. Age is not the issue. A desire to Oversee Rules of A Game and to fairly call that game is what is needed. 3 Refs cannot see everything but they need to make sure fairness is upheld. Because of the "implied" shortage of Refs, there are no Standards Refs must adhere to and no Performance Reviews they need to worry about. Even Refs who consistently behave poorly and receive complaints through League avenues, get no recourse or even feedback. There is no incentive to make bad Refs good ones, or to weed out the bad ones.
3. Parents/Coaches and Club Administrators for the most part believe Refs are another "team" or "opposition" working against them to achieve their goals of winning. I have seen it and heard it from hundreds and thousands of mouths. This must change and it should come from the Clubs themselves.
4. Why become a Ref? I did it because I love the game and want to be involved with making the game better where it is needed the most, good Officiating. It is hard to convince someone without the love of the game to become a Ref. It is not because of money. In fact, a Ref must often wait up to 30days to even get paid for games worked. There are games on October I worked and still have not gotten paid for (it is Nov. 25th) Assignors claim Leagues do not pay them until a certain date and then the Refs get their pay. Again this is a terrible System for keeping Refs over the long haul. Why continue to wait for payment for games over a month old when parents & Coaches abuse and belittle Refs every weekend?
The game used to be for the kids to love and to learn and to play. It is a far cry from that now. Just as everything else, people hungry for money co-opt the situation for their own gain. Youth/Travel Soccer has been bought by Business interests to fulfill their own aspirations, not aspirations of players. Same can be said for Referees.
Are the peole and powers that be, really looking out for the Players as a whole? I dare say no.
The problems with the Ref situation is similar to the problems with Youth/Travel Soccer in General:
1. Too many cooks in the mix (Assignors) for too many Leagues in the area. No one talks to one another in general.
I would contend that there is NOT a lack of Refs in the area to cover games. When I receive email blasts from Assignors, it generally goes out to over 1200 people from one Assignor. The problem is getting these folks properly Assigned.
In order to get a Ref assignment one must email the Assignor and request a game(s). Then the Assignor emails back if the Ref is selected and the Ref must Accept the game. If the Ref never hears back from the Assignor, the game was claimed by another Ref. Often I have requested games and did not receive the Assignment(s) and therefore did not Ref any games that day even though I was available to Ref. Point is there is no one System to get Games assigned to Refs. I believe there are enough Refs in the area to cover games, just the Systems are inept to communicate with one another to make sure all games get covered.
2. There are very good Refs from age 13 and up out there. There are some very bad Refs from age 13 and up out there. Age is not the issue. A desire to Oversee Rules of A Game and to fairly call that game is what is needed. 3 Refs cannot see everything but they need to make sure fairness is upheld. Because of the "implied" shortage of Refs, there are no Standards Refs must adhere to and no Performance Reviews they need to worry about. Even Refs who consistently behave poorly and receive complaints through League avenues, get no recourse or even feedback. There is no incentive to make bad Refs good ones, or to weed out the bad ones.
3. Parents/Coaches and Club Administrators for the most part believe Refs are another "team" or "opposition" working against them to achieve their goals of winning. I have seen it and heard it from hundreds and thousands of mouths. This must change and it should come from the Clubs themselves.
4. Why become a Ref? I did it because I love the game and want to be involved with making the game better where it is needed the most, good Officiating. It is hard to convince someone without the love of the game to become a Ref. It is not because of money. In fact, a Ref must often wait up to 30days to even get paid for games worked. There are games on October I worked and still have not gotten paid for (it is Nov. 25th) Assignors claim Leagues do not pay them until a certain date and then the Refs get their pay. Again this is a terrible System for keeping Refs over the long haul. Why continue to wait for payment for games over a month old when parents & Coaches abuse and belittle Refs every weekend?
The game used to be for the kids to love and to learn and to play. It is a far cry from that now. Just as everything else, people hungry for money co-opt the situation for their own gain. Youth/Travel Soccer has been bought by Business interests to fulfill their own aspirations, not aspirations of players. Same can be said for Referees.
Are the peole and powers that be, really looking out for the Players as a whole? I dare say no.
Anonymous
11/25/2024 11:01
Subject: Re:Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:My DD had a game this weekend, she lost 2-0. The first goal was offsides by about 3 feet, with no call............I somehow found a way to not GAF...its not a big deal. A call was missed a goal was scored move TF on....get over yourself.
The actual point of these games is for our DD/DS to get high level practice and prepare for college...not give AF about your season record.
I know some of you are going to say playoff, playoffs, playoffs...ECNL has enough showcases if your child is good they will find a home, no one needs to travel to SD for a useless playoff week that does not help anyone get into college more than the showcases..
EAD
I like the way you think!
Anonymous
11/25/2024 10:40
Subject: Re:Referee Abuse
My DD had a game this weekend, she lost 2-0. The first goal was offsides by about 3 feet, with no call............I somehow found a way to not GAF...its not a big deal. A call was missed a goal was scored move TF on....get over yourself.
The actual point of these games is for our DD/DS to get high level practice and prepare for college...not give AF about your season record.
I know some of you are going to say playoff, playoffs, playoffs...ECNL has enough showcases if your child is good they will find a home, no one needs to travel to SD for a useless playoff week that does not help anyone get into college more than the showcases..
EAD
The actual point of these games is for our DD/DS to get high level practice and prepare for college...not give AF about your season record.
I know some of you are going to say playoff, playoffs, playoffs...ECNL has enough showcases if your child is good they will find a home, no one needs to travel to SD for a useless playoff week that does not help anyone get into college more than the showcases..
EAD
Anonymous
11/25/2024 08:14
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain to me the benefit of having thirteen year old kids referee soccer games? If your theory is that there wouldn’t be enough refs without the kids doing it then fine there wouldn’t be enough refs and some parents would fill in or leagues/organizers would have to pay more to get adults to do it. It just seems to me like it is a bit much to ask teams and families to play along with the idea that it is ok for a kid to referee other kids like this.
I agree. 13 is a bit young. Start at 15.
Well, they are hiring thirteen yr olds. So let’s see you step up and either start reffing games or pay more to pay adult refs.
Or is that a bit much to ask?
Well, I actually reffed 180 games this calendar year... and counting. And if they want to pay me more...I'll take it.
Sorry, actually its 140 games.
Finally we are getting some ideas that we can put into action!
So you are familiar with the ref shortage and the reason the leagues are hiring younger refs. How many other parents are starting to ref so that there are enough to cover all the games?
So there is still a shortage, should we lower it to 11 years old? They can do U9/U10 rec games.
No, we should just cancel games. First, cancel all games of teams that got carded for bad behavior in the previous two weeks. Any games left go into a hat. If there are x number of refs, you pull out x number of games. Any games left in the hat get cancelled.
Anonymous
11/24/2024 20:01
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Can anyone explain to me the benefit of having thirteen year old kids referee soccer games? If your theory is that there wouldn’t be enough refs without the kids doing it then fine there wouldn’t be enough refs and some parents would fill in or leagues/organizers would have to pay more to get adults to do it. It just seems to me like it is a bit much to ask teams and families to play along with the idea that it is ok for a kid to referee other kids like this.
I agree. 13 is a bit young. Start at 15.
Well, they are hiring thirteen yr olds. So let’s see you step up and either start reffing games or pay more to pay adult refs.
Or is that a bit much to ask?
Well, I actually reffed 180 games this calendar year... and counting. And if they want to pay me more...I'll take it.
Sorry, actually its 140 games.
So you are familiar with the ref shortage and the reason the leagues are hiring younger refs. How many other parents are starting to ref so that there are enough to cover all the games?
So there is still a shortage, should we lower it to 11 years old? They can do U9/U10 rec games.
No, we should just cancel games. First, cancel all games of teams that got carded for bad behavior in the previous two weeks. Any games left go into a hat. If there are x number of refs, you pull out x number of games. Any games left in the hat get cancelled.
Anonymous
11/24/2024 19:51
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:The referee abuse is warranted. The refs are terrible. Keep screaming at them, they need to know how unacceptable their performance is. Some of these kids who get into reffing are in wrong line of work. Sorry folks but if you did not play soccer at a high level and you think you can ref at a high level you’re mistaken. Go do something else or be willing to take the heat.
+1
Anonymous
11/24/2024 19:39
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:The referee abuse is warranted. The refs are terrible. Keep screaming at them, they need to know how unacceptable their performance is. Some of these kids who get into reffing are in wrong line of work. Sorry folks but if you did not play soccer at a high level and you think you can ref at a high level you’re mistaken. Go do something else or be willing to take the heat.
zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Your attempt at sarcastic humor failed miserably.
Anonymous
11/24/2024 19:31
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Those aren’t laws. Those are rules. Do at least try for a bit of perspective.
Well maybe contact IFAB and have them change it to the Rules of the Game. I don't know what to tell you.
In the meantime, why does this matter to you so much that you are insisting these are laws, not just rules of a game.
And in the present context, a child’s game. Step back, sit down, enjoy the game.
Since you asked...someone came on here trying to be all high and mighty, so I poked holes in his post busting his butt. Then , someone challenged me saying they weren't Laws and they were rules so I provided the link and someone still wants to challenge it. To me, it sounds like it matters a lot more to you or whoever that they are rules than laws to keep arguing about it.
Your delusions of grandeur are absolutely hilarious. DP
Anonymous
11/24/2024 19:19
Subject: Referee Abuse
The referee abuse is warranted. The refs are terrible. Keep screaming at them, they need to know how unacceptable their performance is. Some of these kids who get into reffing are in wrong line of work. Sorry folks but if you did not play soccer at a high level and you think you can ref at a high level you’re mistaken. Go do something else or be willing to take the heat.
Anonymous
11/22/2024 15:18
Subject: Referee Abuse
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Just because they are 13 that doesn’t mean they can tell offside or not as center ref better than any adult would.
I’ve seen some young refs who did a better job at calling than some old ref out there. But 13yr should not ref U15 or older as center ref esp if it’s high level of competition.
Most if not all assignors require center referees to be two years older than the players and have one year of referee experience before centering a "travel" game. I would say, it's the same for rec, but not certain.
Yes. I rarely ever see young kid reffing 11v11 travel games. I've seen some doing ARs but not center ref. but 13yrs who is also a high level players (U14) that has been reffing for a while can ref U12 travel and under game.