# What if Ref Crews Don't Show Up For League Games?



## whatever (Sep 10, 2016)

Anyone know the rules about ref crews and what happens if they don't show up or if it's just a partial ref crew (i.e. just a CR or a CR and one AR)? Does it differ based on each league?


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## TangoCity (Sep 10, 2016)

No refs = no game obviously.  Gaming circuit might reschedule it??
If a partial crew shows up they will likely have club linesmen (ie - a spectator given a flag to only call if the ball goes out of bounds).  Teams would get to save a little money on ref fees too.


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## whatever (Sep 11, 2016)

If the ref crew doesn't show up it's not a foreit for the home team?


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## espola (Sep 11, 2016)

whatever said:


> If the ref crew doesn't show up it's not a foreit for the home team?


Not in all leagues, unless you are willing to admit that the referees are employees of the home team.


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## mommato2girls (Sep 11, 2016)

We've had parents jump in and do line. But we've always had refs in our parent pool.


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## Eagle33 (Sep 11, 2016)

whatever said:


> Anyone know the rules about ref crews and what happens if they don't show up or if it's just a partial ref crew (i.e. just a CR or a CR and one AR)? Does it differ based on each league?


In what game/league/field it happened?


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## Surfref (Sep 12, 2016)

It all depends on the league, the reason for the ref no show, who the home coach knows at the league, etc.  Usually if an entire referee crew no shows it is due to some type of scheduling error.  If a legitimate error occurred the game is normally rescheduled to the visiting teams field and the original home team pays for the refs. I did a couple U14 and above games this past weekend as a solo CR when both AR's failed to show and did not answer their phone or respond to text messages.  Thank the soccer Gods that the games were one sided and played primarily in one teams half.  A good referee that can run should have no problem as a solo CR on U12 and below, be able to do a respectable job as a solo CR on U13-18.  I have had to do solo CR on U19B/G in the past and ran my ass off and the coaches understood there would be some things missed.


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## Soccer Bum 06 (Sep 12, 2016)

I am starting to think if ref's don't show up for the games it may be better for the players. Watched an AR insert himself into my DD's game this weekend by calling a 6 second violation on our goalie when videos showed she only had the ball for 5 seconds. He told the CR to award an indirect free kick at around 15 yards out from the goal. This was in a game that had 15 minutes left and my DD's team was winning 3-1. The other team missed the kick. The AR then continued to make calls for the CR when the ball was no where near him. It was an obvious attempt to become apart of the game. The lack of training and soccer knowledge by a large portion of those who ref is bad for the youth game. I love watching the players play but hate seeing the poorly trained ref's ruin the game. They do get paid so let's hold them to some kind of standard.


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## GunninGopher (Sep 12, 2016)

Soccer Bum 06 said:


> I am starting to think if ref's don't show up for the games it may be better for the players....


All kidding aside, it isn't better for the players if they don't get to play the game, and that is what will always happen if there are no referees. The manager should evaluate the entire crew describing the facts about what happened in the match. Give the association some feedback so that observations and training can be guided.



Soccer Bum 06 said:


> He told the CR to award an indirect free kick at around 15 yards out from the goal. This was in a game that had 15 minutes left and my DD's team was winning 3-1. The other team missed the kick.


While your criticism of the AR decision making may be founded, the true criticism in the situation (as described) should be directed at the center. The AR only advises him/her. In the pre-game discussion, the center referee should discuss the situations where they want the AR to interject themselves. Most pregame discussions I've been a part of instruct the AR to watch the referees blind spots and for fouls that are in their quadrant. They are also instructed to give the center the first shot at the call that they would likely have seen. If something appears close to a foul, like a player falls during contact or there is a possible handling, the center should clearly demonstrate by voice and body that there was "no foul". That tells the AR to keep the flag down and the players to keep playing. It would ideally let the spectators know that the referee, well positioned in the vicinity of the play to see exactly what happened, saw what they saw and that it should be let go (wishful thinking for many).

Additionally, in my opinion, the center referee should warn the goal keeper if he/she feels the keeper is taking too long to distribute the ball before going to the whistle. I have limited experience as a competitive referee, but I would never delegate that judgement to the AR and as an AR I can't imagine flagging it.


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