Young referees are not as much of the problem as are parents and coaches that drive our young referees out of the game. My son (13) and I ref'ed a "President's U11" game last week. He didn't want to AR the "parents" side because ... parents. Can't blame him. Its not as much the parents getting on him as he just doesn't want to hear the abject stupidity of uneducated parents that have no idea what a "handling" foul is or why he didn't raise his flag for a player being in a legitimate offside position that makes no play on the ball or the fact that a kid falls down while challenging for a ball doesn't mean there was a foul.
What you will find with almost all of these "young" referees is they are club players that know the game better than 99% of the parents on the sideline. I'm proud to call them my colleagues. They actually practice and play the game and understand its a contact sport. They know that there is a spectrum of based on the skill of the players. Shoulder charges, pushing between equally sized kids, a little hip check gets called at the Rec level ... but not President's cup.
But there is a something you and all parents that complain about the "young referees" can do:
http://www.calsouth.com/en/referees/how-to-be/
That said, most young referees do suffer from a flaw ... they take too much crap from parents and coaches and don't shut it down quick enough.
Finally, I respectfully disagree with this comment: "...grown adults who curse out teenagers for making bad calls should be ashamed of themselves." These morons should not only be ashamed of themselves ... they should be prohibited from being a spectator in any youth sport activities. There simply is no place at the amateur sports level for any person to verbally abuse another person for making a judgment call.
I appreciate your thoughts. First off, I never believe in blaming the ref. There are plenty of plays in a game which can change the tide, and whether there is a bad call or not, blaming the ref does not teach the kids to take responsibility upon oneself and breeds a sense of entitlement. In essence, it's not the example you want to set to raise independent, strong, well adjusted children. You want them to be able to overcome adversity and be stronger than the situation, and all things being equal, things come around, and you should spend your energy changing those things in your control to affect the result you want rather than blame others.
I have ref'd before and I know how difficult it can be. Especially with ignorant parents. I'm not here to hide behind handles and don't have other propaganda agendas. I am just here to voice what I believe to be reasonable and points all sides can agree upon, so we can all raise the level of a sport we all enjoy.
Having said that, as a veteran of many games, I notice some small areas that could be sharpened by some, not all, refs, which may perhaps give parents a bit more confidence. Parents definitely have their favorites as far as body language and behavior, and they are paying for a fair, evenly referred game. And we all can improve in everything in anything we all do and strive to do from the least to the best. And actually the best always work even harder to improve all the time. It's not a big deal but worth noting so we all reasonably discuss rather than argue or fight.
1) offside call: A player must be offside the moment the ball is played by a teammate. This is tough to call at times because the AR has to be aware when the ball is played. It gives more confidence to sideline when the flag goes up when the ball is played to an active player asap rather than after a goal is scored or after the opposing sideline protests. No big deal either, but a decisive call at time play does build confidence.
2) handball or header call: if it's incidental and a decision where the ball hits the hand or the hand hits the ball (and similarly for the header), I believe consistency in the application of the call is appreciated. I don't see much problem here. No big deal.
3) handling: I feel the same is also true of "handling" also. If the application is consistent, and as long as children aren't getting injured, most parents and coaches are content. Of course, there's always one or two outliers. The problem is if exacerbated when more aggressive play gets out of hand when one team feels the other team is getting away with certain behavior, and since the play is not called, then are able to execute that behavior themselves (or even add-on another behavior). Then the game spirals out of control and it's incumbent on the ref to bring the game back. I've seen this a couple years ago, when several players were injured in a heavily retaliated game of big strong kids and felt some bit of control was needed. Again, no big deal but a point worth making.
Finally, I'd like to agree with MWN that young refs and young players, parents, and coaches that respect the ref are crucial to the future of the game. I feel young refs have much to contribute and should be respected for their dedication and service to the sport. My daughter played in a Latino league where they honored a senior ref for his service to the game and we donated to his package. It's a great reminder of the respect the refs deserve for the difficult job they have. And often the greatest refs are the most unsung and unmentioned members of the entire process, and should be honored or awarded.
All the best and best of luck to the remaining competitors in State Cup.
