Contrasting Socks from Other Team?

[Surfref]

But they are paid to referee this kid's game, so I expect more. Since, like your name implies, I am a referee/parent/coach, I've been on all sides of the equation (although I haven't been able to be just a parent for awhile now), and am respectful to the referees during the game. I have tried to teach the head coach on how to talk to referees during the game, letting him know that yelling about a call is useless. That it is best to ask what the foul is for and move on. To speak to the AR near you to ask to keep eyes on X or Y from now on...

Yelling at a referee unfortunately is not always useless. Most good youth club coaches will yell or say something to the referee in the first 10 minutes of the game. I basically ignore them, but have seen many adult refs that get intimidated and change how they call the game. These coaches learn quickly during those first 10 minutes if they can manipulate the referee and if not will usually shut up. If they can manipulate the ref they will use pointed comments without yelling to continue to influence the refs decisions.

 

[Just a Parent]

No good ref runs the old school diagonal. You position yourself to have the best view possible while also taking into account where the play will develop and be in the next few seconds. A referee needs to be fluid both in motion and thought. If an attacker goes to the far corner I do not want to over there looking through play with play between me and the AR because the ball will likely get crossed into the middle. I need to be close enough to see the current action and also near the middle of the field where the ball will be crossed into. I can always take quick glances at my ARs which a good ref should be doing constantly. It is a referee team and not just the Referee and a couple Linesmen like back in the 80’s. Just about anyone can recognize afoul. The difficult part is knowing which fouls need to be called and which one ignored so the game stays under control and flows smoothly. That takes experience, being open to feedback from other referees and assessors. No referee is perfect but the better refs are the ones that honestly evaluate their performance and incorporate the feedback and make changes.

Early 90's at Far West Regionals, semi final match, assessor does a big write-up and hullabaloo about me not understanding the diagonal system of control because I was not running the "tradional" diagonal and that I should trust my ARs more, etc. etc. Long story short, I complained to the region 4 referee administrator and to USSF and that the game deserved better than these sorts of assessors. After promising to look into the matters, it was suggested to me, instead of just complaining, why can't I do something about it and become an assessor? So I did. A few years later the State Director of Assessment mandated all assessors of a certain grade to take instructor classess even if one was not planning to pursue instructing. I had no choice but to take the class. My advice to referees is to always do a formal, written self assessment after every game or every set of games. No assessment beats that, in my opinion.

 

[coachrefparent]

But they are paid to referee this kid's game, so I expect more. Since, like your name implies, I am a referee/parent/coach, I've been on all sides of the equation (although I haven't been able to be just a parent for awhile now), and am respectful to the referees during the game. I have tried to teach the head coach on how to talk to referees during the game, letting him know that yelling about a call is useless. That it is best to ask what the foul is for and move on. To speak to the AR near you to ask to keep eyes on X or Y from now on...

Yes, you should expect more than volunteer refs, but people expect too much. Most of the referees under the age of 60 have full time lives and jobs, or are in school most of the year. They love to help out and make some money to cover expenses. They are paid about $10-$15/hr after travel, equipment and related expenses, at best. Most work hard to keep up on the ever changing nuances in the laws. Some referee like it's 1975. Watching a typical match they may make 3-5 errors a game (mostly in judgment or perception, and a few in interpretation/knowledge on tricky scenarios).

Compare that to NFL or highest level soccer matches, who are paid thousands of dollars a game, and make just as many mistakes or more (in the NFL they have 7 officials all with whistles).

Couple all this with the reality that most observers and many coaches have no decent grasp of the LOTG, there are always disagreements. But it's a bunch of kids playing soccer. Everyone needs to relax. Including the pompous a-hole referees out there and in here (not directed at soccer dad& ref) that expect youth referees to dedicate their lives to knowing every possible nuance in interpretation and application of the LOTG, and still make fewer mistakes than those paid to do so at the highest levels of sport.