Presidio/SDDA League new spectator rule should shut up crazy parents

[Surfref]

Presidio/SDDA will implement a new sideline behavior rule that should hopefully stop the crazy parents from yelling at the referees and players from the other team. The actual rule (copy and pasted) from the Presidio website is below. In a nutshell, if a spectator/parent is ejected from the sideline they will not be allowed to attend the next two games and no spectators for that team allowed at the next game. So that crazy dad or mom that likes to yell at the referee and gets ejected, will cause all of the teams spectators to miss the next game. Hopefully this will cause the good parents to peer pressure the crap out the crazy parents into shutting up. Last fall I ejected no coaches, but ejected three parents for yelling at me, yelling at a youth referee, and using profanity toward a player from the other team. I hope this new rule is successful and adopted by all Cal South leagues and tournaments.

Parent/Sideline Ejection Rule 2019: Starting this fall 2019 Season Presidio Soccer League has instituted a Parent/Sideline Ejection Rule, the rule is as written; If a parent is ejected from a game, he or she must leave the field area immediately (be out of sight and sound) and will automatically be suspended for a minimum of 2 additional games.
In addition, the entire sideline will also be suspended for the team’s next game, due to the parent being ejected from the game. The only individuals that are allowed on the sideline other than the team’s players will be the coach and team manager, unless the team manager was the offending party.
If the manager was the offending party the club will appoint another pre-determined administrator or parent to act as the team manager for the game, prior to next game.

 

[timbuck]

I can see it now. Everyone is out scrambling to buy “spirit wear” of their rivals. They can either pretend to be with them during a game. Or once the get kicked out of their own game- they’ll show up dressed up for the other team.

Are we at a point where we need “spectator cards” for parents that will be collected by the ref before the game.

 

[greekgirl]

Presidio/SDDA will implement a new sideline behavior rule that should hopefully stop the crazy parents from yelling at the referees and players from the other team. The actual rule (copy and pasted) from the Presidio website is below. In a nutshell, if a spectator/parent is ejected from the sideline they will not be allowed to attend the next two games and no spectators for that team allowed at the next game. So that crazy dad or mom that likes to yell at the referee and gets ejected, will cause all of the teams spectators to miss the next game. Hopefully this will cause the good parents to peer pressure the crap out the crazy parents into shutting up. Last fall I ejected no coaches, but ejected three parents for yelling at me, yelling at a youth referee, and using profanity toward a player from the other team. I hope this new rule is successful and adopted by all Cal South leagues and tournaments.

Parent/Sideline Ejection Rule 2019: Starting this fall 2019 Season Presidio Soccer League has instituted a Parent/Sideline Ejection Rule, the rule is as written; If a parent is ejected from a game, he or she must leave the field area immediately (be out of sight and sound) and will automatically be suspended for a minimum of 2 additional games.
In addition, the entire sideline will also be suspended for the team’s next game, due to the parent being ejected from the game. The only individuals that are allowed on the sideline other than the team’s players will be the coach and team manager, unless the team manager was the offending party.
If the manager was the offending party the club will appoint another pre-determined administrator or parent to act as the team manager for the game, prior to next game.

The presidio folks came to one of our referee meetings earlier this summer and warned us that they would not be tolerating that kind of behavior from parents or coaches this year. I hope it works. I'm tired of dealing with parents/coaches yelling at youth referees especially. I don't want to be refereeing into my 60's we need these youth referees to come in and take our places.

 

[watfly]

Presidio/SDDA will implement a new sideline behavior rule that should hopefully stop the crazy parents from yelling at the referees and players from the other team. The actual rule (copy and pasted) from the Presidio website is below. In a nutshell, if a spectator/parent is ejected from the sideline they will not be allowed to attend the next two games and no spectators for that team allowed at the next game. So that crazy dad or mom that likes to yell at the referee and gets ejected, will cause all of the teams spectators to miss the next game. Hopefully this will cause the good parents to peer pressure the crap out the crazy parents into shutting up. Last fall I ejected no coaches, but ejected three parents for yelling at me, yelling at a youth referee, and using profanity toward a player from the other team. I hope this new rule is successful and adopted by all Cal South leagues and tournaments.

Parent/Sideline Ejection Rule 2019: Starting this fall 2019 Season Presidio Soccer League has instituted a Parent/Sideline Ejection Rule, the rule is as written; If a parent is ejected from a game, he or she must leave the field area immediately (be out of sight and sound) and will automatically be suspended for a minimum of 2 additional games.
In addition, the entire sideline will also be suspended for the team’s next game, due to the parent being ejected from the game. The only individuals that are allowed on the sideline other than the team’s players will be the coach and team manager, unless the team manager was the offending party.
If the manager was the offending party the club will appoint another pre-determined administrator or parent to act as the team manager for the game, prior to next game.

I hope it works. Does Presidio define the grounds for ejection? I know they define discipline, is it the same definition for ejection?

 

[Surfref]

I hope it works. Does Presidio define the grounds for ejection? I know they define discipline, is it the same definition for ejection?

The only guidance I could find in their rules is below. It is vague and basically says irresponsible behavior and derogatory words or actions toward players, coaches, sidelines(spectators) or referees will not be tolerated. It leaves a lot of interpretation up to the referee. One referee may not care that they are being yelled at and the next referee has almost no tolerance. If there is a youth referee on my crew, I give one warning and the next time someone yells they are getting ejected. We were instructed to issue spectators, the entire half of the sideline, a yellow card. If the bad behavior continues, we are to have the coach remove the offending spectator and getting their name from the manager after the game. We were told that if the manager or coach does not provide the name there will be additional sanctions against the team and parents.

SIDELINE BEHAVIOR: Coaches are responsible for their sideline and all actions thereon. Coaches are expected to coach their teams in a positive and respectful manner. Presidio/SDDA Soccer League encourages referees to discipline any coach for irresponsible behavior if the coach, player, parent or spectator uses derogatory words or actions aimed at their players, the opposing team’s players, coach, sideline or any of the referees. We take sideline behavior seriously, and will take actions against players, coaches, spectators, and entire sidelines.

 

[Toch]

Suspending the whole sideline for a game is great. Holding them accountable for monitoring themselves. Many times there’s the one parent that acts up and the others just encourage the behavior. Many coaches lack the balls to shut their own parents up for fear of them getting their kid and leaving.

 

[RedCard]

I like it but it can be confusing when there are 2 sets of team parents on each half of the field; the team currently playing and the team that plays next. During the Man City Cup this past summer, my dd's team was playing a Surf team (not saying which of the many, but it wasn't a San Diego one) the referee ejected the entire Surf sideline. One dad said "I'm not with that team", and if it wasn't for her dd yelling "Dad, just leave!!", he would of gotten away with it. Like you said @Surfref, different veteran referees have different levels of tolerance. But when there's a youth referee involved, there should be no tolerance at all.

 

[Surfref]

I like it but it can be confusing when there are 2 sets of team parents on each half of the field; the team currently playing and the team that plays next. During the Man City Cup this past summer, my dd's team was playing a Surf team (not saying which of the many, but it wasn't a San Diego one) the referee ejected the entire Surf sideline. One dad said "I'm not with that team", and if it wasn't for her dd yelling "Dad, just leave!!", he would of gotten away with it. Like you said @Surfref, different veteran referees have different levels of tolerance. But when there's a youth referee involved, there should be no tolerance at all.

With Presidio/SDDA the parents sit on the same sideline as the team and teams are on different sidelines. So, it is fairly easy to tell which team a spectator is with.

 

[Supermodel56]

I don't want to be refereeing into my 60's we need these youth referees to come in and take our places.

If you don’t enjoy it, why are you doing it?!? Isn’t that what we talk about for the players?

First off, there are a lot of great refs out there, and I agree, referee abuse is not acceptable. But I wonder if that’s part of the problem, parents see how hard their kids train to prepare for this game and yet, so often, refs just show up to the game, totally unprepared, and clearly showing they couldn’t care less.

These kids are busting their butts 10-15 hours a week in team practice + privates to prepare for these games, wouldn’t you agree that the least refs could do is prepare, know the rules, be engaged, and call a good match? For many, even the youngers, it’s more than just a game to them.

admittedly, I have no idea what goes into reffing these games. But I gotta wonder, how much work are refs putting into preparing for these soccer matches so they make sure 1) they fully know the rules. 2) are aware of what’s going on while they’re at work, and 3) develop the awareness to make the right calls?

Saw some very good refs this weekend, but also some that really didn’t give a crap and clearly didn’t want to be there. One ref clearly didn’t know the rules.

Our entire sideline has always been pretty quiet so in many ways, this policy will help us in terms of annoying parents on the other side... But I do wonder sometimes, given how much work our girls put into this only to have their game called by a ref who’s barely 12-13 yrs old, not even paying attention... - shouldn’t there be some accountability?

 

[coachrefparent]

With Presidio/SDDA the parents sit on the same sideline as the team and teams are on different sidelines. So, it is fairly easy to tell which team a spectator is with.

Except when they don't, as often occurs.

Coach: "He's not with us."
Referee: "You have to get his information for us to report to Bob Turner."
Coach: "He's not with us."
Referee: "Now your whole club is going to be sanctioned."
Coach: "He's not with us."
Referee: "Sorry coach, you got a red card."
Coach: "He's not with us. . ."

Wow, this is going to be fun.

 

[timbuck]

Time for all spectators to have their own “player card”. And you can have write-ins the day of if needed.

 

[Surfref]

Except when they don't, as often occurs.

Coach: "He's not with us."
Referee: "You have to get his information for us to report to Bob Turner."
Coach: "He's not with us."
Referee: "Now your whole club is going to be sanctioned."
Coach: "He's not with us."
Referee: "Sorry coach, you got a red card."
Coach: "He's not with us. . ."

Wow, this is going to be fun.

Why would some random person show up on a sideline of a youth game and start yelling at the referee? They don’t. If someone is on the sideline, they have some type (relative, friend, coworker, etc.) of relationship with one of the players or family. We were instructed not to eject the coach for the actions of the spectators. If an adult on the coach’s sideline gets ejected and the coach and manager don’t know or won’t supply a name, then the referee puts it in the report and Presidio figures out what to do.

 

[espola]

Why would some random person show up on a sideline of a youth game and start yelling at the referee? They don’t. If someone is on the sideline, they have some type (relative, friend, coworker, etc.) of relationship with one of the players or family. We were instructed not to eject the coach for the actions of the spectators. If an adult on the coach’s sideline gets ejected and the coach and manager don’t know or won’t supply a name, then the referee puts it in the report and Presidio figures out what to do.

Maybe someone waiting because their kid's team will be playing in the next game on that field?

 

[Banana Hammock]

If you don’t enjoy it, why are you doing it?!? Isn’t that what we talk about for the players?

First off, there are a lot of great refs out there, and I agree, referee abuse is not acceptable. But I wonder if that’s part of the problem, parents see how hard their kids train to prepare for this game and yet, so often, refs just show up to the game, totally unprepared, and clearly showing they couldn’t care less.

These kids are busting their butts 10-15 hours a week in team practice + privates to prepare for these games, wouldn’t you agree that the least refs could do is prepare, know the rules, be engaged, and call a good match? For many, even the youngers, it’s more than just a game to them.

admittedly, I have no idea what goes into reffing these games. But I gotta wonder, how much work are refs putting into preparing for these soccer matches so they make sure 1) they fully know the rules. 2) are aware of what’s going on while they’re at work, and 3) develop the awareness to make the right calls?

Saw some very good refs this weekend, but also some that really didn’t give a crap and clearly didn’t want to be there. One ref clearly didn’t know the rules.

Our entire sideline has always been pretty quiet so in many ways, this policy will help us in terms of annoying parents on the other side... But I do wonder sometimes, given how much work our girls put into this only to have their game called by a ref who’s barely 12-13 yrs old, not even paying attention... - shouldn’t there be some accountability?

I can appreciate that point of view, but having a kid as a player and a ref, that's not the reality of the situation. There is a shortage of refs and every week it is a scramble to cover all the games, often right up to midnight of the day before the game. So I don't like saying that you are lucky to get three refs to show up to your game, but you are lucky to get three refs. If everyone wants to go to two refs like high school, then maybe there wont be a problem. With the amount of abuse that the refs get every week, I am surprised that they keep showing up. Its definitely not worth it for money unless your a kids who normally makes no money. For the adults that do it, I am very appreciative that they show up.

You can say that you expect professionals for the money that you are paying them, but were just lucky to have any. Look back at some of the other threads about refs. I used to have two kids that reffed, now only one will do it, because of the sidelines. The one who still does it have been playing 9 years and reffing 3 years. He is a good ref and makes very few mistakes and has thick skin.

These new rules are probably a way to retain those younger refs that will have to fill the shoes of all the old refs. OK, seasoned.

 

[greekgirl]

If you don’t enjoy it, why are you doing it?!? Isn’t that what we talk about for the players?

First off, there are a lot of great refs out there, and I agree, referee abuse is not acceptable. But I wonder if that’s part of the problem, parents see how hard their kids train to prepare for this game and yet, so often, refs just show up to the game, totally unprepared, and clearly showing they couldn’t care less.

These kids are busting their butts 10-15 hours a week in team practice + privates to prepare for these games, wouldn’t you agree that the least refs could do is prepare, know the rules, be engaged, and call a good match? For many, even the youngers, it’s more than just a game to them.

admittedly, I have no idea what goes into reffing these games. But I gotta wonder, how much work are refs putting into preparing for these soccer matches so they make sure 1) they fully know the rules. 2) are aware of what’s going on while they’re at work, and 3) develop the awareness to make the right calls?

Saw some very good refs this weekend, but also some that really didn’t give a crap and clearly didn’t want to be there. One ref clearly didn’t know the rules.

Our entire sideline has always been pretty quiet so in many ways, this policy will help us in terms of annoying parents on the other side... But I do wonder sometimes, given how much work our girls put into this only to have their game called by a ref who’s barely 12-13 yrs old, not even paying attention... - shouldn’t there be some accountability?

I do enjoy refereeing, love the kids, and most of the time enjoy the coaches and parents too. I'm also the parent of two dd's who play soccer and I do know how much effort the kids put in. My younger dd is also a ref and helps pay for her tournament fees with the money she earns refereeing. I wouldn't be a referee if it wasn't for my younger dd - she got me into it.

What I was trying to convey was that when I'm older and no longer as able-bodied I want to be able to hand over the whistle to the younger generation to take it from there.

 

[coachrefparent]

If you don’t enjoy it, why are you doing it?!? Isn’t that what we talk about for the players?

First off, there are a lot of great refs out there, and I agree, referee abuse is not acceptable. But I wonder if that’s part of the problem, parents see how hard their kids train to prepare for this game and yet, so often, refs just show up to the game, totally unprepared, and clearly showing they couldn’t care less.

These kids are busting their butts 10-15 hours a week in team practice + privates to prepare for these games, wouldn’t you agree that the least refs could do is prepare, know the rules, be engaged, and call a good match? For many, even the youngers, it’s more than just a game to them.

admittedly, I have no idea what goes into reffing these games. But I gotta wonder, how much work are refs putting into preparing for these soccer matches so they make sure 1) they fully know the rules. 2) are aware of what’s going on while they’re at work, and 3) develop the awareness to make the right calls?

Saw some very good refs this weekend, but also some that really didn’t give a crap and clearly didn’t want to be there. One ref clearly didn’t know the rules.

Our entire sideline has always been pretty quiet so in many ways, this policy will help us in terms of annoying parents on the other side... But I do wonder sometimes, given how much work our girls put into this only to have their game called by a ref who’s barely 12-13 yrs old, not even paying attention... - shouldn’t there be some accountability?

Your sentiment seems reasoned, but read more closely, it basically says, we can abuse refs that are not up to "our" standards, despite most understanding very little about the laws of the game.

Whether the referees are truly (objectively) piss poor or not, allowing a mob of people (many which are blatant fools) to decide whether the referees are worthy of abuse or not is the pinnacle of stupidity. Many of these idiots think it's ok to yell and berate teenage referees, almost all of which are youth soccer players themselves.

Sorry, but the only solution is to require those on the sidelines (errr, touchlines) to keep their mouths shut.

 

[coachrefparent]

Why would some random person show up on a sideline of a youth game and start yelling at the referee? They don’t. If someone is on the sideline, they have some type (relative, friend, coworker, etc.) of relationship with one of the players or family. We were instructed not to eject the coach for the actions of the spectators. If an adult on the coach’s sideline gets ejected and the coach and manager don’t know or won’t supply a name, then the referee puts it in the report and Presidio figures out what to do.

There are lots of reasons why an idiot is ranting and raving on a side (touch)line but not directly under control of the team. Your assumption that "If someone is on the sideline, they have some type (relative, friend, coworker, etc.) of relationship with one of the players or family," is simply false. Most Likely true not not always. Also, many of these cretins like to move around and criticize the referees regardless of affiliation.

 

[Definitelynotanotherref]

@coachrefparent As a coach, you are responsible for your sideline, regardless of who is on it. Spectators at a youth game are a privilege, not a right.

Whenever a parent gets too rowdy and I want to kick them out, I go to the coach and tell them to remove a parent. When he asks me which one, I honestly don't know because I pay as much attention to parents as grass. I tell the coach, "I'm not picky, choose a parent... And choose wisely or I'll probably be back here to kick another parent". It takes the decision off me and puts the responsibility on him. All you have to do is wait for a parent to be kicked. For some reason they refuse to play the game without me blowing my whistle. Just don't start the game. You don't have to card the coach. No parent ejection, no play. Eventually the desire to play will outweigh the coaches stubbornness, and at that point even a kid will speak up and say "that's Johnny's cousin!"

 

[Surf Zombie]

There are lots of reasons why an idiot is ranting and raving on a side (touch)line but not directly under control of the team. Your assumption that "If someone is on the sideline, they have some type (relative, friend, coworker, etc.) of relationship with one of the players or family," is simply false. Most Likely true not not always. Also, many of these cretins like to move around and criticize the referees regardless of affiliation.

We traveled out of state a couple years ago for a tournament my 2007 DD was playing in. A few minutes after our game kicked off against the host club's team a woman and her DD from another team in the tournament stopped by our sideline and chatted up a few of our parents, me included. We were out of state, but her kid's team regularly played the host team we were currently playing. Took her about 30 seconds to go on a tirade about how she hated the team, coach, parents, club and one player in particular based upon something that had happened in another game a few weeks earlier. She stood on our sideline for a good ten minutes yelling at the kids on the other team, yelling at the referee to "card" a certain kid and shouting down the sideline at the other team's parents. Most of us slowly distanced ourselves from her, but she just kept going. Finally her kid convinced her that they had someplace else to be and they left.

Agree that 95% of the time the crazy parent is affiliated with one of the teams playing, but not always.

 

[HappyBeast]

Recently before a game an AR shouted to the parents on his sideline, "I want to make sure I can count on you to let me know if I make a bad call. Make sure you are loud. I love hearing it. The players love hearing it. Everyone seated next to you loves to hear it. Thanks for having my back. Have a good game parents." It made everyone laugh. It set a great tone for the game.