Referee Problem

[CAM #27]

This weekend - while quoting the new rules - a referee acted like an a**hole. During the game one of our parents said "offside" on a play where a girl was in an obvious offside position, but the ball had not yet been passed to her. Later she became offside when she participated in the play.

The offside call wasn't that loud, but loud enough so the referee heard it. It did not interfere with the game. The linesman was on the other side of the field and probably did not hear it. The referee did not call offside. But the referee stopped the game, came over to me (the coach) and said that no person on the sideline was allowed to call out offside. I did not argue. Knowing how much power referees now have, - and how likely they are to abuse their power - I did not say a single word, even though there is no rule against a spectator calling "offside." After the game, when the referee presented the match report to me I asked "Can we have a candid discussion." He asked what I wanted to talk about and I told him it was the caution that he gave me. He said "no," and then began a lengthy rant to tell me that he never wants to hear a parent call offside from the sideline, because it is only he that can make that call.

Following Lee Robert's instructions on what to do if you have a problem with a bad referee, I did not respond. But I did ask the referee for his name and badge number so I could make a report with the State Referee Association. He refused. Later, he approached me and again told me that he never wanted to hear someone from the sideline call "offside." I again asked for his name and badge number, and he refused to provide it.

My thoughts:
1. Every referee should be required to carry an ID card and present it to a game coach upon demand. They check our ID cards. We should be allowed to see their credentials in the same way they are allowed to see ours.

2. The new referee rules have been in place for just a few weeks, and already referees are acting like Dic***ds.

3. Because of the draconian punishments that referees can now inflict, bad referees feel like they can do anything they want, and they know they can get away with it.

4. Lee Robert says that the correct thing to do is to file a report with the SRA. But how do you do that if the referee refuses to give a name or badge number?

Again - referees insist on having great authority, but no responsibility.

 

[sigmabody]

Yes... there's a lot of lip service to how this new policy is intended to make the soccer environment better for everyone, but at the end of the day, it's the 2% bad refs who are the problem (and consequently get most of the "abuse"), and the policy does nothing to improve that situation, it just gives them more power to be power tripping a-holes with less accountability.

My suggestion: probably the best you could do is "name" and shame. Everyone's got a cell phone; take a picture, post it around (like here), and at least let other concerned parents know who the bad and a-hole refs are up-front. No, that's not remotely fair, and there should be a give and take, and review process, proper investigation of complaints, etc., but I feel like that's probably all BS anyway (as you account, bad officials are not going to volunteer enough information to go through the proper channels regardless).

Ultimately, this process is likely to make referees hated and/or feared pretty broadly... there is a strong parallel with the police. They used to be trusted, broadly respected, valued, etc., but the lack of accountability allows power to be abused, and the few bad apples to spoil the bunch. Silencing dissent never works to build actual respect, but US Soccer apparently doesn't study enough history to understand this.

 

[TopesWin]

This weekend - while quoting the new rules - a referee acted like an a**hole. During the game one of our parents said "offside" on a play where a girl was in an obvious offside position, but the ball had not yet been passed to her. Later she became offside when she participated in the play.

The offside call wasn't that loud, but loud enough so the referee heard it. It did not interfere with the game. The linesman was on the other side of the field and probably did not hear it. The referee did not call offside. But the referee stopped the game, came over to me (the coach) and said that no person on the sideline was allowed to call out offside. I did not argue. Knowing how much power referees now have, - and how likely they are to abuse their power - I did not say a single word, even though there is no rule against a spectator calling "offside." After the game, when the referee presented the match report to me I asked "Can we have a candid discussion." He asked what I wanted to talk about and I told him it was the caution that he gave me. He said "no," and then began a lengthy rant to tell me that he never wants to hear a parent call offside from the sideline, because it is only he that can make that call.

Following Lee Robert's instructions on what to do if you have a problem with a bad referee, I did not respond. But I did ask the referee for his name and badge number so I could make a report with the State Referee Association. He refused. Later, he approached me and again told me that he never wanted to hear someone from the sideline call "offside." I again asked for his name and badge number, and he refused to provide it.

My thoughts:
1. Every referee should be required to carry an ID card and present it to a game coach upon demand. They check our ID cards. We should be allowed to see their credentials in the same way they are allowed to see ours.

2. The new referee rules have been in place for just a few weeks, and already referees are acting like Dic***ds.

3. Because of the draconian punishments that referees can now inflict, bad referees feel like they can do anything they want, and they know they can get away with it.

4. Lee Robert says that the correct thing to do is to file a report with the SRA. But how do you do that if the referee refuses to give a name or badge number?

Again - referees insist on having great authority, but no responsibility.

Name and badge number, seriously? If you really are butt hurt about the ref hurting your feelings, tell the SRA the game time and location, and they can determine the name. How hard is that? Stop pretending this is complicated.

 

[TopesWin]

Yes... there's a lot of lip service to how this new policy is intended to make the soccer environment better for everyone, but at the end of the day, it's the 2% bad refs who are the problem (and consequently get most of the "abuse"), and the policy does nothing to improve that situation, it just gives them more power to be power tripping a-holes with less accountability.

My suggestion: probably the best you could do is "name" and shame. Everyone's got a cell phone; take a picture, post it around (like here), and at least let other concerned parents know who the bad and a-hole refs are up-front. No, that's not remotely fair, and there should be a give and take, and review process, proper investigation of complaints, etc., but I feel like that's probably all BS anyway (as you account, bad officials are not going to volunteer enough information to go through the proper channels regardless).

Ultimately, this process is likely to make referees hated and/or feared pretty broadly... there is a strong parallel with the police. They used to be trusted, broadly respected, valued, etc., but the lack of accountability allows power to be abused, and the few bad apples to spoil the bunch. Silencing dissent never works to build actual respect, but US Soccer apparently doesn't study enough history to understand this.

Yes, you are the expert at naming and shaming...too bad you use it against the parents and volunteers who call you out on your scams and lies. But you're out of power now and flailing, so your old tricks don't work any more.

Good luck doxxing refs. But you should actually read the Ref Abuse policy, rather than lying to people about it here. Apparently US Soccer has seen vicious doxxers like you before, and are ready for you.

 

[CAM #27]

Name and badge number, seriously? If you really are butt hurt about the ref hurting your feelings, tell the SRA the game time and location, and they can determine the name. How hard is that? Stop pretending this is complicated.

Thank you for the suggestion. I will do exactly that. But I will make a gentleman's bet that the SRA will not spend even one minute trying to identify the referee.

 

[CAM #27]

Yes... there's a lot of lip service to how this new policy is intended to make the soccer environment better for everyone, but at the end of the day, it's the 2% bad refs who are the problem (and consequently get most of the "abuse"), and the policy does nothing to improve that situation, it just gives them more power to be power tripping a-holes with less accountability.

My suggestion: probably the best you could do is "name" and shame. Everyone's got a cell phone; take a picture, post it around (like here), and at least let other concerned parents know who the bad and a-hole refs are up-front. No, that's not remotely fair, and there should be a give and take, and review process, proper investigation of complaints, etc., but I feel like that's probably all BS anyway (as you account, bad officials are not going to volunteer enough information to go through the proper channels regardless).

Ultimately, this process is likely to make referees hated and/or feared pretty broadly... there is a strong parallel with the police. They used to be trusted, broadly respected, valued, etc., but the lack of accountability allows power to be abused, and the few bad apples to spoil the bunch. Silencing dissent never works to build actual respect, but US Soccer apparently doesn't study enough history to understand this.

Naww ... I'm not going to name, shame or doxx.

 

[Messi>CR7]

Thank you for the suggestion. I will do exactly that. But I will make a gentleman's bet that the SRA will not spend even one minute trying to identify the referee.

Referees have to print and sign their names on the post-match report. I saved a couple from my boy's SoCal 9v9 games (because he had a hat-trick and a brace on those two blue-moon days ). All 3 refs signed on the reports.

 

[CAM #27]

Referees have to print and sign their names on the post-match report. I saved a couple from my boy's SoCal 9v9 games (because he had a hat-trick and a brace on those two blue-moon days ). All 3 refs signed on the reports.

They should print or sign their names. In today's case, the referees did not do so, and although I saw the final report when I signed it, the referee did not give me a copy after obtaining the other coach's signature.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

Refs refusing to give their name or any other identifying info when challenged are being silly. It's trivial to find out who they are (call the assignor!) and if you're annoyed enough to need to get their name - them acting childish and deciding not to give it to you doesn't solve their problem (of you not following up with their perceived bad behavior one way or another). Take a picture, talk to your assignor (if it's one of your refs), or talk to the other clubs assignor (if it's one of their refs), or talk to the tournament director (if it's not a league game).

 

[RedCard]

#1 - Referees don't have "badge numbers" - We have regular ID numbers just like every player and coach.
#2 - I won't throw their picture online to shame them. Doxxing or cyberbully carries a minimum 6 game suspension and/or 6 to 24 months suspension. Now, I know there are websites and Facebook groups that do the opposite to shame coaches and parents; is that right, probably not, but that's why we're at this point.
#3 - Referee names should be listed on the game report. If not, contact the tournament. They may not know the name, but they will know which referee association were assigned to each field. If it's a league game (CSL, So Cal League), contact them. CSL uses an app where the referees are assigned names and So Cal League uses the Got Sports websites.
#4 - As far as parents calling "offside", it really doesn't bother me when I'm refereeing. The one problem I see; and it's already begun; is the new 8 second rule for keepers. The center referee is the only one that keeps count, don't need an entire sideline doing a count down. I will definitely shut that down since it'll cause confusion for the keeper.

 

[Jamisfoes]

If I were reffing this game, I would tell the opposing team next time you hear the parents call offside just stop playing, I will give you a penalty kick.

 

[Slobodan]

I hate a bad referee as much as anybody but parents need to shut the fuck up. It's typically the parent that knows the least that says the most. I've parented with parents that I know played at a high D1 level and they're the ones that never say a peep. We need more of that.