Was watching yet another game where the ref came pretty close to losing control of a match. Contentious u18 game. No issues first half but team a had several goal scoring chances that were denied and were getting frustrated and were behind 3-1. There was a precise moment you could see it got away from the ref. Player on team b was defending and shielding the ball. Team a player got frustrated trying to gain possession and would up kicking it out. Team b player was a little smug he got the better of team a. Team a player called team b player the b word and the f word loud enough for the ar to hear. The laws state that is offensive language and merits a straight red. Ar raises his flag and cr goes to consult. Ar informs cr what happened. Cr elects to give team a player a verbal warning instead. I get how you might show mercy at a suspension and not pull out a red but the crs big mistake was just giving a verbal warning which is something you’d do in a u12 game not u 18s
Game goes down hill from there with several hard challenges. Cr is now forced to start pulling yellows (which he wouldn’t have had to do if he controlled the game earlier). Parents are screaming at him but fortunately they’ve been around the block by now and calmer heads are restraining the angry ones. Shoving matches erupt twice which only merit double yellow. Attacking team a player takes a swing at the gk at one point which doesn’t merit a card because the cr didn’t see it and it didnt make contact. Cr gets away with the game ending without the benches clearing only largely because the teams and parents on both sides are old hats at this and have already seen it all. Been there. Done that. U 15 or 16 game he might not have been as lucky. Sunday league….forget about it…cops are being called.
First sign of trouble show your cards particularly for these verbal infractions. It’s the one thing refs are sort of shy about doing, partially because sometimes they aren’t sure what was said and who said it, and partially because the technical punishment is a red and they might get questioned by the admin if they issue a yellow in mercy. But The worst thing you can do as a ref is have a game spin out of control. Doesn’t serve you, your fellow refs that have to deal with that environment, the parents or most importantly the players..
I was at a low level tournament over the summer where the same thing happened. Verbal taunting to slurs to a player fight that resulted in one u17 player getting struck on the head. Players on both benches came off and brawled. Parents charged in as well. Fortunately they realized the seriousness of the situation (or maybe just heard me calling the cops) and broke apart but too late…seven squad cars to the fields and one kid to the ambulance. You don’t want to be the ref that happens to. It’s what the cards are there for! Game management!
Game goes down hill from there with several hard challenges. Cr is now forced to start pulling yellows (which he wouldn’t have had to do if he controlled the game earlier). Parents are screaming at him but fortunately they’ve been around the block by now and calmer heads are restraining the angry ones. Shoving matches erupt twice which only merit double yellow. Attacking team a player takes a swing at the gk at one point which doesn’t merit a card because the cr didn’t see it and it didnt make contact. Cr gets away with the game ending without the benches clearing only largely because the teams and parents on both sides are old hats at this and have already seen it all. Been there. Done that. U 15 or 16 game he might not have been as lucky. Sunday league….forget about it…cops are being called.
First sign of trouble show your cards particularly for these verbal infractions. It’s the one thing refs are sort of shy about doing, partially because sometimes they aren’t sure what was said and who said it, and partially because the technical punishment is a red and they might get questioned by the admin if they issue a yellow in mercy. But The worst thing you can do as a ref is have a game spin out of control. Doesn’t serve you, your fellow refs that have to deal with that environment, the parents or most importantly the players..
I was at a low level tournament over the summer where the same thing happened. Verbal taunting to slurs to a player fight that resulted in one u17 player getting struck on the head. Players on both benches came off and brawled. Parents charged in as well. Fortunately they realized the seriousness of the situation (or maybe just heard me calling the cops) and broke apart but too late…seven squad cars to the fields and one kid to the ambulance. You don’t want to be the ref that happens to. It’s what the cards are there for! Game management!
