First time in stands in YEARS!

[Wahoos1]

After coaching for many years I have taken a break to watch my kid for once. Since I have always been coaching I was not in the stands. This was the first time I have sat in the stands since I began tooting the whistle 4 years ago.

How do you guys handle it!?

After about 30 minutes of listening to the parents yell about offside calls from the top of the bleachers on calls that were 40 yards downfield, I just had to get up and walk down to the fence to watch the game.

Did not see that any discussion would help much...

[NHRef]

It use to bother me, but now that most of the parents know I also ref, I usually get questions more than anything. If they don't ask, I give my wife the "ya right" look and laugh, if they ask I will explain if I think they really want to know, if not, just give the "the ref has a different view than we do from WAY over here", and go back to watching my kids play.

[IASocFan]

Watching kids from the stands has been a recent experience for me too. I was usually either coaching or helping with a line. First of all, I found it extremely difficult to sit. I'd rather be up, strolling and concentrating on the game. I usually review the referee, the coaches, and the players - noting what they do well or poorly. And thinking how to encorporate the good things into my game - as ref, player, or coach. I frequently get questions from parents on what was called or why someone was off/onside, and I try to clarify the rules and guess at what the referees saw.

[Wreave]

Usually one game a season, I roam the sidelines taking pictures. However, watching the game through a zoom lens doesn't qualify as real spectating.

Otherwise, I'm always coaching or running a line. I have *never* sat in a little folding chair on the sidelines to watch a game. It just seems weird.

[Wahoos1]

Yeah, I was much happier strolling the sidelines and being able to concentrate on the game.

[gosellit]

I never sat with the parents when I kids were playing at the club level. Didn't want to deal with it. The older they got, the better the parents seemed to be. When my son played in college I finally started to sit with the parents.

Sometimes I did have to bite my tongue.

It is an interesting perspective.

[NHRef]

Otherwise, I'm always coaching or running a line. I have *never* sat in a little folding chair on the sidelines to watch a game. It just seems weird.

There are few joys in life more enjoyable than sitting down on a Saturday morning watching my son(s) run around the field having fun, and enjoying a nice cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee while participating in a little small talk with my wife! In the hectic life of a soccer parent/ref/coach, these down times are wonderfull! :)

[billf]

I'm looking forward to sitting in a folding chair to watch my little boy play. I can tune out just about anything so I doubt the comments from other parents will bother me at all. By that point, I don't plan to ref at all and I will never act as a club line. I've already watched my nephew play u-10 travel a few times and I'm too happy with being at a field an not having any responsibility for the game to let parents annoy me.

[Chas (Psyatika)]

This was the first time I have sat in the stands since I began tooting the whistle 4 years ago.Oh dear...i hope you weren't being assessed :p

But anyway, i sometimes watch the matches before/after/between mine whilst warming up or down. Other than that i've only been to 5 football matches as a fan: two for Croydon FC (Staines Town and Chertsey Town home, one loss and one BIG win) and three for Palace (Preston and Sheffield Weds home and QPR away, a draw and two wins), all on my trip to England this past September/October! They were fun...it's hard not to see the game from the referee's perpestive though...not once could i bring myself to disagree with the officiating in any of the matches. Although i did join in the "w@nker" and "you don't know what you're doing" chants every so often, just for fun :)

[jacathcart]

After coaching for many years I have taken a break to watch my kid for once. Since I have always been coaching I was not in the stands. This was the first time I have sat in the stands since I began tooting the whistle 4 years ago.

How do you guys handle it!?



I simply could not sit and watch among the parents b/c I hated listening to the criticism of the ref/coach/players and besides I tended to get nervous. So I would move down towards the 18 and watch from there. When the club team played in the point football stadium with the really nice running track I would run laps.

That was HS and ODP and Club. When my daughter got to college I found that the parents were mostly great but even more concerned about playing time and some weren't a lot better when it came to being able to restrain themselves from commenting upon the refs and coaching. I hated that.

The culmination was the national championship game in 2001 - SCU v UNC. I calculated later that I had walked at least 5 miles during that game, circling the stadium at the top level. Didn't miss a thing. Worked off my nervousness. Didn't have to listen to other spectators.

If you are known to be a ref there is a great desire on the part of the other parents to check every call with you - don't allow yourself to be sucked into this.

Jim

[Chas (Psyatika)]

I like being sucked into it...so far i have never had to disagree with another referee's decision...there's always some way of justifying it.

[macheath]

I like being sucked into it...so far i have never had to disagree with another referee's decision...there's always some way of justifying it.

I agree with Chas. You can actually try and educate parents about why calls are being made (assuming no glaring error takes place). Lots of them are just uniformed, and are grateful to have things explained to them, in my experience. A glaring error? Just demure--say, "well, we aren't close enough to the play" or somesuch...

[NHRef]

Some parents don't want to be educated, some do, some just want their opinion "validated". These are the ones I just smile at my wife with.:D

The skill is telling the difference.