Why do they keep getting hurt?

[wjarrettc]

So spring season is drawing into its final weeks and I've got about 20 games under my belt now. I've observed something very strange. In the games that I have worked center that I would classify as the "cleanest" and "most sporting" games I've called, I've had more injuries than in the other, more physical games.

Yesterday, I called a U14 girls rec game in which the only time I used my whistle to stop play was for a single deliberate handball and two injuries: a broken nose and a sprained ankle. A few weeks ago, I had a U12 boys rec game that had very little in the way of contact or fouls, yet 2 boys came out with foot/leg injuries.

In all of these cases, I saw nothing that indicated to me how the incident occurred or if a foul should have been called. It really blows my mind that these kids keep getting injured under my watch and I haven't a clue what happened to them.

I guess I could write off the difference to more stern control of the more competitive and rough games, preventing players from doing foolish things. Or maybe I can blame the fact that these younger kids playing Rec were just more clumsy. I think I have good control of these games (e.g., no parental or coach outrage from the sidelines), but I'm left wondering what is it that I'm missing on the pitch during these games.

I was curious if other referee's have seen a similar, almost paradoxical trend of injuries happening in the most seemingly benign games? Or am I just unlucky?

Jarrett

[kevbrunton]

The broken nose is most likely a freak thing. I'm wondering if you're seeing more foot/leg injuries with these rec games due to the conditions of the fields. Around here, the rec leagues play on pretty bad field -- a few of which are parking lots when not being used for soccer fields. The travel teams have their own facilities and are generally in very good shape.

So in the rec games, you might see more turned ankles due to field conditions and you might also see more of the kids getting hurt doing a slide tackle due to it being as much dirt as grass or possibly having a touch of gravel in the grass here and there.

[Statesman]

You see injuries because, well -- they're kids. Kids get hurt. If there are holes in your game leading to injuries you'd hear about it quite frequently and wouldn't have to wonder about it here on the board.

Don't worry, they'll heal :)

[Poose]

One thing you might have to watch for is the late challenge, that is, after a kid clears the ball an opponent comes in late and fouls him. This is one that spectators rarely see, since they are watching the ball go upfield. You have to watch the game with your wide angle lens on.

[jc508]

When a player is injured in my game and I saw no foul, I call for the coach to tend to the player. I then move away from the player to avoid comments from the coach, and go to the nearest AR. I will then ask the AR if he/she saw any foul that may have caused the injury. It's good to hear that the AR did not see a foul leading to the injury either.

Stuff happens. I had an adult player just walking backwards near midfield waiting for a goalkick, when he suddenly fell in pain holding his ankle. The ankle was broken as he had stepped onto a clump of grass adjacent to an eroded area abruptly turning his ankle. Sometimes stuff just happens.

[IASocFan]

My scariest experience as a referee was at a girl's high school game. It came after a corner kick was headed towards the goal. The keeper came across the goal mouth and got hit in the the face with the header snapping her neck back as she and the ball crashed into the goal. She couldn't move so the ambulance was called and she was taken to the hospital. She wasn't seriously hurt, but it was scary.

These things happen in sports and in life. You just review to see if there's something you should do different. In most cases, not. Sometimes you need to call the game differently.

[jacathcart]

[i]
I was curious if other referee's have seen a similar, almost paradoxical trend of injuries happening in the most seemingly benign games? Or am I just unlucky?

Jarrett [/B]

The old saying goes "The greatest swordsman in the world does not fear the second greatest swordsman. He fears the worst swordsman." The idea being that he knows what the talented and excperienced opponent will do but has no clue as to what the newbie will do because the newbie doesn't know himself.

I think much the same in soccer. Lower level games have players not in control of their bodies and without clear intentions as to what they are going to do. The result is a lot of collisions, bumps, trips, and awkward stops, jumps and starts which end up in injuries. Not a lot the ref can do to prevent these becuase they aren't intentional.

Jim