Went to my recert this morning. We had gotten to zero overnight. But the winner in the house was -5 a little further in land from the Ocean. Still 18 inches of snow on the ground. Low key recert. Especially after major re-write sessions of last year.
Unfortunately, only in the very remote parts of the state, counties with less than 40,000 people. The time I was most grateful for self service was when I was in France because I certainly didn't have enough French to be able to say "fill 'er up."
My first best story of 2018 is that I was invited to a tournament as part of delegation for my state this past weekend. I received D&G and feedback from several nationals, a former national, former professional and 1 national referee coach. I also received feedback from a current FIFA assistant referee (and hopefully, 2018 WC AR), Corey Rockwell. Overall, the tournament went well and I received a final. Here is to 2018 officiating!
So that makes (at least) four of us, and (at least) two finals? Not too shabby! I had a great time - the region brought together a remarkable group of mentors, and almost all the ones I interacted with provided clear and helpful feedback without cutting down the referees (most of the time). (Alas, I didn't have @coreyrock on any of my games.) The weather stayed bearable, the schedule stayed on time, and the vibe in the Referee Zoo and on my crews was really positive and supportive. A++, would ref again.
I just got done with 3 days of Futsal Regionals. On the first day, 2nd game of the day, I dismissed a coach for arguing my calls. First call I make against his team and he starts yapping, I let it go. Next call I make he does it again. So I let him know that this is futsal not soccer and there will be no questioning of calls. Next call I make right in front of him and he goes off again. "That's not a foul" So I tell him this is enough. To what he responds, "I'm from Brazil and this in not a foul...You can't make this call..." This is where I sent him to the stands. Not a single word from either side for the rest of the game. Next day I have another coach that thinks he is a referee. First call of the game and he opens up. So I tell him Coach I'll ref you coach OK. That was not enough. My partner makes a call on the opposite side of the pitch and he goes off again. At that point I blow my whistle to hold up play and loudly announce to him so that everyone can hear. Coach if you want to referee here is a whistle otherwise coach your team and let us referee. No more issues for the rest of the match. 2 games later and "I did it" I red carded a U12 player for VC. With about 10 left in the match #4 Blue is surrounded by 2 opposing players in his corner. Something must have happened that I nor my partner could not see, but all of the sudden #4B turns around and 2 hand with full force shoves #11 white so hard that #11W flies several yards back lands on his bottom and keeps sliding back. The coach wants to argue that this should be a YC, I have none of it. While #4B is walking off the pitch he grabs a water bottle and slams it to the ground. At that point I tell the coach that he needs to leave. Coach wants him to stay on the bench. At this point #4B grabs another water bottle and does it again. I tell the coach that I can not have a player with this kind of attitude stay. Blue still won but Ohh boy that was interesting. This morning I had U14B final and with about 11 minutes left in the match, one of the players lands awkwardly, no foul was committed or asked for, and breaks his arm. It looked like he had 2 wrists, This delayed us for about 45 minutes. Hopefully he will be OK. His team won and I'm sure I'll see them at Nationals. Both coaches were a class act. The opposing losing home coach did everything he could to make sure that everything was taken care of and consulted the away coach offering him his help with anything he needed. I was really heartwarming seeing this.
Northeast Regional Futsal tourney - teenager level I pick up the roster for the next game and the site administrator tells me to expect some "conversation" from the white coach. His #10 was red carded , cannot play or be on the bench. There is video on each court and she checked the video. It exactly matched the previous referee's description of the send off. Sure enough, I check in his team and #10 is there. " Hey #10, you cannot play in this match or be on the bench " "Ok ref" #10 walks away and the coach disputes this decision. The coach is foreign, VERY LOUD, boisterous, arms waving, animated, etc. I tell him what the site administrator tells me. However, he is still disputing this decision, " He cannot sit, he is my BEST player!!!!!!!!!" "Coach, there is no doubt from the referee that carded your player. The game video matches the referee's description. He sits in the stands." #10 takes his spot with the fans and we kick off. The game goes on and white is a superior team to blue. Simplified Futsal rules state that a goalkeeper is allowed 1 touch in his half unless the ball has crossed a goal or touch line or been touched by an opponent. The result is a IDK for a "double touch." Late in the second half, the coach decides to implement the flying goalkeeper tactic. Sort of like pulling the GK in hockey. The "real " GK runs to the bench, a field player with a different colored jersey from his field team mates entered the match as the "new" GK. He is supposed to go into the attacking end so he can have unlimited touches. "Real" Gk is subbed by " new" GK Ryan white passes the ball around, never touched by an opponent nor crossing a line New "GK" Ryan stays in his defensive half and is passed the ball twice "Tweet!" "WHAT!!!!!!????? He cannot be called for that. He is NOT a GK!!!" "Coach, he is the GK. You always have to have a GK" "No, no, no, NO!!! He is a field player!!!! You are WRONG!!! WRONG!!! WRONG!!! This is incredible!!!You are Wrong!!!" The SRA for Futsal happens to be walking by and I hear this conversation behind my back " Xxxxxxx, where do you get these referee's? They don't know the RULES!!!!" I hear the SRA explain the rule to the coach. And then I hear the white coach say, "Ryan, Ryan! Next time, you must go in the attacking end." The SRA walks away, looks back at me, smiles and chuckles. I want to face palm but that signal is not in the futsal rule book...
I was tossed from a match as a spectator Sunday night. Told the ref he was a pathetic excuse for a referee. I was leaving anyway as my son fractured his collarbone and likely got a slight concussion on a hard hit from behind (and the putz waited over 20 seconds to stop the game despite his coach and teammates yelling about the injury - we all heard his head hit the ground). Look forward to seeing him at the next referees meeting before the outdoor season. I'm not done yet.
Really? You not only posted this, but put it in the best story thread? You should know better, and you should be ashamed of your behavior. We've all seen things differently from the middle. And we've all made mistakes out there. While I may understand your getting caught up in the moment with your kid injured (been there, too), your behavior was inexcusable. And so is suggesting you are going to follow up with him at a referees's meeting. Completely and totally out of line.
To try and redirect the horrible way cleansheetbsc handled that situation, what would you do, as a referee spectating, if you saw a game with a referee missing quite a bit of decisions/calls, if anything? I only ask because I was watching my brother play in his U14 catholic rec league, and the referee (probably 50-60 year old man) was just... well he was just bad. I didn't do or say anything about it, I just was in my mind "this guy is just bad." Couple days later my mother calls me and says "hey coach asked me, since you're a referee, do you know someone she can call to report the referee to?" I was like dude... Mom... first don't bring me into this, second he probably just had a bad game and yadda yadda I don't need to put the whole bit out there, you get the point.
Have someone record the game. You can't do anything with a he said/he said because assignors and the SRC get that 20 times a week. If you have a copy of the entire game, it at least allows you to do something when a ref is truly incompetent and puts players in danger.
It depends on the league and where the refs come from. Is the rec league using certified officials? Are they all this bad or was it a ref outside the scope of the league? Some rec leagues are just using warm bodies and saying the ref is bad is like saying water is wet. Don't wast your breath. But to the extent the league cares, the key is to find who in the league is responsible and raise in a calm way. But missing calls is not likely to get a lot of attention unless it is truly hopeless--and that won't likely get much attention without some objective way to show it (like a video). The reality is that most complaints about a ref being bad are wildly subjective. I try to be objective when I watch games, but I know that when my son gets the bad ends of calls, I'm more likely to see that as the whole game. (At a recent HS basketball game that my son's team lost, a few of us who try to be objective were discussing the refs and agreed that it was one of the best reffed games we had. But the dad whose son was injured (on a play with no foul called, which I thought was a good no call from my seat in the stands), thought it was a terribly refereed game.)
I am glad I did it. This is the second time a player has broken a collarbone during games he has done when I've been in attendance. He has a habit of letting physical play to build until its too late. I've had issues with this same guy before this. I have very little patience for crap adult refs year after year. Either get better or get out. Its the reason why I started refereeing. If I'm going to criticize, I will walk the walk. Young refs, I would never do this. But for tools like this continually doing games over their head, inexcusable.
Thanks for the response. He's a USSF certified ref. That's pretty much the only refs we have in my area, outside of high school. I wasn't really interested in "reporting" him or "addressing" him, just more curious how others would handle it. I don't really feel it's my place to point anyone of importance to these types of things unless I work with a referee who just really blows it or doesn't take the help from his AR's.
Law5 can probably answer this question based on his background in Oregon. I'm sure you got complaints from coaches and clubs all the time. Obviously there's nothing you need to do about the "ref missed a clear PK with 5 minutes left so I want you to ban him for life". What did you look for or need to have happen to take action and approach a referee or an assignor?
Well, I agree, cleansheetbsc, that your comment and behavior do violate a code of ethics that you agree to by putting your badge on. And you know as well as anyone that the referee really can’t prevent injuries in a game. But I’m guessing your frustration is not baseless. I have spent a significant part of my work life on a professional disciplinary committee that addresses issues of competence, substance abuse, boundary violations, anger management, etc. Legitimate complaints or adverse events can lead to education, counseling, scrutiny, or even banishment. Our hobby profession doesn’t really have that, does it? Occasionally a referee will do something literally illegal or predatory and lose his badge. But no matter how poor or lazy someone is, if they can pass the test, they can ref and frustrate parents and players to their heart’s content. In this case, you claim mismanagement of a head injury by a colleague. You have no expectation, much less guarantee, that this person won’t continue to make the same dangerous error. The fact that you hold yourself to a higher standard makes it even more maddening. But you have to eat the whole banana- you can’t be a ref on the field and not a ref off.
Okay, so you agree it was an emotional response, entirely understandable when it's your kid who was injured. If he's that bad (and I agree that sometimes there are referees who are "that bad"), you need to speak up to the assignor, SRA, SYRA, or similar suspects. Just don't wait three years. Getting into it directly with him isn't going to accomplish anything. Has nobody ever complained about him before? Sometimes, the leadership/assignor just needs to hear the stories several times. Your complaint, as a referee, will have more credibility but not 100% since your son was playing in the game. No disrespect. That's just the way those with some scrambled eggs on their visor respond to things like this. Not knowing the situation in your neck of the woods, but I have told assignors that I will not accept assignments with Mr. X. I've even called an assignor and turned back a college center because Mr. X was scheduled to be an AR on the game. The assignor kept me on the game and moved Mr. X off the game. I also know that I'm not the only one who will not work with the guy, no matter what the level of the game. There was another referee who was being brought up before the state Professionalism Committee. As the chair at the time, I had to assemble a five person hearing panel. I kept getting refusals by referees because "I can't be objective about the guy." Now THAT'S bad! (I finally assembled enough people and he was suspended for a year.) This was a case of malfeasance, not incompetence, however. Talk to the assignor, as I said. Your coach can also tell the league that they won't play if this guy is assigned to referee their game. Referees do get blackballed from time to time and sometimes they never know it. Assignors work for the league/tournament, not the referees. They get enough complaints about a guy, they won't assign them again, or else they lose their job.
Wow. All I can say is, WOW. So you're proud of yourself for acting like a jerk because you don't think he's a good ref. You could have raised your concerns in a professional way with the association and assigners, but instead, you chose to be an example of how to be a total %$&* toward a referee. So you gonna complain next game when an irate parent calls YOU pathetic? I guess that's different somehow because you don't think you're a lousy ref. I'm still at WOW. I fully understand how one can lose composure in the moment, especially when a player gets hurt. But for a referee to say he's glad he got tossed from a game for calling another referee pathetic. Just, WOW. I'm done with this subject. Go ahead and post another self-righteous justification of your embarrassing and unprofessional behavior.