LA Time article about women referees in MLS

There are often some thinks in articles that I don't like. But what's even worse is when there are non-thinks in articles.

Isn't it great when a typo can make sense?

 

So I will not comment on the article's specific comments about or from individuals.

I will say that the physical fitness standards are very high and most female referees (not to mention a lot of male referees), in my experience, can not meet them. I have personally seen two of the women now on the FIFA panel from the United States fail the physical. They're close enough to the edge that it's a 'sometimes they pass and sometimes they don't' thing. And, bluntly, a number of the women who have been able to meet the standards have been put on the AR track.

What I did not see in the article's "everybody's okay with a woman referee" thinking was any actual observation of on field player and coach behavior at the pro level. I did USL Pro with Kari Seitz. The amount of sexist crap she got from both players and coaches was simply daunting, wholly unlike what a male referee got. I don't think any male referee can fully understand how many players and coaches are loud and proud knuckle draggers on this subject. I already had huge respect for Kari and it increased tremendously after that.

Then you factor in the fact that NWSL referees are not full time referees and many of those cited in the article have professions that pay a lot more than PRO. Why would they want to step out of a profession into a job that has a limited future? There have been a few male referees who dropped out when PRO went to full time referees because their career came first. It becomes not "are there opportunities there?" but instead "why would I want to do it?"

 

....they still haven’t been able to find regular work as a center referee at the top level of soccer in the U.S. and Canada.

"Find regular work"? Reading the sentence above makes the reader think that there are a slew of qualified lady referees waiting in the wings to do their first game but are being held back because of gender. As usual, poor and sloppy journalism.

It isn't until the very end that the theme is softened a bit, but by that point, the damage is already done. Also, since when has PRO gotten involved at the "grass roots level"? (they wouldn't). US Soccer's involvement at the grass roots level has been whittled down to collecting yearly fees from Grade 7 refs and below to subsidize the top 1%.

Domka was our best female referee and she's now a National Coach. One of the NWSL regular 4th officials hasn't done a game this year since she recently gotten married. Another was an AR a few years ago and I don't believe officiates at any level anymore.

Steinhaus is an outstanding referee and I'll be shocked if she flops. Except for Christina Unkel, who else it out there right now? Notice that the article doesn't mention any other American names.

I checked the NASL assignments and it's almost always a 4 person male crew, so the term "20% eligible" is misleading. I don't see anyone being assigned as Referee on PRO's website this season, only occasionally as an AR. Regarding NWSL, the games are so slow that this isn't where you would ideally want to groom someone for a long time.

Going back to the "grass roots", I recall a ton of young ladies certifying to become Grade 8's when the economy tanked in 2008. Almost none of the one's I'm aware of are around today. No involvement or extra coaching by anyone would have prevented them from leaving since their reasons varied.