In my area/leagues we're supposed to arrive 30 minutes early (I assume that's the same for everyone for the most part). We're told that if you don't arrive by game start and someone else takes your spot, then you're just going to have to suck it up and deal. Yesterday, two matches scheduled for same three guys, all helping out our assignor with weeknight matches out in the sticks. Our first CR is late, the other AR, who's a grade 6 says he's usually late, so we'll give him to the last second to show. When he doesn't, he tells me to take the CR, and we'll adjust accordingly with club AR. 2 minutes in, guy shows up and takes my AR spot. At halftime, he asks me if I'm going to give him his CR back. I think for a second about how much work I've been doing the first half, but also how my back is killing me, and he starts to be a bit of a butthole. So I tell him "sorry, man." He continues going on about driving 90MPH to get there and only being 2 minutes late etc... States that he'll leave if I don't give it to him. I refuse. He finished the match and left before the second, leaving us without an AR. I would have given it up had he been apologetic and a nice guy about it because I was in some pain, but grade 6 guy says "eff him, he's 32 minutes late." So we move on and get the U17 done between the two of us with late help from a ref from an adjacent field. As a new guy, I'm always trying to get along with everyone and learn as much as I can, so was unsure about what the norm for people is. Is there a secret, unwritten code of the refs? Should I have given him his spot back? Should I have said "Yeah, you can have it if you have $10 to give me."? We have each other's back on the field, but to what extent? I felt good about after the grade 6 told me I was right and the guy was an idiot, but I'm wondering about other people's experiences. Pretty sure the guy will be suspended.
I think "eff him" was precisely the right response. What he should have said to you was "Hey sorry I was late, thanks a lot for covering for me. I appreciate it." This is not only about the refs' interests. The teams deserve to have the same center through the game. A halftime change for this reason would be utterly inappropriate IMHO. And yes he deserves to be suspended for bailing on the second match like that. Make sure your assignor knows all the particulars.
It's not fair to anyone...refs, coaches, or players...if you switch CRs in the middle of the game. So even if this other ref was a great guy, you still did the right thing. Since he's certainly an ass, you definitely did the right thing.
You simply shouldn't switch roles halfway through. Not fair to the game, players or teams, AND not fair with pay, so who would get the CR pay. Who was supposed to CR the second game? If you, then you can simply swap, tell the assignor why and go. If the other AR, which would make sense why you took the first CR so he didn't do back to back, then so-sorry, the late arrival is SOL and he gets 2 AR slots. Regardless MAKE SURE you tell the assignor what happened and why.
I would file a complaint with your SRC along with your assignor about this referees actions, he has violated the code of ethics and this isn't a minor violation, IMO.
You handled the situation well. One of the Grade 6 NJ refs who was on the "radar" with high aspirations used to pull the same crap. It wasn't until his fellow crew members reported him to the State were his dreams doused. I'll give a fellow crew member a few minutes as a courtesy, otherwise we start with who we have. The way I see it is if you wouldn't give me the courtesy of a phone call to let me know that you're running late, why should I wait for you? If your state doesn't suspend him for walking out on an assignment, I'd love to know what their rationale is. Lastly, if you change CR's during the match for reasons other than injury, the game is subject to protest. Why would you want to get yourself in trouble?
Occasionally I work SLYSA games when I have time available, so take it from me. You did the right thing and report him to Ron and Holly ASAP. This crap is absolutely unacceptable. In your report stick to the facts. Use quotes if necessary, do not speculate or put personal opinions in it. Good luck and keep up the good work. See you on the pitch.
I agree with metro fever. If I don't hear a phone call from you 15 mins before the game I call my assignor. (This is for NFHS and USSF matches not assigned by LAC). If I have to call the referee you are on sh** list. If I don't get an answer from the assignor or referee I do my own thing. I've dismissed referees. I've had referees show up 5 mins late and told them goodbye. I've also delayed start times of matches for late referees WHO CONTACTED me. I'm all about communication. You don't have the common courtesy to send a text, email, phone call quite frankly I don't wanna work with you. Those referees who don't care to show up on time and not contact the crew are usually ones who create more problems for everyone involved. As far as the situation I would've said "your welcome for getting the game started on time. I already started the match. You can have the middle for the next match etc. or you can leave!" I would also drop an email to the assignor saying this dude showed up late.
Where was your Grade 6 while this guy was asking for his CR back? Especially knowing you are new, I'd expect the Grade 6 to cut that line of discussion off at the pass -- No, Spence stepped up to do the center, he's going to finish it. (As others have said, we want to keep the same CR throughout the whole match.) Personally, I'd be elated that a new guy was willing to take the center, and would be giving you all the support, feedback and encouragement I could.
That's not correct. See the 4th paragraph in the original post where it's clarified that the Grade 6 is telling Spencedawg that technically the originally assigned CR was "32 minutes late".
Definitely don't switch centers mid match. I don't know the exact circumstances of the second game but if it is with someone I know and/or an honest mistake I've sometimes let them do the second middle instead so I don't have to do two centers...if the other AR was scheduled to do it though then the guy is out of luck
The grade 6 and I were there on time, and were supposed to AR the first. The 6 was supposed to Center the second match. He was supportive afterward, but a bit more "Hey, man, suck it up" would have been nice during the conflict. We couldn't get a hold of the assignor or the ref pre-match, so we rolled with it. I ran it over afterward i my head and thought I'd have been way cooler about it, probably more embarrassed. "Guys, really sorry about being late, thanks for taking it over, make sure you put your name in the right box on the card." I Hate being late to stuff, though, so that makes a difference.
People who are chronically late either have too many other facets of their life that take precedence over your activity or are simply poor at managing their time. Either way they are unreliable and don't deserve special treatment. You acted appropriately.
So, of course I've got a story..... 2nd division pro game, both clubs now in MLS. The center's first center at this level. I'm AR2. AR1 is notoriously late. We are supposed to be there 90 minutes before scheduled kickoff. Ninety minutes comes and goes and he's not there. An hour before scheduled kickoff, the center tells the 4th official that he's going to be AR1. Late guy arrives about 50 minutes before kickoff. "Traffic." Yeah, sure. He is very unhappy that he's going to be the 4th. Less money. Early in the second half of a scoreless game, the visiting team scores a very long distance goal from in front of the home team's bench, at the end of the field where the home team's rabid supporters sit. The visitors choose to run in and cruise past the home goalkeeper, wagging their fingers at him. The result was a confrontation between all 22 players (yes, the visiting goalkeeper ran the length of the field to join the fun. I was the trail AR. I knew it wasn't good when he passed me.) The now AR1 had the height to be able to see over everybody, especially good when somebody in the scrum went down. The now 4th had the experience and savvy to stay where he was and keep benches from entering the field. So it worked out well in this case, but the 4th would not talk to any of us after the game. He never got another game at that level. (Interesting, irrelevant fact: he was the SDA.) We have a "professionalism committee" to deal with stuff like this. Any guy who tried to pull this in our state would be suspended. Don't let him intimidate you. He's way out of bounds. Maybe so far out he should find another sport to officiate.
Not as heated, but my last HS match, I arrive 30 minutes prior and notice there is a car of officials that are all there getting ready. I know all three and it has me worried cause they weren't on my contract to do this match. I walk up and ask what they are doing, they say they have a contract for the match. They show me theirs, I show them mine. they are already halfway suited up, (one of the guys LOVES buying the Adidas alternates and buys them 3 at a time so the whole crew can look cool. I don't mind and think it is pretty sweet, but I am am bigger guy so I feel like a stuffed sausage but I survive. Another guy in the group also bought headsets so they are all decked out by the time my two other guys show up. I am fine with it because I know the AD from the school will honor the contracts. Only bummed that I drove 60 miles only to turn around, but they pay mileage as well. AD shows up confused that he has 6 officials standing around shooting the breeze. We find out that the AD assigned my team and another assignor assigned the other guys. AD wants my team to do the game (dang) quickly suit up (without any fancy toys) and do the game. other guys just undid all their fancy stuff and left. I assume the other assignor will bite the bullet on their contract.
Fancy toys are fun. I don't usually bring adidas kits if I have a bigger guy in my group though. For games when my crew can show up on time, we'll mic up, bring out the beepers, and the Adidas kits, very professional looking. I have the spray but have only used it a couple times in the last couple years, very limited scenarios in which I can use it. (No USSF, turf fields usually have football lines, making the spray redundent, so that leaves very few situations in which using it makes sense. )
Why would he expect to get the center? He was late, and you don't switch positions during a game unless there is an injury.
I've told the story before. My last upgrade assessment for my 6. One of my ARs is not the best ref. Makes odd calls from the line that the CR then needs to spend capital to "fix". I spend several days prior texting friends along the lines of "what do i do when he makes a dumb call?" I show up about an hour before the game. SAR and the assessor (who happens to be the SDA) get there about 10 minutes later. We're chatting, and I say "What do I do if JAR doesn't show up?" Assessor says "If I were you, I'd have a plan." When the game before mine ends, I talk to the crew doing it. "Can anyone stick around for another line, in case my JAR doesn't show?" I do convince someone to stay, although he lets me know he's tired and might not keep up as well as I'd like. That's better than a short crew. Thanks, man. Check the teams in, do pregame, coin flip, et c. Game time is 2:00. At 2:01, I'm in the center circle with the ball, waiting for the last players to come out and get the game started. JAR suddenly appears with a cell phone to his ear and a yellow old-style pinstripe shirt in his hand. I tell him, "You're late. I've replaced you. Thank you for your assistance. You're dismissed." He complains that I can't do that. I tell him, "I just did. You are no longer on this game. Please leave the field so we can get started." He spends the first half sitting next to the assessor, giving him an earful about how unfair this all is. I get my assessment: "JAR showed up one minute after the scheduled start time. You dismissed him. Well done."
I've been lucky. I'm yet to have a crewmate show up after the game started without someone contacting me. I was assigned four rec games, all U12 on a Saturday. I was asked to AR a fifth to fill in for someone and I did...sort of. The CR didn't show up on time because he was CR at another complex. The assignor said that game started late and "I'm looking at him. He's still here." No problem. Got a club linesman, who did a fantastic job. Asked the other AR if he'd center and the teenager said he'd never centered before in his life, and wouldn't be comfortable with it. So I started the game with the whistle and tried to keep up as best I could. 20 minutes in, the other ref shows up and takes the flag from the club linesman. Now if this was anything but rec and if I were in better shape, I would never do this. But I felt me being on the field would be more of a hindrance than a help. The late guy took the whistle for the second half and I took his spot. The 2LD never went much past the PA, thankfully. It was an easy, lopsided game anyway. It wasn't the referee's fault he was late. He did better keeping up with play than I did. And I told the assignor don't sweat the pay difference, that he could have the CR pay. It was only $10 difference.
I recently had a U14G D1 game where the (experienced) assigned Center showed up, not dressed properly, right as we were walking out onto the field with both teams ready. No call, no text, no email. I decided to start the game. After yelling at us to stop the game, the guy ended up standing between the benches and wouldn't pick up the AR2 flag. Then he loudly cussed me out as I was walking off the field for Halftime, and left. I sent an email to my assignor, but I haven't heard anything back. Around 10 minutes before game time I decided to take the Center, and I left a flag at the Halfway Line. To me, it's common sense: ~5-10 minutes before the game, if there's no email, text or call, and a no-show Center, ARs should use "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to determine who gets the Center... or, a fight to the death.
Unfortunately, the doctor has not released me yet to work any games. Hopefully by the second week of May. And, Pittsburgh is just a little far away.
As others have said to the OP, this needs to escalate way beyond your assignor. Straight to your SRA and also SYRA if a youth game.
Really? With that kind of attitude and audacity? I hope the SRA or SYRA catch wind of this and toss him. No room for that.