Here in my corner of the soccer world last weekend was as bad as I've ever seen it. Lots of pleading emails from multiple assignors. Many tournament games with solo refs or 2.
I've long been on record as saying that I support a dual for small-sided matches up to U12. I think a very good way to train younger referees is to put them on a dual with a more experienced referee. Plus, those 9v9 and 7v7 matches on smaller fields don't really need the full diagonal system of control. I do agree that a dual would seem to make more sense than having one whistle, one certified AR, and one club AR. When I work this setup with a more experienced fellow referee, we run kind of a modified dual system. I pick and choose my spots to get where I would be in a traditional diagonal and give the AR a LOT more freedom to call fouls and recommend misconduct.
An interesting twist to the referee shortage and school matches around here is the bus driver shortage. On short notice matches (mainly modified) get cancelled when the away school can't get a bus, either their own or private school bus transportation. Also, the number of matches where the away team is delayed in arriving at the site (again, bus availability) and pushes the start time of matches back. Had a situation the other day, team arrives between 4:15-4:20 for a 4:30 kickoff. We apologize to them and tell them we have to start at 4:30 sharp since my partner had a 25 minute drive to get to 7:00 school match. Naturally this match is played to a full double overtime tie.
I'm just starting with HS where I am, and hearing that all V games will only get two refs due to shortage.
We've been doing so many HS duals the past couple of years, the very few middles i've actually had, or when on fall youth games, i have to constantly remind myself, "you have AR's... look for your AR's flag... position like a CR... check your AR's..." and still fail to do so at times.
I've gotten 20 emails looking for referees this week. Previous seasons I've gotten about 5-10 in a week. One of the emails was a personal one asking if I could do an MLS Reserve game. One email blast was for 5 people to complete Regional upgrade assessment crews in San Antonio. I also got a text message asking if I could fill out a crew for a maintenance assessment. All these games are on Sunday which I'd scheduled a date day with the Mrs. Normally, this is why I love that I don't do college soccer. I get my pick of games on Sundays but priorities.
Because USSF cannot sanction duals at all. It is not approved by FIFA and they don't want to even open the door. Aside from the points about the deficiencies which I am not going to mention to avoid re-starting the age old arguments. PH
I think they've got bigger fish to fry. We can probably do what we want especially during a pandemic and FIFA wouldn't bat an eye unless it crept up to the higher levels.
I now don’t feel that bad. I’m assigning HS this year, and I only have a couple of slots open every day, and usually get filled somehow. Next week, and for the next three weeks, it will be a disaster. Like legit. I need to cover everyone of my HS games first with a dual, then move to MS. Couple that with the bus drivers shortage, thunder and lightning yesterday, and I am ready to pack it in. Tomorrow, I will be telling the MS’s that they won’t have refs. I have 25 fewer referees than two months ago. They get poached by the colleges, they have to go to the office again! Injuries galore. It’s going to be really disappointing, but we have close to half the membership we had three years ago. And, I did 52 HS games last year, but right now I cannot leave the house because of all the changes on a daily basis.
The problem is, different leagues get schedules at a later time and when a referee gets their schedule full from their main league... well... committments are made. Same thing happened at a certain adult league ... same thing happening even at MLS Next.
We’ve been asked if we were comfortable doing MS solo and I’m like “hell yeah”. Most of those play out like low level U-13 matches and I get to be in a center position
IFAB/FIFA* It constantly baffles me when referees complain about USSF when it's not even their decision to make.
Indeed. I don't think IFAB/FIFA would care if we did small-sided U12 games as duals. Now since my state says don't do it, I won't do it. No matter how much the teenage center ref complains.
There are definitely rec leagues that claim to be affiliated that do use duels. (Among the things that disturbed me when I read the NFHS rule book--and there were many--was that the dual system is listed first in Rule 5. And why in the 21st century do they give me a paper copy and make me pay for an e-copy? I'm just gonna stop before I get carried away . . .)
It baffles me that in a season with nationwide major ref shortages, leagues are still having "tournament weekends" where multiple local leagues hold large tournaments at the same time. My area has tournaments going on in at least four leagues within a 20 mile radius of each other. Of course there are massive holes in the schedules with plenty of games with only two/one/zero refs for games happening tomorrow and Sunday. As an aside, I don't know how some of you guys can do so many games. Maybe it's because I do them in a single day on the weekends, but for me, three b2b2b CR-AR-CR high level U15-U19 matches on Saturday then Sunday is sort of my limit and only a handful of us actually do this many games at that level. Like this fella here Just because there's a ref shortage and assignors begging and pleading doesn't mean they should expect people to exhaust and likely injure themselves. When you're this massive understaffed, there's only so much you can do. Can't an assignor just say "What do you want from me? There's a massive ref shortage and you have the same number if not more games than in previous years." They can't force people to do games, or force people to overexert themselves. We are independent contractors, meaning all our work is at will...
One of the reasons people turn a blind eye to the referee shortage is because we try to cover all of the games by overexerting ourselves. I know we all mean well, but we have to stop it. We are cheating the players and the game when we are doing 12 games in a weekend. It's just not reasonable. Only by saying "I'm setting my limit at X, and I'm not going to budge no matter how many times you beg me to work more games" will clubs, coaches, and parents finally see the consequences of their behavior toward officials. At some point, game cancellations and/or coaches or parents being forced to "officiate" matches will finally turn the light bulb on and make people realize they better figure out how to treat officials better if they still want to have official matches. And this goes for many other sports besides soccer.
I’m pretty sure FIFA isn’t going to punish US Soccer if they were to respond to serious ref shortages by allowing duals in low level youth soccer.
On the other side of this, I asked an assignor to do two games a day on a tournament weekend, and was told they were only doing blocks of four, because it was easier to assign that way. I tuned it down, and the day before the tournament they email blasted saying they were short refs.
That is totally correct. However, I have met a sizable amount - more than I would like to - of people who do it strictly for the money or primarily for the money. And those are the people who will do 12 or 14 games on a weekend. And that is convenient for the assignor and everyone else. So there is that side of the story, too.
It's usually youth refs, and even when their large number of games has them with significantly decreased performance later on in the day/weekend, we just have to deal with it. I used to be one of those refs (though it was mainly ARs) where I would do 4-5 35-45 minute half games each day. Now I am doing just three b2b2b and it's pretty much my limit of still being able to perform decently.
For myself as an assignor 4 games is a question I only put to guys who can handle it, in cases where I am really behind the 8-ball. And it's a request, not a fiat.
1) Dual system? No thanks. Now you've got two guys that are out of position to see both fouls and offsides, which is way worse than missing an AR in my opinion. 2) This is one of the better articles I've seen on lack of referees and the actual reasons why. However, it still falls way short on the angle I would take as a journalist. No one in these articles asks the board members in these leagues why they look the other way when usually it's the same teams and coaches who are the problem. They seem to be ok with the path that eventually lower level travel games will have a parent officiating the game than addressing the problem for fear that the teams will leave and go elsewhere: https://www.businessinsider.com/referees-fleeing-youth-sports-because-low-pay-covid-and-abuse-2021-8
I had a weekend like that a couple of years back, never again, but it was absolutely not for the money (which wasn't even that good anyway). They put me in a hotel, and the assignor was strapped for refs that could handle club U19/18 games, so he'd rather have a dead tired but capable 20-year-old than someone who is out of their depth at 100%. I was still playing college soccer at that point, and I would've preferred the same as a player; you can tell when someone is incapable vs exhausted, and at a showcase event like that with tons of games, tired, but still working hard is something you can accept at that age. Incapable, however, is a tough sell...