sadly, if you decide to quit...then "they" win through intimidation. We just can't let that happen and it makes it way more difficult for kids following in our footsteps. Hang in there! Leave when it is your time and not be chased off.
Well, it's not just that -- my time may indeed be at hand. I'll turn 70 next month, and over the extended COVID break I've lost what small vestige of fitness I still had, so going back would/will be difficult. We'll see.
wow, that is incredible...if you can, stay involved and maybe become a mentor. I'm going on 37 years as a referee, not quite ready to hang it up, but I gave up my NISOA badge after 29 in the books. It was time...sigh.
Its time for USSF and leagues to take action. Start with a weekend across the nation where every affiliated league is required to participate in a "quiet weekend". Make it an event. Do something to get nationwide publicity. But attach some consequences to parents or coaches failing to adhere and make the leagues actually uphold the consequences. Put a league admin on every field and at the first open dissent start the perp walk to the parking lot. Or every team puts $500 up as a bond and failure to comply is an automatic forfeiture of the bond with no appeal and the only way you get to play the next match is to replenish the bond.
While I understand where you are coming from, I'm just not convinced that hurting everyone with no available referees is a good answer.
when the next referee brother of ours is murdered (and we all know it is going to happen again), maybe this will gain some traction...but sadly until then, everyone is gonna keep sweeping this issue under the rug.
In case anyone is interested, this is the email the head of Nor Cal discipline (who is also a big assignor, assessor, etc., might have even assigned the game the assault happened in as it is near his area) sent out today Dear Referees, In this email, I am reaching out to you as one of your assignors and fellow referees and not representing NorCal Premier Soccer. The views that I share are my own and again not as NorCal Premier Soccer. One of OUR referees was assaulted on October 30 in Roseville California. The article and the video that I am about to share with you are gut-wrenching. I highly recommend parents review this video before showing it to your children. https://www.kcra.com/article/roseville-referee-parent-youth-soccer-game/38277303# I have spoken with the referee and he appeared to be okay, but I’m not. I am truly having a hard time with this. In the 27 years that I’ve been doing this, I have never felt so helpless and I would like your assistance. The District Attorney of Placer County Morgan Briggs Gire is considering filing charges against this parent. As of this morning, Placer County District Attorney’s office does not have any update and they are still reviewing the file (I was on the phone with them). Here is what I need your help with. Email the DA Office: infopcda@placer.ca.gov and demand an immediate filing of criminal charges against Mr. Robles (I am only guessing that is his name). I will personally visit their office next week and show support for our referee. I also like to share with you the penal code that is supposed to protect us “Sports Officials”. Penal Code 243.8. (a) When a battery is committed against a sports official immediately prior to, during, or immediately following an interscholastic, intercollegiate, or any other organized amateur or professional athletic contest in which the sports official is participating, and the person who commits the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is engaged in the performance of his or her duties, the offense shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. (b) For purposes of this section, “sports official” means any individual who serves as a referee, umpire, linesman, or who serves in a similar capacity but may be known by a different title or name and is duly registered by, or a member of, a local, state, regional, or national organization engaged in part in providing education and training to sports officials. (Added by Stats. 1991, Ch. 575, Sec. 1.) Just speaking for myself, I was sick to my stomach of how outdated this penal code is and it is OUR TIME to demand this code to be rewritten to really protect us from the type of individuals that attacked one of our own. Please help me by sending a very strong message to our lawmakers in your district and demand that this penal code to be strengthen and changed. The amount of jail time and fines need to be changed to something that it will deter these criminals from attacking us. I am setting aside $5,000.00 to hire a lobbyist for this cause. I am mad as hell and will fight for the justice that we deserve. Here is one of the lawmakers that you could contact: Kevin McCarthy: assemblymember.mccarty@assembly.ca.gov Lastly, I will keep you posted once I know that this parent has a court date. I would like for anyone that would like to support our fellow referee and cause to show up in court wearing our referee uniform (Thanks to ... for the suggestion). I welcome any comments — good or bad. We need to change this environment or the game will suffer for players, US Referees, parents, and coaches. Thanks for reading and considering my request.
As a new state mentoring director, I can say that we NEED people like @Bubba Atlanta to mentor our next generation. The body may not be as willing (my dad is your age - I get it), but I’m sure the mind is still sharp and the experience is there to pass along.
Thank you for sending this to us. I’m not a California resident, but I will email both addresses urging them to file criminal charges and to seek the maximum punishment for the individual in question.
Because "it wasn't that bad" Because "he wasn't seriously injured" Because "it's his first offense" Because "we don't have enough staff and have more important things to prosecute" I'm not saying those are good reasons. But reasons that might be given.
Ugly match tonight, 5 red cards (1 for "I'll F*** you up" to an opponent, 3 for cussing at me, and 1 for the nastiest two footed lunging, straight leg, mid shin tackle I've ever saw). Could have been more with all the dissent. Post match a parent is in the technical area giving us a ton of grief. Coach refused to do anything about it and cussed us out more, he got a RC. Not the easiest $70 bucks I've ever made. Why do I do this again? I'm sure I'll have a better match tomorrow and this was a real outlier, but wow. Sitting on the sofa watching football sounds way more fun.
I have been officiating for quite a while and I've NEVER seen an email from any assignor, league administrator, the state office or USSF such as that one. They are all complicit in the growing culture of violence towards referees. As far as the video goes, it's disturbing that NO ONE from the sidelines blurts anything out to get the attention of anyone on the field. The same growing lack of civility we see "off the field" we're seeing regularly on the field.
Just FYI, the league administrator who sent that email has sent out emails in the past saying that he wants referees filing police reports against any assault they receive on the field, even against youth players. He has specifically said that he wants police cars pulling up to the kid's house to scare the shit out of him to discourage him from doing it in the future As for your other comment, I don't think it's fair to blame other spectators/coaches for not noticing that guy barreling in. Everything happened really fast.
This wasn't DK Metcalf of the Seahawks sprinting across the field. There was plenty of time for folks to say something, but they elected not to.
Or you just couldn't hear them because the fans were on the other side of the field from the camera. AND everyone (on both sidelines) were focused on the players. Heck, the guy was midfield before the camera even picked him up.
Luckily I have only had one time in my ref career with a situation similar to this whole assault thing. A fracas happened right in between the two technical areas with a coach running into the other technical area and some spectators ran across the field and tried to square up with said coach. Unfortunately I was doing the match solo and had a complete meltdown. I'm giving people the benefit of the doubt, but in the heat of the moment, it's really difficult to do anything, especially with a guy that size barreling across the field towards everyone. In my situation that happened, by the time other spectators realized that a few spectators were up running across the field, their meager shouts of "HEY HEY GET BACK HERE" were meaningless. As unfortunate as it is, you can't really expect "bystanders" to get involved in a situation like this. If it's just a guy standing up on the sideline yelling, people usually tell him to shut up. But not running full speed across a field.
I don't feel the need to write down all the incidents this weekend, but it felt like a whole season of bad stories got condensed into 2 days. Bad coaches, bad (adult and youth) players, and bad sportsmanship. But it was the last games for a month or two until the amnesia sets in and I decide to get back out there.
I've told this one before, I think; I have only one pitch invader story. BU15 State Semifinals; I've had multiple complaints about one (Hispanic) player on one of the teams talking crap to other players behind my back, so at a stoppage, I pull him to the side to ask him to be more careful. He starts yelling about how everyone is doing it and I'm singling him out, I tell him I'll talk to anyone who needs it; he starts cursing and spits on me. As I show him his red card, an opponent on my other side yells "go back to Mexico, you ********er"; I'm showing that red card while he charges that opponent, when all of a sudden, I see a man running across the field towards us - as I yell, he tackles the spitter and then drags his son off the field and out of any more trouble. I had an MLS referee observing that match, and in our debrief afterwards, he suggested I check my Garmin - and my heart rate didn't change at all during that incident. Not sure that was a good sign...
I decided to do what you asked and sent an email to the DA's offfice. This is what I wrote: To whom it may concern: I am a referee, a referee assignor and a referee mentor. Incidents like this are why young (and old) referees quit. Or never start reffing in the first place. I understand that you are considering whether to file charges against the individual who assaulted the referee. I strongly urge you to do so. Based on the video that appeared on the news, this is a no brainer situation. YOU need to stand up for sports officials everywhere. Referees are needed to help run our youths sports events. How many kids from that game will ever consider becoming a referee after seeing what happened? This action cannot go unpunished. Please send the message to fans, coaches and players everywhere that you need to leave the refs alone. And if you do not, you will be prosecuted accordingly. Thank you for your attention to this matter And tonight, I got a response: Thank you for your email and more importantly, your concerns about this case involving the referee in the local soccer game in Roseville. On November 17, 2021, our office received the case from the Roseville Police Department after they concluded their investigation into the incident that occurred on October 30. On November 19, 2021, after a thorough review of the case, the Placer County District Attorney’s Office charged Vicente Robles, 34, of Sacramento, with a violation of Penal Code Section 243.8 – Battery on a Sports Official. The arraignment date is set for December 8, 2021 in Department 30 of the Placer County Superior Court. Again, thank you for your concern about this case. It is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Morgan Gire District Attorney Placer County