Best Story of the WEEK 2021

Discussion in 'Referee' started by IASocFan, Jan 1, 2021.

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  1. threeputzzz

    threeputzzz Member+

    May 27, 2009
    Minnesota
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  2. gaolin

    gaolin Member+

    Apr 21, 2019
    Why is it that when you show a yellow card to a U14 player the parents go absolutely mental? Like how can you ever card their girl??

    I had a one of the most physical U14G matches ever with it ending 1-0 but one of the players fouled 3 times within 15 seconds. After warning several times, I finally said enough is enough and brandished the yellow.

    The crowd went stupid for a damn yellow. You would have thought it was a red.
     
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  3. Law5

    Law5 Member+

    Mar 24, 2005
    Beaverton OR
    Just be thankful that she didn't roll her eyes and say, "whatever."
     
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  4. ilyazhito

    ilyazhito Member

    Manchester United
    Spain
    Feb 9, 2021
    If a player did that to me right after they got a yellow card, they would be getting a 2nd yellow (and subsequent red) card for dissent.
     
  5. Chaik

    Chaik Member

    Oct 18, 2001
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Honestly, this is probably because we (collectively we, all refs) probably don't give enough cards in youth games. Parents see it like once a season.
     
  6. Sam_C

    Sam_C Member

    Manchester City
    Brazil
    Jun 19, 2018
    My first playoff final in the middle was a GU14 game. Around 30 minutes in I sent off a player for DOGSO-F, although it was orange and likely a SFP send-off if DOGSO criteria were not met. I sent the offending player off right away, but the other player was hurt so I beckon the coach on. I went over to AR2 while the coach came, tended to, and eventually carried off his player. Meanwhile, the (presumably) sent-off player's father comes behind us and yells through the fence "HOW COULD YOU MAKE THIS ABOUT YOU, THEY'RE ONLY 14!!!" Sorry pops, a red is a red, especially in a final :rolleyes:
     
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  7. code1390

    code1390 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 25, 2007
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And this goes beyond reckless fouls. The number of ignored SPAs I see at the "higher" levels of U13-15 drives me crazy. These players generally know what they are doing. When an opponent starts their best attack in 20 minutes and magically the U14 opponent runs into them, it's not an accident most of the time.
     
  8. socal lurker

    socal lurker Member+

    May 30, 2009
    Been there, done that. Had a G16 game where a very good, but sometimes clumsy player plowed through the bank of an opponent (perhaps trying to go around and grossly misjudging). I very gently explained she needed to be a bit more careful and cautioned her (while the coach was tending to the opponent she'd cleaned out). Not only did I get tears from the player, but my AR tells me after the game that momma bear came out of the stands to complain to him that I was being mean. Sigh.
     
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  9. RefIADad

    RefIADad Member+

    United States
    Aug 18, 2017
    Des Moines, IA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I had this happen in my center yesterday. Clear two-handed/forearm shove in the back by a player who had been somewhat out of control much of the game. Penalty, and I point to the spot. Coach is not happy. At the water break, he pulls the old "I want to talk to you" trick. I clearly know what that means - "I want you to come over here so I can berate you about the call." I simply ask him to return to coaching his team. After the second time, he yells out "All I wanted to do was talk to you about the call, and you decided to make it all about you!!" Caution immediately comes out, and the coach gives up.

    I don't have a problem discussing a rule interpretation with a coach, but I'm not coming over to "discuss" a judgment call. Nothing good is going to come from that.
     
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  10. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    Maybe not too closely related, but this reminded me of a situation I had that turned out pretty well.

    This spring, I had a tournament final (U11G, IIRC), in which one girl had committed a couple of fouls, the last of which was close to the parents’ sideline. Parents are in an uproar, and I can see the kid is getting a bit anxious.

    I beckoned her over and said, not yelling but loud enough for people to hear — “don’t listen to them, listen to me.” Then I calmly talked with her, drawing upon the experience I’m getting in school classrooms. Things calmed down.

    Someone recognized me and posted a flattering comment on our local parenting board.
     
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  11. soccerref69420

    soccerref69420 Member+

    President of the Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz fan cub
    Mar 14, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea DPR
    Not best, but Saturday had my first serious injury in many years in a game. 13 year old kid was running hard all game to clear balls, did one out of the penalty area, fell to ground. Ball had left PA but attacking team got it and got back into box, I look over at him down and he's rolled onto his back holding his broken arm yelling how he can't feel his arm

    Also today, had a U19 player who couldn't hold out for two more minutes before getting sent off. Two careless fouls through the back first half, clean all the way until 71' where she does a reckless foul through the back, YC. 5 minutes later does a careless trip.

    89' rolls around and she does another push thru the back. As I am walking over to warn her, asking if she is trying to get sent off, she is standing over the opponent she fouled who is trying to get up and she reaches down and lightly pushes the top of her head back down. Immediately throw up the caution, red, tell her she's gone.

    "What do you mean I'm gone, for what?"

    Literally two more minutes and she would have been fine. Now she misses at least a game. Stupid.
     
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  12. Dayton Ref

    Dayton Ref Member+

    May 3, 2012
    Houston, TX
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    This comes from the nature of 'promotions' within soccer referees, and probably all referees. By the time someone is good enough to recognize SPA regularly, they are good enough to be doing exclusively U17 and above.

    Also along the lines with what @Chaik said, that is the age where players are starting to commit cautionable offenses so coaches, parents, players aren't used to seeing something that should be a caution. The fact that so many are missed means they end up having no clue what should be a caution.

    It reminds me of a number of years ago I was doing a U14 co-ed game in Oklahoma. In the first half, a player lunges into a tackle from about 3 feet away (didn't need to lunge, could have just stepped up), leads with a straight leg, and lands with his cleats hard on the top of an opponent's foot. I whistle the foul and say to the player something along the lines of, "You need to be more careful lunging in. You could seriously hurt someone and if you hit them higher it is a red card" In the second half, the same player lunges in for another tackle, this time from straight in front of an opponent but now the ball is bouncing. He misses the ball and makes straight leg contact on the leg starting about 2 inches below the knee and raking down the shin. I hand out the red card and hear from the spectators, "The first one wasn't even a yellow card!" I just shook my head. This kid must do this all the time and has never been corrected by his coach or punished by a referee.
     
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  13. code1390

    code1390 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 25, 2007
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I had this over the weekend. I'm the trailing AR with a younger referee (probably 18 or so) in a U14 NPL game. Clear SPA 30 yards from goal and he just gives the FK. Coach isn't happy. I ask him at halftime "what did you see to not give a card?" and he talked about how there was a covering defender. He was describing why it wasn't DOGSO and didn't even know about the concept of SPA. It's something that experienced grassroots referees need to learn more about. Easier said then done of course.
     
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  14. Gary V

    Gary V Member+

    Feb 4, 2003
    SE Mich.
    The coaches don't recognize SPA either.
    I recall an incident from years ago (everything is years ago for me, since I've been retired from reffing for 7 years now).
    It was either U19 or maybe U14 girls. Attacker is coming down the sideline, and just as she begins her turn toward the PA she's fouled. I call it and give the YC. I'm saying something about breaking up the attack, and the coach says, "Yes, that kind of tackle can be very dangerous." OK, I won't try to explain that it wasn't the nature of the foul, it was the situation of the foul.
     
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  15. DefRef

    DefRef Member

    Jul 3, 2017
    Storrs CT
    You assume they were not stupid before the yellow.....:cool:

    I was doing a GV HS game the other day. Very mellow and low key. Then out of nowhere, as we are about to have a DFK and the kicker has already started her movement to the ball, a defender starts running from the side to try to block the kick. I whistle before the kick happens and give her the YC for FRD (or delay restart) and she has no clue why I am carding her. Just totally blank. I just told her to go sit down (HS rules) and ask her coach.
     
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  16. Spencedawgmillionaire

    Mar 2, 2017
    Belleville, ILLLLLLLLINOIZE
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    I was working a two-man boys VAR on Saturday between one 8-1 very good team and a 5-4 team who's really bad (record is really misleading) and essentially parks the bus and prays for a counter.
    Assistant coach gets a verbal warning 10 minutes in for some trifling nonsense. At half I tell his team's Captain I saw the extra elbow to the back and to be careful. The kid argues but I give him the usual biz "You listen, I talk, just be careful.." and the same Asst. Coach comes over yelling at me about every slight he's perceived on the pitch.
    I warn him that he's got to behave responsibly, or he's gonna leave. he continues, I warn again, he continues and as he starts to turn to walk away i caution him, he does that little threatening step towards me and says "what the ********?" So I show him red.
    What follows is a 2-3 minute stream of some of the worst profanity I've ever heard from anyone. The little composure remaining for him was keeping him on his feet. It was toddler behavior, just unreal. Eff this, eff you, this is bs, effing effing effing eff!
    "This is all going in my report"
    "I don't give a f***, put in there that you f****** suck, too!"
    Naturally, heard some nonsense from a spectator,, ejected. Then another, also ejected. Then post-match on my way to the car.
    What SHOULD happen is, at minimum, removal as coach and permanent ban from coaching. What should happen, at best, is some kind of off-sports consequence if he works at the school. Suspension or something. But it'll likely be a 1-game suspension and MAYBE a small talking-to.
    High School coaches get out of hand far too often.
     
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  17. RefIADad

    RefIADad Member+

    United States
    Aug 18, 2017
    Des Moines, IA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The last time I did a U13 game, I carded a kid for SPA. He fouled a player about 15 yards from the halfway line near the sideline. The attacker had 30 yards of space to speed dribble if the foul hadn't occurred. I carded the player right in front of the coach, and his first reaction was "That's not a card." Since I was close enough where I could have a conversation (unlike my situation where I would have had to walk halfway across the field to converse with the coach), I just said, "He had 30 yards of open space without that foul." The coach said the foul wasn't on purpose, and I said "I get that. However, any foul that stops a promising attack like that is a caution." He still didn't like it, but he at least knew it was for SPA and not USB.
     
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  18. socal lurker

    socal lurker Member+

    May 30, 2009
    :eek:

    SPA is USB . . .
     
  19. RefIADad

    RefIADad Member+

    United States
    Aug 18, 2017
    Des Moines, IA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I know that, but coaches usually don't know that. The coach at least knew it wasn't a reckless foul. He originally thought I had carded for a reckless foul.

    This coach and I know each other fairly well, so I can talk more informally with him.
     
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  20. Vinnydabody

    Vinnydabody Member

    Jun 10, 2014
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Assuming this was in Illinois. I am surprised IHSA hasn't added the accumulated red card count into the team cumulative caution count. Seems like if they're going to kick schools out of the playoffs for excessive cautions, they should have added disqualifications into the mix as well.
     
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  21. soccerref69420

    soccerref69420 Member+

    President of the Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz fan cub
    Mar 14, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea DPR
    Similar thing happened to me this weekend in U19 NPL/ECNL game. 5 minutes in, attacker is running with ball down sideline and back into middle of field and defender who got beat is a few yards back nearly pulling her jersey off from behind while she has 5-10 yards of open grass in front of her. Rather than allow play to go on, I blow whistle and pop out a caution. Coach gets mad "oh come on ref that's the first foul of the game!" (it was literally the first foul of the entire game)

    Since I was there I just calmly tell him "coach, doesn't matter if it's the first foul 5 minutes in.10 yards open grass, pulling the jersey that much is tactical stopping a promising attack" and he sits tf down cause he knew I was right

    Doesn't matter the level.
     
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  22. Spencedawgmillionaire

    Mar 2, 2017
    Belleville, ILLLLLLLLINOIZE
    Club:
    Saint Louis Athletica
    It was in IL, I'm just waiting to hear from someone, but I doubt I will.
     
  23. RefIADad

    RefIADad Member+

    United States
    Aug 18, 2017
    Des Moines, IA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I used to referee in Illinois. It was an absolute joke what they let coaches get away with when it came to referees. I was part of a crew where we tossed an assistant, should have tossed another one, had a borderline case of referee assault against me, and tossed a fan in the same game. On our way to the car, we heard the assistant that we should have tossed refer to how the officials association "always screws us over". All three officials wrote up independently consistent reports with the facts of the situation. Supposedly, the AD brought all of the coaches into her office and told them that better not happen again or she would fire all of them.

    When the head coach moved out of the area, the assistant who said we always screwed them was promoted to head coach. I was already in a position with work where it wasn't cost-effective for me to maintain my Illinois registration after they also mandated new referee kits, so I just let my registration for Illinois expire and stuck to doing Iowa games. However, when someone from the IHSA did reach out to me for a follow up about my lapsed registration, I made a point of referencing this situation as one of the reasons why I wasn't sad to let my registration lapse.

    I just don't think Illinois cares that much.
     
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  24. RefGil

    RefGil Member

    Dec 10, 2010
    Funny, Years ago, I had the same response from a U14G game where the defender made a nice open field tackle from behind as the attacker entered the penalty area. I mean the D wrapped the attacker up about waist high and slid down the make sure the legs didn't go anywhere. Easy DOGSO-F Red.

    The dad, after the game, said the same thing! "How could you make this all about you?" Huh? It's U14, a level above rec. They should know better.
     
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  25. SccrDon

    SccrDon Member+

    Dec 4, 2001
    Colorado Springs
    Club:
    Colorado Rapids
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As somebody who coached for 20+ years, I think you meant to say "The coaches don't recognize SPA either when their team commits the foul.
     
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