The league I'm involved in is looking for ways to improve our referee program. We have a high percentage of young referees who quit after just one season. Has your league made any changes to improve it's officiating? Were those changes targeted towards inexperienced referees? What were the results?
The number one cause of departing officials is referee abuse. Our league instituted a Player-Parent Agreement which listed all the Thou shall's and the Thou shall not's. It had some enforcible penalties. It worked great -- cut down the sideline dissent to almost zero very quickly. Our referee base is now picking up.
How young is "young"? Have you talked with the folks that quit? What are their reasons? Make or break items that we have identified are assignments, mentoring/follow-up, and timely pay.
A brilliant post as it smacks the heart beat of what is NEEDED in the refereeing profession. Incentive for young referees must be (1) MONEY pay them very well but expect a job well done. Set out the requirements showing up , pregame, duties, responsibilities, keeping records (2) PROTECTION from the assinine abuse that they are CONSTANTLY subjected too with out PROPER consequences. A league MUST have effective policy with true intent to act. (3) ONGOING training, mentoring evaluation that is PURPOSELY directed to their needs! however that requires organization and (4) TIME who has it who can give it? Mentoring is a great concept but bodies with knowledge and TIME are required to be present when needed.. (5) EDUCATION it is possible for the training programs to be school credits and part of the cirricullum. (6) ACTIVE referees in the league training programs are refundable to recover initial costs (7) SCOLARSHIPS and opportunities of advancement as a possibility to attend further classes. Encourage the youth to stay with it. (8)FELLOWSHIP encourage meetings and get togethers betwen the referees, coaches and players to discuss and improve relationships (9)ATTEND special matches as a group. Bring in QUALITY people ESSE, HALL, HECTOR, COLLINA as well as the local figures that command respect and can motivate people effectively. (10) INTERESTING nothing puts kids off like a boring meeting. Keep things interactive, sharp and content rich. Lots of exciting draws Too many meetings exclude the kids alcohol based areas only oldre ones attend. (11) UNIFORMS we provided them as MANDITORY dress codes, minimal costs with reimbursment of costs for active participation. (12)ASSIGNMENTS Know their skill and comfort level of the youth refrain from the "Well he is all we got mentailty and throwing the kid in well before he is ready!" With no support program to oversee his match you are begging for him or her to quit. (13) ATTENDANCE, reliability, reward those who you CAN depend on. THey show and commit on a regular basis they get the nod in matches or opportunities. (14) SOCIAL aspects, fun , stay fit in a cool sport, altruistic, give back to the community, good on the resume, leadership material There is more but it gives a reference point anyway from where to start and things to consider.
I'll take Grizzly's post one step further: It is the responsibility of all senior referees ("senior" in this case meaning a ref who has more than one season under his belt) to protect new and younger referees from abuse. As stated earlier, the number one reason for attrition among the younger referees is the abuse they get from parents and coaches. If you're working a game with a new ref and he/she is getting it from the sidelines, step up to the plate and let the abusers know in no uncertain terms that such behavior will not be tolerated - period.
I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. What has your league done to protect referees from abuse? If you have 20 parents sitting on the sidelines screaming at a new ref because Johnny Fell Down, you're going to lose refs. No sixteen year old will put up with that for long.
TameLion, NSA, GrizzlierBear, and Claymore, thank you for your replies. Here is my response to your questions and comments: Age of referees: All 10 and under games are done by crews made up entirely of high school kids. Money and attendance: On the downside we have not increased our base pay for three years. We definitely do need to increase them. On the plus side a bonus pay system we implemented a few years back has increased the number of officials who finish the season. Abuse and Protection: Last year we started a program where complaints about the officiating must be emailed. Unfortunately this was not communicated to all the coaches. Some coaches still insisted on screaming at the referees after their games. We plan on emphasizing this process at the preseason meetings this year. After the complaint gets emailed to the director of officials, it is to be forwarded to the referee mentor (a senior referee) who works the field where the game was played. The referee mentor then evaluates the new referee to see if the complaint was valid. Also on the abuse-protection issue we are considering putting up temporary (orange plastic) fences on the sidelines to keep the spectators at least five yards from the field. Training: We have training sessions before the season. Mentoring: We do have a mentoring system, but it is in it’s infancy. We have placed a senior referee in charge of each field. He is called a referee supervisor or a referee mentor. This year we would like to have the referee mentors be at the fields for all games during the first three weeks. We feel if we correct the young referee’s mistakes early, the rest of the season will be much smoother. Scholarships: I had a different idea when you mentioned this. I would like to see our organization set up a college scholarship program for those who referee for at least 3 years before entering college. Fellowship, Group events: Excellent idea. I’m proposing that our group have a “referee night” at a St. Louis University soccer game. Uniforms: Yes we give uniforms to all new referees. I would suggest that all leagues do that. Any additional comments are welcome.