You know, it is always interesting to read this discussion year after year. I will come out and tell you that I am a referee, yet not in South Carolina anymore. I absolutely hate having to ref in a two man system....you are usually watching for offsides or for fouls in a two man system, but it is almost impossible to do both well at the same time while using a two man system. I know for a FACT that my performance will not be as good during a two man system rather than a three man. We were at the mercy of the school, and how many referees they hired.
As for parents that think they know the rules, a vast majority never played competitive soccer growing up....hence there is a lack of some understanding when it comes to tactics, strategy, and yes, some rules....some that may not even be well understood by some referees. I am not going to tell you that every parent is this way, there are a few that are very knowledgable, and understand the rules very well. But to take the leap from understanding the rules well, and being able to make that split second call without even having to think, even though the play that just happened was the strangest thing you have ever had the opportunity to see on the pitch. That is where the disconnect comes in. the other thing that really determines how well a referee does with calling a game is positioning. It is all about angles, and if you aren't constantly in motion to keep a good angle to see the play well, no matter how well you think you know the rules and how good you think you are as a referee, you will make mistakes based on not seeing the play/foul well. This is when a three person system is much better, there should always be triangle formations between the referees so that there are many angles being watched, even from the trailing AR.
There is a fitness issue with referees, this is a known problem. Another problem tends to be work schedules for referees. I work as an operator at a nuclear power plant, and unfortunetly last fall and this spring our refueling outages fell right in the middle of the soccer seasons. This causes a lot of good referees to limit their game counts because of scheduling concerns. Actually doing games is how you get better! Now this next statement is just my opinion...but I think there is a huge difference between the "top" referees in soccer and most other sports. In the NFL most are professionals. Ie lawyers, doctors, high power corporate types....then in the MLS referee ranks, you have fedex drivers, people that are waiters etc. These are not well educated people, and aren't driven for overall success in their lives....and your life is a window into your referee style/driven to better attitude. If you are ok with being average in life, you will most likely accept average for your referee performance. I have had these conversations with other referees at state cup events, academy tournaments, college games. There are some people that are referees that should not be.
As for needing better referees, there needs to be a push for getting the referees better, and recruiting better ones. This requires constant physical activity to stay in shape, reading the rule book at least weekly to keep up on every little rule, getting together in referee associations to discuss difficult calls to ensure the calls across the board are consistent, a mentoring program should be involved for every referee, and constant assessment. I tend to watch a lot of high level games on tv just to watch the referring style....so to be a good referee you have to put a lot of time and effort in to be good, just like everything else in life.
Now you have to ask yourself, are you willing to make those sacrifices in your personal life to become a better referee? There is a finite amount of time in a week for your family, work, church, fun activities, and referring. If you would not be willing to make the sacrafice too, learn to just keep your mouth shut, even as a parent. I know you can talk the big talk about how we should have better referees, but I am pretty sure you would not be willing to take time away from seeing your children play on their traveling team, take time away from your wife, or even your golf game. If you are, them good, go out and become a referee, and work on becoming a great referee. I look forward to seeing you on the pitch! I would be proud to work with you!
James Gray
Last edited by Soccerboy; 02/28/11 10:54 PM.
