SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer Shortage of Officials

I've been officiating some games this year, first time in a while and know that in the mid-state there have been game cancellations/postponements because of a shortage of referees. I've spoken with several officials and Dennis Cook, our assignor, about these issues and have the following suggestions.

(1) Boys and Girls Varsity should play doubleheaders on Tuesday/Friday night and have Boys & Girls JV play on Monday/Thursdays. This way you get the best crews for the Varsity matches and perhaps allow a seasoned official to work with newbies (like myself) during the JV games.

(2) Have Girls JV/Varsity play doubleheaders on Monday/Thursday and Boys JV/Varsity on Tuesday/Friday. Again, you eliminate almost half of the games being focused solely on Tuesday/Fridays as it is now. Maybe play March one way and April another (i.e. - M/Th for Girls in March and Tu/Fr in April).

(3) Game times should not start before 5:45 pm. I don't know if I've done one '5:30' game this year that has started on time. It's too hard for teams transportation to get there - most have to run a regular route after school and THEN go pick up the sports teams. Another problem is many of the coaches and certainly the officials don't work at the schools, so you have them either late (one-man system to start) and other times them sprinting to make kickoff (after they sign in for paperwork and such). Heck, one of the guys I was working with the other day got a speeding ticket en route to the JV game and was 30 minutes late due to being pulled over! Whoever schedules teams from Rock Hill, Florence, Sumter, and Aiken to make it to Columbia for a 5:30 pm game must be hallucinating.

(4) We should have three-man crews for the 'big games.' It's too hard for two of us to monitor and do our job effectively. Sometimes it's hard for us to do it with three! I know it's more money, but this should be required at the Varsity level.

(5) How many times must we argue/discuss the JV overtime rules. It's simple, if the game is tied at the end of regulation, then you go to OT/PKs, IF there is enough time to start the Varsity game on time. Unfortunately, if you have a 5:30 start time plus an hour game and 10 minute halftime, you're at 6:40 -- if you started on time, which is very rare. I think JV should go to two-flat 35 minute halves and end in a tie if level at the end of regulation, thus no overtime.

Now, who do we direct these suggestions to?

Athletic Directors and the High School League. Nothing can change without AD support.

So I used to be a ref, both for club and for high school. I then started coaching for club. I quickly remembered why I hated coaches, because I had become one of those "complaining all the time coaches". Honestly, I don't know if it's the coaches as much as it is the parents who complain. I refereed because I like soccer, I like being on the field and I thought I added value to the young people playing the game.
I don't think I will ever ref again, though. The money isn't worth the aggravation. I understand competitive nature, because like I said, I have been on both sides...not to mention I played since I was knee high to a grasshopper. If something isn't enjoyable, you just don't do it anymore. That's the stance I have. Some may disagree with me, but I think most would say I was a pretty good ref. When you lose the younger guys/gals who can keep up with play and who know the way players play (not just sticking to the rule book), the pool of people who want to ref is left depleted. We all know the money isn't going to change to make it more attractive, so unless we change as coaches and parents, and yes I am now both, there will always be a shortage of capable refs.

So, you think the money is a factor? A sobering fact is that a high school referee will make more in four months than a head soccer coach! And it doesn't matter how good he/she is at officiating.

How are you going to start matches at 545 if you have a Varsity doubleheader that must have a winner. If that first match goes to PK's you may not start the second match until close to 8pm. If that second one goes to PK's then you wont be done until close to 1030pm.

Why must the JV game have a winner at all? It doesn't "count" for state playoffs, so why not just allow the game to end in a tie.

The absolute best solution is to move the girls season to the fall, that takes half the games off the board and allows for three man games.

Yeah that's not happening

why not move the boys season to the fall, most states in the US do this. Also, I don't see any issues with games starting at 4:30 or 5PM. I live in Illinois now, and most games have start times in this timeframe. Nobody around here seems to have an issue with getting to games on time, and we have plenty of referees. We also don't play the JV games to a "winner", if it ends in a tie, it ends in a tie.

Boy, I bet there would be some facility conflicts with this one over football. How does NC do it?

Back in the olden days at my high school, in NC, we had games on Monday and Wednesday. JV football had games on Thursday and Varsity Football on Friday. No one practiced on the game field, but by late October it was awful. This was in Asheville and now most schools have artifical turf. The FB teams practice on the turf and decent grass field nearby; the soccer team in a glorified cow pasture.

Having grown up playing high school in the fall, I much prefer having our season in the Spring.

I would definitely vote against a move to the fall season. That would be a death-nail to high school soccer. Heck, I find it intriguing that college soccer wants to move to Fall/Spring season with championships in late Spring, early summer like baseball. However, you talk about a shortage of officials. Many that we have now, do college, club, and HS games. This would only increase the shortage, especially of top-notch officials that would opt to do the college games for more money.