SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Post Week #2 (March 15-20) Scores/Results in this thread ...

8 to 12 seconds, 45 seconds....aren't they supposed to play the entire game?

How many games have you watched as a formerref?

First off I was not at the Swansea-Airport game last night, but have seen them play before...Airport at the VC and Swansea in the playoffs in 2009. It sounds like to me that you are a little aggravated with people always pointing fingers at the referees. Which is the case more often then not, however more often then not it is the referee that could make or break a game. Maybe not for this game, but I have seen my share of a few. Irmo vs. South Aiken boys 2005 state championship match; the referee cost Irmo the state championship by not declaring a goal when the ball clearly crossed the goal line (there once was posted video footage). Last year in the Carolina Classic a ref allowed 6 minutes of extra time to be added to a match that was the difference in a tie and win for BC over Fort Dorchester. I could keep going, but I'm not. The point is refs make bad calls all the time, some worse then others. Now don’t get me wrong I will be the first one to vouch for a referee, because I was a “former ref” myself. Its hard work and two even three people can’t see everything, but an apology or explanation can go quite a ways especially during a heated battle. Also consistency will only be gained if we as a state require more from our refs. A lousy “open book” test and two scrimmages just doesn’t cut it. Life guards have to know how to swim, tread water and give CPR in order to save lives; shouldn’t referees be required to run and keep up with the play during a match.

Another thing… “unbiased” is the worst adjective used for a referee; there are more ex-coahces, ex-players and ex-parents out there referring games that were once bitter rivalry games they were involved in. Once a Carolina fan always a Carolina fan. One day you’re not going to wake up and scream, C-L-E-M-S-O-N (unless you are Brad Scott )! Same thing is true with Irmo, Dutch Fork, Riverside, Eastside. People once affiliated with certain teams should not ref games for those teams or regions games for that particular school.

I’m off my soap box now, carry on!!!

For what its worth; I was a little disappointed with the Swansea score however, not taking anything away from Airport solid victory on their part. Seeing Swansea play last year I thought they could be a real threat in region 5 given every other team lost key contributors. Kudos to Coach Morris who obviously had his girls ready to play.

Just wondering here....has anyone ever said, "Wow! The ref did such a great job by making the calls for us and giving us the game. I'm really glad she/he was biased for us."

or

"Man...that ref called the game one-sided for us. I sure wish we could have shown everyone that we could have won based on our own merit. I'm gonna complain about him/her to SCHSL."

Why can't coaches fill out an online evaluation of refs?? Then use that info to select refs for tournament games. Seems that the assignors play favorites too and that they don't always put the best ref on the big games. Kinda like a couple years ago when the assignor assigned themself to the state final as the 4th official and then let one team play with 12 people for several minutes. Give the coaches a say in who does the big games.

I was curious how refs can keep going each year when they do a horrible job? They need to be evaluated somehow and someway and learn to ref the game correctly.

A friend of mine had 2 female refs (i am a female myself, and am a ussf certified ref and coach high school) but they called a free kick outside the box a PK, and then at another game these same two come to ref and one does not have a whistle...PLEASE TELL ME HOW THEY GET TO BE SCHSL REFS and GET PAID!!! so the nonwhistle one raised her hands for calls and the other blew her whistle for her..

They are refs calling our games!! SERIOUSLY!!!!

Spring Valley vs. Blythewood tonight. Should be a good match up...

All is good in theory but the reality is there is a shortage in refs already. If you boot the ones you have because of an obviously biased eval, then we would have even less refs. Lack of refs means shortage of matches. I agree with formerref, adjust to the style of the match. Sure, refs are wrong a lot but at the end of the day it is the coaches job to prepare and adjust during match situations.

As a coach, I definitely look at the ref sheet when formatting a game plan. Especially with high school boys, who can get hot headed. If my center mid is a hot head and I have a ref who calls it extremely tight in the middle, I may move him to another position to save him from getting a card. It is all relevant, not everything can be blamed on them. But I do agree, they make their share of mistakes.