SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer A topic for smack talk for the playoffs so we don't interrupt the scores...

A player from Mann was on a break away and a DF player grabbed his jersey and flung him around to the ground and a player from the mann bench ran over and the player that ran over and also the Df player were given red cards

The referee was in total favor of JL Mann. There were two incidents where JL Mann players grabbed a DF player from behind and threw in on the ground and where they shouldered a Df player when out of bounce. The referee clearly saw it. Then the ref give Df a dissent card when Mann cried the complete game about calls. Because the two fouls were really called, the red card really should have been a yellow card. And not to include the referee didn't even have a badge on. There were many incidents where there was pushing and almost fighting and the referees did nothing to control the game. Absolutely poor. Disappointment on who decided the referee because he did truly lose the momentum and possibly the game for DF. And no, I'm not a DF nor Mann supporter, just coming from a neutral standpoint.

Eastside v South Pointe


Well played game by all. The fans were great, dueling the entire night. This is how soccer should be.

Long game, even the ref cramped.

So if your team looses then it's the referee's fault it they win it's a team effort. Yes there are some good referee's out there and some not so good. We all complain about the bad one's but rarely say anything about the good ones. Let's take into account a few things.

High School has rules
USSF has Laws

High School has been modifying there rules to move closer to the USSF Laws which is a good thing but needs more work for sure.

The size of the fields and conditions of the fields are poor at best for soccer!
Example drains grates on the field, little to no grass, holes everywhere, and they are crowned not flat. This is not every field but covers most of them.

Most of the referee’s don’t referee for a full time job.

So why does one decide to become a referee? Read the article below.

Look at the facts. We are an endangered species. More than half million of us worldwide; dying out like dinosaurs of a bygone age. Our demise is largely due to our own folly for we suffer the cruelty of human nature from the very people we help add sunshine into dull lives. We put up with insults, abuse, threats and assaults. We are spat upon, ridiculed, shot at, and sometimes murdered.

Trained experts in our field, we are the targets for the masses who protest, contest, accuse us of corruption, racism, being pawns of the mafia, power crazy despots, and worse.

No, we are not politicians. We are soccer referees.

According to verbal taunts from the touchlines we are the lowest form of human existence, illegitimate offspring of unmarried parents, fair game for insults and humiliation. Surely no intelligent person would want to be so despised by fellow citizens. So, why do we do it? Can we be so dumb? Are we all nuts?

Who are we? Doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers, scientists, experts in our chosen occupations that demand personal commitment, study, hard work, formal training and responsibility. All require effective management and communication skills. Experience of life, maturity and integrity are other qualities evident whenever referees meet.

These are intelligent and successful people, hardly compatible with the “mental defectives” targeted by moronic verbal missiles launched from touchlines.

At pro-level they are also the most visible officials. The real heroes are the thousands of solitary guardians of discipline at grassroots level who have little chance of reaching the top. Such men and women, who devote a large slice of their lives in a referee’s role, contribute an invaluable service to the community. So, why aren't we loved?

New recruits to refereeing soccer games face a steep learning curve. The rule book only scratches the surface of a real game; played at speed with tough physical contact between competing athletes. It delegates responsibilities and supreme powers to the referee. He is a complete judicial system on legs. He detects the crime, makes the arrest, deliberates as the jury, announces the verdict, passes sentence as the judge, and carries out execution – all in a split second – hundreds of times in 90 minutes. Some task!

With this job description a soccer referee needs the ability to think fast on his feet; make quality judgements and correct decisions in emotionally charged situations; plus streetwise wisdom to apply justice with tact and diplomacy. Hard experience of officiating many games at various levels hones the desired qualities for disciplined and fair interpretation of the rules of play on the field.

Reflecting on my own commitment to soccer, the questions flow. Why did I choose to officiate as a referee? Why have I exposed myself for years to the ever present atmosphere of grudging acceptance; to ridicule and humiliation; bearing the incessant verbal, and sometimes physical, abuse of players and fans; enduring the minimum of facilities, washing in buckets of icy water on a bleak winter's day?

Why have I devoted an important part of my life trying for perfection as an arbiter; working hard to achieve a good level of fitness; accepting the inconvenience of time away from home and career? Why? What was the purpose?

Why do others indulge in a hobby where we blow whistles and wave tiny colored flags. Are they nuts, too? Is it for the money? How many have made a million as a soccer referee?

Common answers include “I do it for the love of the game.” “I want to give something back.” “I enjoy being involved.”

For me it goes deeper than that. Yes, a major attraction was to be active inside the play, the next best thing to actually kicking the ball. I was part of the theater of sport, playing a role which was positive and satisfying.

But, I realize now that, during 25 years serving as an official on the field, I was hoping for a dream to come true - a dream where every soccer match is played to the highest ideals of fair play: where the players, guided by moral and physical disciplines written into wise rules, combine individual skills in an athletic ballet of spectacular movement and color; where they express emotions of excitement and joy for themselves and for those who watch.

I wanted to relive all of those wonderful moments of elation I felt as a boy with a ball at my feet.

In reality, every cynical foul, every attempt to cheat, every act of disrespect for the game and its disciplines, spoiled that dream; felt like a knife in my flesh, drawing blood and staining my vision of the purity of sport. I know that dream was naïve but, together with fellow referees, I tried to limit the degradation of a healthy sport by thoughtless players and fans who do not share my degree of passion.

Although my dream has rarely been realized I look back on my years as an active referee with satisfaction. I learned much about myself; about latent convictions; accepted responsibilities and developed attributes that served me well through life. In my own country, and many others in the six confederations of FIFA, I learned much about people and feel privileged to have met, and shared my love of a special sport, with a unique brotherhood of honest men and women from all walks of life.

An endangered species we might be but we’ll never be extinct. We can never be replaced by robots, which could possibly impose the rules of play by computers. But without human heart judgement and streetwise justice our sport would become an arid emotional desert.

Referees will continue to rock on an emotional see-saw, one day ready to pack it all in, and then feeling an irresistible surge of adrenalin before the next match. It is an obsession which yields more satisfaction than frustration.

After this heart searching and mental agonizing I ask myself the final question, "Would you do it again?" Without hesitation I get the stupid answer "YES, SIR!"

OK, so I'm nuts, too!

So I challenge you if you don't like what the referee is or is not doing and you feel you can do a better job then I invite you to join the bunch of nuts you are complaining about and then your eyes will see things from a different point of view. Will all the call be right NO will all the call be wrong NO but if you don't know the Laws of the game or the rules then learn them and come join us on the pitch.

Cheers

I like that nukeworker...so, how is the VC Summer plant today?

Streetwise justice? SCHSL officials? You are kidding, right?

Besides, any idiot can memorize a rulebook. That's NOT the problem. The problem is a shortage of proven, level-headed officials who have the anticipation, fitness and work ethic to keep up with 18-year-old sprinters making 70-yard runs, combined with above-average judgment in dealing with overheated adolescents, some of whom are coaches. Thankfully, the problem is mitigated (somewhat) at this time of the year by an ever-decreasing slate of games. The only problem is the slots filled by those "old hands" who are surviving on seniority and reputation alone. And they know who they are.

@nukeworker, I didn't read the complete article so my mistake if I contradict something or whatever. But by your statement, I take it you were not at the game. Again, I was not in favor of any team but when a referee fails to give a card or better yet, a FOUL when somebody is tossed and shouldered out of play, there is a problem. When I see players hitting each other for no reason, there is a problem When players complained the entire game and the card was given to the team that barely talks, there is a problem. When the referee doesn't even have a certifaction badge on, there is a problem. This referee had no idea what he was doing. When the third and fifth team go at it in state, a referee with experience needs to ref. Not a 24 year old. It's simple. Piss poor