I am in my 25th year of officiating. I never coached, only played, officiated and assessed. I have been at all levels from little kids up to college and beyond, and I have officiated in 40 of the 50 states. My game count is well over 5000 matches. For every 20 matches a year a parent watches, or a coach manages or a player plays I referee at least seven times that amount easily. I have seen it all.
First, High School soccer, especially in South Carolina is not real soccer. Its boom ball played on very small football pitches that do not allow for much in the way of passing. If your team is being constantly fouled (like most are in High School) then you are doing something wrong. Most European and South American matches have very little player to player contact compared to matches in the U.S. This is a game of passing not of physical one on one contact. The women's games are almost always better to watch in the U.S. because generally they play the game like it is supposed to be played. Your causing the problem by not playing the game correctly. Watch any boys HS match, its all long ball, kick and run and hope for the best, very few small touches. Then watch any International Match, the ball is touched on average 10-12 times before any player to player contact is made. Part of the problem is the horrible football fields. We should be playing 9 v 9 on these fields instead of 11 v 11. The tv series "The White Shadow" had a great scene in it. The coach lined all the players up and told the fastest player to run as fast as he could from one end of the court to the other. While he ran the coach passed the ball to someone all the way at the end of the court, the pass got there well before the player did. Lesson learned, the player was winded and tired out and got to the other end slower than the ball did. The players learned that in ALL team sports, the key is passing.
Second, I declare my soccer fees as income. Guaranteed every cent is declared, and every year just from the .50 a mile deduction I have a loss. I have driven 600 miles round trip to do a single AR at Barton College for $85. That is a $215 loss just for one game. Referees are not making the money you think they are making.
Third, we are the sport with the lowest official to player ratio. All other team sports have at the highest levels more officials on the field, court or ice, comparatively for the size and number of players. Maybe field hockey and lacrosse which are different sports entirely. You can have 6 football officials watch what amounts to mainly 10 yards of action every 5-10 seconds. You have three officials, two of which only really watch 1/4 of the field, and one official be responsible for the entire field all 800 square yards of it.
Fourth, this is a game of angles for officials. Many times people on the sidelines can see a foul because they have a better angle, and surprisingly the farther you are from play at times the better the angle. It is actually easier to see a foul from 20 yards away then 5 yards away, especially if it is on the opposite side of where a referee is. So those old fat referees are actually using their experience to put themselves in a better position to see a shirt grab that is away from the normal field of vision of a referee. With only 6 eyes at most watching 22 people its very difficult to do.
Fifth, I could go on about parents. But I won't. What makes adults think they could go out in public and yell at other adults or worse kids for trying to do a job is beyond me. I just smile at them and laugh at them.
Sixth, coaches. This is the problem. As I said earlier I am over 5000 games and 25 years of experience, you are going to evaluate me? I sound arrogant, but seriously? Guaranteed most officials do not want to go to games with these coaches. There are some top level H.S. programs in the state, I tell my assignor to not send me to, because of the coach. I would much rather do teams that never win a game, and lose 10-0 all the time because they have good, respectful coaches that understand that this is a game. And if I get paid the same to do a 10-0 game and not get any grief from anyone, why would I put myself in a 0-0 game where everyone just yells and screams and no matter what I do its my fault. Those 10-0 games are generally where your best referees are because they know better.
Seventh, finally what you want from an official is for them to be consistent. Not necessarily with everything for sure, but if it is a ball to hand play in the first minute not called it is not called in the 80th minute. It is not the player's, fans, or coaches interpretation of the rules/laws, it is the official's. As long as he calls fouls the same it is not a problem. The problem officials have is not using or calling advantage correctly. How many times have you seen advantage not recognized by the official because he did not yell "Play on Advantage" I have few problems because I do it ALL the time and I hear fans and coaches say, he played the advantage did the right thing. Most officials will play advantage but get themselves in trouble by not letting everyone know he saw it and used it. But consistent calls is the key.
Last edited by arrgy; 04/01/13 07:42 AM.
