Glad to see I added to the controversey. Understand, I am not saying the officiating in our state doesn't need improvement. I am obviously originally from Ohio and if you visited the forums up their you would hear the same thing regarding their refs. My first couple of years of coaching up their I constantly felt like the refs hated our team. Come to find out, they mostly did due to the reputation of the previous coach and the girls coach, the number of cards, etc. I worked diligently to change the attitude of my parents, players, and fans. Over time, even my parents started commenting that we seemed to be getting better calls and better refs. The funny thing is they were the same refs, only we were treating them differently. One of them actually even said he didn't dread having our games anymore. Officiating is not an easy job. If I see one of my kids get away with a foul, I do say something to them. Not right then, but during a break in action, half, end of game. I teach my kids to play until the whistle blows. If they get away with it, they do, but it doesn't make it right. My point once again is to stop blaming refs. If we lose a close game and their were some questionable calls, I never say the ref took that away from us. I put the responsibility back on myself and my players and ask. What could we have done differently to change the outcome? I totally agree with having a better system of evaluation. But even then you run into the friends network.
