Hurst66
I wasn't there, and your point is excellent. We could add the responsibility of the coaches as well.
BUT high school refs are also to blame for the highly physical and dangerous play at the high school level.
Compared to club, there is a great disparity in skill and knowledge of the game by the players, coaches, and fans. Matches are often far too physical in terms of ILLEGAL contact while much of the appropriate contact is whistled.
At the Easley tournament, our Friday match involved refs who whistled EVERY fall on the field. Saturday included one ref who allowed repeated body blocks in the box with no effort to play the ball (this often comes when teams are mismatched and refs begin to "help" the weaker team).
Refs need to consider safety and also help educate players, coaches, and fans. That would benefit us all in SC soccer.
This does NOT excuse fighting, etc, by players. They know better.
