Hey Coach T -
You had better be careful what you post - especially saying that the refs "screwed" the players. Refs are probably watching and will give more yellow cards.
I have to agree that the Pendleton-Palmetto game was the worst officiated game I have ever seen in my history of soccer. The two officials were inexperienced and should have never been paired together for this game. They totally lost control and even went so far as to converse/interact with parents. The lopsided calls were rediculous (7 yellows with 3 doubles on Palmetto and 1 on Pendleton).
And I will have to say that the game was decided by the referees in this case. Numerous opportunities to score in the box by Palmetto were negated by "pushing" calls against Palmetto. An indirect kick which was deflected off of the goalie into the goal was negated because it was ruled as a direct kick. In 2nd half of overtime, a very disputable call against Palmetto defender gave Pendleton the PK with less than 2:00 to go. This was the winning goal.
Any one of these calls could be overcome. Any one would have been dealt with by coach and team leadership by telling the team to "forget it, suck it up, and keep playing." But when it happens so obviously over 80 minutes of play and 10 minutes of overtime - and the refs make bad calls over and over - it is hard to keep 13-18 year old kids focused. Heck, it is hard to keep mature adults from screaming at these type of continuous offences. YES - the refs did control the outcome of this game. It may not happen often - but this one was obvious.
BOTTOM LINE - As coaches and school officials, we have no recourse to the SCHSL. They are not present to see it. And quite honestly, because soccer is a second tier sport in their eyes, the only thing that happens is that the one complaining gets labled. As one that has coached and refereed - IT IS TIME THIS IS ADDRESSED!
