SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Refs

Considering our complaining, here's an idea:

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-extratime&prov=ap&type=lgns

Sucks to be officials. The game has to be in the upwards of 70%-80% judgement call (MASH factor index). To make it worse, coaches will argue calls that they know were right just to work the refs. Parents take the lead, as they should, and support the team/coach. Those guys can't win

I believe replays can help the refs, but at what expense. As shown is other sports this elongates the game and in soccer (futbol) I believe this could disrupt the flow of the match. I agree with M*A*S*H this is a difficult job and sometimes Refs do have off days.

We never hear "The Refs were outstanding today!" If you don't hear/read anything about the officials in a game, that usually means they did a good job. You never know the best ones are there...

I have made TWO posts saying the officials were excellent in WHS girls matches v. Southside and Chapman—by the way—I suggest we start doing that—when they are solid or excellent, let it be known—Just griping, I agree, is not a good way to address a need—

My husband refs-and many times I hear a HUGE moan when he is scheduled with certain other refs, It's really bad when the other guys don't want to do games with some of the refs. He has complained to their assigner to no avail. I've even videotaped one and sent him the tape-still to no avail!My 14 year old daughter if ref'ing now and takes it very seriously. She gets angry at the "old guys who can't see anything in fromt of their faces". We can only hope this younger generation can improve the refs. I know my husband has become really serious since she lets him know EVERY missed call he has ever made.

After the first game at the Fort Mill Invitational, I walked over to the referees and told them I thought they did an outstanding job -- not only were they fair and predictable but they also treated the girls as "players" rather than "girls." Note: this was a 0-0 tie game, so my assessment of the officials wasn't based on winning or losing.

These referees weren't perfect -- for my money they seemed to allow defensive players to jump upon the backs of the offensive players and ride them like jockeys (this of course is more than a small exaggeration) -- but they did the most important thing -- which was to call it the same way both ways and to keep the game under control. As long as a referee is fair and predictable, I think that they are doing their job -- doesn't mean you have to agree with them.

Now...would I have done this if I hadn't seen the absolute worst job of officiating of my life the week before? I don't know. I do know that watching a (hopefully) once in a lifetime bad abysmally poor performance by a referee certainly helped me appreciate what the average (or in this case, above average) referee does.

I will add that when coaching I make an effort to thank refs who perform moderately well, and to thank and compliment refs who go beyond that. It IS a thankless job—and proper work often is simply ignored.

After watching at least a dozen games at the Fort Mill Invitational last weekend, on Sunday afternoon I attended my youngest daughter's U-13 club game. It was a tense match between the top two undefeated teams in the league but it was easily the best officiated match I saw all weekend.

Was it because of the 3-man system?
Was it because the man in the middle was experienced?

Actually I think it was because, right from the start, the ref called all of the fouls that Chico explains above. If you came into someone from the back, the whistle blew and a free kick was awarded. Those type of fouls stopped within 5 minutes and the game flowed freely.

"Let them play" is a phrase that makes me cringe. I think it's commonly misused. 50/50 ball collision, sure. Ankle chomper from behind while the forward/defender is shielding - no.