Home Forums Long Island & Eastern New York Soccer Message Boards BOTN Main Message Board Referee Shortage-Solutions?

Legislators are considering strengthening protections for game officials in all sports due to an increase in assaults and aberrant behavior by adults. A total lack of respect for officials in all sports are causing them to drop out and recruitment is getting so difficult that games are being cancelled due to a lack of officials for school sports and club sports.
While some of you may feel that poor officiating justifies the abuse, what other constructive solutions would you suggest to stem the tide of the outright abuse? Keep in mind that a lot of the parents behavior is embarrassing their own children and is also making their experience an unpleasant one.

Nothing has worked so far including putting the responsibility on the coach or having parents sign a code of conduct. Everyone's fees will increase when they add security to these games. Yes...this is where youth sports is heading unless something changes.

As a high school official, it's alarming seeing our roster size dwindle yearly because of the abuse. Hopefully this legislation passes and starts reversing this trend.

And for the comments asking officials to do a better job, well they are human. If parents just simply keep their mouths shut and watch the game it will be more enjoyable. Don't be the parent everyone is talking about on the ride home.

I do not referee high school games and as a USSF certified referee I officiate club soccer in different leagues.

My opinion is that high school soccer referees are at a distinct disadvantage since the Coaches rate them and this affects their assignments. This is so unfair because it is like the fox guarding the henhouse. This has to have an affect on how referees call games and affect whether they sanction High School Coaches that misbehave and act inappropriately. I know that when my daughter played soccer in middle school and in high school I did not see one yellow card issued in 6 years of her school soccer career. This is not an indictment of high school soccer referees because I believe having Coaches rate referees is unjust and unwise because they are not neutral assessors and may not actually be as knowledgeable of the NFHS rules as referees are. This is a systemic problem. If referees are hesitant to sanction Coaches and hold them responsible for spectators then the inappropriate behavior will continue unabated. It is so ironic that if the children attending our schools behaved like the adults did (during classes) at some games they would be disciplined including suspension.

In club soccer when referees are assessed they are assessed by USSF certified assessors. They are obviously neutral parties and have no skin in the game. Referees do have tools to stop inappropriate behavior and they should not hesitate to use them. My experience is that when you nip it early and sanction the Coach it usually stops. If it escalates and you expel a spectator or Coach everyone gets the message.

As a ussf ref having watched HS games, the officiating of HS games is substandard. Not knowing the whole ball needs to be out of play rather than just on the line is inexcusable. Not knowing indirect vs direct offenses. Granted the two man system is horibble having to officiate in, but are HS officials required to take continuing ed classes?

I have seen ussf refs screw up big time. Giving a pk for a dangerous play call inside the 18 or calling an offside on a first touch from a corner kick. These are calls that parents have no clue what went on so you don't hear a thing from them.

Let's stay on topic bud instead of critiquing other associations.

So If you are saying the coaches should not grade referees during "live action" who else do you recommend do this? the spectators? lmao!

I am not a parent that screams at refs,either H.S or club but I can see why it occurs. There are bad calls, and refs sometimes miss a call or two but when there are clear infractions and refs are obviously favoring one team over another , then what do you expect? Biased refs can ruin a teams season, a chance to make playoffs and everything that goes along with it. If refs can be consistent all would be good.

More referees will retire or quit due to the new grassroots referee program that requires a 4 hour training class.
Its absolutely needed, but many will not re-certify and cannot without taking the class.

One way to retain referees and help new referees would be to have set crews at each field location.
Sending officials from field to field every weekend, 20 - 30 miles away, in other counties is not productive. And many of the AR's don't drive.
It would help to teach new referees as well.

And yes, parents need to stop the nonsense. I mostly see this on the younger side, like U9-U12.
Every call is a complaint. I solve this with a word to the coach or a YC to the coach.
But teenagers are less likely to handle the stress, being new isn't easy, but adults don't tend to respect orders given to them by a 16 year old.

If we increase fees for referees, you may see an increase of signups.

Just my 2 cents.

Lower the costs for first time refs to get involved. Right now any potential new ref has to make a several hundred dollar investment to get on the field. That's a lot of money to kids in their teens that are only going to make $30 a game.

Honestly the best system that works is having a coach silence the parents with the threat of no playing time for your kid. Works well at the club level, high school is tougher as fans are farther from the field. Coach sets the tone, if he yells then the parents yell.

This is terrible. I often find that in violent or physical games, the ref just refuses to pull out cards until someone gets hurt or someone crosses a line... why don't more refs pull out cards earlier or warn the parents earlier to curb the behavior?

Why doesn't the ref pull out cards to players early in the game? This sets the tone that he won't tolerate dirty play.

I will answer your question since you obviously missed my point! Coaches are NOT neutral observers and are not that knowledgeable of the rules. Again, high school referees assignments are based on the evaluations given them by the Coaches. Coaches are biased and have skin in the game they are not objective evaluators. It’s not exactly the same but it would be like allowing defendants to appoint their judges! How do you not get that? Use other referees or instructors familiar with the rules that can be objective and that have no interest in the outcome of the game. Pretty simple!

Bad examples are also provided by professional players. Disgusting discussions and chasing after refs at almost every call.
It's sometimes actually comical when defenders raise their hands to indicate possible offside instead playing to the whistle.
The governing bodies should introduce rules that refs are to call, players are to play. The way it is more or less in pro/college
basketball and football.

It’s about mutual respect. If the ref respects the game and the players, it will work both ways. When the game flows, the spectators settle down and enjoy it. A ref is like an orchestra conductor. You have the same instruments, players and music, yet any two conductors will produce different results. A great ref orchestrates a game that works for everyone. There are two extremes. At the one end is the ref who wants to see the game blossom , at the other is a ref who loves to catch fouls, is able to hand out a few cards and makes sure he ejects the wise ass kid who thinks he is a hot shot. Refs who play or who have played, see the game in a whole different way and the kids know them immediately. Those refs explain their decisions, give the players room to express themselves politely and clarify what they are doing so all can understand the calls. There are too many refs out there who know only the rules and who do it for the money. But they get all the games because they are always available. It’s way too easy to assign ten games a weekend to refs who already have ten thousand under their belt but unfortunately the kids dread those games. When they see a young, fit crew who obviously play, there is a palpable buzz in the air and the game hums. LISRA and the assignors, who are paid well to set these games, need to get together and make a plan to attract and keep the best young player-refs who actually know what they are doing. You’ll have less anger on the sidelines and quality games you aren’t seeing now. A seventeen year old ref who clearly plays and knows his game and is faster than the players will usually command more respect in a U17 game than an old puffing billy with a quick card hand. But you know who gets first refusal on those games? Exactly. Way too easy. Step up LISRA, this football is in your court.

A few thoughts coming from someone with three teen/.young adult refs

- Even under the best of circumstances some kids just aren't cut out for it. Sorry but it's reality. It may sound like an easy way to make money but young refs need to be very self assured because they will face tough pushback by adults (coaches and parents). Know your kid before pushing/encouraging them to become a ref. This also applies to what level they ref or taking a CR spot vs AR. One of mine only does lower level games because the parents are more tolerable and it just fits better with their particular laid back personality.

- New refs are basically thrown in with the wolves right away. I would like to see new refs be assigned with older, more experienced refs for an entire season, not just a game or two. Now only will they get more feedback but it will improve their comfort level and confidence.

- HS reffing is a real challenge because afternoon games greatly restricts the ref pool. Just like anywhere else, the abuse and arguments are driving these experienced adult refs out. Parent behavior here can be much worse because there is more at stake (playoffs) and there's more parents of multisport athletes that really don't soccer rules. Coaches and ADs need to reign in abusive adults at games.

- Parents need to chill the f**k out. It's youth soccer. In the long run none of it really matters. Yes sometimes refs make mistakes. They are human and not even FIFA pro refs get it right all the time. It's part of game Expect perfection and you'll always be disappointed. Out of control parents is a broader societal issue, not just a soccer one. What are you yelling about? Are you encouraging of your player/teammates, or critical? If you have critique for your own player, talk about it well after game. Don't criticize other people's kids - you're not the coach and nothing will ostracize your faster with other parents. How many of you are highly trained refs that know the rules inside and out? How many of you are close enough to actually see what happened? I'll never forget when a friend accidentally butt dialed his wife while at a game and the message captured him yelling for many minutes. She played it for him and he was mortified. Listen to yourselves.

- ^ Same with coaches. Unless there is genuine concern for player safety, coaches should check themselves. All three of my refs have had coaches say horrific things to them and not always during a game but after, which doesn't make it any better. There's ways to offer advice without being a dik. Do you really think a ref will change their mind on a call because you disagree with them? Can you really see the line of play on an offside call when you're standing at the bench? Coaches also bear a responsibility to keep bad parent behavior in check. Parents screaming at refs shouldn't be tolerated by coaches/clubs and coaches need to lead to by example.

Lisra takes no accountability! The clubs should takeover the duty of hiring referees for their respective clubs! Then work with the schools who allow clubs to use fields. This will give more people the responsibility of employing and taking responsibility for their own refs. Right now we have 1 small group of morons assigning refs to align their own pockets. Nick Apostilitis must go!

Are Nick & Nancy still around? If you recall, Nick & Nancy were embedded in the LIJSL office and were submissive to Peter Collins and Joan Czach.

Years ago, Mario Maltese ran LISRA and did it well. At that time BOTN helped with ref recruiting. After Mario left, Joan Czach put pressure on LISRA to not interact with BOTN. This BOTN ban continued with Cathy Caldwell, and John Senelglaub. BOTN could have been a huge resource for LISRA and ref recruiting in general.

I wish you could get involved again, there's not enough effort going on, both in terms of recruiting and assigning. Remember, assignors are picking up something like $13 per game, every game, for a three man team, so to give a whole day to one ref who has nothing else to do, is a lot easier than picking out refs to promote and offering them spots .An active club player can't be available for the whole day, both weekend days, so he's not attractive to the assignors. Agreed with the earlier poster that not all teens are cut out to ref but there are some good ones who are keen and they are frustrated that it's so hard to pick up games.

I do not know if Cathy Caldwell is still heading LISRA, but I was not going to kiss her ass to help. My last communique with Mistress Cathy was her telling me she will get back to me...and that was about 5 years ago. I would also point out the the State Referee Association run out of ENYYSA was like a mafia run organization years ago, and while I longer pay attention to them, I'm sure much has not changed.

As far as High School refs go, I have not had any interaction with them over the almost 30 years of BOTN.

I should also mentioned in my original post, Lou Minutoli who was a regular contributor to BOTN at our start and the first referee to administer the "Ask The Ref" forum. Lou was an exemplary referee and did much to grow LISRA 20+ years ago. IMO, it was or is John Senelglaub along with Cathy Caldwell that denigrated LISRA and the education and quality, as well as the marketing of LISRA.

Teachers coach for many reasons and know they can pad their pensions with coaching. Maybe offer a similar situation to the teachers for being a ref could possibly help attract more qualified individuals? Larry- your thoughts?

The issue of quality and competence would still remain an issue with high schools. Teachers getting first dibs on coaching has been very successful and has numerous detractors which is justifiable.

At the end of the day being a teacher/coach/referee does not always equal competence. in the end the person has the Talent to be a great coach or Referee or he is not. Talent is Talent you cant teach it, you cant train it, and you cant test for it.

I was a LISRA Ref for 10 years, started when I was in my early 30s. A few examples of why I stopped doing it: I was reffing a U12/13 tournament game, was a tight game until the end, I called a foul that probably wasn't a foul. Was in decent position and within 10 yards to make the call, wasn't 40 yards away making a call. I'm human, not a robot. Team took the free kick and scored. They ended up winning the game, which was a recreational youth Travel Soccer Game, not the World Cup or MLS Cup Final . One of the Grandparents from the losing team came over to me and my nephew as we were getting ready for the next game. He asked me and I quote "What do you do for a living?" I responded politely and said I work for the City. He then said and I quote, "Do you do your job for the City as bad as you just reffed this game?" I was taken aback by the comment but I politely said, "Thank you for the kind words but if you can excuse me I have to get ready for my 2nd of 5 games that day." Another example, I was working as a Center Ref with a new Assistant Referee who was working their first game. Because of my experience, I was given these new Assistant Referees from time to time to help them grow and learn. Had to be 14 or 15 years old. As the game was going on, parents really started getting on this new referee to the point where this new young new referee started shaking and crying. I had to stop the game, walk over to the sideline and first talk to this referee and calm them down. Once I was able to do that, I then told these parents, "Please give this referee a break, it's their very first game, he/she is trying his/her best" I warned the parents, if this continues, I am going to end this game. I even had to move them away to the other half of the field. It shouldn't be this hard to referee youth soccer but it is. Obviously their were other incidences like "I'm going to wait for you in the parking lot." Really? I was a grade 7 and was assessed and passed to become a Grade 6 but chose not to pursue it further. I was given mostly high level games and the tough rivalry games as well but most of the abuse was not from these types of games, they were from the lower level games mostly. It's not any easy gig which is why there's a shortage. I think referees have taken abuse long enough, I was advocating that all referees show up to the field one day, check the teams in, get ready to start and when we are about to blow the whistle, drop the whistle on the floor and walk off the field as a sign of unity and being fed up with all this abuse. Let the parents/coaches figure it out.

You can choose different suspects to blame but it does not solve the main issue. On Long Island they have been running classes almost every month of the year, It’s like trying to bail out the ocean. Coaches and clubs take the class. Young people take the class. Former players take the class. Then they try to do it and while it is not for every one the drop out/attrition rate is astounding. No one wants to be abused. No matter how new you are the shortage is acute and not every referee out there can start out being perfect or even good. it takes a few years to fully develop and it takes mistakes to learn and become better just like a player. But there is no patience for that. This region is not alone it is a national problem and many parties are involved trying to find a solution. At times the atmosphere can be toxic and the key demographic (teenagers) do not want to put up with it. When I have young ARs work a game with me I ask them if they want to become Center Referees starting with small sided fields. 99% of them are NOT willing to do it because they do not want to deal with the madness! As mentioned before try recording just the sounds of the game and you will hear evidence of a horrible atmosphere as if every game is the World Cup!