Teen referees 'face threats from parents'
Sixteen-year-old referee Ryan regularly faces verbal abuse from players, coaches and managers.
www.bbc.co.uk
Young referees story
- Thread starter Sheffields Finest
- Start date
Kes
I'll Decide ...
Not down to the FA to be responsible for the behaviour of adults or kids.
I do however blame the culture of abuse that's been prevalent in football for years on the game at the highest echelons. People at grass roots only mirror the attitude and behaviour of those they see on tv which will never change.
As for abusive parents/coaches - if you're a self-opiniated/rude/abusive/thuggish individual character then no amount of FA campaigning is going to change that. That problem starts from a young age and in the home.
I do however blame the culture of abuse that's been prevalent in football for years on the game at the highest echelons. People at grass roots only mirror the attitude and behaviour of those they see on tv which will never change.
As for abusive parents/coaches - if you're a self-opiniated/rude/abusive/thuggish individual character then no amount of FA campaigning is going to change that. That problem starts from a young age and in the home.
Reminds me of that scout the other day that put a tweet up saying she crossed a girl she was scouting off her list because her dad attended the game and abused the referee.
I imagine that they feel it would be far too much work to try and change the player when they have such bad influence at the home to deal with.
This is why I fell out of love with the elite game a good while back. FIFA are responsible for culture and behaviour that I detest; and which contributes to that of Society in general. It's fair game in football and in general, to have a pop at a kid because a team gets beatNot down to the FA to be responsible for the behaviour of adults or kids.
I do however blame the culture of abuse that's been prevalent in football for years on the game at the highest echelons. People at grass roots only mirror the attitude and behaviour of those they see on tv which will never change.
As for abusive parents/coaches - if you're a self-opiniated/rude/abusive/thuggish individual character then no amount of FA campaigning is going to change that. That problem starts from a young age and in the home.
I fell out with kids football after a few years, the games were a doddle but the parents, some of which I knew expected Home decisions and I wasn’t seeing it their biased way, so I was the £&&t. Jumped into adult football right in the bearpit and never really left. The better I got, the bigger kn0b games I got!
socal lurker
RefChat Addict
Teen referees 'face threats from parents'
Sixteen-year-old referee Ryan regularly faces verbal abuse from players, coaches and managers.www.bbc.co.uk
The treatment of young refs and newbie refs is part of why those of us who have been around need to be stronger about shutting down inappropriate behavior. I may have thick enough skin to ignore the knucklehead coach, but I also have the ability to set expectations on behavior so that maybe the next ref won't have to deal with as much. What we don't sanction, we condone and encourage the coach to continue. This is, IMHO, particularly true for those of use withe experience who handle youth games.
THIS.
I see my role as educating players, coaches and spectators in the way in which they should act at games. Sometimes it is a brief conversation at half time or full time and at other times, it becomes incredibly expensive for their clubs.
Justylove
RefChat Addict
Any form of abuse against any ref is wrong.
I did watch the video and I had a couple of observations. Firstly I was a little disappointed with how he asked the players to line up, for me it lacked a bit of respect (setting the tone). Secondly they showed him giving a caution to a player which was a complete shambles, player is not even looking at him.
There are a lot of small things that a referee can do to instill respect and authority into a game, it's often those small things that can help to avoid incidents and potential abuse.
I did watch the video and I had a couple of observations. Firstly I was a little disappointed with how he asked the players to line up, for me it lacked a bit of respect (setting the tone). Secondly they showed him giving a caution to a player which was a complete shambles, player is not even looking at him.
There are a lot of small things that a referee can do to instill respect and authority into a game, it's often those small things that can help to avoid incidents and potential abuse.
He does the flash-the-card routine twice. I'm surprised it hasn't been picked up on, I thought the young referees would be observed nice and early?
ChasObserverRefDeveloper
Regular Contributor
All counties are short of mentors for new referees, and would appreciate current and retired officials giving a couple of hours once or twice a month to advise and mentor new (and especially young) referees.
Coloured shirts or armbands help by identifying the Under-18's, Respect stewards at youth matches can be an asset, but the best support is an empathetic colleague giving an hour or two to support and advise.
If all the regular and occasional contributors to this forum were to mentor in their area, and encourage others to do so, that would be a great start (and yes, I am a mentor alongside my other football activities!)
Thanks in advance.
Coloured shirts or armbands help by identifying the Under-18's, Respect stewards at youth matches can be an asset, but the best support is an empathetic colleague giving an hour or two to support and advise.
If all the regular and occasional contributors to this forum were to mentor in their area, and encourage others to do so, that would be a great start (and yes, I am a mentor alongside my other football activities!)
Thanks in advance.
How true ! At the slightest thing not appropriate they are warned ! Sanctioned ! Gone ! That applies to mouthy parents had one call me a C/:.T last week I had him straight sent out of the ground back to the carpark !!!! It works trust me ! The new card system had been a boon in helping me deal with these type of coaches ! Having said all this I am an older ref !! ( doesn’t mean I get any less crap but I know how to deal with it)
The part of the video that really frustrated me was the interview with the guy from the FA. All he talked about was support for referees, not stamping out the abuse. Seemed like he was saying, abuse of referees was OK, we will just help them deal with it.
ChasObserverRefDeveloper
Regular Contributor
Whilst I do not speak on behalf of The FA in this forum, my personal opinion is that the refereeing fraternity have allowed more and more unacceptable behaviour from players and management in recent times.
As an example one of this forum's regulars tells us he is happy to allow players shouting the F-word in response to his decisions. As so many referees do likewise, standards slip.
Our local Supply League have addressed this by instructing referees and observers that if no action is taken the observer is to mention this after the game and reduce the mark if appropriate
All our youth leagues have Respect Marshals with each team to assist refs if required.
As others have posted, refs red to be strong in stamping out poor behaviour on the field of play and next to it.
Mixture of robot mode, and all thinking they're Michael Oliver. Experienced this when I moved away from my parent county, the "academy" refs were the most personality-devoid drones you could imagine, but obviously had very satisfying tongues and could run for two hours. Like... mate... you're not even old enough to buy a pint, rock up at a park between two pub teams, acting like the dog's danglies and expect to be taken seriously. Respect works two ways. Of course all players and team officials should respect a referee, but if you've got no man-management skills or experience of anything, then you have to earn your half of the bargain. As we say in cycling: all the gear, no idea.
Edit: I'm sure he's a really good kid, and best of luck to him in his ref journey. If he ever finds this place, then we've all got your back. I hope he gets ACTUAL support from local competitions and county, and a mentor down to help him assess things after a game - why did X happen, what did you do to stamp out Y. Find the solution and implement it. I don't want to sound like I'm victim blaming, nipper might just ref in a total craphole area where no one's ever tackled the problem.
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Grayson great answer and very well said
Not sure if this was staged for the video (it seems so) but if this is the sneery type showing of cards thats become the norm then I can see big issues at some levels. @Grayson nailed it above. He looks looks like a walking disaster waiting to happen with his apparent attitude looking down on players like a piece of crap on his shoe. Its OK feeling sorry for young refs getting jip, they have to earn the respect too!!