The Ref Stop

Junior/Youth Learning to expect the unexpected - life of a ref

davels

davels

New Member
Level 7 Referee
After a couple of months out with a calf tear, I was back in the middle today with a fast paced U15's game - top divison, two teams in the top 3. The match went faultlessly, my calf was a bit tight but the end of it but overall a very good game and a tight 2-3 loss for the home team.

So then... I go over to watch my 7 year old play his match, I'm standing there in my ref's gear - and the managers eyes light up, "ahhh Dave - couldnt ref this one for us could ya mate?". Reffing U8's football is an enjoyable experience generally...! However, Manager of the away team absolutely lost it.

Away team keeper parries a shot, it rolls along the line towards the corner and just before the corner it goes fully beyond the line. I indicate the corner and he goes mental at me, he's 6-2 down at this point so clearly not enjoying that. I went over to chat to him and he could barely compose speech he was so angry, calmed him down and reminded him he's a role model of these kids and all 10 of them are watching us right now. Spent about a minute with him, finished up and turned around and he said "wouldnt be a problem if you would act like a proper referee"...! I despair! Went back to talk to him, told him if I get one more stupid comment off him he's being sent back to his car.

Was all fine after that, only about 5 mins left of the game and he shook my hand afterwards.. all fine. Parents and home manager all very entertained by the experience.

Having spent weeks worrying my return to the middle would be problematic, and having a great U15's game, that I get hassle from the manager of a bunch of fresh faced and innocent newbies to the game. Incredible!

Anyway, report gone into the league - no damage done :)
 
The Ref Stop
davels said:
After a couple of months out with a calf tear, I was back in the middle today with a fast paced U15's game - top divison, two teams in the top 3. The match went faultlessly, my calf was a bit tight but the end of it but overall a very good game and a tight 2-3 loss for the home team.

So then... I go over to watch my 7 year old play his match, I'm standing there in my ref's gear - and the managers eyes light up, "ahhh Dave - couldnt ref this one for us could ya mate?". Reffing U8's football is an enjoyable experience generally...! However, Manager of the away team absolutely lost it.

Away team keeper parries a shot, it rolls along the line towards the corner and just before the corner it goes fully beyond the line. I indicate the corner and he goes mental at me, he's 6-2 down at this point so clearly not enjoying that. I went over to chat to him and he could barely compose speech he was so angry, calmed him down and reminded him he's a role model of these kids and all 10 of them are watching us right now. Spent about a minute with him, finished up and turned around and he said "wouldnt be a problem if you would act like a proper referee"...! I despair! Went back to talk to him, told him if I get one more stupid comment off him he's being sent back to his car.

Was all fine after that, only about 5 mins left of the game and he shook my hand afterwards.. all fine. Parents and home manager all very entertained by the experience.

Having spent weeks worrying my return to the middle would be problematic, and having a great U15's game, that I get hassle from the manager of a bunch of fresh faced and innocent newbies to the game. Incredible!

Anyway, report gone into the league - no damage done :)
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Why have you reported it to the league and not your County FA? If it warrants a report to the league, you should report it to the County FA otherwise you become part of the problem. He probably behaves like this every week and creates a bad impression for the kids who play for him. A single report which ends up in a charge may seem him modify his behaviour and make life easier for the referee who comes along next time.
 
Brian Hamilton said:
Why have you reported it to the league and not your County FA? If it warrants a report to the league, you should report it to the County FA otherwise you become part of the problem. He probably behaves like this every week and creates a bad impression for the kids who play for him. A single report which ends up in a charge may seem him modify his behaviour and make life easier for the referee who comes along next time.
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I did that as well
 
It sounds like you handled that very well. I don't referee much mini soccer anymore, but I gather the very young age groups can be problematic, not only because understanding of the laws is very rudimentary, but also because the referees tend not to prepare mentally for a tough game.

One quick question: fortunately I haven't had to submit many misconduct reports, but is it generally a precedent to inform the offending party/parties in person that you intend to report their behaviour? I'm not sure where I heard this or if it's correct. I have had matches where, like you, I went through handshakes etc., at which point it just felt unnecessary to add, "By the way, I'm still reporting you."
That's not even including the times where a report is submitted after further consultation.
 
I would also be interested in seeing some guidance on what should be reported, as I probably wouldn't have done for the outcome described. My understanding for sideline team officials is that a warning is just that - a warning. And misconduct reports are for when a manager has to be sent away. But I'm not sure I've ever been formally trained on this, so I'd be interested to learn more.
 
@davels that made me chuckle, only because I've seen this behaviour at mini-soccer as well. It's inspired me to come up with the below:

Evolution of a Football Manager.jpg
 
martin avis said:
If there is only one member of a coaching team in youth football then banishing the coach becomes a safeguarding issue. A loud or quiet word normallly does the trick and improves behaivour,
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Only having one coach there for junior football is potentially a safeguarding issue in itself (if you follow the guidance to the letter and don't apply the common sense rule)
 
Are we saying that, unless a coach/parent has offended repeatedly enough to be dismissed from the field of play (risking abandonment in the former case), we cannot avail ourselves of the county's reporting mechanisms? Is that not antithetical to attempts to clean up football? I do not expect all reports to result in punishment, but there must be incidents the county ought to be informed of, even if only warnings were involved at the time (e.g. failure to control substitutes, misbehaving spectators etc.) in conjunction with normal disciplinary procedure.
 
SLI39 said:
Are we saying that, unless a coach/parent has offended repeatedly enough to be dismissed from the field of play (risking abandonment in the former case), we cannot avail ourselves of the county's reporting mechanisms? Is that not antithetical to attempts to clean up football? I do not expect all reports to result in punishment, but there must be incidents the county ought to be informed of, even if only warnings were involved at the time (e.g. failure to control substitutes, misbehaving spectators etc.) in conjunction with normal disciplinary procedure.
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No you said that.

Use the Whole Game to report coach misconduct as you would a caution for a player. If you can't send him away because of SGC issues, then make it clear that if that hadn't been a concern, then you would have sent him away and your work here is done.

Junior clubs, especially Chartered Standard clubs don't like disciplinary matters and are likely to get rid of the coach as soon as the charge hits their inbox.

I've not reported many coaches in my time but I know for a fact the last two reported were sacked before their embarrassing personal hearings. Possibly because they tried to deny something hundreds of people had seen them do.
 
I think what Brian says makes sense. If it isn't 'send off worthy', then I don't think it's reportable. I've always been of the understanding that we're not reporting warnings to the coaches - we don't report verbal warnings to players either.
 
It might be worthwhile reporting to the refsec though. They'll get a picture of certain teams, and that can help them decide who to allocate to games. I assume you're old enough to look after yourself, but would you want a newly minted 16 year old ref having to deal with a coach like that (as it was an U15's game), and at younger age groups it could be a fresh faced 14 year old referee.

The refsec will be on the league committee as well, and if there are persistent reports about a particular coach, even if they haven't been of a level that warrants a misconduct report, action can be taken.
 
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