A&H

Junior/Youth Summer tournaments.

Tino Best

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Level 6 Referee
I did a 2 day festival last weekend which included girls U14 and boys U11s and boys U12. There were 7 refs for the weekend, 2 senior refs I was one of them and 5 very young refs. We had 1 11 year old sent off for saying F******g C*** to a ref. Several of the young refs being abused by coaches so myself and the other elder ref had to watch games to keep coaches in check. Coaches complaining that because offside goals were ruled out it meant there teams were in tears. Accusing CARs of cheating. Dissent from the boys was bordering on cards being used and the elder and stronger younger refs were asking for offending players to be subbed. It showed that the actions of the coaches who were prepared to dispute every call and abuse the refs had the the worst behaived players. It was meant to be a fun weekend but the win at all costs attitude of coaches and parents meant the kids were under so much pressure and so if lost would blame the refs with the coaches blatantly saying we lost because of the ref. There were some nice teams and coaches and the girls were very pleasant and a joy to watch the coaches were a bit petty over some admin issues due to one team not turning up with enough players but the attitude of the boys games were pretty toxic. Its a shame that something which should of been fun for the kids was made into a high pressure situation which had kids in tears.
 
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Pathetic and disgusting that you get these coaches or so called coaches that set this example for kids, 11 or 12 yr olds it’s beyond belief that it’s not anything more than a fun environment where kids get to play the game we all love.

Shameful and maybe you and the other refs should boycott it next time or send a letter to organisers to forward onto the teams involved.

Just can’t get my head around these peoples mentality.
 
So, I also did a tournament day at the weekend (boys U15, U16 for me). The rules were, no off sides, yellow card -> player missed next game, red card -> player misses rest of the day. I issued 3 yellows. I'm guessing that none of these get reported thru WGS, but I would be inclined to attempt to report any instances of VC, Offinabuss and anything else which warranted an Exceptional Report. Any thoughts from readers on the subject of reporting for tournament days?
 
Only do tournaments that are sanctioned. These tournaments should have their "rules" signed off by their CFA, as part of the sanctioning process. Sussex CFA require very similar rules to what @Big Cat wrote. Yellows don't go to the CFA, but Reds (for SFP and VC, IIRC) do. I organise the referees for the club I'm linked with, and we're very strict around the enforcement of these rules. I also get called in to monitor games where junior referees have complained about coach/parent behaviour - in the past the youngest age groups we have had problems with have been U7's, where managers have felt it acceptable to bully 14 year old referees. A stern word from a more grizzled ref will often sort that problem out. My club has also barred academy teams from entering their tournament - not just unfair on the other teams, but in my experience the referee abuse has increased from both their players and their coaches.
 
The last two years I think that the behaviour of players managers spectators club officials has gotten worse and I think it's because now that most county fa's are now not giving serficant punishment to all of the above and it is not teaching them not to do it again as like it would of done 5
 
sounds like a typical tournament, should be a perfect place for newly qualified referees to get experience
but coaches think its the world cup
 
The last two years I think that the behaviour of players managers spectators club officials has gotten worse and I think it's because now that most county fa's are now not giving serficant punishment to all of the above and it is not teaching them not to do it again as like it would of done 5

Last week I had a player who went nose to nose with me and threatened myself and several players (including his team mates). No mither to me, I can handle myself but to a younger ref im almost certain that this may have ended their interest in continuing. I've since found out that this player has just returned from a 5 year ban for assaulting an official, a ban which the local FA reduced to 2 years on appeal, allowing him to resume playing recently.

I cant believe it, especially as it's quite clear that his next assault is just around the corner, a fact he openly announced to everyone on the pitch!

5 years ago, a player on my team was banned for 8 years for assaulting a ref (rightly so), and yet punishments appear to be reducing. Admittedly I only have knowledge of 2 instances but it's a surprising direction for local fa's to be taking
 
I did one years ago, a girls summer tournament, mixed ages, 3 hours of complete rubbish standard and one last game of a team from Leeds bullying a girly team playing a decent standard. No issues with cards, hardly got going till the last encounter.

I didn’t know it was a girls tournament till I got there so it was my one and only foray into women’s footie.

Did a men’s one 4-5 years ago over 2 weekends, lots of red cards and even a tournament ban for one complete thug Herbert. I sent his brother off too for calling me a fU9¥•g £&@t after the whistle too. :blackeye::blackeye:!

Happy days!
 
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