[ayso45-refs] Point, now Counterpoint (Re: Fwd: The Most Difficult Part of Refereeing)

[Beau James]

I forwarded this article to the coaches' mailing list as well.  Here's 
one interesting response:

> Just an observation from coaching 1st and 2nd graders over the last 
> two years.  The refs almost never make any foul calls.  Over 90% of 
> the games I've coached don't get more than 1 foul call per game.  
>  From what I observe there are at least 5 - 8 fouls that should be 
> called per game that aren't.  (Of course this is massively 
> subjective.)  The fouling has definitely gotten worse with 2nd graders.  
>
> Don't know if refs are over-sensitized to "not impacting the game."  
> Or, don't want to deal with parents and coaches complaining.  I've 
> also refereed two games over the last two years and it is tough.  It's 
> tough to see everything that is going on.  It's definitely easier to 
> just let play continue.  
>
> For the kids safety and to not reward fouling, I just wish they would 
> call a few more fouls.  The kids would catch on.


Something to think about.

Beau


Beau James wrote:

> Tom Rudkin passed along this article, from the CNRA (USSF's Calif. 
> North Referee Administration) mailing list.
>
> It's not new, but it does make for some interesting reading for both 
> referees (and coaches? parents? players?)
>
> Beau
>
>
>           THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF REFEREEING
>
>
>           Robert Evans
>
>
>           FIFA Referee (1979-88); FIFA Referee Instructor (1990-92)
>
> <>
>
> <>Many people who go to watch a soccer game - youth, adult, 
> professional - wonder why a lot of physical contact between players is 
> not punished by the referee. If they are new to the game, they may be 
> no more than puzzled by the apparent lack of understanding (or 
> eyesight) by the official. If they've been around the game a bit, or 
> if their little darling is playing and perhaps gets knocked over, they 
> may become irate at the irresponsibility of the referee. And of 
> course, if they have the authority of a coach's jacket or hat, they 
> not only become irate, but they may even take it upon themselves to 
> let the official know exactly what they think of him (or her). After 
> all, everyone knows that the official is supposed to call fouls and 
> other infringements of the laws, and if he doesn't do that, he must be 
> incompetent, right?
>
> <>
>
> <>
>
> <><><>Well, actually, no! By allowing some infractions to go 
> unpunished he may in fact be doing his job just the way that the laws 
> tell him to. (Pause to wait for the muttering ...) Oh, I can here it 
> now: "What is this idiot talking about? He says that a referee misses 
> the calls and yet is still doing his job? He lets fouls go unpunished, 
> and we are supposed to compliment him for doing things right?" And 
> those comments are the mild ones ...!
>
> <><><>
>
> <><><><>After being involved in refereeing since 1964, through 
> thousands of games refereed, watched and assessed, and through 
> countless classes instructed, I have to say that the most difficult 
> part of refereeing is knowing what infractions to call, and what ones 
> to let go. The reason for the difficulty is simple: For more than one 
> hundred years, the laws of the game have INSTRUCTED REFEREES NOT to 
> call everything, but to call only the infractions that affect the game 
> adversely.
>
> <><><>
>
> <><><>
>
> <><><>IT COMES DOWN TO THIS: THE ART OF REFEREEING IS THE ART OF 
> PENALIZING ONLY THOSE BREACHES OF THE LAW THAT AFFECT THE GAME.
>
> <>But the problem with that statement is that at each level of the 
> game, from little wobbly kids to U-8s, U-10s, U-12s through the early 
> teenagers up to full youth competitions, into the adult games, to the 
> top amateur level into the semi-professionals and full professionals, 
> then into international club competitions all the way to full "A" 
> class internationals and on to the World Cup, the infractions that 
> affect the game are different!
>
> <>So youth players and their parents go to a professional match or 
> watch one on television, and they see all that goes on - ferocious 
> tackling; seemingly endless comments to the referee - and wonder about 
> the competence of the official. They see players with their hands all 
> over their opponent; they wince as a player is challenged hard and 
> goes down in a heap with his challenger; they see a blatant offside, 
> and the referee allows play to go on! It seems so obviously 
> unfair-unless of course, you know what is going on.
>
> Experienced referees change their decision-making to suit the game 
> they are refereeing. A simple push in a U-12 game can throw a player 
> off balance and most times should be penalized. That same push in an 
> adult game would be meaningless, and in a professional match might be 
> taken merely as a gesture of affection! An offside call when the flag 
> goes up and the whole of the audience in the stands can see the player 
> offside, should not be called if it is clear that the goalkeeper or 
> other defender is going to safely clear the ball. The infraction has 
> become meaningless and does not affect the game. Until the recent 
> rewriting of the Laws of the Game, this philosophy of refereeing was 
> written as 64 words in the International Board Decision number 8 of Law 5:
>
>     "The Laws of the Game are intended to provide that games should be
>     played with as little interference as possible, and in this view
>     it is the duty of Referees to penalise only deliberate breaches of
>     the Law. Constant whistling for trifling and doubtful breaches
>     produces bad feeling and loss of temper on the part of the players
>     and spoils the pleasure of spectators."
>
>
> That's the art of refereeing!
>
> So next time you go to a game and see fouls going unpunished, take a 
> look at the players, and listen to what they are saying. If they are 
> not complaining, but are just getting on with the game, then they 
> obviously are happy with the way that things are being called. In 
> which case, so should you. But if you go to a match and here players 
> saying: "For heaven's sake, ref! Let us play!" then you know that the 
> players want more freedom, they don't want the referee to call 
> everything and choke the game to death.
>
> It's a difficult art, this refereeing. And doubly difficult when you 
> do the job right, but still have to contend with spectators who don't 
> understand. That explains the big money we make doing it!
>
>

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