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

[DAVID M STUBBS]

I can speak from experience that calling fouls as a
new ref is the hardest thing to do.  The coach of my
son's team was all over me during games.  It has taken
me several years (100 games of combined AR and
Refereeing) to start doing it "correctly".  Referees
working the youngest levels are frequently new refs. 
They grow as they move up the ranks with their
children.  As one would expect, so do the coaches. 
How many games does one hear the coach yelling at the
players constantly...I mean constantly.  That kills
the game too.  The coaches of U14 and above are far
less stressed and just let the kids play.

Parents are no different.  The chatter on the
sidelines becomes one of where they will be
vacationing next, than "The ref is missing a good
game".

We're all human and experience trumps all.  Do your
best and the hell with the rest.

-Dave Stubbs, referee philosopher and consumer of
massive quantities of beer and pizza

--- Beau James <b_james at pacbell.net> wrote:

> 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!
> >
> 
=== message truncated ===>
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