Dear Coach....from the Ref

[Unregistered]

Coach, we referee a game that has Laws, and those Laws have to be enforced by men and women with whistles. Who is going to do it? You? You, the uneducated fan that sits on the sideline and screams at me and your players.

I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly phantom. You scream at me and you chase me off the field. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that a handball is not a foul unless it was deliberate and that offside is judged based on the position of the player when the ball was last played to him by his teammate and not where he received it.

You do not want to know the Laws of the Game because deep down in places you do not talk about at practices, you want me on the field because you need me on the field.
We use words like careless, reckless and excessive. We use these words as an indicator for the correct color of the card: you use them as words to describe your weekend.
I have neither the time nor the patience to explain my calls to a coach that constantly belittles me during a game and then attempts to shake my hand at the end of it.

I would have rather you have said “go screw yourself” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick of a whistle and Law book and step onto the field. Either way, I do not give a dam what you think my call should have been!

[Unregistered]

Haha haha Florida youth refs are the worst for the most part. But you are needed and it’s a thankless task. I try not to berate them, but I laughed as maybe you know the rules but hell of a lot of refs certainly have no idea

[Unregistered]

Coach, we referee a game that has Laws, and those Laws have to be enforced by men and women with whistles. Who is going to do it? You? You, the uneducated fan that sits on the sideline and screams at me and your players.

I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly phantom. You scream at me and you chase me off the field. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that a handball is not a foul unless it was deliberate and that offside is judged based on the position of the player when the ball was last played to him by his teammate and not where he received it.

You do not want to know the Laws of the Game because deep down in places you do not talk about at practices, you want me on the field because you need me on the field.
We use words like careless, reckless and excessive. We use these words as an indicator for the correct color of the card: you use them as words to describe your weekend.
I have neither the time nor the patience to explain my calls to a coach that constantly belittles me during a game and then attempts to shake my hand at the end of it.

I would have rather you have said “go screw yourself” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick of a whistle and Law book and step onto the field. Either way, I do not give a dam what you think my call should have been!

Is not about knowing the laws, but actually keeping up with the action. Even young refs are slow minded. We want the kids to play fast, so refs should as well!

[Unregistered]

Haha haha Florida youth refs are the worst for the most part. But you are needed and it’s a thankless task. I try not to berate them, but I laughed as maybe you know the rules but hell of a lot of refs certainly have no idea

It's not really that thankless, they get paid pretty decent cash on the spot for a job with no accountability.

I try not to open my mouth at games too, but its honestly just because once you poke at the ego of most of these mudpuppies you have down here officiating games you have all but guaranteed your team isn't going to get a fair shake

[Unregistered]

It's not really that thankless, they get paid pretty decent cash on the spot for a job with no accountability.

I try not to open my mouth at games too, but its honestly just because once you poke at the ego of most of these mudpuppies you have down here officiating games you have all but guaranteed your team isn't going to get a fair shake

As the father of referees both of whom play the game at a high level I would like to ask if you would get yelled at by *******s for $15 an hour. On top of that the refs have to buy their own uniforms and equipment and pay $100 annual certification fee.

The money is not that great unless you are a 14 year old kid with no other real options.

[Unregistered]

As the father of referees both of whom play the game at a high level I would like to ask if you would get yelled at by *******s for $15 an hour. On top of that the refs have to buy their own uniforms and equipment and pay $100 annual certification fee.

The money is not that great unless you are a 14 year old kid with no other real options.

The drop out rate for youth referees is massive. We won't have adult refs if the kids keep quitting. Not all refs are great, they're human and make mistakes. But what good does it do to shout at one? How many times has that gotten a call changed in your favor?

Coaches must set good examples for players and parents. Don't lose your sh*t on a ref unless there was a genuine issue of player safety. Anything else can be discussed after the game, you can file a complaint or whatever. Coaches need to manage badly behaving parents also by threatening not to allow them on the field if the behavior continues. I've seen coaches do that and it works.

[Unregistered]

Is it too much to ask for the refs to know the new handball rule though?

Coach, we referee a game that has Laws, and those Laws have to be enforced by men and women with whistles. Who is going to do it? You? You, the uneducated fan that sits on the sideline and screams at me and your players.

I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly phantom. You scream at me and you chase me off the field. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that a handball is not a foul unless it was deliberate and that offside is judged based on the position of the player when the ball was last played to him by his teammate and not where he received it.

You do not want to know the Laws of the Game because deep down in places you do not talk about at practices, you want me on the field because you need me on the field.
We use words like careless, reckless and excessive. We use these words as an indicator for the correct color of the card: you use them as words to describe your weekend.
I have neither the time nor the patience to explain my calls to a coach that constantly belittles me during a game and then attempts to shake my hand at the end of it.

I would have rather you have said “go screw yourself” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick of a whistle and Law book and step onto the field. Either way, I do not give a dam what you think my call should have been!

[Unregistered]

now we understand why the refs are bad

Coach, we referee a game that has Laws, and those Laws have to be enforced by men and women with whistles. Who is going to do it? You? You, the uneducated fan that sits on the sideline and screams at me and your players.

I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly phantom. You scream at me and you chase me off the field. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that a handball is not a foul unless it was deliberate and that offside is judged based on the position of the player when the ball was last played to him by his teammate and not where he received it.

You do not want to know the Laws of the Game because deep down in places you do not talk about at practices, you want me on the field because you need me on the field.
We use words like careless, reckless and excessive. We use these words as an indicator for the correct color of the card: you use them as words to describe your weekend.
I have neither the time nor the patience to explain my calls to a coach that constantly belittles me during a game and then attempts to shake my hand at the end of it.

I would have rather you have said “go screw yourself” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick of a whistle and Law book and step onto the field. Either way, I do not give a dam what you think my call should have been!

First - handball, deliberate is the only time to call it? Not true -- Any goal scored or created with the use of the hand or arm will be disallowed this season even if it is accidental.

FIFA this year said the handball rule now has extra clarity because it does not consider intent by a player.

Another big change is to do with the position of a player's hand/arm.

If the ball hits a player who has made their body "unnaturally bigger" then a foul will be awarded.

IFAB says that having the hand/arm above shoulder height is rarely a "natural" position and a player is "taking a risk" by having the hand/arm in that position, including when sliding.

It is, however, considered natural for a player to put their arm between their body and the ground for support when falling, so long as the arm is not extended to make the body bigger.

As for offsides, the ball doesn't need to be "played to him" for that player to be offsides. If a player is in the offsides position on a shot and there's a rebound to that player, offsides? Has the player played it to his teammate? Come on, who says "I'm going to shoot it, have it rebound off goalie to the waiting feet of my teammate..." Offsides doesn't require the ball to be played to his teammate..

Keep playing EA Sports, it's in the game... better off there than officiating a game of rules when you don't know the rules.

[Unregistered]

Dear ref,

[Unregistered]

Coach, we referee a game that has Laws, and those Laws have to be enforced by men and women with whistles. Who is going to do it? You? You, the uneducated fan that sits on the sideline and screams at me and your players.

I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly phantom. You scream at me and you chase me off the field. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that a handball is not a foul unless it was deliberate and that offside is judged based on the position of the player when the ball was last played to him by his teammate and not where he received it.

You do not want to know the Laws of the Game because deep down in places you do not talk about at practices, you want me on the field because you need me on the field.
We use words like careless, reckless and excessive. We use these words as an indicator for the correct color of the card: you use them as words to describe your weekend.
I have neither the time nor the patience to explain my calls to a coach that constantly belittles me during a game and then attempts to shake my hand at the end of it.

I would have rather you have said “go screw yourself” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick of a whistle and Law book and step onto the field. Either way, I do not give a dam what you think my call should have been!

If this is your regular experience, and I am guessing it is since you posted it on a message board, then you probably just suck as a referee. The best referees are the ones that teams forget are even there. If when the game is over the ref is an afterthought, I know he or she has done a great job.

[Unregistered]

Dear ref,

hey Dad, get off the damn computer

[Unregistered]

Can't tell you how many games I've seen at the high school level where I walked away feeling 100% certain that the referee didn't understand the offside rule.

[Unregistered]

Can't tell you how many games I've seen at the high school level where I walked away feeling 100% certain that the referee didn't understand the offside rule.

And even IF they understood the offside law (which most don't) there is no way to call it when they are 10 yards behind the play.

What most parents want from refs is to take a bit more pride in what they do. Just putting on a uniform and calling yourself a ref doesn't get you automatic respect. You have to earn it, and sadly most heavyset, slow and out of touch refs don't.

[Unregistered]

Yes, I do 100 % agree. However, I think we all recognize that parents and coaches do make it tough to recruit better young refs. If you are a college or post college ex player, still love soccer, are fit, could use a few bucks of cash each week, reffing should be a good way to do that. You understand the game and are fit enough to keep up. But why would you want to deal with screaming coaches looking to blame stuff on the refs? Or worse, the parents that really don't understand the rules (but think they do) who yell profanities at the refs (even sometimes the High School age ARs learning to do the gig). I cuts both ways. The start is for coaches and parents to back off, then clubs need to get their acts together to recruit some younger refs.

And even IF they understood the offside law (which most don't) there is no way to call it when they are 10 yards behind the play.

What most parents want from refs is to take a bit more pride in what they do. Just putting on a uniform and calling yourself a ref doesn't get you automatic respect. You have to earn it, and sadly most heavyset, slow and out of touch refs don't.