Pick Up a Whistle

[Guest]

https://pix11.com/news/local-news/ne...0a%20spectator.


"Parents who lose their cool in front of their kids will have to serve as an umpire for three games until they are let back in as a spectator. The league said if parents have an issue with an unfair call, they should tell the coach, manager or a representative on the team who will handle the issue."


I'd actually pay admission to watch the sideline fools try to manage a game.

[Guest]

That will happen the day after any league at any point in time ever holds their refs accountable for any of their constant egregious mistakes, not made by lack of skill but through plain meanness and bias.

[Guest]

That will happen the day after any league at any point in time ever holds their refs accountable for any of their constant egregious mistakes, not made by lack of skill but through plain meanness and bias.

Yes, I agree. Watching these teenagers clearly looking to influence the game is commonplace. It's actually taught when they get their license: how to influence important youth soccer games with your bias. Of course, the uneducated fan, with no previous knowledge of the sport whatsoever before their li'l angle first picked up the game, has no bias and can clearly make calls better from the sidelines vs. directly in the middle of the action.

Pick up a whistle and give it a try sometime, sizzlechest.

[Guest]

That will happen the day after any league at any point in time ever holds their refs accountable for any of their constant egregious mistakes, not made by lack of skill but through plain meanness and bias.

I’m a referee, we are required to go through stupid amounts of training and certifications. It probably cost me 250 to get certified and another 100 a year to keep my certification. I can promise you, 99% of us don’t care who wins the game. When I talk to other refs all we care about is getting the calls correct. I actually care a lot about being fair, I think about calls I could have made or shoudln’t have made, I really want to call a good game. Ultimately I want to get off the field without getting screamed at by the parents, it’s not worth my 50-70 bucks a game for that hassle. And, fwiw, I was an obnoxious parent, I suggest trying to work a middle and your perspective will change drastically.

[Guest]

These are not the people you want forced into reffing a game. Ultimately clubs need to shut down the bad parents. They know who they are. Other team parents can also do a lot to get people to pipe down.

All sports have bad parents but soccer has a bit more because so many never played the game themselves.

[Guest]

I’m a referee, we are required to go through stupid amounts of training and certifications. It probably cost me 250 to get certified and another 100 a year to keep my certification. I can promise you, 99% of us don’t care who wins the game. When I talk to other refs all we care about is getting the calls correct. I actually care a lot about being fair, I think about calls I could have made or shoudln’t have made, I really want to call a good game. Ultimately I want to get off the field without getting screamed at by the parents, it’s not worth my 50-70 bucks a game for that hassle. And, fwiw, I was an obnoxious parent, I suggest trying to work a middle and your perspective will change drastically.

Thank you for what you do for the game. I know it's not about the $$ as it's barely worth the hassle. Just know most of the people on the sidelines aren't the problem, it's normally just a few and they have a tendency to be the loudest.

[Guest]

These are not the people you want forced into reffing a game. Ultimately clubs need to shut down the bad parents. They know who they are. Other team parents can also do a lot to get people to pipe down.

All sports have bad parents but soccer has a bit more because so many never played the game themselves.

This....1000X this!

Drives my wife, and others when they ask me "Was that a foul?" after a questionable call. I almost always answer with "Could be, hard to tell from here. Have to defer to them since they are like 15' away from the play."

[Guest]

As a reminder, blabbing on TS all day doesn't make you an expert in the game.......

[Guest]

This....1000X this!

Drives my wife, and others when they ask me "Was that a foul?" after a questionable call. I almost always answer with "Could be, hard to tell from here. Have to defer to them since they are like 15' away from the play."

It’s crazy how uninformed parents are, and they are usually the loudest. Working as an AR you hear so much dumb stuff. And, for the record, we know we get calls wrong. Sometimes we are blocked from seeing the whole play, deflections happen so quick on out of bounds, and judgement calls are just that, judgement. We also have the benefit of hearing what’s going on verbally on the field, sometimes we will call a game tighter in spots reduce the risk of the game getting out of hand.

[Guest]

It’s crazy how uninformed parents are, and they are usually the loudest. Working as an AR you hear so much dumb stuff. And, for the record, we know we get calls wrong. Sometimes we are blocked from seeing the whole play, deflections happen so quick on out of bounds, and judgement calls are just that, judgement. We also have the benefit of hearing what’s going on verbally on the field, sometimes we will call a game tighter in spots reduce the risk of the game getting out of hand.

I always just before first touch will tell the AR if he needs help with a call, let me know. I always got their back. It's always done as a joke, and always taken that way. Some will feign passing me their flag like they will head out.

On a somewhat more note when actually playing, emotions can run a bit high. I've certainly had a word or two with a ref, but always tried to keep it respectful. Typically if a ref will take the time to explain conversationally what they saw, that ends it. i.e. "How could you make that call?" if it's met with "What I saw was [insert example here]" than that's the end of it. I saw one thing, you saw another. Tie goes to the person with the whistle. My vision isn't any better, and is definitely slanted.

Not saying that has to be done for every call and not with the sidelines. I was normally in the middle so a quiet word or pleasantries can be had without causing commotion.