3 man Ref system needed

[Unregistered]

But how long after he made the original, erroneous call?

I'm guessing it was the next restart that was less than a minute later, otherwise it had to be within a minute or two regardless. For what it's worth, I wouldn't care if he didn't say a word, since otherwise he called a very good match.

Whether he said something immediately or at the end of the game was class. I honestly don't expect perfect, but fail to work hard enough that there is a lack of quality compounded by an attitude like there's nothing wrong with that and like anyone else, I'm ticked off.

[Unregistered]

I think this is a problem in general. Refs don't necessarily swallow their whistles, but they lose their cards except for bad behavior. From youth soccer through older ages, refs do the game and players no favors by being less or completely disinclined to call games and book players according to the LOTG. I see it too often, refs don't say a word when they should be cautioning, slow to give yellow if ever and reds are reserved for fighting.

A match I saw this weekend had a similar event, except no cards at all, clear red card not given (attacker with the ball approaching the penalty area taken down hard by the last defender chasing from behind). Free kick, no card at all. The coach was stunned, no PK, no sending off, nothing but a free kick, gave some explanation that the coach rightfully found to be absurd based on the reaction.

If we accept that the 2-ref system won't be modernized, and we have to work with the referee pool available, appropriate use of cards should be one of the highest training priorities for existing refs. For some of you, it's their conditioning. For others, it's calling offside correctly. For me, it's use of cards.

An explanation I've heard is that refs are hesitant to use them because they can accumulate over the season and disqualify a player or team for the tournament. But. leagues the world over have penalties for accumulated cards, and it's understood and accepted. That is not a reason to avoid use of cards. My sense is that most of the refs handle other sports as well, where the carding concept does not exist, so they don't have a sense of what deserves a card in soccer. It should be an emphasis in training HS refs.

[Unregistered]

If we accept that the 2-ref system won't be modernized, and we have to work with the referee pool available, appropriate use of cards should be one of the highest training priorities for existing refs. For some of you, it's their conditioning. For others, it's calling offside correctly. For me, it's use of cards.

An explanation I've heard is that refs are hesitant to use them because they can accumulate over the season and disqualify a player or team for the tournament. But. leagues the world over have penalties for accumulated cards, and it's understood and accepted. That is not a reason to avoid use of cards. My sense is that most of the refs handle other sports as well, where the carding concept does not exist, so they don't have a sense of what deserves a card in soccer. It should be an emphasis in training HS refs.

Couldn't agree more!

[Unregistered]

Couldn't agree more!

HS should play by USSF rules and require USSF certified refs. Enough with the time outs, the rigid time keeping and the black hatted septagenarian referees.