Referees

Hello everyone. It has been a while since I've posted but now that spring has come and Mike and I are playing again, you can expect some more posts. So Let's start with this one, eh?

Both Mike and I have been soccer referees for quite a long time. Over 10 years of experience for me and likely close to 7 or 8 years for Mike. One thing we can both agree on this that referees just get no respect (cue Rodney Dangerfield). As noted in this article by Norman Hubbard, even professional referees get blamed for Premier League team failings. The disrespect that many managers at this level show referees is transferred to lower levels of soccer, all the way down to youth soccer here in America.

As I've said before coaches and players have a sense of entitlement that they cannot do wrong and that the other team always fouls them unfairly. Teams often believe the referee is out to make their team lose. I've personally heard these, "He doesn't know what he is doing out there" (once again, years of experience) or "He must be from the city/town of the other team" (at out of state tournaments). When you hear lines like that, it becomes hard to take real, constructive criticism which is what many referees need because let's face it, none of us are perfect and we learn from our mistakes.

We wonder why we don't have experienced referees in the ranks anymore here in America. Well you need to be mentally tough to be neutral, because you are going to get grief from all sides. So next time you watch or play, remember that the referee is human too and deserves your respect (even if he/she is honestly bad, there are some out there who are). I know I will.