Refereeing football/soccer. It's dangerous.

March 4, 2016 11:16 AM

Football (soccer) referees tell their stories. A podcast about that Refereeing and Violence
posted by josher71 (8 comments total)

Thanks, that was an interesting read. I love this: "TV commentators annoy me because they often don't know the laws of the game. Those who have played the game often don't know the laws of the game either."
posted by languagehat at 12:54 PM on March 4, 2016

Nobody knows the laws of the game.

(One of the soccer writers I follow on Twitter has a pretty constant thing about how nobody knows what a handball is. And he's right: even the laws of the game don't help.)
posted by asterix at 1:12 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

Those who have played the game often don't know the laws of the game either."

I umpire baseball, and the same is true there as well.

On the plus side, when I train teenagers to be umpires, I get to drop "You must unlearn what you have learned." on them.
posted by stevis23 at 1:25 PM on March 4, 2016

I was a ref for a couple years when I was in my teens. I had been playing, but my coach suggested to me that if I wanted to continue to be involved in the game I should look into being a ref. I knew I was a lousy player so I followed his suggestion and made a little money.

I only did youth games. Parents would shout all kinds of dumb stuff. It went beyond mere ignorance of the Laws of the Game. Lots of people in the U.S. don't understand soccer, and that was even truer back then (now, there is a greater chance that someone played in their youth).
posted by Area Man at 1:35 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

I made the switch last year from roller derby player to roller derby referee, and a lot of what is in this article rings true to me. Not so much the physical violence - if anyone ever headbutted a ref they'd be out on their ass quicker than anything - but the pressure to be perfect and getting called out on every mistake you might make. Even in practice, where we're supposed to try out new things and make mistakes.

Also true in roller derby is that there is much more opportunity for advancement as a referee than as a player. When I played, I considered myself a fairly decent player with occasional flashes of brilliance, but there was no way I'd make the roster of the A team. As a referee, I get the opportunity to go to tournaments that I'd *never* see as a player. Your ability as a referee is more dependent upon quick processing of events and the ability to recall rules to apply these events to, not how strong or how quick you are. Since that's where I feel I excel, the officiating ceiling feels much higher than my playing ceiling.

Those who have played the game often don't know the laws of the game either

Oh yes. So very much yes.
posted by Lucinda at 9:35 PM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]

Really interesting article. I'm still upset just reading about the headbutt in incident though
posted by biggreenplant at 9:14 AM on March 7, 2016

I've been considering an AskMe on precisely this subject - what strategies do you use to deal with the vitriol. I referee youth soccer, along with my 13 y.o. son and we put our heart and soul into doing a good job. But one call goes different from how the coach saw it and they are all over you.

Parents have definitely gotten better, but out of every 5 game weekend there is one parent who, one, continuously yells at their kid, often encouraging unsporting behavior, and two, thinks they can see offside better than the AR and lets the whole field know about it. It affects the atmosphere for everyone present.

This YT video is surprisingly accurate.
posted by ElGuapo at 9:55 AM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

Here's what I teach the teenagers we employ to umpire baseball (and use myself):

--Don't get "rabbit ears." Anything that comes from the parents/outside the fence is nothing, unless it's cursing or screaming so bad that the kids are cringing and not having fun. Then, just send everyone to their benches, and announce it will stay that way until the parents deal with it.

--Coaches: take no crap. You would have cards as a tool (we don't) but the general umpire rule is: Ignore, Acknowledge, Warn, Eject. Those stages can be skipped as appropriate. A "that's enough" and a open palm is all the warning needed--you spoke up, coach, and we're here to let kids play a game.

If the league you work for won't back you on this, you've got to move on if you can. Sometimes it's the only game in town, but any league that doesn't back their officials is letting the inmates run the asylum.

Anything like that headbutt in the OP would be a lifetime ban from the Little League I work for, for sure. Several US states have specific laws protecting sports officials and increasing punishments in assaults upon them.
posted by stevis23 at 11:54 AM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]