Who are soccer officials accountable to?

[redandblack63]

I would like to know who soccer officials are accountable to. The officials at last nights Knox. Central Oak Ridge Game were terrible. Before I make my point let me first say that the Oak Ridge Team was a better team and they deserved to win. This post is not about the officials costing Central the game. It is about officials arragance and totlally void of any accountabillity. The players are accountable for their behavior, the coaches are accountable for their behavior, but the coaches, players, and fans have no recourse when the officials make a poor judgement. Let me explain. During the course of the game play began to get a bit rough both teams were involved in the rough play but it appeared to many that the calls were not consistent as a result coaches, players, and fans become irritated. One particular palyer for Central was given a yellow card for rough play only after a player for O.R. complained to the linesman. The girl jogged off the field without objection although the official was rude and disrectful in the manner he treated her when administering the card. The fans were obviously upset. Upon her return within 30 seconds the official gave her a yellow card for what he said was "desent" in other words she said something to a teammate he didn't like. This is what she said, after being told to be careful they are (officials) watching you she replied "I know they will call a foul on me." I have officiated basketball for 20 plus years and we call that "rabbit ears" in our sport. The official made a rush to judgement and as a result the offended player has to sit out one game with no chance for an appeal. But the official who also made an obvious mistake is allowed to call his next game without any punishment. The official lost control of the game he got, irritated with the fans,and he looked for an example. Then he is he took it out on a 14 year old child. Mabe she souldn't have said anything, maybe she needs to work on keeping her cpmposure, but how about the official who is the adult. If he thought she was directing her comments toward him he should have maintained his composure stepped in and told the player he had heard enough, I have done it thousands of times. How can you ask a teenager to maintain their composure when the adult who is the example on the field can't. Sorry officiating does not help young atheletes to respect officials. So where can a player, coach, or parent go when the official makes a mistake and denies a child the right to play. :confused: :confused: :confused:

[JohnJacob]

the supervisor for that area is : richard cataldi,419 bellfield road,knoxville tn 37922

[soccer21]

I have been to all three sides of the field, player, coach, and official. From what you are saying on your arguement I will have to agree with the official and his judgementand here is why;

First we need to quit trying to blame the officials for every little thing they do and remember that they are human after all, if they were perfect they won't be out there to make the sport what it is today.

Second without them we can not have soccer, we need the players and the coaches and the officials to have a complete game.

Third as a coach that received a card last year, from an official that I thought had it out for me, and looking back to that same incident I can not believe that he actually waited that long to give me the card, what patience that guy must had that night, i made a donkey out of myself trying to make him call the game my way, what a fool I was, I should just kept my mouth shut and let the kids play the game instead just like the fans need to do and especially the parents sometimes. They need to go to the game and cheer for their kids but not against an under-paid official that is mainly out there to help the sport grow and not to get rich.

As a coach to a pretty successful team I have change my point of view since my incident from last year, my players are not allowed to do anything but come out and play soccer, if they talk to another player from the other team or the official they will be coming out from the game and not play anymore until the following game no matter what the result of the game comes out to be.

That makes it a little easier on the officials to call the game the way they see it and again they are human, they have a split second to make the call while all the fans have the "instant replay" right?

[Illini]

I agree with you it was probably rabbit ears. Yet you know and I know that when refereeing when you call atechnical or give a yellow card (it's the same thing as a technical) you watch that person a little closer. As a soccer and basketball referee I treat kids the same. The way I would want to be treated. Yet I can bet when this player came back on the feild of play this girl and her teammate made sure the offical could here the conversation. For this I do not blame the official. Kids nowadays think they can say and do as they please while playing a sport and suffer no consiquences. The rule book covers talking to and about officials. It cannot be tolerated and shouldn't be. You as an official should understand this. You said you wouldn't so this, but I can gaurentee you have in the past in basketball and never gave it another thought. One more thing as a fellow official you should not be second guessing him on the internet or anywhere else, read the rule book and think about an officials code of conduct.

[redandblack63]

As a fellow official I am embarasssed by an official who shows no more restraint that this officical. I was as close to the girl as the official when the conversation took place and he had "rabbit ears". I do support good officials but I want bad ones out of the business because they make us all look bad. If you are an official and you turn you back to poor officiating you are a part of the problem. I agree that officials often get to much blame and they do make mistakes. But when they are unwilling to give grace when a child may or MAY NOT make a mistake They as adults deserve NO GRACE. Also I don't think $50 for an hour and a half to two hours work is by no means under paid. Most people I know would love to make $25-$33 an hour. Now just so you don't think I am out to complain against all officials. The Central-Clinton game last night was a wonderfully officiated game. It too became very physical at points but the lead official did a great job of helping each team mantain their composure. He stopped play on several ocassions and explained to the girls what was going on, be careful with their mouth, and to clean it up when need be. He mantained control of the game and gained the respect of the players, coaches and fans. He just didn't pull out a card flash in a girls face like some sort of supreme ruler and futher escalate the situation. He was a calming force. Good officicateing is good on any level and bad is bad. I feel no ethical reason to protect a poor official because I am one. I want them out of the game because we would be better off without them than to have to play with them. Because whether we like it or mot we are judged by our worst official.

[Illini]

This is the last I will say about this. As an official it is not your responsibility. It is the supervisors job. He gets paid to do this. You are not the supreme person to say whether he is good or bad. It is the job of the State office not a basketball official that has never read a soccer rule book. Time will weed out the bad ones not other officials negativity. that is why there is a code of ethics. So please keep your coments to yourself or the supervisor. All you do by talking how bad he is is entice the crowd to be unruly. One more thing if you were officiating a game and you thought you did a good job would you want people writing about you in this way? I doubt it very much. Whether good or bad you must stand behind other officials or say nothing.Whether good or bad you must stand behind other officials or say nothing

[redandblack63]

bbfreftn

Who is acting like the supreme judge telling me to keep my comments about bad officials to myself. This is an open forum and as long as I use appropriate language to sate my opinion. Maybe you are sensitive because you are one of the officials that do such a sorry job of officiating the game. I just feel they should be pointed out and put out of the game because they are bad for the game. I also take exception of your comment that I was not familiar with the rules of soccer. I am very knowledgeable of the rules, but just like bad officials jump to conclusions you are doing the same. I have never and will never up hold for bad officials. In your unwritten code of ethics the world would consantly be covering up for bad policeman, teachers, polticians, etc... someone needs to step up and get rid of the bad officials because they are bad for the game. If the shoe fits wear. I have written the T.S.S.A. to report and the supervisor of officials as well as sent a video of the game. But I am afraid that my efforts will fall upon deaf ears because of the attitude that you have exhibited is often the attitude of the powers that be, officials never make mistakes and are beyond reproach regardles of how unprofessional they are or how poorly they apply the rules. BAD OFFICIALS MUST GO FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME!!!!!

[redandblack63]

bbfreftn

Who is acting like the supreme judge telling me to keep my comments about bad officials to myself. This is an open forum and as long as I use appropriate language to sate my opinion. Maybe you are sensitive because you are one of the officials that do such a sorry job of officiating the game. I just feel they should be pointed out and put out of the game because they are bad for the game. I also take exception of your comment that I was not familiar with the rules of soccer. I am very knowledgeable of the rules, but just like bad officials jump to conclusions you are doing the same. I have never and will never up hold for bad officials. In your unwritten code of ethics the world would consantly be covering up for bad policeman, teachers, polticians, etc... someone needs to step up and get rid of the bad officials because they are bad for the game. If the shoe fits wear. I have written the T.S.S.A. to report and the supervisor of officials as well as sent a video of the game. But I am afraid that my efforts will fall upon deaf ears because of the attitude that you have exhibited is often the attitude of the powers that be, officials never make mistakes and are beyond reproach regardles of how unprofessional they are or how poorly they apply the rules. BAD OFFICIALS MUST GO FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME!!!!!

[Illini]

Here's one last thing. This is what is wrong with High School Sports today. The players and especially the parents think kids can say what they want on the feild or court. This is not the case, in the soccer rule book it says Page 37 sec. 8 Art. 1c A player shall be cautioned (yellow card) for: objecting by word of mouth or action to any decision given by an official. So what she did was wrong and no matter what spin you put on it, it was wrong of the girls to do that. They knew what they where doing when they said it and they knew they were in earshot of the official. So quit complaining about it and trying to make excusses that what he did was wrong. What about what the girls did that wasn't wrong? I think so. If they would not commented about the official nothing would of happened. And yes it is still wrong as an official to talk bad about another one whether it be in the stands or on coach t. If you have a problem talk at home or in private not in a public forum.

[redandblack63]

The girls did not say anything about the officials. They never once complained about a call or anything of the sort.

The player just warned the other player to be careful and she said I know I can't touch anyone. The official is not a mind reader and it is not his place to infer anything about a conversation betweeen two players. The official was wrong and will always be wrong when he makes calls on what he infers. I thought she was going to foul so I blew the whistle. You weren't their, but you continue to defend poor officiateing and blame it on a kid. Let me tell you a little bit about the offended player. She has never once had a discipline problem at school, every coach, teacher, and youth leader has commented on what a polite, respectful, and pleasant young Lady she is. But you will always defend officials regardless of how bad they are or regardless of the poor judgement they may exhibit. As long as we have bad officials or supervisors protecting bad officials people will have no respect for officials. You will never be convinced other wise because you are one of the bad officials I am talking about, never willing to admit when they are wrong.

[KeithHamilton]

OK, I'll bite and give my two cents worth. Are there incompetent refs? Yes. Are there refs who call "questionable" games that has all the appearance of being "home cooking?" Yes. I have been assigned to work with refs who after the game was over with I wish that I had not worked with and did not want to work with again. Not because they were incompent but because they did things during the game and made calls that not only did I disagree with but gave me reason to wonder about their honesty. On the other hand, there are some fans, players, and coaches who would probably tell you that I am a terrible referee. One of the biggest things I try to focus on is to call an "even" game. As a coach, the biggest thing that I expect out of the refs is fairness.

Now, having said all that about myself and my fellow refs (Hope I did not go too far in violating the code of conduct since I did not name names or point out a specific ref in a specific situation.) Let's talk about the fans, players, and coaches. I have dealt with great people and most of my experiences have been positive. Last night's game at Smyrna against Riverdale there was a few typical crowd and coaches reactions to some of the calls in the game, but both coaches overall demeanor was courteous and respectful. We received several "good job" comments from the crowd as we left and also from some of the players. Overall, that was fairly typical of what I have experienced as a ref. In other words, I enjoyed calling the game at Smyrna. However, I have on a few occassions experienced some very bad situations as well. Most of the times it has to do with respect oo the lack thereof on the part of the players. Their parents and their coaches many times by their actions and words encourage the bad behavior from the kids. When that happens we have to step in and take control and if that means ejecting people, then so be it. Let me be the first to say that when that happens that such is the last thing that I want to do. I do not enjoy calling a game in that kind of situation and I hate having to write the report to the State office about what happened. It hurts the game that I love when players, etc. do something stupid to get themselves ejected. It makes soccer look like a sport for a bunch of spoiled uncontroled brats and the game out of control. So, to enforce the rules and to protect the integrity of a sport that I love, I will enforce the rules of the game in as fair a manner as possible. But I will have no problem in ejecting anyone that is at a soccer game to do something other than play, coach, or just watch the game. For what ever it is worth ....

[Illini]

OK I guess I am one of those bad refs out there. Have you ever seen me call a game, I doubt that. This is going know where and you are always right, so I guess everytime an official makes a questionable call he is wrong in your eyes, because it didn't go the way you thought it should. OH and by the way if you think I am so bad let's see I have called four different times in the soccer STATE tournement in the last five years. So that means I'm no good. I have also called in 2001 the girls state basketball tournement oh I forgot I am a bad official. So I must be doing something right were I referee. Oh and one more thing you will never see me whine and cry on here because a person got their feelings hurt because an official made a bad call (in your opinion). Have a nice day and can't wait to here your next complaint on the officials. I will stay tuned it for that so I can get a good laugh out of it.