coaches/players/ fans

[blankguy]

why is it acceptable for players/coaches/ fans to berate officials in soccer matches? then its the coach or play or fan saying it's part of the game? how come it's always the officials job to discipline the players? when a player yells out a cuss word then the coach say, "well they are high schoolers! give em a break!" i'm confused i guess... thoughts?

[ManU90]

i know for a fact that if my coach heard me cuss he wouldnt say 'give him a break'. id be on the sidelines getting put in my place.

[HSDAD]

why is it acceptable for players/coaches/ fans to berate officials in soccer matches? then its the coach or play or fan saying it's part of the game? how come it's always the officials job to discipline the players? when a player yells out a cuss word then the coach say, "well they are high schoolers! give em a break!" i'm confused i guess... thoughts?

 

 

I know of some who set bad examples @ games. Some stands have to be cleared

because there are supporters who won't shut up! I believe that TSSAA holds the school, AD,

and the Coach responsible for the actions of their players and fans???

[strongside]

I was at a match last night in which this issue came into play. After a loss, an angry player stormed onto the middle of the field to verbally abuse the officials (how the kid didn't get a red card is beyond me). I saw the coach come after him. I was thinking that the coach would calm his players down and control his actions, but I was wrong! The coach joined in the parade as well! He completely embarassed himself and his school by his actions. It was a classless display! Why the two were upset is beyond me. I guess in today's time, its hard to take responsibility for your actions, so you always want to shift blame on someone else. The player and coach didn't want to own up to the fact they got beat (and beat pretty bad!!! They were dominated) so they looked to shift blame to the officiating, which in all honestly was not that bad. With coaches setting that example for players, its hard for players to see how it ought to be done, which is fess up to getting beat, improve upon that, and play another game! With the best officials in the state, the game would have ended up in a loss for that team. That behavior by that player was totally unacceptable and should not be tolerated. The behavior of the coach was unacceptable as well, and I guess he's made himself and his program look "classless"...But I agree with the first post...Coaches should hold players accountable to their behavior on (and off) the field, not officials.

[ihavenofriendzz]

I believe that TSSAA holds the school, AD,

and the Coach responsible for the actions of their players and fans???

 

 

I think they do... A few years ago during a region tournament basketball game I, as a fan, was told to leave the gym by the refs... I talked to my principal the next day of school and he was saying something about how my actions can cause the school to not be allowed to host post season games for so many years or something. So I think at some point, the school basically is responsible and can have actions brought against them for such events. I think it could be up to officials to say something to TSSAA about it, before any ban of hosting post season games could happen. Obviously my example is of basketball, but I don't see why it would change for any other sport. Of course, like always, I could be wrong. Sometimes you never know with the TSSAA.

[MVM]

I think they do... When I was told, as a fan, by the refs to leave a basketball game a few years ago, my principal was saying something about how my actions can cause the school to not be allowed to host post season games for so many years or something. Not sure what actually has to happen for this to take place, but seems like it can be possible. I think it could be up to officials to say something to TSSAA about it, before any ban of hosting post season games could happen. Obviously my example is of basketball, but I don't see why it would change for any other sport. Of course, like always, I could be wrong. Sometimes you never know with the TSSAA.

 

 

This is true...There was a HS soccer team here in Chattanooga that was banned from post season play a couple of years ago, due to some over zealous fans.

[BigG]

This is true...There was a HS soccer team here in Chattanooga that was banned from post season play a couple of years ago, due to some over zealous fans.

 

Initially true, however, I believe they got that overturned.

[oldcoach54]

I have been following the message board, but generally do not comment. I saw this post last night and I was still angry so I chose not to respond until I had some cool down time. Although new to Tennesee, I have been or was a player, coach, referee or fan for many years. I think what my team and I experienced last night addresses all of the issues in the original post. What was on display was everything that is wrong with a youth athletic event, The fans behavior was reprehensible with insults flying towards me and my players for most of the nights. The thuggery, taunting, and obscenities that my players and I were forced to endure from the opposing players was despicable. My goalkeeper was kicked in the head while he was down covering a ball, there were three or four incidents where he came of his line to cover a ball and be on the receiving end of late two-footed slides. Studs up and two-footed slide tackles were common practice. Coming in late above the ball and from behind also was a common tactic. F****** P****** seemed to be the insult of choice directed towards my players. Finally, one of their players was yellow-carded for the name calling and shoving. Two of their other players received yellow cards for foul play. All of this in the second half when the game was out of control. We received our first cards of the year last night, two deserved, one not deserved. Early in the game one of my players received a yellow for foul langusge after an opponent came through the back of his legs. The other deserved yellow came in the final two minutes of the game when my player retaliated after the other team scored the tying goal on a goa. The goal should have been disallowed for another two footed slide on the goalkeeper who clearly had possession (our photographer got a great shot of this foul). The point of this rant is that neither one of my players who deserved yellow cards were happy to see me after their cards. Thet got chewed out pretty good and knew the consequences they would be facing after the game. The game ends in draw and as we are shaking hands the opposing player who was carded for language and shoving goes offf again with the favorite insult standing a few feet from me. I call the opposing coach's attention to his players behavior and he pulls the player away all the while two of his teamates are insisting he did not say anything. What happened after that is I called my team together, lined them up on a touchline and had them run 40 yard sprints until they were ready to drop. This was the consequence that they knew they would be facing after the game for the yellow cards. After several sprints I told them again the importane of keeping their composure at all times, no matter what the other team is doing. I reminded them agan they are representing themselves, their school, their families, and their communty. We are to win with class and lose with class. Whether the opposing players were disciplined or not I do not know. I did not see or hear them bing disciplined, while I was there.

 

I know this is long, but as to berating the referees. I was very frustrated with the officiating. I was concerned for my players' safety. As a teacher and a coach, their safety is my responsibility. I have not had that much trouble with referees this season. Last night was the second time this season referee over-reacted to something I said and behaved inappropriately. As a former referee, we have a lot of power and we must exercise it in an appropriate manner. At no point could my players and I be clear on what was a foul and what was not a foul. The players were clearly not being protected. Near the end of the first half (after my goalkeeper had been kicked in the head), one of my players won what appeared to me to be a fair tackle. My player turns towards me with is hands out at his side. My repsonse was "I don't know, looked like a fair tackle to me, with what has gone on I am not sure what is a foul and what is not. " The referree runs across the field to get in my face to tell me that if I said one more thing he would throw me out and knowing I was the only coach and school representative on the trip, he asked me which player would be in charge of my team after he threw me out. I had said very little to the referees before this event. Who berated who in this situation? Is this an appropriate exercise of a referees' authority? I realize as I reread this post that I am still angry. I told my wife this story when I arrived home last night. Her response was, "I wiish you didn't do this anymore" I have been involved with the game in some capacity for almost 40 years. For this very reason, I have seen many of my friends and colleagues with much to contribute walk away from the game. As much as I love the sport, at the end of the day it is only a game.

[coachof3]

Good or bad the actions of the coach often sets the tone for his or her players and the fans. As a young coach I often found myself fussing about and commenting on every foul good or bad-then one match the center ref comes over to me gives me a yellow card and says "coach you know your players are watching" that along with good meds has brought me along way /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[blankguy]

I know the idea is to keep everybody in the game fans included.. Since the fans pay the admission they get to have a lot of say because face it if they don't then their money will go elsewhere.. (where the whole world of sports has gone/resulted to) The coach is under a lot of pressure to succeed with teams bc if they don't produce then the need to brush up their resume.

Now when a coach/player/ fan act up to the point of getting ejected/disqualified and the referee tries to take care of business then the official(s) get screamed at by the other parties that "they are to involved" or "its all about the referee" "the referee......" How do you handle that situation? I say just keep taking care of business and eventually one way of the other they will get the message...

Personally, I think people watch way to much tv and think they can act certain ways bc thats what they do on the bigger stage(s). But on those levels it's a whole different story because HS sports in focused on safety and SPORTSMANSHIP... I don't see much, if any, of that anymore... Just go watch a team that you don't have a dog in the fight and watch the fans/players/ coaches/ referees.. It's sad to see what some games have come down to..

I'm not getting into what happend in games or what referees have called for/against you.. I don't care...

But when an official disciplines a kid for something then the coach tells the official he's wrong then that sets something off in the player(s)....

[Whitey]

There are bad stories that could be told from both the perspective of a referee or a coach. I have called over 20 games this season and have only had one bad experience and that was last night. I was calling what I believed to be an even game but I had one team where the players and coaches were running their mouths about everything. Talking with them and giving them an opportunity to fix the problem themselves did not work. I went to the cards and one player was ejected, a coach was carded, and both coaches of that team were benched. We also had to eject one of their fans for threatening an assistant. All of this in a, believe it or not, Middle School game. Until last night, I had only given out one yellow card all season and that was to one of the players on this team I had trouble with last night in a previous game. Their former coach came over to me after the game and said he was embarassed by their behavior and told me that he thought that I handled myself and the situation well. It was a bad experience. Now, contrast that with the experience that I had with a High School game on Monday night that was match between two undefeated teams in their district. They played hard and agressive but there was no dirty play and both teams' players were respectful of the calls. It was a great game to call and I enjoyed the experience tremendously.

 

My point is this, the bad experiences I have had as a ref are few compared to all of the good experiences with a game that I love. I refuse to let those bad experiences drive me away from something I love and want to continue to participate in for as long as I am physically able. I have called about twenty games this season and only one of those has been a bad experience. If you have pictures of some of the calls as you suggest, then I encourage you to post those on this web site so we can observe them for instructional purposes. Thanks and keep playing hard.

[soccrfan]

I have been following the message board, but generally do not comment. I saw this post last night and I was still angry so I chose not to respond until I had some cool down time. Although new to Tennesee, I have been or was a player, coach, referee or fan for many years. I think what my team and I experienced last night addresses all of the issues in the original post. What was on display was everything that is wrong with a youth athletic event, The fans behavior was reprehensible with insults flying towards me and my players for most of the nights. The thuggery, taunting, and obscenities that my players and I were forced to endure from the opposing players was despicable. My goalkeeper was kicked in the head while he was down covering a ball, there were three or four incidents where he came of his line to cover a ball and be on the receiving end of late two-footed slides. Studs up and two-footed slide tackles were common practice. Coming in late above the ball and from behind also was a common tactic. F****** P****** seemed to be the insult of choice directed towards my players. Finally, one of their players was yellow-carded for the name calling and shoving. Two of their other players received yellow cards for foul play. All of this in the second half when the game was out of control. We received our first cards of the year last night, two deserved, one not deserved. Early in the game one of my players received a yellow for foul langusge after an opponent came through the back of his legs. The other deserved yellow came in the final two minutes of the game when my player retaliated after the other team scored the tying goal on a goa. The goal should have been disallowed for another two footed slide on the goalkeeper who clearly had possession (our photographer got a great shot of this foul). The point of this rant is that neither one of my players who deserved yellow cards were happy to see me after their cards. Thet got chewed out pretty good and knew the consequences they would be facing after the game. The game ends in draw and as we are shaking hands the opposing player who was carded for language and shoving goes offf again with the favorite insult standing a few feet from me. I call the opposing coach's attention to his players behavior and he pulls the player away all the while two of his teamates are insisting he did not say anything. What happened after that is I called my team together, lined them up on a touchline and had them run 40 yard sprints until they were ready to drop. This was the consequence that they knew they would be facing after the game for the yellow cards. After several sprints I told them again the importane of keeping their composure at all times, no matter what the other team is doing. I reminded them agan they are representing themselves, their school, their families, and their communty. We are to win with class and lose with class. Whether the opposing players were disciplined or not I do not know. I did not see or hear them bing disciplined, while I was there.

 

I know this is long, but as to berating the referees. I was very frustrated with the officiating. I was concerned for my players' safety. As a teacher and a coach, their safety is my responsibility. I have not had that much trouble with referees this season. Last night was the second time this season referee over-reacted to something I said and behaved inappropriately. As a former referee, we have a lot of power and we must exercise it in an appropriate manner. At no point could my players and I be clear on what was a foul and what was not a foul. The players were clearly not being protected. Near the end of the first half (after my goalkeeper had been kicked in the head), one of my players won what appeared to me to be a fair tackle. My player turns towards me with is hands out at his side. My repsonse was "I don't know, looked like a fair tackle to me, with what has gone on I am not sure what is a foul and what is not. " The referree runs across the field to get in my face to tell me that if I said one more thing he would throw me out and knowing I was the only coach and school representative on the trip, he asked me which player would be in charge of my team after he threw me out. I had said very little to the referees before this event. Who berated who in this situation? Is this an appropriate exercise of a referees' authority? I realize as I reread this post that I am still angry. I told my wife this story when I arrived home last night. Her response was, "I wiish you didn't do this anymore" I have been involved with the game in some capacity for almost 40 years. For this very reason, I have seen many of my friends and colleagues with much to contribute walk away from the game. As much as I love the sport, at the end of the day it is only a game.

 

Coach, good for you for providing the proper discipline to your players. Doing so on a consistent basis communicates to them your expectations. They, their parents, the referees, and ultimately even the other teams will eventually respect you and your team for it. As you know, at the end of the day the only behaviors you can influence are those of your players and yourself. While frustrating as heck, there's nothing you can do about the fans/parents, referees, or the other team & coaches. Managing your player's expectations is key (advising them bad calls will be made, referee's are human and they too are trying their best, etc) and doing your absolute best to be a professional on a consistent basis with those you have control over is not only the Right Thing To Do but is an important life lesson to your players who look up to you. This is only soccer and not nearly as important as developing young men.