Consistency?

[Staggie]

Okay I know all refs are different but man this year it seems every game the refs interpret the rules differently. So example. Several games ago we foul a player and my player gets up moves about four yards away from the ball and isnt in any hurry to move any farther. The ref runs in and gives him a yellow( was never warned or told to move back). The ref tells me its an automatic yellow if you dont clear out immediately. Okay fine so the next game, the other team fouled and a player sets up camp about four yards away from the ball and..nothing..the ref tells him to move..he moves a couple of yards, the ref tells him to move some more and after about 10 seconds we finally play the ball. I tell the ref what the previous ref had said about automatic yellow and he says the other ref was wrong..okay.. so we play again, we get fouled , the player sets up camp about 5 yards away from the ball and just sits there blocking our cross in as its deep in their territory. I mention this is a delay as the player is not moving and this ref informs me the player can stay there unless we ask the ref for 10 yards...so basically if you dont ask according to this ref the player never has to move. And the refs wonder why coaches get mad on the sideline when they dont even enforce basic rules the same. At this point I decided to ask every ref before the game what they consider offsides(oh god I dont want to even start on this one as wow are they inconsistent when some players are on and others off) and what they enforce on fouls and 10 yard buffer. Silly to have to ask a ref what they think the rule is as shouldnt the rules just be the rules and some wierd interpretation from game to game Anyone else having similar issues?

[BigG]

It's called encroachment (don't know if I spelled it right, however). It is a yellow card offense IF the ref chooses to call it. A player must give 10 yards. It is enforced about as well as obstruction is. 50-50 chance of it being called correctly.

[Staggie]

It's called encroachment (don't know if I spelled it right, however). It is a yellow card offense IF the ref chooses to call it. A player must give 10 yards. It is enforced about as well as obstruction is. 50-50 chance of it being called correctly.

 

 

Ah who worries about spelling Maybe 50-50 where you are,not here. Oh gosh I forgot about obstruction, definately another one that rarely is called.

[BigG]

Yeah, after I posted, I though "hmmmmm.... 50-50 might be quite generous".

[Canesoverhere]

Okay I know all refs are different but man this year it seems every game the refs interpret the rules differently..... And the refs wonder why coaches get mad on the sideline when they dont even enforce basic rules the same. At this point I decided to ask every ref before the game what they consider offsides(oh god I dont want to even start on this one as wow are they inconsistent when some players are on and others off) and what they enforce on fouls and 10 yard buffer. Silly to have to ask a ref what they think the rule is as shouldnt the rules just be the rules and some wierd interpretation from game to game Anyone else having similar issues?

 

This and 487 other rules of the game. No two refs call the same rule the same way and it also varies from one half of the game to the other. In Hockey or Football, your either off-sides or your not...there is no interpretation. At this point I have come to the conclusion that soccer refs are football, basketball, etc refs that have failed miserably and have found a happy home...HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER.

[DragonSoc]

The only thing you can hope for is consistency within one particular game. If you can get that, consider yourself lucky.

 

There are good referees and bad referees. Unfortunately the boom of youth soccer and the money paid to ref games at various levels has caused an influx of people looking to make easy money.

 

When my son was eligible to get certified, he took the class, passed the test and got his uniform. His soccer playing schedule prevented him from ever really making much money at refereeing, but during a club state league game he was playing in, the AR was a gentleman that was in my son's certification class. According to my son, he scored lower than he did on the test a few weeks earlier. He blew several offsides calls against both teams. At least he was consistent!

 

Already in High School play this year we have witnessed games where physical play was allowed during the first half and the second was filled with whistles and yellow cards. Not to mention a wrongly assessed "cleats up" call, eh Canes?

 

We also had an incident where an opposing player told the ref to "go f*** yourself". After the flow of play the ref returned pulled out a red card, hesitated and showed the yellow instead. Our captain said as he walked by, "He tells you to "f" off and you just give him a yellow?" (OK, probably not the proper sentence structure or tone to address the ref, but he is 17 years old!) The ref turns and gives our captain a yellow. Both players could be construed as being disrespectful or dissenting, but there is clearly a difference and in most levels of play, the armband affords you inquiry with the ref and the captain in question has played at high club and ODP levels.

 

I realize refs are human but at least stay consistent within the game. They aren't going to see everything or call everything the way we want, but they can strive to be consistent at their calls and no calls.

[IHSkeeper]

The only thing you can hope for is consistency within one particular game. If you can get that, consider yourself lucky.

 

There are good referees and bad referees. Unfortunately the boom of youth soccer and the money paid to ref games at various levels has caused an influx of people looking to make easy money.

 

When my son was eligible to get certified, he took the class, passed the test and got his uniform. His soccer playing schedule prevented him from ever really making much money at refereeing, but during a club state league game he was playing in, the AR was a gentleman that was in my son's certification class. According to my son, he scored lower than he did on the test a few weeks earlier. He blew several offsides calls against both teams. At least he was consistent!

 

Already in High School play this year we have witnessed games where physical play was allowed during the first half and the second was filled with whistles and yellow cards. Not to mention a wrongly assessed "cleats up" call, eh Canes?

 

We also had an incident where an opposing player told the ref to "go f*** yourself". After the flow of play the ref returned pulled out a red card, hesitated and showed the yellow instead. Our captain said as he walked by, "He tells you to "f" off and you just give him a yellow?" (OK, probably not the proper sentence structure or tone to address the ref, but he is 17 years old!) The ref turns and gives our captain a yellow. Both players could be construed as being disrespectful or dissenting, but there is clearly a difference and in most levels of play, the armband affords you inquiry with the ref and the captain in question has played at high club and ODP levels.

 

I realize refs are human but at least stay consistent within the game. They aren't going to see everything or call everything the way we want, but they can strive to be consistent at their calls and no calls.

I have to totally agree, while I am a 15 almost 16 year old ref, this is actually almost comical. Being a ref has actually helped me GREATLY. A couple of times, for example, there was a shot that rang of the post and their forward was standing in an offsides position and scores. I look over at the AR and am shouting offsides and he stood there curiously and then i "explain" or yell at the ref the rule and then he finally puts his flag up. Similar situations with over and back calls. Or how bout a ref that if you say good call he gives you a yellow!? And it WASN'T sarcastic. High School Soccer refs are for the most part ridiculous, we have had one good crew this year i believe. ODP refs are sooooooo much better.

[DeKalbsCoachK]

wow, I can't believe this post has been allowed to stay on the boards. Anyway, here's a great one we had recently. Offside called on a corner kick on the first touch, so I yell to the ref that a player can't be offside on a corner kick and he says "oh, I'm sorry" and gives a redo. Or, the ref that cussed me out at a preseason game (for arguing a call that he than called) later gives a straight red to my player who cussed himself after missing a shot? That being said, it is a good thing that we have refs or we couldn't play at all.

[BigG]

Yeah, been pretty busy today.

 

I think (as coach said) we need to be thankful that we have refs at all. It is a thankless job, and in my opinion, doesn't pay enough to endure the criticism that it gets. My suggestion is that if you want to complain about refs, try doing it yourself. I did it in college and HATED it. Not excusing poor reffing, but in order to get better, we need knowledgeable people doing the reffing. So please contact your local ref coordinator if you are available.