Question Number: 16195

Character, Attitude and Control 8/2/2007

RE: Recreational Under 15

Jenny of , Pa USA asks...

If your team is playing a team that has the sponsors on the sidelines and the refs are confering with them and then you play that team minutes later and that team has hand balls not called and offsides and other 'offenses' not called,
in this situation what is your suggestion, everytime we turn around we are getting penalized, but they get nothing-Parents are seeing it, on both sides and they have a 17 y.o. 6'4" player that is never out and runs people over-never gets called and we try to get around him and get called for pushing-(they are the ones pushing), they trip us and they get the ball, I do not mean to sound like a 'crybaby' but it is plain as day-have asked for other refs, they refuse us, people yell- Hand ball- they ignore it. In a situation like this small town, he has a construction business in town, the wife is a screamer, can I go higher to the Soccer Association in PA, like in Harrisburg, or just let our kids get trampled, bruised and lose and not do anything? any suggestions would be great, and please do say to talk to that coach cause she got all up in my face last year because of this very thing. Thanks Jenny

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Jenny. Taking into consideration that you and your parents are NOT objective observers of the game, I can make a few comments. First, it's bad form for any referee to be talking in a friendly manner to one side and not the other. This sets him/her up for exactly the kind of criticism you make. Second, I wouldn't bother talking to the other coach. I would first go to the League referee assignor and ask him/her to please have this referee crew assessed. Feel free to list specific complaints but avoid saying things like "my players are being trampled" or "there were handballs all over the place". Be succinct and to the point and deal in sprecifics. Third, if you get nowhere with your assignor go to your League's Board and also to the State Director of Instruction (SDI) for referees in Harrisburg. Fourth, never, ever expect a referee to respond to parents and coaches yelling "handball". Almost no parent understands what deliberately handling the ball means and far too few coaches understand this either. Most referees will simply ignore you but I can tell you that when I start hearing a coach yell "handball" that coach has only showed me his/her ignorance. I KNOW what deliberately handling the ball means. I also understand offside and likewise when I hear offside (though usually it's offsideS) being yelled I'm usually dealing with parents/coaches that don't understand this concept either. Of course, sometimes I am stuck with an AR that doesn't understand offside but that is very rare especially at higher level games. Yelling at the referee or the AR can only make things worse. Hope this helps

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

You must have evidence to substantiate your complaint. Video is the best form of evidence. Film from a high location with the sun at the cameras back. Don't zoom in and out. Use a tripod. The camera operator MUST not talk at all. Present this evidence to the league.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Having been the referee commissioner for a large youth soccer association, I've had to deal with many complaints along the lines of the ones you gave above. Referee Fleischer above gives excellent advice, because a video is unbiased evidence. Otherwise, it is always a he said/she said situation, even if you are 100% telling the truth. I would recommend a couple of courses of action. One, get in touch with your state youth referee administrator, if you have one, or your state referee administrator and find out what you need to do to file a complaint or get an assessment performed. Two, make the complaint in writing. I would never deal with a complaint until I got it in writing. Three, include the league and the state youth soccer association in your correspondence. Four, find out what the association or league rules are regarding referee certifications required and find out who the assignor is and call them with your concerns. If nothing else, you can verify whether the referee is certified or not. Definitely go to the soccer association, but be prepared with information, as noted above.

Answer provided by Referee Nathan Lacy

Very good advice given above. Let me add that anything you put in your letter should clearly delineate what are "points of fact" as opposed to "your opinion." I find that people who readily admit that they are sharing their own and very likely biased opinion are much more credible. That having been said, don't take that as license to rant and rave about the ref and what an idiot they were, etc. etc. etc. Remain professional and courteous. When you connect a point of fact such as the refs talking with the sponsors with your subsequent observations which are corroborated with video footage you will find that your complaint takes on greater impact. All the best,

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

An aside to the answers above. I have been the referee brought before the state board of directors for alleged conduct not becoming a US Soccer referee. 13 Parents and 2 coaches filed what they considered to be a valid complaint[s]. In the end I was the one with video evidence, I was the one that acted correctly, in accordance with the Law and I was the one found not to be at fault. Careful when going after a referee, some of us are really good at what we do and take a very dim view of those "more knowledgeable" parents having a go at us.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Debbie Hoelscher

I'm gonna throw in my own two cents....

I usually ignore parents who yell out "hand ball." I usually ignore spectators and coaches who think they can referee better sitting in a low beach chair, under the shade of a tree with a tall cool one keeping their throats wet. I've seen a coach that I happen to know from the past and said a friendly hello to them. Asked how they were, etc. That's it. Just because I happen to have had a personal knowledge from a past experience of a coach, go over and say hello, nice to see you again, hope all is well with you....etc and I don't go and say the same to the other coach, whom I wouldn't know from Eve, doesn't make me a bias referee.

There is no way to know what really went on in that match you are describing. Because you are just as biased as you are claiming the referee to be. It is just as possible for that referee to actually have known what they were doing and everyone else in the crowd didn't have a clue. I heard a spectator at a tournament a few years back complain to the referee administrator for the tournament about a referee. It seems that this referee wasn't calling any "handballs" or "fouls" and missing a lot of "offsides." She further complained that he wasn't even a certified referee because he had a funny looking white badge....hmmmm....