Question Number: 20812

League Specific 2/5/2009

RE: Div. I High school Under 18

James of Fresno, CA USA asks...

How long do home refs have to show up before a game is considered a forfeit?
Case: JV Game was to start at 3:00, refs not there by 3:15, game was considered forfeit by home team. Varsity Game was to start at 5:00, refs did not show up until 5:25 and game was started at 5:30. Should this have been a forfeit by home team?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

According to High School Rules the officials shall be in uniform at the site of the game no less than 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. The coin is tosses at least 5 minutes before the scheduled start time.

I don't know much about the Fresno area but where I am in California we pretty much follow US Soccer guidelines as to arrival times and that is 30 minutes before the match. Should one of the match officials show up late he'll have some serious explaining to the disciplinary committee in the near future. We, referees, are rather intolerant of tardiness and believe no match should start late because of the referee crew. What is acceptable in Fresno is beyond my comprehension.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

If all of the refs didn't show up until well after the posted start time, I would expect there was a glitch in the scheduling somewhere. One ref is late - understandable, but not very professional. The whole crew?

It's hard to know what must have happened - did the coach forget to send in the schedule and/or any changes? That happens a lot - I was the HS assignor for many years. If that is the case, the assignor may have been scrambling at the last minute to pull together a crew - not an easy or always successful task.

And some, okay - most, chapters of HS officials are chronically short of referees. So, if someone calls in sick, gets sent out of town on business at the last minute, or has another emergency, there may not be anyone to cover a game. Assignors work very hard to make sure games are covered and that any glitches are reported to the teams and/or fixed ASAP.

It's not a perfect world, and it may not be the fault of the referees at all that they were there past starting times. Depending on how the scheduling is done, the referees may have received incorrect or incomplete information, which often changes after verification. On the other hand, sometimes the refs screw up and are late, but not usually all of them.

As for forfeits, that will depend on your local HS coaching association and/or state youth athletics board and their rules & regs.

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

I don't understand why a team is punished for the referee's being late... The referees are supposed to be independent of the teams playing the game.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

If a league bylaw makes the home team responsible for starting on time because the TEAM is held responsible for the officials, I question the logic in such a proposal?? The officials MUST be neutral if this any kind of serious competition otherwise the coaches could each take a half and play out a recreational fun game if the results are not at stake.

I have on two occasions in my career, through accidents, missed a match I was scheduled to do because the match time I had marked in the calendar was incorrect. I was upset and late in the first one but the second one was a very disturbing event as one team had a wedding planned and time was taken to get to the match. The match was rescheduled I received a black mark but neither team was victimized by my error as in a forfeit only in wasting their time and inconvenience.

As stated several things can conspire to create misinformation or cause a delay. Punishing a team because the referees do not show seems harsh in any bylaw UNLESS the teams are themselves responsible for providing the officials.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Home refs? Referees should be appointed by independent assignors. If your JV league has a different procedure, then you would have to check your league rules for what happens if the procedure fails.

Our (USYS) regional select league assumes each club will contract with a certified assignor to get referee coverage at games. If the home club has not done that, it becomes another one of the reasons for rescheduling a game, similar to if a field is not suitable for play. The game is rescheduled at the visitors' site, but the original home team is responsible for referee fees. This is in the league rules.

I got called once by a coach, could I do a game? What time? 2:00. It was already past 2:00. The other team was willing to wait, rather than deal with a reschedule. We kicked off at about 2:20 as I recall.