Question Number: 21220

Character, Attitude and Control 4/28/2009

RE: Competitive Under 12

Aubrey Waddell of Maryville, TN USA asks...

A few days ago I was refereeing a U12 boys competitive game in a tournament. The tournament was using Laws of the Game and the usual USSF adjustments for youth soccer. With the score 2-1 in favor of the white team and nine minutes into the second half, a blue team player with the ball attacked the left side of the white penalty area. A white defender made a fair challenge for the ball in the penalty area, the two players collided shoulder to shoulder, and both went down. I was only ten yards behind the two players and had a great angle on their collision and fall. I was not going to assess a foul on either player. The ball was now sitting a couple of feet from the grounded white player, who reached out with one hand, grabbed the ball, and pulled it into his body. I whistled for deliberately handling the ball and pointed to the penalty spot. The white coach, located in his technical area completely across the field and in the opposite half, went ballistic and would not stop yelling about how bad the call was. I told the players to stand fast, calmly walked over to the coach, and asked him to be quiet. I tried to explain the call to him but he would not listen, preferring instead to continually protest that I had called a contact foul on his player, which of course I did not do. I asked him a second time to be quiet, and he stopped talking for a few seconds. I turned to go manage the penalty kick and the coach starting yelling again in protest of the call. I asked him a third time to please be quiet, and finally he stopped protesting the call long enough for the penalty kick to be taken. Blue player made the kick to tie the match at 2-2. About a minute later, when my duties placed me within 15 yards of the same coach and a stoppage occurred, the coach loudly yelled words to the effect of 'that's OK, Bobby (his player), we'll work hard and overcome the referee's stupid call.' I blew my whistle, walked over to the coach, and informed him that he was now being warned to be quiet. He said I had no right to give the warning, because he was talking to his player. I calmly told him that I knew exactly who he was talking to and that he was under warning. The coach remained quiet for the rest of the game, which ended in the same 2-2 score. My ARs and I met in the middle of the field to fill out the scorecard. The same coach appoached me, loudly criticized the call and my ability to referee in general, ended with a loud 'You're pathetic!' and walked away. I walked over to the coach and calmly told him he was ejected from the match, as he was still under warning. I did not engage in any further conversations with the coach and I went to the tournament referee supervisor and wrote a complete report on the incident.

Would anyone have handled any of this differently? I do not take lightly the ejection of a coach and take no joy in it, but I also take seriously the rules of conduct that the players, coaches, and myself as referee have to follow for the good of the game. Since he was the team's only coach, my actions might have even resulted in his team missing a game, and his team was very well-behaved.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

It seems to me you gave the coach several warnings prior to the penalty kick. When he still dissented after the kick and you 'officially warned' him, I might have sent him packing then.

You are correct to take the dismissal of a coach seriously. If that causes the game to be abandoned or the next game missed (because there is no certified adult present), perhaps the parents of those children will tell the club they need a new coach.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Encouraging dissent and disrespect is of course the fool's folly who forget that innuendo and pretending what is, is not, has no bearing on the acceptable limits of reasonable behavior! A coach can mouth off here and there in frustration but venom and nasty sarcasm under the guise of information interjected with appalling regularity cannot go unanswered!

As a grouchy and occasionally deaf old fart I have the ability to screen out the screeching of the squawkers when it is prudent to do so. I also react with grizzlier bear precision when these same creatures go on the attack. The amount of slack one cuts these garbage mouths is dependant on you alone and the overall temperament of the match. There are many ways to deal with loud or obnoxious people first and foremost avoid them and ignore when it is prudent to do so. If you must confront, it is in the strength of you character and intelligence that will determine if you are able to interject, humor, or sooth ruffled feathers or unfortunately unwisely egg on an already irritating person.

Whether one is or is not a good competent referee, coaches must realize there are ways to address situations not to their liking without publicly criticizing, inciting and other wise doing their level best to complicate an already perceived bad situation!

Effective monitoring, assessing, training, mentoring etc.. are contingent to the accountability of the league or tournament organizers themselves. TO eviscerate a coach you better be damn capable as a referee. If we are inept or perceived as inept at what we do those who choose not to remain quiet use our words and actions against us. Most reasonable coaches can forgive an inexperienced referee if they see effort but too often those watching feel the referee must be perfect initially and then steadily improve! Hardly realistic!

Recognizing that it is a sad moment when we feel OBLIGATED to resort to expulsion of a coach. You are correct it has a profound effect! Our ego and personal stake in these matters must be SET ASIDE for the good of the game and the players themselves. In a recent answer to an AR question, gutted by a referee decision to not do the right thing, we commented on how difficult it can be to take the high road and not do what we COULD just because we can. In cases where the coach feels ever so big in signing off one more parting shot over the bow of the referee it is one of the reasons referees are not to hang about after matches. Sad is it not when the need to direct vileness is so strong that it overrides the a noble reasons many of us choose to coach or referee or do most anything can quickly deteriorate into the cess pool of humanities worst traits!

Unless the coach is physical or a foul mouthed rant wave them off and remove yourself. The match is over, what is there to gain? That said if the coach decides to pursue and engage using insults it is not inconceivable that being plain fed up with the nonsense we oblige his request to be cited for what he is a horses ass!


It is a very bad idea to engage a coach in explanation of a call during a match. You need to get the restart on and get the game moving to change the focus if at all possible!

-You could briefly inform;
'Deliberate handling inside the penalty area PK!
-You selectively choose to ignore disagreement;
Passion and emotional venting is part of the deal squawk away!!
IF it goes to ranting?
First-You ask;
Please sir you are entitled to disagree but let's stop this now
IF it continues?
2nd -You tell;
Desist and remain quiet you have an obligation to be reasonable or you will be sanctioned
IF diarrhea of the mouth continues?
-You now warn,
You have issues, then record and report them to the authorities. I asked you politely, and then I told you! Consider yourself on notice as being warned. Failure to immediately comply or a reoccurrence results in expulsion. The ball SIR is now in your court! What would YOU like to do?
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You ask for an opinion. There is no 'right' answer but had I been in your shoes, this coach would have been long gone before the end of the match. You don't have to give any coach an official 'warning'. When you first told him to be quiet, that was a warning as were the several other times you told him enough. I can understand your allowing him to vent in the heat of the moment but when he later insulted you when you were near his bench, that should have been more than enough. Here's what I would have done when I walked over to the coach after you called for a penalty kick: I would have said 'Coach, if you keep your voice down you have 30 seconds to talk to me.' After the 30 seconds I would have told him that I had not blown the whistle for contact, the ball was still in play, and his player had deliberately handled the ball inside his penalty area and we were not discussing this any more.' As soon as he said anything else, if he did, I would then have said, 'that's enough. One more word and you will get to watch from the parking lot.' I also take the dismissal of coaches seriously. I have found the 30 second technique (which was taught me by a State Referee here in Georgia) has been so useful that I rarely have to dismiss a coach. But...if you allow a coach to continue to rant and rave as this one did, he not only brings the game into disrepute but he gets a pass and considers his actions as being ok and will do so the next game, and the one after that and so on until someone puts an end to it.