Question Number: 32072

Other 12/1/2017

RE: Competitive Under 15

Aaron Speca of Virginia Beach, VA United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 32070

No question really, I just wanted to say thank you for not only your ongoing advice on calls, but also on the little coaching tips you sometimes include with the reactions on the refereeing. For example, in this particular question my son was the blue defender, so now I can use the video with your comments to help him improve his defending. Thanks for helping me be a better fan and helping my kids be better players!

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Aaron,
I still hold out hope that you will come over to the dark side and become one of us. There is much to be enjoyed being the b¥%@&# in black! lol I think your excellent attitude and the creative way in which you direct your energies into your kids only reinforces the ideas or comments we make on the situations provided be it educational to promotes fair play or offer technical advice or skills not only for the refereeing aspect but player support and overall enjoyment.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Aaron
Thanks for your comments.
A lesson I learned a very long time ago is that the game is never about the refereeing really other than the teams know the Laws. When a team wins it has played well and when it play poorly it draws or loses. I have won and lost many times including nationals and when I look back I cannot say that it was ever due to the refereeing and I can assure you the refereeing was no different then than it is now with a varying mixture of abilities.
Yeah we complain about this or that call, a penalty given / not given, an offside call, a missed foul yet the better teams on the day most times always come out on top. There are many things that a team cannot control such as the weather, the pitch the opponents and the refereeing yet they have complete control over tactics, fitness, skill development, winning the ball, team work, effort, creating and scoring goals etc.
Case in point is where Northern Ireland feel aggreived at a penalty call in the first leg of its WC game v Switzerland as the reason they lost the tie yet ignore the fact that they had 36% of the ball at home in that game with 5 shots at goal with none on target compared to 16 by the visitors. In the second game they played much better getting it up to 48% with 12 shots at goal to their opponents 18 attempts at goal and 52 %. So over 180 minutes of football the team had 17 attempts on goal as against 34 by their opponents some 50% less.
While it is unfortunate that the focus was on one decision, the game is about much much more than that.