PLD and Refereeing

I know I will probably getted slammed for this post but is it too much to ask to have refs that can keep up with the pace of the game? Today we had a middle and AR that clearly were out of shape trying to keep up with a very competitive U16 Boys Gold game. At the end it came down to a PK call (yes we were on the wrong end of the call) but it was made by a middle who was trailing the play by at least 30 yards and an AR that was out of position by 15 at least 15 yards. How can you possible make a call from behind the play? If the kids are going to work there tails off in this kind of heat the refs should have the ability to keep up with the game. There are a ton of great refs in the metroplex but it is frustrating to get guys that are clearly out of shape trying to keep up with the game.

Yes its too much to ask. If he made the call from 30, then it would have only been easier for him at 10.

love_your_refs wrote:Yes its too much to ask. If he made the call from 30, then it would have only been easier for him at 10.

The lack of quality officiating at this tournament is meant to make you appreciate the quality of the officiating when league play starts next week!

Well then I am really looking forward to next week. Quality so far has been very sketchy.

rvpformvp wrote:Well then I am really looking forward to next week. Quality so far has been very sketchy.

Sad is the "S" word that I was thinking of...although I would think there are others...Can you say grade 9?

love_your_refs wrote:Yes its too much to ask. If he made the call from 30, then it would have only been easier for him at 10.

Yes, stupid fouls are easy to see from just about any angle, and usually result in a deserved PK.

To the great ones that have yellow jerseys and blow whistles, you sucked today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. OMG

Agreed a stupid foul is easy to call from any viewpoint on the pitch. When it is shoulder to shoulder and both middle and AR are out of position, they should not determine the outcome (yes we where on the losing end) If the pace of the game is faster than you, then find guys who can keep up. Both the middle and the AR were out of shape. It is not fair to both teams who worked their tails off to have the outcome decided by two guys who failed to get in the right position to make the call. It will be no different than next weekend whem the NFL takes the field with guys who cannot keep up with the pace of the game. If you are getting paid to do a job, then you should be able to keep pace.

I will add when the player extends his arms like Greg Louganis it is rather obvious they have spent a great deal of time watching way too much pro soccer on TV. But in fairness to him, great job of selling the foul

I guess we are lucky so far. Both games we had so far the refs were consistent and didn't make any terrible calls.

hoosier41 wrote:Agreed a stupid foul is easy to call from any viewpoint on the pitch. When it is shoulder to shoulder and both middle and AR are out of position, they should not determine the outcome (yes we where on the losing end) If the pace of the game is faster than you, then find guys who can keep up. Both the middle and the AR were out of shape. It is not fair to both teams who worked their tails off to have the outcome decided by two guys who failed to get in the right position to make the call. It will be no different than next weekend whem the NFL takes the field with guys who cannot keep up with the pace of the game. If you are getting paid to do a job, then you should be able to keep pace.

Its just one game, result doesn't even mean much when 8 of 12 teams get through to knockout round. Maybe they are saving better refs for the playoffs.

hoosier41 wrote:I know I will probably getted slammed for this post but is it too much to ask to have refs that can keep up with the pace of the game? Today we had a middle and AR that clearly were out of shape trying to keep up with a very competitive U16 Boys Gold game. At the end it came down to a PK call (yes we were on the wrong end of the call) but it was made by a middle who was trailing the play by at least 30 yards and an AR that was out of position by 15 at least 15 yards. How can you possible make a call from behind the play? If the kids are going to work there tails off in this kind of heat the refs should have the ability to keep up with the game. There are a ton of great refs in the metroplex but it is frustrating to get guys that are clearly out of shape trying to keep up with the game.

Honestly, it is not too much to ask. I'm a fellow referee and hearing stories like this is why I keep my fitness up. I ran a half marathon in August as part of my fitness regiment. This is disheartening to people like me who stay in shape and constantly practice to hone our skills. That said, this is a HUGE tournament with over 600 teams. There are several out of town referees that are brought in to help with the officiating and there are many very good referees. What you describe is obviously a YHTBT scenario, but on a break away play I can see a center being 30 yards away and still getting it "correct". There is NO excuse for an AR to be that far from 2LD.

And yes, I have one of the finals on Monday.

hoosier41 wrote:Agreed a stupid foul is easy to call from any viewpoint on the pitch. When it is shoulder to shoulder and both middle and AR are out of position, they should not determine the outcome (yes we where on the losing end) If the pace of the game is faster than you, then find guys who can keep up. Both the middle and the AR were out of shape. It is not fair to both teams who worked their tails off to have the outcome decided by two guys who failed to get in the right position to make the call. It will be no different than next weekend whem the NFL takes the field with guys who cannot keep up with the pace of the game. If you are getting paid to do a job, then you should be able to keep pace.

Except that the NFL guys are making hundreds of dollars (or even thousands ??) and your AR probably made $20. I know you and others say it does not matter, do it right or quit. But their is also a saying that you get what you pay for. The problem is too many good ones quit. They tire of not knowing their weekend schedules until mid-week everyweek. They tire of the sideline know it alls. Their heart is no longer in it and they quit. I have a 20 yearold who is/was a very good AR. Gave it up out of disgust over parental sideline behavior.

I just hope since your have no hesitation to come on here and slam a poor crew that you are just as quick to the end line at the end of a game to thank a good one.

U16 and you have not gotten used to tournament reffing yet?

my2cents wrote:

hoosier41 wrote:Agreed a stupid foul is easy to call from any viewpoint on the pitch. When it is shoulder to shoulder and both middle and AR are out of position, they should not determine the outcome (yes we where on the losing end) If the pace of the game is faster than you, then find guys who can keep up. Both the middle and the AR were out of shape. It is not fair to both teams who worked their tails off to have the outcome decided by two guys who failed to get in the right position to make the call. It will be no different than next weekend whem the NFL takes the field with guys who cannot keep up with the pace of the game. If you are getting paid to do a job, then you should be able to keep pace.

Except that the NFL guys are making hundreds of dollars (or even thousands ??) and your AR probably made $20. I know you and others say it does not matter, do it right or quit. But their is also a saying that you get what you pay for. The problem is too many good ones quit. They tire of not knowing their weekend schedules until mid-week everyweek. They tire of the sideline know it alls. Their heart is no longer in it and they quit. I have a 20 yearold who is/was a very good AR. Gave it up out of disgust over parental sideline behavior.

I just hope since your have no hesitation to come on here and slam a poor crew that you are just as quick to the end line at the end of a game to thank a good one.

U16 and you have not gotten used to tournament reffing yet?

This rarely/never happens. Even on games were the CR "nails it".

soccerman771 wrote:

my2cents wrote:

hoosier41 wrote:Agreed a stupid foul is easy to call from any viewpoint on the pitch. When it is shoulder to shoulder and both middle and AR are out of position, they should not determine the outcome (yes we where on the losing end) If the pace of the game is faster than you, then find guys who can keep up. Both the middle and the AR were out of shape. It is not fair to both teams who worked their tails off to have the outcome decided by two guys who failed to get in the right position to make the call. It will be no different than next weekend whem the NFL takes the field with guys who cannot keep up with the pace of the game. If you are getting paid to do a job, then you should be able to keep pace.

Except that the NFL guys are making hundreds of dollars (or even thousands ??) and your AR probably made $20. I know you and others say it does not matter, do it right or quit. But their is also a saying that you get what you pay for. The problem is too many good ones quit. They tire of not knowing their weekend schedules until mid-week everyweek. They tire of the sideline know it alls. Their heart is no longer in it and they quit. I have a 20 yearold who is/was a very good AR. Gave it up out of disgust over parental sideline behavior.

I just hope since your have no hesitation to come on here and slam a poor crew that you are just as quick to the end line at the end of a game to thank a good one.

U16 and you have not gotten used to tournament reffing yet?

This rarely/never happens. Even on games were the CR "nails it".

Not never. I do it EVERY time a center nails it. I can tell by the look on some faces that it is, unfortunately, very rare.

Just like the previous poster, I am quick to let the refs know when they have done a good job. I have been at this soccer thing for over 8 years and most of the time they work their tails off and do a good job. It just seems this weekend we are getting stuck with guys who are not fit and cannot keep up with the pace of pay. I know it is a thankless job but you would think if you sign up for the job you should at least be able to keep up with the game. And yes fortunatly we moved on as a wildcard so yesterdays call did not harm us too bad.

Sorry to all of you whiners for your losses in the tourney. Better play and a better team and winning miraculously makes the officiating better.

Dont believe there was any whinning. We had officials earlier today that once again failed to keep pace with the game. We won 2-0 so winning did not make them any better. The point of my post is as folows. If you are going to step on the pitch you better be in shape to keep up with the action around you. If your too out of shape to put yourself in the proper position to make the call, you should not be on the pitch.

I agree. It's that simple. Some games, I'm more worried about the AR's health than the players.

hoosier41 wrote:
Dont believe there was any whinning. We had officials earlier today that once again failed to keep pace with the game. We won 2-0 so winning did not make them any better. The point of my post is as folows. If you are going to step on the pitch you better be in shape to keep up with the action around you. If your too out of shape to put yourself in the proper position to make the call, you should not be on the pitch.

Be realistic-do you think the refs requested a game that they knew it was hard to keep up with? Maybe that was their 3rd game in the heat that day. The refs do the best job that they can for not much money. Quit griping and become a referee yourself.

9 am game so not a likely excuse. I would agree with a previous post that there is genuine concern on the sideline for the health of the AR and middle at certain times.

Ok-maybe he had a hangover

Goooal!!! wrote:Sorry to all of you whiners for your losses in the tourney. Better play and a better team and winning miraculously makes the officiating better.

For the second year in a row we have won our games and would also claim that the officiating was piss poor.

what's the count on how many games were played this weekend? I don't have the number but it has to be huge. Let's just say that the pool of refs had to match and that is going to mean that some games had refs below the standard we are used to. I'm sure all of the out of town teams didn't bring top ref crews along to even things out.

funny thing about the referee "deciding" the outcome of a game in the final minute. usually there are 59-89 OTHER minutes in a game where the players decide the outcome by scoring goals, causing fouls, missing passes, making saves, and doing that thing that's generally called soccer. hope you bash your own kid for the 12 times he turned over the ball in that game also, since the just one of those turnovers could've most definitely "decided" the outcome of the game if it was successful.

nobody seems to ever post about that though....wonder why? maybe it's easier to blame someone else. aw forget, of course its easier to blame someone else.