What would I do?

    On February 11 of this year I received a note from “GPB” suggesting that I write positive stuff as well as “rampant criticisms”.  Fair comment, I suppose, except that I did set up this site to describe, comment on, and hope for changes in our referee program.  Inevitably, the prose is critical, occasionally sarcastic, but is devoted to “the integrity of soccer”, which I believe can be preserved only by good refereeing. 

    But the reader’s comment forced me to think about what I would do if I were a force in the administration of the national program.  I would do three things, all of which fall under the purview of the national referee committee and the staff who administer the program…

   

    • Restore the integrity of national testing, by eliminating cheating, failures and favoritism, and end the secrecy in selection of referees for MLS and for the international panels.

    • Modernize and professionalize instruction, training and guidance for national referees, national assessors and national instructors.

    • Eliminate conflicts of interest in the administration of referees and player-discipline in MLS, and also conflicts of interest in administration of referees and leagues elsewhere around the country.

    Over the next week or so, I will address each of those topics in more detail, in the hope that somewhere there will be readers who are prepared to act to restore and preserve the integrity of the beautiful game.  These three topics are not useless pipe-dreams of the intoxicated, but realistic measures to improve the game and its refereeing.

Comments

[GBL]

I look forward to reading them!

[uthamm]

I would also like to hear any comments you might have about the dichotomy of the refereeing program - the majority of referees do youth games, yet the majority of the direction and requirements are geared towards 'higher-end' referees; uniforms being an excellent issue. Seems hard to require a 'weekend-warrior' who DOES care about the game to lay out $500+ just for 'official' jerseys. Does Chicago care about the rest of us?

[Kevin]

I'm interested in your thoughts on uthamm's comments.

There's a flow of cash from the grade 08's to Chicago and then the instruction is centered on the 06's and higher. Chicago's approach seems to be a "trickle-down" approach to education. An alternative position would be to think that "a rising tide lifts all boats" and hope that quality instruction to the 08's will provide a solid foundation for those that wish to progress further.

You've addressed bench control at the professional level but it's at the youth level that coaches harm the referee program. How would you approach a challenge that affects the the vast majority of referees and doesn't impact the chosen few in any major way?

When was the last time you assessed, formally or informally, someone wanting to become a grade 07? What are you looking for?

Different states have different requirements for upgrade and maintaining grade. I know of one state that allows high school games. Other states charge fees in excess of the amount mandated from Chicago and there's no transperancy or accountability for those funds. How would you improve the current structure?

I'm not asking this in a critical fashion but rather as someone who has, in his 10 years refereeing, seen a few instructional models at the state level and frankly, none of them are effective at reaching the grade 08's.

If every grade 08 was told to read "For the Good of the Game" they'd learn something but that's not a practical solution.

[md20/20]

I second Kevin's comments regarding the commitment to the grade 8 referee.

As youth club administrators we frequently find ourselves at odds with the referee hierarchy over a number of issues.

The pressure is on us to recruit new candidates. However, there's little help for those newly-minted 8s and 9s once they get their badge, and retention is a big problem. Local associations are willing to provide mentoring, assessment and other continuing education to assist in both improving retention and performance, but there's no funding for it from USSF or the state - and every one of those potential mentors could be working as many assignments as he could handle, so it's not fair to expect them to work for us for free. However, there's plenty of funding for state referees to work US Development Academy games as professional development.

On the player development side of the house, we know that one way to get a better outcome at the top of the pyramid is to make sure the base is very broad. If we focus all our efforts on elite players, pretty soon we won't have any elite players because our pipeline will be dry.

It seems that the exact opposite approach is being taken toward refereeing. We are focusing on improving the elite referee while ignoring the needs and desires of the broad base of the pyramid. What are we doing to fill the pipeline with energetic individuals who will become the future state and national referees?

How would you address that?

[RefTech]

I think what GPB may have been asking for is posts that highlight the referees who do support the integrity of the game. Take Baldemero Toledo's send off in the 6th minute of his MLS game this weekend for a studs up, over the ball tackle. Surely he upheld TLOTG just as you've been begging MLS referees to do. A post on this would be positive.

[Jeff Forward]

Hip Hip Hooray for Baldomero. No offense, but why do we need to give a referee a congratulatory sucker for doing what he or she is supposed to do?
However, I will point out that in all my assessments from Mr. Evans, he always thought psychologically that I was seeking affirmation for my good deeds on the field.
Maybe it's just being human?
Either way, good job Baldo.

[Jeff Forward]

I also think one thing Bob could help with is the psychological angle of refereeing. It is huge and can affect how you perform on the field, no doubt. I think it is one area definitely neglected in referee training in the USA.
My worst game was likely one on the day after I'd had a huge argument with someone important in my life. My mind just wasn't as in tune to the game as it should have been, and my consistency was off a bit. However, I did pass the assessment.
I believe in my career, I went from seeking positive reaction from my performances to just not caring about whether or not someone notices. If you do a good job on the field, you know it immediately. If not, you also know it. We all are our own toughest critics - or at least those referees who want to get better are. Who cares about the positive? We need assessors to focus on what we do wrong in order to get better.
JF