Thoughts on Irate Soccer Moms and the Shortcomings of the Two-Man System

As usual, it’s been a busy week for me on the pitch and what I’m about to discuss may have more relevance to you than the upcoming World Cup. It concerns your kids, their participation in contact sports, and your understanding of the rules.

To begin with, referees are not biased, parents are. So when you’re on the sidelines cheering your kid on and see something that you believe is a foul, but the referee doesn’t, please remember, the referee has no stake in the outcome of the match. Therefore, I would encourage you to try to think objectively for a moment (if that’s possible). Ask yourself, ‘was my child really fouled or was I just hoping to get a favorable decision?’.

Look, while I can certainly empathize with parents who want their children to win, they need to remember that it really isn’t about winning or losing. It really is how you play the game. And that includes learning to accept a referee’s decision, even when you think he’s wrong or know for certain that a mistake has been made. (Yes, we really do make mistakes. I admit it. But these rarely translate into the wrong team winning the match.)

Also remember this, kids pay attention to their parents believe it or not. And when they see and hear you going ballistic at an official, they incorrectly assume that this is acceptable behavior. It is not, and YOU should be serving as a proper role model for them in this regard.

The other night I officiated a well-played, hard fought U12 boys match that had its fair share of physical play, but nothing extraordinary in light of the fact that these were a couple of Premier level teams. The game never got out of hand although I did caution one kid for a careless, reckless late challenge. But other than that, it was just a typical game between two groups of skilled young footballers.

A couple of Soccer Moms from the losing team, however, were under the misconception that I “lost control” of the game as they stated in their referee evaluations. But trust me Moms, if I can’t control a bunch of pre-teens then I have no business wearing a USSF badge.

Now, I don’t mean to say that there are no circumstances whereby you shouldn’t feel justified to complain about a lazy or incompetent referee, but learn when to pick your battles. However, most of the time, what you perceive as an injustice might simply be caused by your own bias as a Soccer Mom. So try to take it easy on the refs. We’re underpaid, underappreciated and are simply doing our best to make sure that your kids have a fun, fair, and safe experience on the pitch.

Turning now to my second topic, the Two-Man or Dual system of refereeing. To the soccer purist, this method is an abomination to the game and should become a thing of the past. I touched on it a while back when I wrote about the fact that the idea was being floated about by FIFA (or was it UEFA?) to add a second referee to the three-man crew. It’s doubtful whether or not this would have any real meaningful effect on top-level matches, but it would undoubtedly create a situation where the two center officials might disagree as to what they saw.

However, since I will never referee at that level and most of you and your kids will not be there either, I’m primarily talking about local club and high school soccer where the dual system is often employed. Now, having refereed hundreds of games by myself, I will argue that this is often far preferable to a two-man system (assuming the solo ref has a firm understanding of the rules, people management skills, and good fitness…which all referees should have anyway).

The supposed benefit of a two-man system is that the refs will each be able to watch for offside at their own end and also determine when the ball is in and out of play along the touchline and goal-line closest to them. The drawback as I see it, however, is that neither is necessarily positioned to properly make critical calls for fouls in many instances. And I would ask you this as a parent, player, coach, or fan – would you rather that referees be better positioned to call fouls or to call offside and in-or-out of play? I would argue the former.

As we all know, ins or outs have a way of balancing themselves out in the end and have very little value with respect to the safety of the players. Sure the lone official might get this wrong many times during a ninety minute game, but I ask you ‘how critically will this affect the final outcome?’.

And regarding offside, it’s the same to a certain extent. Sure mistakes will be made, but who’s to say they wouldn’t be made with a two or even three-man system? And how often does a blown offside call (with two or three refs) lead to a goal that wasn’t deserved or potential goal incorrectly denied by a whistle or a flag? The answer – far more often than it should.

Setting aside the proposition that perhaps it’s time to permanently do away with the offside rule (a discussion for another day) – thus opening up the game and perhaps increasing scoring much to the delight of players and fans alike – I would argue that a quality solo official can do a better job controlling a match and spotting important fouls than if you doubled his presence. I know it sounds a little counterintuitive, but take it from one who’s been involved in hundreds of games as a lone official and also as a partner in a two-man system – the solo system is superior when it comes to the safety of the players.

I’d be curious to know what you think.

That’s this week’s view from the middle.

Until next time….

peace,
ac