repercussions?

[healthydog]

What does a ref need to do in order for repercussions to be inforced on him or her?

[Deleted]

Great question. The apparent answer is.....nothing!

[saintsfan316]

You realize people are beating down the doors to become referees? So sanctioning them for a "poor" performance doesnt make much sense. But realistically it would take striking a player/coach or behaving extremely unprofessionally.

[dulac]

SRABR demands our referees act professionally. If they dishonor the badge, there are sanctions. If you feel a ref has not acted accordingly, instead of posting on here, contact their assignor and/or organization's president.

[chelsea007]

I think by in-large referees do a good job. They aren't going to be millionaires off of it so the love of the game does come into play. Out of 15 matches this year, only in three did the refs have off nights. One center that had a poor night actually apologized for it the next time I saw him. I told him that I appreciated his honesty and not to worry about it that he was a good referee (and he is). I also told him there have been times where my decisions as a coach have cost the squad. Still, it showed a lot of class and character for him to do this. FWIW, his "off night" didn't cost us the match. That being said, however, I feel we need some recourse. In short order, the assignor should be a liaison between coaches and referees. I don't know if that is always the case but it really should be the case. I know in basketball, refs are graded after every game by both coaches. Generally it gives the assignor a grade to work with. I also feel very strongly that the assignor should attend matches to "eyeball" the gents reffing the match. In the event that you feel a referee has behaved in an unprofessional behavior, first contact the assignor. If that fails, get your schools admin involved. Lastly, contact the LHSAA. As a last resort, a LHSAA investigation can be set up for an officials lack of professionalism. In short, I may voice my displeasure, but these guys are human. Cut them some slack. As statd earlier, they generally do a good job. In an extreme scenario though, go through due process to attempt to resolve any issues. If needed, get your admin involved. As a last resort, get the LHSAA involved. I hope this helped.

[Steven Gerrard]

Good post. Do refs make mistakes? Absolutely. They are just like everyone else on the field, and also the coaches and parents. And, remember, as fans, parents or coaches, we do not see things through and objective eye. There are countless times when I think that the ref has done a good job and when I walk over to the parents I hear comments that "the ref was terrible." But, it was not true. Did we get every single call that we thought we should get? No, but neither did the other team. And, prehaps what we thought was a foul wasn't.

Yes, there are recourses. If a parent thinks that the ref was terrible, tell your child's coach. If he agrees, he can always file a complaint with the assignor. Trust me, the assignor wants that feedback. If a ref is truly terrible, then things need to be done, and the assignor is going to be the first person to agree.

[futbolislife]

Let me add my 2 cents here. As a former coach, I wanted the top referees on my games every time. And so does every coach. I understand it. The last thing any coach wants OR DESERVES is for the referee to determine the outcome of the game because of a mistake. Now here I talk about not knowing the laws. Different issue than judgment. In any game, the referee, players, coaches and spectators will all have a different opinion of foul or fair. It is very difficult to question a referee on judgment. But on matters of fact, that is different. I believe there is no excuse for this.

But will we get top referees on all of our games? The odds say no. In my estimation, only a small % of referees in our state constitute what I call an excellent referee. These are the folks who are constantly in pursuit of getting better, attending clinics, listening to higher level referees, traveling to tournaments, etc. Why wont they be on your game? Numbers. Too many games and not enough bodies. To further the problem, many of these men and women are doing so many games in the course of the week, they become mentally and physically fatigued. Our top coaches wouldn't dream of having their players play so many games in a day or week but our referees are expected to and perform consistently at a high level. It just cant be. Most work full time jobs and then spend countless hours running the pitch. It takes it's toll on the mind and body.
If someone has a complaint and wants to call the assignor or even go higher, then that certainly is an option. But I would just ask you to do one thing before doing that. Let 24 hours go by. Have the chance to calm down and re-evaluate your thoughts and position. When you do that, the complaint will be more thought through and meaningful and will be less emotional. And then it potentially carries much more weight than a heat of the moment complaint. I can tell you that I give more credibility to the calm, cool and collected vs. the rambling, screaming and emotional complaint.