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Junior/Youth something that has come back to me and is on my mind

Ryan

Ryan

THE REF
Level 7 Referee
I was refereeing Norwich city boys u10s at colney and something happened that i thought was OK but now im not so sure, i was running as Norwich was breaking and i here "get off me" coming from behind me, i take a glance back and 2 players were squaring up to each other and beginning to push each other- this was obviously going to turn into a fight so i blew my whistle and got in between them holding them apart(natural instinct) i told them i don't know how it started and i didn't want to know, i gave them the public warning of no more, any more and they would be subbed and made them shake hands.

is there anything i should of done differently as i got told never get in between players, but it was a natural instinct, they are 10 and im 15.

any advice please?
 
The Referee Store
The way I'd look at it is that you should stand back unless the players' safety is in danger or it could spiral out of control. However, if you get a 'mass brawl', the general way to deal with it is just to stand back and blow your whistle so players know that you're there and you can see what's going on. You don't want ugly scenes on a football pitch, and you were protecting the players from each other in any case.
 
Getting in between two players who are about to start fighting is fine -- but be careful, as it could lead to trouble. If any more than two players are involved, then back out and start observing and managing the situation. In your situation, what you did seemed to work, but I'd be pretty reluctant not to pull out the cards and caution them both for adopting an aggressive posture in order to send the message that you're not going to be letting that crap slide.
 
We are told not to give cards as they are u10s they say speak to the manager if you want them subbed
 
Why not pull the cards out. The are playing football - if they want to play they have to play by the LoTG and if they ending up fighting /adopting an aggressive attitude the YC
 
Be careful about any physical contact between you and young players. In these days of endless litigation, even with the best will in the world on your part, you are potentially putting yourself in to troubles path. I vaguely remember a school teacher ref doing this during a match (maybe it was a school match) and he got himself in quite serious trouble. Stand back, blow the whistle hard and only step in if there is no alternative.
 
I think at 10 years old, you were probably OK with stepping in between them - as a parent (and as a coach) with a child at that age and having coached that age, I would support any ref doing the same on the field for my kids.

As a ref, I would call the coach on to the field as soon as trouble was obvious - blow whistle, call "Coach Please!" pointing at both coaches and step between the two players keeping them apart until the coaches were on scene to separate them. The a quiet "Give them five minutes to cool-off please fellas" to them, sort the subs out and get on with the game.

There have been a number of discussions about age-appropriate refereeing on these forums, so I'm not goign to get drawn into another one, but we are told that up to u11s, we are 'there more as a coach than an official, so teach rather than punish unless it is a really serious offence'. So basically, unless it is VC we should keep cards in pockets.
 
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