Opinion on Young Refs: too much coddling, not enough learning

BLUF!!!: I am a referee in the US and Canada (soccer! ), so my opinion on refereeing culture in the UK, EU, ANZAC, etc is uneducated, just as a forewarn.

TLDR: I firmly believe that there is a serious epidemic of what I like to call "referee coddling", in which far too much emphasis is placed on reassuring new and inexperienced refs on things like self-confidence and referee abuse, rather than practical skills and application of the laws.

Though this sounds good in theory, it has come at a cost that these emotional factors are now being taught to new refs at a greater emphasis than the actual LoAF, to a point where that newer referee knowledge is hindered due to the already limited time, funding, and resources being pushed to stopping a phenomenon that cannot be stopped, rather than minimizing it's occurrences it in the first place through consistent LoAF learning and practical application.

Allow me to explain my opinion more coherently: a ref taught only about their authority will consistently underperform, and as a result, incur far more abuse than a referee actually taught the laws AND how to practically apply them. It harkens to the popular quote that "referees must be confidently wrong", which I think is a fallacy. What actually happens is that newer grassroots referees end up being unconfidently unsure of their decisions instead. Neither confidently wrong or right! Unsure of what they actually called being right or wrong! And this is what spectators and coaches pick up on: weakness from ignorance.

Now it should go without saying that referee abuse is obviously a problem, there is no argument there. But the hugs and cuddles approach just simply isn't working (and hasn't been working for many years) at the grassroots because, simply put, people want to win, no matter how miniscule the stakes. If more time was spent hammering real practical knowledge of the game into referees heads, confidence will automatically be instilled and follow, and newer referees would have less mind games and pressure in their heads when they know they've made a correct call, OR resolved to themselves:

"Yeah, I gave the wrong call, but I know what the right call should've been (or it was an impossible call for me to make no matter what I did), and I'll tempo the game accordingly because I am confident in my knowledge of the laws and limits of refereeing. I'm not unsure or second-guessing because I'm getting abuse from the stands—I know the laws and my limitations and as a result I am still in control of the field."

It takes a special kind of crazy for people to become career referees anyways (especially the ones who mumble/talk to themselves to follow the game! ), so maybe more focus on the game (which is sorely lacking in my area...) and less about the anti-bullying campaigns is warranted.

There's so much I haven't covered so please share your experiences on how your FAs take an approach to protecting (or not protecting...) their referees, I am eager to learn.

Moderator note: The position set out in this post is provocative. Challenge it by all means, but be careful not to stray into personal attacks on the poster.

Has anyone said "snowflakes" yet?

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Contrarian observation:

If more time was spent hammering real practical knowledge of the game into referees heads, confidence will automatically be instilled and follow

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This is one of the frequent criticisms of the FA CORE programme in England at least. Referees know the law and where to be and how to signal, but are critiqued as automatons, robotic and lacking “understanding” of the game.

I’m not sure I recognise the “coddling” argument, and wonder if it stems from the School of Hard Knocks philosophy and what I see as the logical fallacy of it - that “it didn’t do me any harm”. Maybe not, but did it do you any good? Is there a better way? And if we don’t try, how will we ever know?

I like these sorts of debates in case you couldn’t tell.

I'll be honest, I agree (to an extent, not fully) with the OP. I qualified just under 3 years ago at 15, but still looked about 11 which obviously also didn't do me any favours.

In my 5th game (youth level), I totally lost control, had abuse coming from all directions and almost called it a day. All of it was my fault! I lost control because I didn't really understand how to "read" the game, and I did make a couple of decisions that were probably debatable, but were the decisions that would make my life easier (or so I thought). The abuse then just made it worse because I started doubting every decision I made and the final whistle couldn't come fast enough. After the game, I reported everything, didn't hear back from the County FA, spoke with my local RA chair and basically got told to deal with it and move on. That, to be honest, was exactly what I think I needed to hear.

As I moved on and started developing more skills, I started performing better and towards the end of the season actually did the same fixture as the said 5th game in a league cup semi-final, with no issues. (2 years later and that appointment still surprises me because if there had been more issues it would have been extremely avoidable)

Over time, I've started to develop the skill of adapting my style to what suits games the best, and that's also improved my "understanding" of the game. Some officials do lack this at first, as I did, and maybe a bit less coddling would be helpful. Equally though, I think the true reason new, inexperienced referees are protected so much is because ultimately some of them are going to be the future of refereeing. Surely the last thing the game needs is referees quitting because of the opposite scenario - too little protection?

Gabriel said:

Equally though, I think the true reason new, inexperienced referees are protected so much is because ultimately some of them are going to be the future of refereeing. Surely the last thing the game needs is referees quitting because of the opposite scenario - too little protection?

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I basically hold the opposite view; the future referee of the UEFA final would not be discouraged in the first place.

And yes, that viewpoint does reek of bias based on my experiences, but I was absolutely astonished with how little actual training I needed to undergo to achieve my level of certification with how little I was actually taught about the game—I learned more about refereeing from this forum in an day than I did at week's session with the FA! Again I can't speak for certain but I believe this sentiment is probably shared with other refs as well.

I think what young referees need to hear upfront is the true reality of what they will face, not the policies or fines the FA will enforce after the fact. What good is raising the fines for OFFINABUS offenses or other deterrents if the referee quits beforehand? Raise it as much as you want, some idiot will eventually be dumb enough to pay it anyways and someone else will yell again at the next unprepared young ref.

New referees, IN FA TRAININGS, need to be briefed exactly the truth of the extent of abuse, both verbal and physical, that they may face, AND prepared for it. Something being not okay won't negate it happening to you in the moment. The field CANNOT be the first time a new referee is yelled at—it's insanity sending new refs to OA games when some of them are so young to have never been scolded in their lives before. Things like this need to be simulated or at least explained with real weight and brevity in controlled environments as apart of certification. The "shock and awe" and unpreparedness to survive the abuse that does occur is what makes most new referees quit.

There's no FA or RA on the field, so even if they could help you (which they hardly do to begin with), new refs need to be adequately taught to survive the impact of the moment first, before they can giggle while writing their incident reports later.

Just to clarify, @LCCE, have you first hand experience of the current method of training new referees in England?
The answer would help those of us in a position to respond constructively.
Thanks in advance.

Just touching on one point briefly mentioned.

I get involved with the mentoring of new/young refs at the local pro club’s academy… and am often taken aback at two things:

a) no awareness of how/what officials do or act, have they never watched ANY football?

b) complete lack of independent thought or initiative to do/say/move/lead.

That said I MDC’d a 6-5 candidate a fortnight ago who didn’t bring a whistle.

Interesting.

I deliver FA Referee training in England for regular football (but more predominantly Walking Football) The course content (apart from differences in law) is very much the same. As you can imagine the audience for the two different learning events differs massively, the regular course predominantly the young and very young but the WF Course far more mature candidates.

The regular course can be a very tough gig for the course deliverers compared to the WF course. Life experiences seem to provide a huge difference in how candidates respond to the learning events. This brings me to believe that the welfare/support content of the course is massively important especially for the younger candidates.

The laws of the game(s) still feature heavily in the learning events but the time constraints mean it would be impossible to get down into the weeds of all the laws and provide full and thorough guidance for every aspect of application.

Perhaps what is more important to address is the post course support at games, the mentoring and later coaching support availability?

There’s an interest exercise during the event that usually has knowledge of the laws as the most important attribute for a referee to have. I often ask how they would feel playing in a match with a referee who has encyclopaedic knowledge of law but no skills of communication, alertness and awareness, fitness etc etc. It generates good discussions.

Hilly1618 said:

Perhaps what is more important to address is the post course support at games, the mentoring and later coaching support availability?

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Again this comes down to what has previously been mentioned on this forum - the lack of referees offering their services in that regard. Whilst I've been out injured this season, I've been going down to the local academy every now and then where possible to help out with some of the new refs on their first few games and give some advice. If everyone did that literally 3 times a season it would make a huge difference.

ChasObserverRefDeveloper said:

Just to clarify, @LCCE, have you first hand experience of the current method of training new referees in England?
The answer would help those of us in a position to respond constructively.
Thanks in advance.

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No experience in England & the UK, but interestingly I have some limited knowledge from Ireland and France.

From my home FAs in the US & Canada, something that is consistently hammered in as a principle, especially to young refs, is that we are entering a profession. For a lot of kids this is the first real job that they will have. And when it comes to jobs, and how you could very loosely describe refereeing as a "service industry", perfection and continued training comes expected, but not necessarily provided.

High expectations, but very little continued learning opportunities, and the baseline entry-level education itself is sorely lacking. From what I've seen, this creates a streamline of unprepared young refs who aren't taught to grasp the real 'seriousness' of refereeing.

Hilly1618 said:

Perhaps what is more important to address is the post course support at games, the mentoring and later coaching support availability?

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This is a huge observation to make, because this would've sorely helped me when I was starting out; I had no idea things like mentorship or observation was even available to me or how to have gotten it! Wasn't mentioned at all when I underwent certification or advancement. Just a lot of pacer tests instead

LCCE said:

No experience in England & the UK, but interestingly I have some limited knowledge from Ireland and France.

From my home FAs in the US & Canada, something that is consistently hammered in as a principle, especially to young refs, is that we are entering a profession. For a lot of kids this is the first real job that they will have. And when it comes to jobs, and how you could very loosely describe refereeing as a "service industry", perfection and continued training comes expected, but not necessarily provided.

High expectations, but very little continued learning opportunities, and the baseline entry-level education itself is sorely lacking. From what I've seen, this creates a streamline of unprepared young refs who aren't taught to grasp the real 'seriousness' of refereeing.

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To update your knowledge of the method used in England, this is the current process:
1) The applicant registers online, and is given access to a 5-section Laws of the Game online training programme. At each stage, an exam completes the section, and only after 100% is achieved can the next stage be started. Any score below that leads the applicant back to reconsider and correct.
The majority of the questions are around the more important laws and interpretation.
2) Once the above is completed, the applicant advises their County FA that they are ready to attend a course.
The course is typically held over two days, and combines classroom and practical work.
In most counties, a starter pack of flags, whistle, record cards and holder is provided.
Whilst we do base everything in the course on the Laws, the course is designed to look at the practicalities of refereeing at youth and open age levels. We cover abuse from coaches or parents, communication issues, the issuing of warnings/cards, the need to revise the LOTG regularly (e. g. via the Q&A on the IFAB site) and the support available to address mental and/or physical pressures.
Tutors receive CPD regularly, together with any course updates. The FA send observers to courses to assist with developing best practices and ensuring that standards are maintained.
3) On completion of the course, the Referees Association kindly offer free membership for the first season, and the County FA will provide mentor support in early games (if available - as recently covered in this forum)
Law changes are advised to officials before the start of each season.
The newly qualified referees can choose to go into mini soccer, youth football and/or open age football (depending on their age)
Hope that helps?