A&H

Arguing and abuse

1

1862_man

New Member
Hi all,

I've just finished my basic refereeing course, and have just today finished my second match (an U15, the first being an U18 ). Today I felt I refereed really quite well, kept tight control of a rather ugly match in horrid conditions, however it seemed that after every time I blew my whistle I'd have some loudmouth having a go. Whilst I am not naive enough to think that I'll go the whole game without a whisper, I do wonder, as a gauge, how much abuse/arguing you can expect in an average fixture. I've never played park football myself, having never been very good that's part of the reason I took up refereeing instead, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Matt
 
The Referee Store
Matt,

To be honest it is down to your own tolerance level and how much you think you can take. The only tips I could give you is to have a word with the manager about the back chat or just pick one player and give him a public talking to so everyone has an idea why you have called the player over and the players will know were they stand.
If that does not work then just caution one of the players and make it clear that is for dissent by doing the talking hand movement.

Or just offer them your whistle that always works! :)
 
if a 14 yr old thought it wise to be abusive to me, it would be a very loud warning with player and captain and if there s any foul language involved and directed at me only one result - off he goes!! - and he can go and explain to his parents why he was sent off
 
Have a quiet word the first time, have a word with the Captain after that. "Captain, I'm getting tired of the backchat from your lads, help me out please before I go to my pocket".

If that doesn't work, card them, making it beyond any doubt what the card is for, and that should settle it.

In terms of tolerance level, very often, I think it's the player frustrated at himself rather than at you, and as a player I can understand it. If it's a 'Come on Ref what for?' or 'How does that work Ref?' then I usually answer "You stuck your leg out and he tripped over it" or whatever it was I saw.

It's when it tips into anger directed AT YOU that the you should consider carding someone.

If I get a particularly gobby team, the Captain gets a quiet word early on and that usually settles things a bit. If it's the Captain getting gobby, then I may card him earlier as an example.
 
well last week I spoke to a captain warned him twice so 3rd time I cautioned him then I had to caution a player today for persistent infringement
 
Youll soon get a feel for your tolerance level. In my experience U15's and U16's tend to be worse for backchat etc, one of the reasons i tried to avoid youth football like the plague :D

Welcome to the site by the way :D
 
Its all down to your own tolerance level , Personally a loud strong public word usually works, but some players just don't take a hint so its then a card, at them age groups i wouldn't include the captain as it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference as most don't have the maturity to take advise there captain or the captain hasn't got a strong enough personality to make a differences.
 
I warn players before the game that I have little tolerance for dissent. I ask the captains assistance at the coin toss and if they are stupid enough to throw some dissent my way early on I take the Hitchcock approach and make an early example if necessary. A stitch in tine saves nine. Last week I heard a team shout during the match when one of their players was working his jaw a little "don't talk back to him, you know what he is like".

Make the laws of the game work for you! I would add that this is adult games and I would be toning it down for younger age groups.
 
I always tells captains at the start of the game you know your players better than I do. Get to them before I do. that seems to work. I prefer to give them a bollocking before YC. that way when the YC comes out there is no surprise.

I think I have my 1st assessment on Saturday and maybe one a week later on u18 game
 
I personally have only done U15 games and lower age groups up until now - Being a young referee myself. I find that the kids who are playing are much more tolerant when someone of a similar age is refereeing them, although I still have to use the cards every now and then to remind them. I like to think I have a quite high tolerance level (you get used to it, especially from parents) but sometimes when players are on your back after every decision, it can get frustrating, and that's when I usually look to pick out the worst offender and publicly show the yellow card for all to see - Speak loud and firm, the rest will know to keep it shut.
 
evan be carefull that approach with the cards that can easy inflare the situation even more
 
Thanks for the replies guys, very helpful and looking forwards to trying your suggestions.

ref craig said:
evan be carefull that approach with the cards that can easy inflare the situation even more
Click to expand...

Could you expand? I would've thought that a card would have a very positive effect on a gobby U15, especially when he has to explain to his parents that it was because he wouldn't shut up! (obviously speaking from my very limited experience)
 
ref craig said:
evan be carefull that approach with the cards that can easy inflare the situation even more
Click to expand...

Usually it's met with a moan from the sidelines (probably the gobby kids' parent who knows he's now got a fine), but usually, in most instances (at least for me) it's settled things down and resulted in a calm atmosphere.
 
Every referee has thier own level of dissent or foul language. However it is very difficult to be consistant with your approach if you accept it all then dish out a card.
At the same time if you caution for the first person who says something to you then you may find that either you will not finish the match or you could end up with almost everyone cautioned, or worse being attacked or chased from the field, although this doesnt happen very often, but still too often.

I would suggested the stepped apporach to deal with dissent.

1st offence - quite word in passing something like, hey player im human, i give what i see so please dont give me dissent.
2nd offence - Public word so everyone can see it, and tell him/her that you will not accept dissent and that this is your 2nd and final warning, and that should he/she continue you will caution for dissent.
3rd offence - Caution the player as warned.

If he/she gets that far then they can only blame themselfs.

You must remain constaint in dealing with it as if you caution one player and then allow another to pass the 3rd stage you are leaving yourself open for more dissent by not dealing with it.

Also the stepped approach sits well with assessors.
 
SteveAustinRef said:
You must remain constaint in dealing with it as if you caution one player and then allow another to pass the 3rd stage you are leaving yourself open for more dissent by not dealing with it.

Also the stepped approach sits well with assessors.
Click to expand...

In USSF and AYSO here in the states, we refer to it as the "ladder of control." The recommended escalation is represented as a rung on the ladder.

Step 1: It begins with non-verbal warning (a stern look, a shake of the head, that sort of thing)
Step 2: You ask for the player to comply (making sure you get confirmed assent, such as "yes" or "Ok, sir" that sort of thing)
Step 3: You tell the player to comply ("Further complaints will lead to a caution for dissent, do you understand?")
Step 4: You caution the player
Step 5: You send off the player
Step 6: You suspend the match (usually this is only if more than one player loses control)
Step 7: You abandon the match (only in the worst case scenario - all control is lost, pitch invasion, physical violence, that sort of thing)

Cheers.
 
biffnix said:
In USSF and AYSO here in the states, we refer to it as the "ladder of control." The recommended escalation is represented as a rung on the ladder.

Step 1: It begins with non-verbal warning (a stern look, a shake of the head, that sort of thing)
Step 2: You ask for the player to comply (making sure you get confirmed assent, such as "yes" or "Ok, sir" that sort of thing)
Step 3: You tell the player to comply ("Further complaints will lead to a caution for dissent, do you understand?")
Step 4: You caution the player
Step 5: You send off the player
Step 6: You suspend the match (usually this is only if more than one player loses control)
Step 7: You abandon the match (only in the worst case scenario - all control is lost, pitch invasion, physical violence, that sort of thing)

Cheers.
Click to expand...

This works best for me too.
 
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