A&H

Can I? Should I get involved?

Ade Willoughby

Ade Willoughby

Adeboy
Hello fellow referees.
I wanted to share a situation and get your views of what is the best course of action.

I attended one of my sons U14's matches as physio for his team, I was approached by the young ref, who I knew, who said the opposition manager had just asked him how old he was and should he be refereeing this game. Also, throughout the match his comments from the sideline were very intimidating for the ref.

As a ref myself, and an advisor to young referees, I wasn't sure if I should have had a word as I was "off duty". I did ask the ref, after the game, if he wanted me to put a report in to the league but he said no.

My questions are, should I have spoken to the manager, as an older more experienced official, about his comments and his conduct? Should I get involved if this happens again?

What do you guys think?
 
The Referee Store
"advisor to young referees....." do you mean mentor? Or is this a self appointed role that you have given yourself?

How old was the ref? How experienced? Presumably he did nothing about the managers comments?

You could possibly have had a quiet word but then if that manager kicks off at you, you have just given the referee another situation to deal with........probably the better way to deal with it would be an email to the League's Welfare officer, copied to their appointments officers and the RDO.
 
Padfoot said:
"advisor to young referees....." do you mean mentor? Or is this a self appointed role that you have given yourself?

How old was the ref? How experienced? Presumably he did nothing about the managers comments?

You could possibly have had a quiet word but then if that manager kicks off at you, you have just given the referee another situation to deal with........probably the better way to deal with it would be an email to the League's Welfare officer, copied to their appointments officers and the RDO.
Click to expand...

The ref was 15years old.

Down here in Sussex we have a scheme where more experienced ref's are appointed to matches as advisors to younger ref's so no, not self-appointed.

He was too scared to say anything to the manager as he was quite new to the game.
 
Not really a lot you can do, other than encourage the referee to report it. I don't see a problem with the coach asking the referee how old he was before the game, but the comments from the sidelines sound more of an issue.
 
You say it was the oppositions's manager. The correct course of action would have been to report him to the home team's manager, who should then have spoken with his counterpart. One trick to dealing with parents / spectators / coaches / managers at youth football is to remember that often, the most mature people on or around that football field are the players themselves. Treat the mob like children in adult skins, and bin them where necessary (but again, via the home manager).
 
Report the manager and support the referee and encourage him to report the manager. If he doesn't then next week, the next young fella will get the same abuse. If the young fella was so scared and felt so intimidated then he really needs to lt the appropriate authorities know so they can deal with the manager.
 
Without wishing to sound critical, if this situation arises again, you need to decide what your role is in the matter. Are you the home team's physio or a neutral, mentoring/coaching a young referee? Whichever way you choice, will affect how you are perceived by the opposition and how easily you can assist the official.
Either way, you will have witnessed a young official being put in a difficult situation by another adult and you should act accordingly. Report it and if the lad is 15, it's child welfare issue, too. In the end that should be the overriding factor in this example.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top