The Ref Stop

U10s game yesterday

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spuddy1878

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This is next years age group so most of the kids still 8 years old.

Game with little fuss but with less than 60 seconds to go a boy is fouled, free kick given.

The boy gets up and throws two punches at the lad who fouled him.

I send the boy off.

I know 100% there is going to be a backlash from the team manager and on he marches as soon as i blow up.

Hes a kid, you cant be doing that blah blah blah.

I didnt getting involved in much of a debate with him as pretty pointless as he wasnt going to listen anyway.

What goes on in some peoples heads to think that throwing two punches at someone no matter what the age should not result in a red card.
 
The Ref Stop
I had U11 friendly last night, team a getting beat 4 0, the players then start to moan and dissent is creeping in, I ask who the captain is, trying to give him some responsibility which prompts the coach to then walk onto the field asking me what the problem is. Too many arseholes in junior football
 
Gamespoiler said:
I had U11 friendly last night, team a getting beat 4 0, the players then start to moan and dissent is creeping in, I ask who the captain is, trying to give him some responsibility which prompts the coach to then walk onto the field asking me what the problem is. Too many arseholes in junior football[/QUOTE]

Very true, sadly not in the minority.
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The other side of this is my wife was reffing an under 10 game recently and one lad gets tackled from behind which was an obvious and blatant foul. She gives the free kick, the boy who's was tackled gets up and right hooks the tackler full in the face and she issues the obligatory red card and was applauded by the supporters and management for her actions.
I am strongly of the opinion that it does not matter what age group the games are the laws of the game are the same and therefore any degree of leniency allows the thought to creep in that they can away with it and the offence repeated
 
I wanted to ask the "coach" but not worth getting into debate about which laws shall we abide by and which ones shall we disregard next time i have them.

Do we not have corners as "they're only kids"

Do we not have fouls as "they're only kids"

Get me a deckchair pal and il sit on the halfway line, no point dont it properly as "they're only kids"
 
A good referee applies all the laws in all games but also take into account the skill level and age group.

Most laws have left some wiggle room for interpretation. You use the wiggle room to match the level/age of the game. Anything outside that wiggle room is applied all the same no matter what game. I see VC's mentioned above as outside of any wiggle room and players should be sent off.

Delivery of a law application (body language, personality, process, etc.) also changes for different levels/age. For example any sanction to a 10 year old must be delivered in a more 'gentle' manner no matter what the offence.
 
one said:
A good referee applies all the laws in all games but also take into account the skill level and age group.

Most laws have left some wiggle room for interpretation. You use the wiggle room to match the level/age of the game. Anything outside that wiggle room is applied all the same no matter what game. I see VC's mentioned above as outside of any wiggle room and players should be sent off.

Delivery of a law application (body language, personality, process, etc.) also changes for different levels/age. For example any sanction to a 10 year old must be delivered in a more 'gentle' manner no matter what the offence.
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What page is that on @one I missed the memo? ☹️
 
Sheffields Finest said:
What page is that on @one I missed the memo? ☹️
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Depends which law really. Take law 12 for example. Sanctions are based on in the opinion of the referee and whether they deem a challenge to be careless, reckless or excessive force. ITOOR is where your wiggle room comes in. What is reckless from an adult may not necessarily be reckless for an u10. It might be, but it's not always. So age level can have an affect on our opinions I. E. Wiggle room. An adult acting with disregard to an opponents safety may be a child's acting without precaution.
As one said VC is perfectly and clearly described so does not have wiggle room. An act that is deliberately violent is a red card at any age level.
 
My point was wiggle room isn’t age specific in laws especially in VC but I appreciate your clarification ⚔️
 
This is why I have never, and will never do kids/junior football. I want to apply the LOTG as I’ve been taught and not have to have coaches moaning at me because their 10 year who has thrown punches is too young to be sent off. I can’t be bothered with it
 
At my tournament last weekend, a kid tripped/push an opponent to the floor as the ball was going out for a throw in. The kid on the floor was slightly hurt and I blew for a foul and told him that it was unnecessary etc (without being too strict, just firm and telling him why he was wrong). The player who fouled him pretty much threw a tantrum, shouting that he "didn't do anything wrong" and went to his mum who said "I know you didn't do anything wrong, don't worry about it". One of the problems with youth football is that when a player does something wrong, it's never their fault according to coaches and parents. I really don't enjoy reffing that age because most of the time, everything's your fault!
 
I am currently qualifying as a referee and I have also coached primary aged children for 4 seasons and will continue to do so.

I agree that there are problem coaches and parents out there. There is a lack of respect towards the referee from some coaches and parents which I think is a very poor example to the children and I hate to see.

I will say though that these coaches and parents are not the majority in my experience and there are some amazing people involved in youth football.

I think that youth football should be refereed according to the LOTG and would encourage every ref to do so. This is an important part of every players development.
 
one said:
Ok I'll bite. You've told us many times and quoted from players you refereed that you don't mind a good old hard tackle. You read the memo, you just don't remember it.
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Good hard tackles aren't always foul tackles, you know that surely??
 
Sheffields Finest said:
Good hard tackles aren't always foul tackles, you know that surely??
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What page is that on. I must have missed the memo. What I know is that if it's not careless, reckless or excessive force, it's not a foul tackles.

(EDIT: ignoring the fact that you removed the word 'old' which would have put the word 'good' in a totally different context)
 
one said:
What page is that on. I must have missed the memo. What I know is that if it's not careless, reckless or excessive force, it's not a foul tackles.

(EDIT: ignoring the fact that you removed the word 'old' which would have put the word 'good' in a totally different context)
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Well, in the opinion of this referee they were neither careless, reckless or used excessive force therefore I generally liked to keep a game flowing whenever possible. It seems as the game has developed recently they newer breed seem to want to be more involved than maybe we did back in the day! In 500+ game I don't recall any broken bones so they certainly knew where the line was with me and what crossed the line.

I do recall 4-5 RCs for the preying mantis type sludge tackles that were dismissed (generally to the shock of most players) from the FOP.... I was the Mike Dean of local football!!
 
Now we are getting closer to an agreement. Not questioning your refereeing style. Just pointing out that you make a decision (form an opinion) based on what's in front of you. Refer to @JamesL 's post on how opinion could change with age or skill level. There are even multiple examples in the laws of the game where the laws can be different for youth.
 
Sheffields Finest said:
The OP referred to VC, there is NO latitude there for me, don't care what age they are.
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Same here. It was made clear in my post.

I was challenging the idea of "you referee kids game the same as adult game" as a blanket statement. There are times and cases where their age means you can allow more/less latitude.
 
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