Question Number: 19450

Law 4 - Players Equipment 6/18/2008

RE: N/A

Derek of Vacaville, CA USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 19400

Being a referee from Vacaville, I must take a certain amount of offense to Ref Fleischer's response. I try hard to improve my skills as a referee, I peruse this site very frequently and keep notes on issues I feel are pertinent to my continued learning. Further, I try to act in a professional manner in all games I referee. I have been glared at repeatedly for asking players to tuck their shirts in and pull up their socks. Having said that, I completely agree with Ref Fleischer and the lack of care the local youth soccer league exhibits regarding referee training and has for years!!

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Certainly not every referee in Vacaville is a lazy slug who refuses to enforce the Laws. Unfortunately Ref Fleischer has identified a problem which exists that inhibits referee growth. And equally unfortunately, a local organization gets a bad reputation from the antics of some of the members.

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Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I won't speak for Ref Fleischer but I am certain his remarks were not aimed at you. In fact, he did state that there were some good referees. He has spoken at great length at a problem that your area needs to address. From your last statement I see you agree with him. I would also point out that there appears to be problems nation wide with training of referees at the lower levels. This gets worse as more locales go to small sided soccer and do away with ARs. U 10 and U12 are where we train our newer referees and it's getting more difficult due to small sided soccer.














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Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Derek, of course you may take offense on behalf of the referees in your city that attempt to improve their skills. Of course you can! The great difficulty I have is there is no training beyond the entry level available through VYSL, you know it and I know it. If a referee wants training he must go elsewhere.

2 US Soccer certified instructors live in Vacaville, myself and a Grade 05 referee who I trained and continue to advise. There are 2 or 3 grade 07's and one who is striking for 06 here as well. I have assessed 2 of them, one on a U-19 match in town last fall. He passed. However he was not present at an Intermediate Level training course because there have been none available in the area [CalNorth Dist 6] until last year and that was in Roseville. A second intermediate course was presented this year, again in Roseville. One was offered here but there were no referees interested in attending. There used to be other referees in grade 05 and 06 living here, they no longer do though all are still active and I remain in contact with them.

Bottom line is many referees in town have been around for years but their level of training is about that of an entry level referee. Experience on the field is there however that experience has been won without guidance from an assessor or instructor. The experience is attained from pleasing coaches and parents and is self taught. This means many myths are there and the referee is working, for the most, without a true knowledge about current US Soccer policies.

I understand your frustration in reading what I have to say about the level of training in your club. Trouble is no one in a position to change that level of training is present of the board of the club. When referees start demanding training be made available this might change though in the past it has not. It seems striving for mediocrity usually attains that goal. I wonder what demanding excellence would do?

Just one more little thing. When was the last time VYSL referees attended a refresher course. This is a requirement of US Soccer. Also required is annual testing regarding the Laws of the Game, this is not done in CalNorth Dist 6 unless you attend an In-service course presented by me. My last course had 30 referees, from the next villiage west, in attendance and 21 passed the written test. This is a sad state of affairs. It's no wonder the spectators think they know more than the referee, they might.

Regards,

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