An assistant referee at the opening of NY Red Bulls Stadium
It’s funny. Most kids (and us adults, too) dream about playing in a major professional sporting event. For soccer players in the New York area, playing at the opening of the NY Red Bulls Stadium in Harrison, NJ would have been a dream come true. It was a beautiful stadium on a perfect day and all the stars had shown up: Olympic athletes, race car drivers, former soccer stars, and plain old celebrities. But referees think differently. If you look closely in the foreground of the above picture, you’ll see an Assistant Referee walking pensively down the touch line. His flag is already unfurled, indicating that he is ready to officiate while the opening ceremony was still going on, and I’m sure he was. Most referees in the U.S. would dream of being that A.R.–or even better, the central referee. As one seasoned referee told me, “it’s the best seat in the house.”
I just started refereeing, so I’ve got a long way to go. I saw that game from the stands.
When kids bite
I refereed two youth games this past weekend in the sweltering heat, an under 8 game and an under 9 game. The last time that I refereed kids that age I had a delightful time. I was surprised by their skills and awareness on the field. They all seemed very polite and the parents were well mannered. Well, that changed on Saturday. The kids continued to show remarkable skill, but they also had a more sinister side. There was a lot of jersey pulling, late tackles, and name calling. At one point I saw a player scrunch up his face and kick another kid who was just standing there.
To card or not to card
In my referee training course, I had learned that referees rarely issue yellow cards to young children. But I had never seen such behavior on the field, and I issued a number of stern verbal warnings (in addition to waiting for some of them to tie their shoes.) I can say that none of the players repeated the fouls, but their teammates did. Now, you don’t have to verbally warn every player before issuing a card. Under Law 12, you can issue a caution (yellow card) for “persistent infringement of the game.” I could have given any one of the other kids a yellow card for continuing to kick and prod and generally play dirty. Even making exception for the clumsier players–who would simply kick out when the ball came within ten feet of them and accidentally kick another player–I was shocked at the violence in the game. I should have issued several cards that game and I didn’t.
During the second game, a very talented and aggressive player who was probably all of four feet tall committed a foul by tripping his opponent. He then made a rude gesture towards me when I blew the whistle and, again, I was so shocked that an eight-year-old would know a gesture like that that I didn’t issue a card. Luckily for me, he made the same gesture a moment later and I cautioned him under Law 12 for “dissent by word or action.”
Lessons learned
During referee training school, I was taught not to think of the players as kids but as “soccer players.” The instructor made an exception for games that had less than 11 players and kids that were under ten years old. My games fell into the latter category. I will continue to make exceptions for children, but kids are smart. They can be managed with persuasive verbal warnings but sometimes a yellow card or a red card speaks a lot louder. In the same way that I’ve been too lenient with the adult games that I’ve refereed, it may be necessary to pull out the wallet, issue a yellow, and get on with the game. Then I’ll be managing the player while promoting the safety and flow of the game.
Here’s one for you. What do you do if, after the game is over, a little tyke trots over to you and tells you that the goalie “called him the F-word” and pinched him?
–Deji Olukotun
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