BRCL Referee Liaison's Report to the Board

Report for 9/12/2006 Board Meeting

1) New Additions to BRCL Website for Refereeing:

Thanks to outstanding efforts by former BRCL president Paul Radike and webmaster volunteer extraordinaire Bruce Harper, the League now has a "Dear Referee" button on the website and a Referee Liaison page on the website. Anyone with a question, comment, concern, complaint, or compliment about refereeing in BRCL games or soccer officiating in general now has a direct link to sharing their thoughts with the Referee Liaison through the "Dear Referee" button. E-mail addresses and the names of people who contact the Referee Liaison through "Dear Referee" remain confidential. Replies are sent to the person who contacted "Dear Referee." Both the original message and the Referee Liaison's reply are also forwarded to the appropriate referee assignor.

Many of the inquiries to "Dear Referee," along with the Referee Liaison's replies, will be archived by topic and date in a Q & A format for any visitor to the BRCL website to read. Several are already posted. Check back often because more are in the pipeline. By the way, these are real inquiries (with some editing of wording). These are not made up topics or something out of a soccer book.

2) Male Player and Female Player Still Needed on Referee Liaison Advisory Committee:

The seven-member advisory committee to the League's Referee Liaison is still in need of a male and a female player representative. No meetings; everything done by e-mail and/or telephone. Current volunteer committee members include Dan Ivory (assignor, Fluvanna/Charlottesville), Steve Gordon (coach, Amherst), Craig O'Der, Jr. (referee over 18, Martinsville), Missy Long (referee under age 18, Blacksburg), and Venus Hendrix (parent, Danville). E-mail Gary Grant at brclrefcomm@yahoo.com if you know a player, or are a player, interested in this committee. Committee members provide guidance and feedback to the Referee Liaison.

3) Inquiries handled by the Referee Liaison between 6/13/06 - 9/11/06:

• 9/7 - from a coach/ref - how to resolve opposing teams' jersey color conflicts
• 9/10 - coach - referee not calling high fouls using elbows; referee not checking for substitutes - U17/18 Boys
• 9/10 - Away team parent - referee compliment ("one of the best referees I've seen") - U12 Boys
• 9/10 - Home team parent - too many players on the field for the Away team - U12 Boys
• 9/10 - Home team parent - too many players on the field for the Away team - U12 Boys
• 9/10 - Home team manager - too many players on the field for the Away team - U12 Boys
• 9/11 - Away coach - too many players on the field for the Away team - U12 Boys
• 9/11 - Away team manager - young referees, "questionable calls," rough play - U12 Girls

4) Important Roster Reminder for Coaches and Managers:

According to BRCL rules:
RULES OF PLAY FOR BRCL GAMES SECTION 11.9

• Team Lists
• Each Team must supply the Referee with a list of names and jersey numbers of all players on their VYSA Roster.

As the League's Referee Liaison, I interpret "must supply" to mean that teams have to provide the Center Referee with a document or a copy of a document listing all players' names and jersey numbers. Referees should not have to request this document; it needs to be offered to them. (Let's all agree to assume this rule also means to do so before a game begins.) Whether it's a printed roster or something written on the back of a napkin doesn't matter. Having this list is of great value and assistance to referees, especially at the end of matches where yellow and red cards have been earned. The Center Referee can go through his/her copies of these lists for player names and numbers and fill out the green game cards without having to pester coaches and managers for this information immediately after a game. This is especially important in light of the BRCL's no contact/no communication policy (the infamous "gag rule") between coaches and referees during and after games.

5) Look in the Mirror, Refereeing Colleagues:

This past weekend I was a spectator at a BRCL match that will remain unidentified. Here are some of my pre-game observations:

• Only one of the three referees was at the field the required 15 minutes before game time.
• No referee checked goals, nets, corner flags nor walked the field prior to the start of the game.
• Seven minutes before the assigned start time for the game, the Center Referee walked across the middle of the field with his/her socks down at the ankles and his/her shirt tail hanging out to meet one AR who had just arrived with no referee uniform on and barefooted.
• At the assigned start time for the game, the Center Referee began checking player passes and equipment by himself.
• Two minutes past the assigned start time for the game, the second AR arrived at the field.
• Five minutes past the assigned start time for the game, both teams were on the field, in their positions, ready to begin the game with a game ball ready in the center circle.
• Six minutes past the assigned start time for the game, the Center Referee blew his/her whistle to start the match.

And here's one observation from the game itself:

• The Center Referee stopped the game for a player injury and beckoned a coach onto the field. After the coach tended to the player on the field, the coach began to return to the sideline. At that point, the Center Referee asked: "Is your player going to stay in, Coach?" The answer was "yes," and the player was allowed to do so. This is in violation of the FIFA Laws of the Game and Additional Instructions for Referees on dealing with injured players. In such instances, the injured player is required to leave the field and can only return, with the referee's consent, after the match has been restarted.