|
Nice. There are bad apples in any bushel basket Dirk. We have two undefeated youth teams which are very well coached and a pleasure to work with. We also have a number of 'Angry Young Coaches' as well.
We do the little guy stuff pro bono. My typical weekly schedule is 2 little guy games each on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thursday I work a JV or Middle School game. Friday I may travel up to 4 hours to work a Varsity game. Saturday is typically one or even two of the smaller HS lower games in our area.
This past weekend my crew and I worked a Varsity game Friday night out of State. And then three games beginning at 9am with a 10 minute break between games. Think 12 quarters straight of 8th grade, Freshman and JV then a 2 hour ride home early Saturday evening.
With an average of 4 games per week with all of the travel involved, coupled with 2 nights out of the house working 4 little guy games for nothing, I hear all kinds of complaints from coaches. Some with merit. Some without merit. What's ironic is the fact it is the very same coaches who are on the field while working the officials hollering about our badly missed calls, and then telling me "Good no-call ref!" when it's a foul on HIS team! lol
Officiating is a difficult job with little thanks other than the fact we love the sport, the players interact courteously and seem to enjoy having us there and most of all we enjoy being on the field with them. It isn't the coaches or fans Dirk. No power trip. You've missed the whole thing about officiating as well as coaching. It's the kids.
Coaching a youth league doesn't make anyone a Vince Lombardi no matter how long they work on their trick plays at that level.
You may not find the sympathy you're looking for here Dirk, based upon the "attitude" of your own postings and what we as officials hear from many of the coaches when we step onto the field. Your postings could come from any sideline in Small-town, USA on any Friday night.
I will tell you there are good coaches out there as well. As well as good and bad officials like in any sport. You would be far better served to seek answers from the groups association who officiated your contests. Not from here.
From here we get to see only one side. Please excuse us, or me specifically, for not jumping on your bandwagon to rip another official.
I feel very comfortable in the fact you "work the refs" much like anyone else. Whom doesn't want all of the calls to go in their favor, right?
8-9 yr olds you're coaching, huh? Why not address these issues with someone that can make a difference in your area? Or possibly set an example to your 8-9 yr olds and play through the adversity and then request to not have the same crew work your youth league?
|