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as a youth coach and an official i can add a little to this. not all youth coaches are uneducated in the rules. granted most are, but not all.
in our youth program we have to apply to be a coach and only after our advisory board has ok'd us can we coach in any capacity. unlike high school coaches who get to hand pick their staffs, i am stuck with whatever parents feel like voluntering their time. granted i am lucky to have a good group of coaches who will listen to me and know most of the rules, but i do have one who knows nothing but how he played and only knows the fans rules. he has made it very hard for me this year with communicating with the officials because he is constantly arguing calls and no calls. i have told him many times if he has a problem to talk to me so i can talk to the ref's (since they are only supposed to talk to the HC anyways). but he refuses to do this because i have told him many times that he has no legitimate argument or beef with the officials and their calls and to just let it go. it has gotten so bad that i have warned him that the first flag he gets thrown on him i will personally escort him to the bleachers and sit him there for the rest of the season, and have told the officials that if they have to throw the flag then please do, even though i am the one that will get in trouble for it.
in our league also, we have a pre season meeting that at least the head official is at and we discuss new rules and interpretations. it has helped some, but you still get some coaches that get caught up in the moment and get over excited about calls. i myself have gotten that way on more than one occasion this year, and have been flagged for it.
but i will also say that some of the refs out there are only there to make the extra buck and could care less about communicating with any coach or player. case in point happened a couple of games ago. at the end of the game we finally found a pass play that was gaining good yardage for us and we were moving the ball quite well. after an incomplete pass with 3 seconds still left on the clock, the head official refused to spot the ball and let the clock run down, again after an incomplete pass. i was very upset at this and considered it very unprofessional of him to do and let him know my feelings about it after the game. he just looked at me, smirked and said "your kids played such a great game why does it matter?" well to me it mattered alot because we hadnt had a sustained drive all game, and finally when we got one he took it out of our hands. granted we were losing 28-0 at the time, but the score shouldnt matter in a game, especially when kids are involved. it is officials like this that make some of the coaches act the way they do.
being both a youth coach and an official has taught me when i can open my mouth and how far i can take a discussion before i cross the line. and there are times when i get real close to that line, but i always have the respect for the officials that i would expect to be given by a coach if i were the one with the whistle. granted not all of them deserve it, but i still show them the respect.
one of the first things i tell the officials who actually have a pregame conference with me is that i just want my kids to have a fair shot at playing, and most after hearing that show me, as a coach, a little more respect. we are all (both coaches and officials) out there to teach the game to the players, and should think of that first and foremost.
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