Why is "my sport only" heard more often from soccer players than any other sport? It seems very narrow-minded to not recognize the others. That includes a friendly joust about the officiating differences between sports.
While I understand the need for dedication and disdain officiating just for the money, I find it grossly insulting to put down those who officiate more than one sport or whose season is less than 12 months a year. Many who officiate more than one sport show their dedication to officiating by putting major effort into each, even during the "off-season". If an official needs 365 days a year to "master and fine tune on their sport"; then maybe they don't have it. Forget the stragglers and money-only ones; anyone else with reasonable learning ability can make themselves focus on the principles of the sport at hand and not be disoriented by another.
Don't tell me
"stick to the club/youth matches for officiating....do not be a part-time(only for the extra paycheck)soccer official for our high schools and colleges...it hurts the integrity of the serious/"real" officials, the players and the "beautiful" game".
First of all, it's not just for the check and saying we are not serious/real is both insulting and lacking in perception. Second of all, sticking to the youth matches if you are not competent for higher levels just misleads the teams into future problems. Third, doing high school only allows one to know and use those rules and mechanics and not be disoriented by officiating "another sport", USSF/FIFA soccer.
There is a big difference between competency and visibility ("do you see the best referees in the US doing multiple sports"). Just because an official is seen at soccer matches/games all year around does not mean better judgement, more knowledge or more dedication and certainly not more integrity.
Many of us who are committed to soccer and see it as a great game, also see that it's about time the soccer community gets over their global snobbishness and inferiority complex to recognize that we officials have officiating in common with other sports. Just because an ex-player might feel slighted by an official who does not live and breathe soccer 24/7/365; does not mean that the rest of us are not very capable and successful.
Even though I agree with
"each sport/activity/scenario is unique in its own way, " and "the best officials in any sport are the ones that are not noticed/do their job to the best of their abilities and do not become part of the game or interrupt its flow(within the rules/infractions of the game)";
those who want to participate in a discussion of them can do so. However, the latter part of that quote is a frequent mantra of coaches whose teams foul a lot.
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