Conflicts of Interest

[jjrye22]

Things are organized a bit differently where I am (Germany).

The teams are required to provide refs for a pool for the area (each team has a set number depending on how many different levels they play at - flag, youth, senior). This means that often the refs are not only ex-players, but current players or coaches - myself included.

Some refs are registered for a team but don't have anything to do with them and will accept any assignment, but people with active connections to a team usually tell the assigner.

This year we have a real shortage on some weekends (the schedule put too many games on the same days) and I have been asked to ref (white hat even) flag games of my own team - which no one complained about, I found it a little uncomfortable before the game, but when it started I could blend out everything. The teams were just A and B, or Red and Green (jersey colours) and I didn't feel any influence about the team.
I even stepped in to help at a youth game of ours (I coach the youth team) - to keep the game from being forfeit due to lack of refs. The other coaches new me very well as a ref and were quite happy to have me (as LM beside them).

But I have turned down assignments this year to ref at games in the devision that I play in - teams that I will personally be seeing on the field. Not because I would influence the game, but I don't want them to be able to come back after a game - or at the end of the season and say I did something unfair.

Not that it really matters. My team is one of the worst around and loose basically every game (it's really a just-for-fun team), but better to keep away from the possibility that someone complains.

With the flag games, I don't have any connection other than knowing the coaches - but then I know the coaches of almost all the teams around very well.
With the youth game, it was only with the permission of the other team - and they were happy with the outcome, but generally I would not do it.

James