I'm doing my first pee-wee league games in the morning. I think it's a two-man game.

Any tips? How do you handle it? I've heard you mostly spot the ball and get it ready for play and call the big things and other than that, stay out of the way and roll the clock.

Any other pointers?

I do not think working youth games are really that different than regular games. You just have to be a little more patient with the players and try to be a little more helpful. You will probably have more complaining from the coaches that really have no idea what the rules are. The main thing is you will see more unusual things than you will ever see in a regular HS game.

Peace

watch the little ones. Those helmets are right about waist high and the kids can't always see so well...

It was okay. Two games. On and off in about 2 1/2 hours. Only had one snide comment from a parent. Partner was very cool and had done this level and this league before, so he knew the ins and outs and what to expect. I just played along.

Does anyone else find that there are some parents at this level of football who are a little.....hardcore? I mean, these were ten year olds and they were yelling at them in ways that made me want to smack the parents.

A little hardcore, no. A lotta hardcore, yes. At the younger ages, the parents have a dream that their kids will make it to the NFL or at least a full ride to a D1 school.

Welcome to the world of youth sports. You will find that after a while it is not uncommon that officials move away from this ball. The parents have no idea what the rules are and think their kid is going to be the next (fill in the blanks). And you are the reason they will not get there.

Gotta love it. :D

Peace

That's a really sad comment BushRef...have you ever read the Officials Code of Ethics? It's at the back of every Fed rules/manual/case book.

You're supposed to be above that.

Puh-lease. Give me a break.

I can't raise anyone else's kids. I have two of my own. But every day I say to myself, "I'm not going to be that guy."

The only thing I tell my kids before their games is "Have fun. Play hard. Listen to your coach." The only thing I ask them after a game is "Did you have fun?" and the only thing I tell them after the game is usually, "I'm proud of you."

I figure I'm going to have to pay for their college educations anyway, so they might as well have fun while they're little.

O&B - Youth coaches will agree that we should relax some rules - such as 25 sec. clock , motion , expand the LOS to keep 7 on ... until the fourth quarter when they need strick enforcement in order to win the game. As I explained to several coaches " if it isn't a foul in the first quarter , it's not a foul in the fourth. Review this with both coaches BEFORE the game starts. Safety fouls such as not wearing a mouthpiece , late hits, clipping , blocks in the back need to be strickly enforced . If prevents injury and teaches the children .

Oh, I'm all about safety fouls.

I'm just saying that I'm not going to throw flags all day and hurt the experience for the kids if the line isn't perfectly in synch (sometimes a kid will be a quarter-beat ahead of the others) or if a kid isn't exactly on the line.

And sometimes kids just run into each other in those big scrums and get hurt and it's not a foul at all.