What happened to refs this weekend?

[Squeezy Cheesey Peas]

13 games without a referee this weekend.....
No more than a few hours notice of this 'predicament'
Pretty damn poor all round whatever the reason.... We have hit a new low in ref availability and what happened to the "CSL" pool of refs??
Maybe we get a rebate on our FFSA affiliation fee's based on the number of games we are "unallocated"??
The lack of notice is just as problematic as the lack of refs...... Should be an intersting mid season CSL meeting if an of the clubs feel the same..

[buzzy]

It is my understanding that across all FFSA Saturday competitions approximately 80 referees are required. There are approximately 180 registered referees who could potentially officiate these games so up to 100 were either unavailable or chose not to referee.

The CSL pool were contacted on Wednesday regarding the 15 unfilled CSL matches in addition to four State League fixtures that had only been allocated one assistant referee. I believe no one from the CSL pool offered to cover these matches.

In terms of the lack of notice it is left until the last minute to avoid confusion. If a match is tentatively unallocated mid week there is still a chance that it will be filled come Saturday. You could imagine the confusion if a club was told Wednesday there was no ref so they organise a fill in, only to be told Saturday morning that they do have a ref, then the fill in needs to be cancelled.

We have the phone number of a qualified independent ref. When informed that our div 3 and 4 were unallocated for Saturday (I got this information Wednesday as I am in the CSL pool of refs) we arranged for our backup ref to be allocated these games. Every club had to nominate someone for the CSL pool therefore all clubs should have access to the information earlier in the week if you want to choose to make your own arrangements.

[simmo]

Disgraceful, but according to the csl we do not have an issue with referees. Now lets get ready for the excuses and shifting the blame. Last time this happened the solution was for all of us to become official referees.....any other genius ideas this time?

[nobody]

I've given up on this topic. It's too late for this season but hopefully it is the number one priority for next year.

[chelsea]

Disgraceful, but according to the csl we do not have an issue with referees. Now lets get ready for the excuses and shifting the blame. Last time this happened the solution was for all of us to become official referees.....any other genius ideas this time?

I have never recalled the CSL saying that there is no problem with referees. There is no blame shifting. Its very simple. NO ONE WANTS TO BE A REFEREE AND WASTE THEIR TIME ON A SATURDAY GETTING ABUSED.

The CSL has been working on this. They have got together a CSL pool of referees. Approx 17 people attended the course. Not all clubs were represented even though every club was meant to have one.

Now from the 17 people that attended many are Presidents / Coaches / Players at their clubs. The same guys that already do extra have put their hands up to help out. Its difficult for these guys to suddenly drop their roles and referee each week instead of coaching or playing in their teams.

However in 2014 these guys can decide what they want to do, it will make a difference. So even if the CSL gets 4 referees started up next year its a stepping stone. They are aware and are trying.

I find it amusing how many come across as experts in this area. If you are so good then please help out the CSL.

Like 'Nobody" said that they have nearly given up on this. I have just about given up myself explaining it to people.

Everybody wants referees but no one wants to do it. Then the ones that we get, we all want them banned.

No point writing anymore.

[cruie]

...
NO ONE WANTS TO BE A REFEREE AND WASTE THEIR TIME ON A SATURDAY GETTING ABUSED.
...

Yup.

(And there's no point whining about refund of FFSA Affiliation Fees - whatever they might be!? - you pay for the refs seperately, each match, not as part of the club/team/player registration fees ... though it would, I think, be a good idea to stop that and actually pay a bulk fee. So if you don't get a ref, you don't pay)


As for the CSL Ref Pool, as stated above, difficult to get 1,2, or 15 people who are comitted to their clubs to ref any games not involving their club. Which is just the same as the existing club-ref system, but with refs who have attended a course ...


Only time, and (much) more respect for referees, is going to solve this problem ...

[Squeezy Cheesey Peas]

Guys,
Its alright to 'give up' on this topic...... I am only too aware of the issues with refs and the CSL Pool etc etc....
My question for this weekend is why so many refs were not avaialble?
13 games with no refs is a big number and you don't have to be expert to make that observation!
I am absolutley behind the efforts to reduce the presurre and hassle refs get on match day as the game has no future if there are no refs. Go watch the SAASL B grade games with their club refs..... some are great (people who have played and know the game) but the majority are average to plain awful with bias like you wouldn't beleive. We don't want to be there as the CSL has a genuine advanatage with good, independant refs.
I know my club has put forward more than its fair share for this CSL pool BUT all are current players and will be players next season... Not sure they thought it out ( no change there!!) but the reality is they will have to give up playing a full season to take up allocations. Had a good chat with a good ref a few weeks ago and he was explaining how he has lost the love for reffing due to constant arguing, back chat, abuse and the like which he reckons has got more frequent rather than worse. His term was its like a constant toothache which just wears you down after 90 mins of it.... He is giving it up this season and will be a big loss to the FFSA pool.
Something needs to be done at league and club levels to reverse this trend BUT I'm not sure thats the reason 13 matches were unfilled this weekend... or was it?

[Ross30]

One or two years ago there was an issue with FFSA referees turning down FFSA or CSL games in order to referee SAASL games for more money. Referee fees in the CSL have not been increased in the interim. I do not know, but I wonder whether that is a factor. If we accept that there is a limited supply of people willing to be referees (for all soccer matches, including SAASL) then we are at a competitive disadvantage if we are paying referees less then they can be paid elsewhere. Decent qualified referees that have no aspirations to do Super League or A-League games may elect to referee in the SAASL for more money.

I'm sure some people will be horrified at the thought of paying referees more money when there are so many complaints regarding the performance of some of the referees we have. But if you pay peanuts you get monkies. I would be interested to see how price sensitive the referees are. If we pay them more than they can get in the SAASL then might we increase both the quantity and, hopefully, the quality of the referees at our disposal? I know at least one decent referee who does SAASL games simply because he can earn a bit more cash than he would in the CSL.

[StevenMann]

Pretty much the only two issues of significance with the league at present are the referee situation and a spate of serious disciplinary incidents.

There's not much to be said about the disciplinary incidents, most can't be predicted in advance, so as long as the league acts appropriately after they have occurred, and do all that is necessary when there appears to be some unifying factor being a pattern of incidents occurring, then there isn't much more that can be done/said about it.

As for referees... this seems to be the biggest issue for clubs for two reasons - firstly it affects the league as a whole, because despite the best efforts and intentions of clubs it can lead to difficult situations, and seems to erode the perception of integrity in the league. Secondly it seems to be something we can hope to control. I appreciate that the league administration has attempted to remedy the situation during the current season with the creation of the CSL pool, but that effort seemed to be rushed & done with little consultation with clubs. I know our club has very few people associated with it who don't play on Saturdays, and whilst we might be able to get a hold of a couple of people if given enough time, it will always seem like a big commitment for someone without much association with the club.

The clubs also have the perspective that they pay match fees to referees precisely for the reason that they won't have to worry about supplying referees, and in my opinion that is a completely understandable and fair approach to it. The CSL are ultimately the administration responsible to the clubs for supplying referees. Yes the FFSA and the Referees' Association are higher up the chain, but the CSL answers directly to the clubs the compose the league, so the CSL administration needs to demand satisfaction from the FFSA / RA, and make arrangements so that if there is any failing in their system then we can compensate for it. A very difficult situation for everyone involved, but it needs to be addressed.

The reasons for the shortcomings of the current system need to be communicated effectively as well, ie the clubs need to know at what point in the chain the system is falling short, and what tools are at our disposable to remedy the situation.

For the issue of referees not being allocated, I know that at Pembroke we can come up with suitable referees for probably 2-3 matches if given sufficient notice. I have been told that the reason notice is not given to clubs earlier is that "our best efforts are being made right up until Saturday to get referees appointed" - that's understandable, but if we are told of the final result on Saturday morning then we typically are unable to find our own replacement. If for example we were told on Wednesday that no referee had been assigned, then we could work out replacements, and *if* a referee is found before Saturday, no problems, our replacement will understand. I understand that those in the CSL referee pool are supposed to be receiving an email mid-week regarding referee allocation issues, but thus far the Pembroke representative who attended the refereeing course is yet to receive any such email.

Hopefully some of the answers to these questions of accountability and some kind of framework for implementing a solution to the problem will be forthcoming at the meeting this Thursday. I would suggest that clubs make their opinions known, and whatever the consensus is for a plan of action - that it be implemented with an appropriate timeline and with proper accountability to the clubs for those charged with resolving the situation.

[ChrisRogers]

But if you pay peanuts you get monkies. I would be interested to see how price sensitive the referees are. If we pay them more than they can get in the SAASL then might we increase both the quantity and, hopefully, the quality of the referees at our disposal? I know at least one decent referee who does SAASL games simply because he can earn a bit more cash than he would in the CSL.

A good point there. Does anyone know what comparitive ref fees are for the SAASL? I also can't remember the last time our ref fee was increased.