Racism claims spur minor football review

There has been an amazing amount of discussion on this topic. There are to be reviews and I expect changes. From the Winnipeg Sun:

Manitoba minor football directors will review their policies on the conduct of players, coaches and parents to possibly come up with better ways to handle the kinds of racial allegations that emerged from a recent peewee game, a senior amateur sport official says.

Jeff Hnatiuk, Sport Manitoba's CEO, said yesterday that controversy surrounding the Oct. 19 semifinal is spurring at least a closer look at whether charges of racism and other conflicts can be prevented or weighed in a manner more satisfactory to all sides.

Football Manitoba and the Manitoba Minor Football Association "may initiate some other policies or sanctions that might be put in place," Hnatiuk said.

"They are taking the situation seriously, and looking at reviewing it and looking at potential means to try to prevent these things from happening in the future."

I wondered how old the referees were at the game in question? Are our referees too young? Is too much demanded of them? Are they properly trained?

Hockey has racism covered in its rule book. Automatic indefinate suspension until such time as a hearing can be held.
I believe soccer is the same. Age of refs does not matter.

IMO the age of a ref to some extent does matter in that some may not have the "backbone" to stand up to a very strong personality. I have seen young refs walk off the field in the middle of a game even after giving a card to an adult on the sidelines for abusive language and asking the adult to leave the field of play, stop the game until the adult does so and the adult continues to threaten the ref who becomes very afraid and leaves the game in the middle of the game because of the threats.
In youth soccer at the recreational level, the refs must be at least 3 years older than the age group they are reffing, so if the teams playing are 12, then the ref must be at least 15 years old. That rule applies to outdoor mainly because a ref must complete 2/3 outdoor seasons before being allowed to ref indoor and by that time if a ref is still involved the "backbone" has developed.
An excerpt from the indoor rules that are posted on the MSA website with regards to language

Rule 12 - 3
"A player is cautioned and shown a yellow card, if he commits any of the following offences:
b) shows DISSENT by word or action"
Rule 12 - 4
A player, substitute or substituted player is SENT OFF and shown the red card, if he commits any of the following offences:
f) uses OFFENSIVE, or INSULTING or ABUSIVE LANGUAGE and/or gestures"
For most of the league associations, a red card suspension includes the game involved, plus 3 extra games automatically, a monetary fine (determined by the referee in charge of discipline and dependant on the the ref's game write up, more games suspensed could be assessed)

There are also rules at the international level of FIFA that all soccer bodies must adhere to and they are consistent with the rules that are drawn up by most of the soccer communities around the world.

I agree about young referees not necessarily having the nads to take a stand. Especially to a large or menacing adult. Let's make the abusing game officials penalties well known to all game participants and enforce them vigorously. No exceptions. The refs must be taken seriously and shown respect.

grumpy old man wrote:I agree about young referees not necessarily having the nads to take a stand. Especially to a large or menacing adult. Let's make the abusing game officials penalties well known to all game participants and enforce them vigorously. No exceptions. The refs must be taken seriously and shown respect.

Age of the official is irrelevant. As a matter of fact, the younger the official, the less any type of abuse should be tolerated. This fall, I witnessed the worst case of abuse of a 13 yr old official at the hands of an adult coach. This was 10 yr olds playing when the largest player on the team put a particularly hard challenge on probaby the smallest player of the other team. The small kid went down and the ref stopped play and allowed the coach on to the field. The coach was more intent on demanding a caution than he was on tending to his injured player. The abuse continued until the ref walked off, which I fully defend his actions and told him so. The coach received a 3 game suspension. Three games, give me a break. I have never been more ashamed to be part of a sport as I was that day. My son went threw a similar experience years ago, having to abandon a game because parents and coaches were too busy arguing amongst themselves than wanting to get on with the game.

Anyway, this issue is about racism and as expected, the associations have overreacted. Does it exist, of course it does. Our kids sports are merely a reflection of the world we live in. Were racist remarks made that day, of course they were. Was the official able to do anything about it, of course not as she was unable to identify the perpetrator. Did a parent cross the field and approach an opposing player like a complete and utter asshole, of course he did. Will he happen again, of course it will.

Grow up folks, these are children playing games. You're not getting your childhood back through your kids and he's probably not going to be a pro. Enjoy it for what it is.

Freeman wrote:



You're not getting your childhood back through your kids and he's probably not going to be a pro. Enjoy it for what it is.

Well said.
Man, if only parents would chill.