Referees at kids’ games deserve respect

This summer, as a dwindling pool of recruits suit up in uniform to enforce rules and keep order, they’ll be kitted up with body-worn cameras. The surveillance equipment isn’t for fresh-faced cadets the provincial government hopes to entice into policing careers. In fact, it’s not for law enforcement at all. It’s for soccer referees.

At kids’ games.

This month, Ontario Soccer is rolling out a pilot project to equip some referees with body cams, primarily in the under-nine and under-11 divisions. As with police body cams, it’s hoped the equipment will deter abusive behaviour, and provide an accurate record of incidents. Refs also will be empowered to call timeouts, not just on the pitch, but on the parents.

How did it get this bad? Referee abuse has become an epidemic across youth recreational sports, with many reporting it has intensified since the pandemic. Retention of trained refs is plummeting, not just in soccer, but also in hockey, football and lacrosse.

Ontario Soccer had 8,000 registered referees in 2019, the last year of play before the pandemic. That number has shrunk below 5,000. As clubs struggled to rebuild capacity last year, Ontario Soccer issued guidelines to help avoid game cancellations. They allowed for head refs to do the job of three officials, taking over for linesmen, and even permitted a parent or coach to officiate games in a pinch.

Surveys by departing referees paint a vivid picture. Fear of abuse is the top reason they give for quitting, according to Ontario Soccer chief executive John Misley. The second is a lack of support from their organization or community. Sports officials clearly hope the pilot project will turn that around, sending a bold message that verbal and physical abuse will not be tolerated.

Are body cams warranted? On CBC Radio, callers shared shocking stories of referee intimidation and abuse, including an incident after a game when a teenaged ref was circled by a group of adults in the dark.

Some suggest people have forgotten how to behave in public, post-pandemic. Extended periods of interacting largely online, in the Wild West of etiquette, may have fractured civil decorum. It also has been suggested pandemic divisions may have nurtured hostility toward authority in general, vented at anyone in a uniform, even teens carrying a whistle.

As much as we like to blame the pandemic, we can’t hold it responsible for decades of tolerating violence and celebrating disrespect in sports. “Bad boy” celebrity athletes such as John Mcenroe and Dennis Rodman built their reputations on loutish behaviour toward game officials as much as their talent. Nothing seems to excite fans (or draw viewers) quite like a brawl.

All this hot-headed bravado trickles down to the stands. At youth hockey games, generations of parents have treated heckling the ref as part of the entertainment. The pandemic is no more to blame for uncivil behaviour than toxic parenting that prioritizes competition over camaraderie, and winning at all cost.

Unfortunately, the same parents who are so deeply invested in their kids’ sports development seem to forget the people calling the offsides are often kids themselves. Some are too young to drive. For many, it’s their first summer job.

Young refs get their feet wet and build confidence officiating younger matches. If they’re going to put in the years of training it takes to officiate older games, they need to be treated with empathy and respect, even when they make a mistake. It’s not the World Cup.

Parents’ presence on the sidelines is a privilege. Our job is to encourage, full stop.