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Post by dadsupport on Dec 31, 2017 10:18:44 GMT -5
Hi. Happy Holidays! I've checked in on this forum every now and then but this is my first post. I've got three daughters who play and have been a soccer dad for going on 15 years . . . but this is about them refereeing.
My eldest has played since she was 5 and has refereed since she was old enough to qualify. She knows the laws backwards and forwards, takes refereeing seriously, and does a good job, including by not laughing out loud at some of the fans' comments. And she likes it. She first got certified with about 15 other girls she knew. All of the other girls have quit over the years, with my daughter being the last to still referee. And now she is quitting because: a) it costs too much to be referee and b) the re-certification process has become more onerous than it used to be. I understand some people from GA Soccer may check these boards from time-to-time, so maybe this information will help, given the referee shortage. (She plays at NTH and found it very ironic that they had to forfeit a game this year because they could not supply a referee and the other team wasn't able to reschedule.) Or maybe it will make someone else lighten up on a referee!
Here are the reasons she is quitting (with questions/suggestions from me in parentheticals): 1) It costs a minimum of $85 to get re-certified, depending on your grade. So she has to work roughly four games for free to make that up. (Has anyone ever considered passing that cost - to the extent it is even necessary - on to the clubs?) 2) She was told she had to buy a new referee set this year so everyone matches. (She refuses to shell out another $100 or whatever because someone wants all the referees' yellow stripes to be exactly the same width. Why are things being made harder when there is a shortage?) 3) The annual re-certification is a pain. She understands people need to be qualified, but to require both online retraining and a live refresher class every year eats up a whole weekend. And now there are less live classes which means possibly having to travel for that. (The full annual re-certification seems a bit much. How about just doing it on-line and require participation in the live class every couple of years? Heck, we don't need to take refresher classes to get a drivers license renewed. )
My middle daughter just got certified and will start refereeing this spring. I doubt it will last long unless some things change.
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Post by rifle on Jan 1, 2018 14:17:13 GMT -5
Great post. My boys referee as well, started last year. Between certification cost and uniforms, they may have made enough money to break even for 2017. They don't have to recertify in 2018 but this is absolutely a factor in why more referees don't exist. I totally agree that online recertification should be offered.
All the recurring costs remind me of making academy kids buy matching backpacks.. needless.
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Post by spectator on Jan 1, 2018 22:01:30 GMT -5
If anyone's kid is still refereeing, we have two Ref shirts - size adult small (but they seem bigger). Yellow and Black. If the stripes match, PM me and they're yours for free. Anything to keep some youth referees in the game. Mine quit 4 years ago and refuses to even consider going back.
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Referees
Jan 2, 2018 14:53:49 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by rifle on Jan 2, 2018 14:53:49 GMT -5
New shirts required for 2018.....
Edit. Can't find the email, so I'm not certain if the referee uniform change is for 2018, or already happened in 2017. Prior comments remain.
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Post by alacrity174 on Jan 4, 2018 14:14:39 GMT -5
Hi. Happy Holidays! I've checked in on this forum every now and then but this is my first post. I've got three daughters who play and have been a soccer dad for going on 15 years . . . but this is about them refereeing. My eldest has played since she was 5 and has refereed since she was old enough to qualify. She knows the laws backwards and forwards, takes refereeing seriously, and does a good job, including by not laughing out loud at some of the fans' comments. And she likes it. She first got certified with about 15 other girls she knew. All of the other girls have quit over the years, with my daughter being the last to still referee. And now she is quitting because: a) it costs too much to be referee and b) the re-certification process has become more onerous than it used to be. I understand some people from GA Soccer may check these boards from time-to-time, so maybe this information will help, given the referee shortage. (She plays at NTH and found it very ironic that they had to forfeit a game this year because they could not supply a referee and the other team wasn't able to reschedule.) Or maybe it will make someone else lighten up on a referee! Here are the reasons she is quitting (with questions/suggestions from me in parentheticals): 1) It costs a minimum of $85 to get re-certified, depending on your grade. So she has to work roughly four games for free to make that up. (Has anyone ever considered passing that cost - to the extent it is even necessary - on to the clubs?) 2) She was told she had to buy a new referee set this year so everyone matches. (She refuses to shell out another $100 or whatever because someone wants all the referees' yellow stripes to be exactly the same width. Why are things being made harder when there is a shortage?) 3) The annual re-certification is a pain. She understands people need to be qualified, but to require both online retraining and a live refresher class every year eats up a whole weekend. And now there are less live classes which means possibly having to travel for that. (The full annual re-certification seems a bit much. How about just doing it on-line and require participation in the live class every couple of years? Heck, we don't need to take refresher classes to get a drivers license renewed. ) My middle daughter just got certified and will start refereeing this spring. I doubt it will last long unless some things change. Whilst I understand where your daughter is coming from regarding the recert courses and availability, this has definitely become more difficult this year. The other points seem more of an excuse not to ref. Point 1 about the cost, this isn't new and although it has increased each year it is pretty reasonable for a 12 month certification, so 4 games to cover the cost isn't in my opinion unreasonable. It is a professional certification and not unusual in the normal job market for people to pay this themselves. Point 2 about the new shirts, to be honest we as refs all knew this was coming last year so she could have purchased the new shirts over time during the last 12 months, there were plenty of mixed dressed crews last year when new refs bought the newer shirts and us older refs got the last bit of use out of our older kind. There are plenty of vendors online who are offering these shirts at a decent price. Point 3 On this one we will have to totally disagree, the LOTG change subtly each year and refs must be up to speed on the changes and application of the laws, also recert classes are a good time to get feedback on situations you found yourself in and alternative ways to deal with them. Being in a group setting and having an open discussion is a far better way of learning than sitting at a computer clicking through slides in my opinion, I wish clubs and/or GA Soccer would actually have Ref group meetings more often to encourage newer refs and share information so we can become better as a community and lessen the attrition especially of younger refs. Maybe there would be less accidents if we did have to take a recert driving test each year? Whatever I am sorry to see your daughter leave the world of reffing, hopefully she will reconsider, as you pointed out without the ref the game can't be played and it would be very unfortunate if she had another game forfeited due to no ref.
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Post by forsythsd on Jan 25, 2018 10:01:18 GMT -5
After reffing for years, both my kids did not re-certify for 2018. Everything the OP mentioned (recertification cost, new kit requirement (my kids have old-style shirts in 3-4 colors! Replacing would cost hundreds of dollars!)), plus some lousy management and assigning.
One recent Saturday my kid was scheduled for a SINGLE game 20 miles away, at a park not on our "where we want to work" list. He was expected to drive 40 miles, get there 30 minutes early, and AR one Rec game. That's an hour on the road plus about 90 minutes at the park. For $16. On a 1099. No thanks.
We also had some payroll issues. Got duplicate checks one time. Another time a check was lost in the mail and it took repeated efforts and two months to get a replacement. Ridiculous.
Now my oldest works fast food. He got a free uniform, free training (actually got paid while training!), works closer to home, out of the weather, and makes about the same per hour (if you count the idle time before and between games) on a W2.
And fast food customers are generally less hostile than soccer parents.
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Post by hscoachatl on Jan 25, 2018 10:08:00 GMT -5
Hold the phone. Just because there are issues with renewal - don't let that get in the way of her making money as a referee in many of the rec leagues around town.
For example, there is the Dunwoody Metro Soccer League. Not a member of GA Soccer, but there are probably 100+ teams with children from ages 8-14 who need to have games with referees
Also, check out Refs for Life, run by Ben Pickens. Google him - I know there are quite literally 100s of teams, games, and matchups all over Atlanta with ref needs.
I will tell you that Ben's company may have less restrictive requirements or uniforms, etc for say U7 rec soccer in a church league that runs their sport in house.
There are 1000s of kids playing this spring in these type of rec leagues - and they have zero affiliation with GA Soccer. It's one place where I can tell you that GA has failed miserably - church leagues. I think DBC church has 400 plus players.
The pay is about the same.
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