Connor Mcilhinney0:00 I want to talk about the ref shortage in youth sports in America.0:02 It's uh becoming extremely prevalent in youth sports for parents and and spectators to kind of heckle refs and yell at 'em, um, 'cause it's kind of glorified on the internet.0:12 But because of this, it's causing a lot of people who once found joy in refing um as a good second source of income, now not wanting to do it because it's just not really enjoyable and and you're not really getting paid to heckle, you're getting paid to um ref youth sports.0:26 And I think this is a huge issue just because there's I remember when I was playing, this was kind of a big thing because a lot of games will get canceled, um, believe it or not, just because you don't have refs that are are willing to spend their time on weekends anymore.0:40 Um I really hope this changes in the near future.0:43 I hope people learn to kind of treat refs better and have more respect for them.
Patrick Manning0:00 Yeah, this is definitely a prevalent issue, Connor.0:02 Um my sister is actually a ref and she is only 12 years old, and I think the minimum age for being a soccer ref is 14.0:12 Is it but they're so low on refs because of all of this heckling and all of this like parents just screaming at the refs, screaming at these like kids, that um they're having to hire like 12-year-olds to ref these soccer games.0:31 I'm not sure uh what can be done to fix it, maybe set more guidelines for the parents, but I see this issue all the time as well.
Owen Patton0:00 Yeah, I completely agree.0:02 As a current uh certified US soccer referee, um I've found in my experience that a lot of the times when I'm going to ref, I show up and one of the crew members isn't there, and then it not only makes it harder on me, um, but it makes it harder on the crew as a whole because we're down a person, and usually we all would have three people to officiate and watch the game.0:24 Now we only have two eyes on the field to keep the players safe and to have a fair officiated match.0:29 So it's kind of like a never-ending cycle.0:32 This problem with parents uh being harsh on refs and them quitting or them not showing up to these games creates uh refing crews that have only two refs instead of three, and due to this demanding schedule and constant schedule of youth soccer games, we are we have to start the game either way.0:51 So we end up having to ref the game with two people in a two-man system instead of a three-man roughing system, which makes the game uh not be able to be officiated as fairly or as tightly because you only have two compared to having three.1:08 And then also I've found over time my assigner has had trouble, more and more trouble getting refs to come to games and having last-minute cancellations, um, which has required me to have to reach out to my friends and other people uh more often to try and get them to come and ref.1:25 And yeah, this sorted shortage sucks for current refs like me.1:30 Um, and I'd really like it if parents were more thoughtful of the network of refs they're affecting, because without refs, the kids can't have a fair and fun game.
Casey Comerford0:00 Yeah, Connor, it's interesting you bring that up.0:02 I think not a lot of people really think about that issue sometimes.0:06 I'm gonna speak about it more from a baseball perspective, which is what I played growing up.0:10 Um, and I do think it's a major issue.0:12 Now the question is where do you get that money to you know fund to have more refs, umpires, whatever it may be, because then you could say, well, you have increased the cost to play these sports, but that could maybe some families then can't afford that extra money, less kids are playing youth sports, and I think youth sports are more important now more than ever.0:31 So that's one question is saying where do you get the funding to get these these refs.0:36 Um, but another thing is just how competitive these youth sports have become.0:40 Um, now that you know they're putting a higher emphasis on sometimes those kind of leagues as opposed to even like high school games when it comes to playing in college.0:49 So that makes the parents more competitive.0:51 Um, you know, they start arguing to refs, it can lead to just nobody wants to even do that job because it's maybe not great pay, it's tough hours, it's on the weekends, and you're getting yelled at by parents the whole time.1:03 So obviously who would want to do that?1:04 But for my experience, playing baseball in Georgia over the summer, that's a brutal job.1:09 I mean, you're working summer ball tournaments on turf fields in Georgia where it's north of 100 degrees in the summer, and the umpires are wearing, you know, umpire um uniform and it's hot for them.1:22 Parents are frustrated on strike calls, you know, and I don't know, it's tough.1:27 I can see why people maybe wouldn't want to be doing this job right now, especially if the pay's not great.1:32 So I don't know.1:34 Like the one thing that comes to mind is like, okay, well, you make teams pay more to get into these tournaments, and then you just take that extra money and maybe you pay the refs more because that would be obviously financial obligation or incentive for them to want to do these jobs.1:47 But um, man, I don't really know what the answer is, but it's definitely a huge problem that I saw playing baseball, and um I think it's something that needs to get addressed now because I think youth sports is the one thing that is helping kids still bond together with friends, especially in such a digitalized world nowadays.2:05 Um we need we need that to continue.2:08 So, whatever the answer may be, whether it's soccer, baseball, football, I don't know, tennis, whatever it is, um, we need people doing those jobs.2:18 So I think as a community we need to figure it out, and also be more lenient with the people who are working these jobs because it's tough.2:25 I mean, these aren't professional referees.2:27 Um, can't expect them to make the right call every time.2:29 So I think it depends on how it all comes down to how do we treat these officials, how do we pay them more, make the hours not as bad, and just make it a better environment to work in.2:38 And I think you'll see more people start to come out and work those jobs.