First of all, let me thank you for your valuable contribution to our club. You are all volunteers and we are well aware and appreciative of this fact. Also, rest assured that your concerns and opinions are well heard and represented at our board of executives, the majority of whom are coaches – including me. As Head Referee, it is my job to make sure that you get qualified officials for your games, which are able to serve the game well and in a fair manner. All of our refs are members of OSA, have attended annual mandatory educational clinics, and are there to enforce the rules of the games. So, let me emphasize: as referees, we don’t make the rules, we only enforce them. It is not the most popular task; however someone’s got to do it. Some of you are referees yourselves, so you know the feeling. The bottom line is that the final decision rests with the ref, and therefore, you must respect that. Also, when you are on the field, please act according to the Code of Conduct for the coaches that you will find in your schedule book. By following that Code you will do a great service to the game, to your players and to the officials. Here are some of the things I want to point out:
- We are here for the game, for the players. It is fun to win but it shouldn’t be the only purpose for playing. Please, don’t run up the score against the opposition. As of 2015 season in accordance with OSA rules regarding LTPD we don’t even keep scores for U12 and younger divisions.
- There are policies in place to discipline coaches who lack self-control, control of their players and parents. Rest assured that our club will follow up with any incident on and off the field. It will be dealt with immediately on the spot by the ref and/or the executive at a later time.
- If you have any complaints about the official, please don’t confront them on the field. If you have a question, feel free to ask (although remember that it doesn’t grant you an answer from the referee). However, do not argue with them. Wait till you get home, when you are more relaxed and calm, and put it in writing. Make sure to provide only the facts, not your opinions. Just because you feel strongly about an issue, doesn’t make you right. You can mail or email your complaints to the club. Mailing address is: P.O. BOX 133, K9J 6Y5. Email address: pysc@cogeco.ca.
- We discourage people from calling with complaints because you may say things that you don’t mean to in the heat of the moments, and also there are no records of that complaint which doesn’t make it official. The only time when you should feel free to call the club is only if you don’t have a ref on the field and I will deal with the issue immediately. In previous years we usually have perfect records or in the odd case one single no show-up for the entire season. If the ref doesn’t show up then just play the game without the ref for fun.
- Please make sure you read and understand the rules of the game and the rules of our club. Some aspects where people are confused are listed below:
- Calling up player. Each coach who can not field a full team, even though they have the required minimum number of players, can call up a player who is a member of the club from one age division lower, e.g., if you are U18, you can call up only U14 players. You must notify the convener before you call up a player. Once you have your full team you can not field this player anymore, not even as a substitute player. During the playoffs there will be no call up players.
- Trading players. If you can not come up with the minimum number of players in order for us to avoid game being forfeit as of 2016 season for U14 and older division trading (sharing players) is now mandatory (but only to avoid a forfeited game). This rule is not in place during playoffs. Grace time is only 10 minutes from the kick off time. If you are able to have the minimum number of players before the grace time is over, then you will be allowed to play. However, the ref’s watch has started at 6:30, no matter what.
- Equal number of players: For U4-U7 the teams MUST play equal number of players on the field, even if one team is short of players.
- Balanced number of players: For U8-U18 the team with more players must not play more than one player than the opponent to avoid lopsided games.
- MVP: Please don’t forget to provide the ref with MVP player (not the entire team because it will not be published by the paper, but a single jersey number from your team).
- Last, but not least, check our website regularly to keep up to date. Our website address is: www.pysc.on.ca.
Thank you,
Yours in soccer,
Fevri Pazari – Club Head Referee