Ed. Note: Letter refers to game played on Sunday October 20th.
What transpired is a mockery of the game of soccer. Words cannot express the complete 'implosion' we witnessed on the field.
The end result being we walked off the field in protest.
Soccer is a sport full of vagaries, and we understand the gray areas of judgment. But this was a complete nightmare.
Good on Coach M for making this protest.
Proud to have him lead our girls.
Re: Game # 1431
Dear Sir/Madam:
I am writing in complaint of the referee crew assigned to our game # 1431 on 10/20/13, u17g Division 1, CO
Storm Royal vs. Arsenal CO Royal at Dove Valley Field #8.
Our center official arrived late from another field, which is totally understandable, it happens often with fewer
officials these days… He showed up and officiated in a plain black and grey striped hoodie sweatshirt, not his
official uniform, nor was his badge visible. The weather was cold and windy, so I understand that official
uniform spec is not always going to be followed, but it has to at least be under a uniform, and displaying a
current badge.
The AR’s were both extremely out of shape and never kept up with play. The center continually looked to his
AR’s for help on calls. Within the first 2-3 minutes of the game, an AR called a foul against our defender on a
fairly innocuous tackle, in fact, our defender fell to the ground and the attacker kept her feet and shot wide of
the goal. The contact happened about 2 yards outside the penalty box, yet after conferring with each other, the
center awarded a penalty kick. Jim Pereira with CO Storm was the opposing coach and came to me
immediately after and agreed that it was a bad call. The center then called several similar fouls against us,
creating many scoring opportunities just outside the penalty box, in which the opposing team capitalized on 2
more, making the game 3-0 within 10 minutes. His influence on the game with such misapplication of the law
created a very unfair match from the beginning, and we were down 6-0 by half.
I gave my best half-time talk to the girls, explaining that the only thing we have control of is ourselves and that
we needed to battle through the poor officiating, and move on. They told me that he made comments to them
like “I ref 9-year-olds, I shouldn’t be out here.” He was very unsure about many throw-ins and was often heard
saying “I don’t know, I didn’t see it.” Having a lot of refereeing experience myself, I understand that you don’t
see everything, but the players said he said that on every close throw-in call. What is he watching, if not the
play? The referee then came out in the second half with the same attire, (I was giving him the benefit of the
doubt that he rushed over and didn’t have time to put his uniform on, until then…) except this time he tucked in
his hoodie, I can only assume to look more professional?
In the second half of play, I will admit to making very snide comments to his attire and the unprofessionalism of
it, but I never once raised my voice to yell it across the field at him, nor did I ever swear or threaten him. My
exact words were “Well, now that he has his shirt tucked in, maybe he’ll be good,” and “you can’t start making
good calls now that you’ve been consistently bad.” He trotted over to me on the sideline (first time he had
broken into a run all game, by the way), saying “you know I can hear you” my response was “Good. Will you
quit making bad calls?” also, “You don’t belong out here, you are making very bad calls” He then told me that
he warned me, and that I now needed to leave because I cannot make those comments. Wait, what??? He never
once warned me, and now I’m being ejected?????? I never once raised my voice, cursed, swore, or threatened
him in any way. If he has any action to take, it would be to caution me for simple dissent. Yet he felt
compelled to kick me out for no viable reason at all. I got a parent from my sideline to fill in for me, and we
had a staff coach coincidentally on the adjacent field, Luis Dominguez Jr. to help if/when he wasn’t
preoccupied with his own game.
October 22, 2013
Page 2
As I viewed the game from atop the hill (100 yards away from field as required), I witnessed him make the
same ridiculous calls and then start issuing yellow cards to 4 of our players for very innocuous challenges. I
was not near enough to hear dialogue myself, but some of the players told me the reasons he was issuing them a
card were:
; “you were chasing players with your feet” ???? (that was verified by another player…)
; “ you charged into a crowd of people and kicked the ball” She was clearing a ball while her
teammate was on the ground nearby and an opposing player stuck her foot in front to block and was
consequently knocked over from the force of the kick on the ball…
(straight red card); “you keep fouling players” clear misapplication of the law here… should
only be a caution for persistent infringement (though that in and of itself was questionable, because she had not
been called for a foul since the penalty kick at the beginning of the game), not a straight red card and sendoff.
There was one player from the opposing team (Storm) that received a yellow card for the same ridiculous type
call, and also did not deserve a caution.
Immediately after the game, I walked to the referees’ circle off the field and requested my passes and roster. I
said absolutely nothing else and made no contact with the center official, who had then finally put a black
referee uniform over his hoodie… The younger AR was very smug and over-enthusiastic to me, saying “hope
you have a nice day” I gave him no response and walked away with my roster and passes, all of them. He did
not pull the player and coach passes, and did not refer to the roster for the names of the players he cautioned
either. The roster and passes were under an AR’s bag when I requested them. So I’m not even sure if this game
is even being reported correctly.
The purpose of this letter is threefold. 1) I wish that the appropriate assignors are aware of this situation and do
not assign these officials to games they are not experienced for. I understand that the officials put their own
comfort and ability levels on their availability forms, however some familiarity with the referees is crucial info
for successful assignors and parameters can then be set by the assignors 2) I feel the referee’s clear
misapplication of the laws should nullify any cards given and consequences for such cards. And 3) I understand
that due to the lateness of the season, replaying the game may not be an option, but it is a request. We feel
cheated out of a good experience against a good team in which our players can develop and grow as soccer
players. Even though they received a great life lesson in how to deal with incompetent people and how to
handle themselves in difficult situations beyond their control, I don’t believe this experience best represents the
league, the referees, or soccer in Colorado in general.
I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
