Quote Originally Posted by Taffy View Post
club refs in place
One ground I was at had qualified refs sitting in the stands and all the players wanting them to ref,but due to others stepping in and being afraid of a conflict they would rather a parent do it.By the time refs get to 15-18 they have been playing with and against kids across the whole spectrum for years.They are friends with them and sometimes teammates/ex-teammates(and soon to be teammates).To automatically think because 'this kid knows that kid' that they would cheat their way through a game is a very sad reflection on the adults in the stands.If there was a little more support for our refs instead of just openly accusing them of being cheats it would go a long way to getting more kids to want to ref,and keep current refs in the system so they get more experience and confidence.But after weekends like this people are just not going to want to do it and the same whingers will be there next week complaining there arent any good refs anymore.