Originally Posted by
northern_swan
First of all, IMO ref's should be starting at community to gain confidence and skills in a less pressured environment than going straight into JDL or PYL and having to deal with the dribble from the coaches & parents that go with that level of competition. This would also allow them to go "back to" community and gain skills at a higher age group before going up through the grades at the PYL level.
Secondly, refs under the NNSW banner are prohibited from doing community football even if they are available, and I'm aware of refs at this level who have been told they are not allowed to act as a club ref at community games even when NNSWF have not appointed them, leading to competent official referees sitting on the sideline while community clubs madly scramble to get the volunteer off the BBQ to get a whistle and take control of a game.
Finally, as a parent of two boys, one who has gone through JDL & is now in PYL, while the other has played MiniRoos & now Interdistrict, I am struggling to recall incidences of poor behaviour at community games that I do at JDL/YPL in the 6 seasons i've been watching JDL/PYL. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but the incidences in my experience are few & far between at the comparable kids level. My PYL son has elected to be a club referee at community son's club for three seasons now because, in his words, "why would I go and have to deal with the crap that goes on each week at JDL or PYL, when I can go to the same ground every week i'm available, get great support from the club when I need it and not get called a cheat every time i blow the whistle"
All in all, reading back on what i'm writing, i'm not sure if i'm agreeing with you or not, but I don't think the issue is as cut & dried as either you or Skimmer make out. I probably tend to agree with Dreamtime Yowie on this one, I feel the issue lies with NNSWF in prioritising filling referee shirts with whoever they can in JDL or PYL over actually developing referees for the whole football pyramid, which as the state body I believe they should be doing.
