Why Hiring a Referee Elevates Youth Soccer Scrimmages
Soccer scrimmages are an essential part of youth player development. They provide opportunities to practice skills, build team chemistry, and prepare for competitive matches.
You can significantly enhance the value of these scrimmages with the inclusion of a professional referee. Here are compelling reasons why youth soccer coaches should consider investing in a referee for friendlies and scrimmages.
Better Game Flow and Structure
Referees bring structure and professionalism to a scrimmage. They ensure the game runs smoothly, managing the time effectively and keeping the play continuous. This helps players experience a more realistic match setting, which is crucial for their development. A structured environment also helps players understand the importance of maintaining focus and discipline throughout the game.
Manage Level of Contact
Safety is paramount in youth sports. Referees are trained to recognize dangerous play and take swift action to prevent injuries. They enforce rules designed to protect players, such as penalizing excessive tackles or aggressive behavior. With a referee overseeing the game, coaches can focus on coaching, knowing that player safety is being professionally monitored.
A knowledgeable referee will get agreement from both coaches on the level of contact and aggression permitted in a scrimmage, ensuring an optimal experience for the players.
Teaching Respect for Authority
A referee’s primary role is to enforce the rules of the game, ensuring fair play. Without a neutral party, disputes over fouls, offside calls, or goals can arise, leading to frustration among players and parents. A referee’s presence ensures unbiased decisions based on official rules, creating a fair and respectful playing environment. This not only teaches young players the importance of adhering to rules but also instills a sense of integrity and sportsmanship.
Promote Fair Play and Integrity
Having a referee in a scrimmage teaches young athletes to respect authority and understand the role of officials in sports. This respect translates into better behavior during competitive matches and other areas of life. Players learn to respectfully accept decisions, even when they disagree, fostering resilience and maturity. In turn, this flows to parents in attendance, which can also improve actual match day behavior.
Solo referee scrimmages (a single referee, rather than a team of three officials) mean less eyes on a play and less angles to rely on. Life, rightly or not, tends to present us with adversity. It’s fair to expect that a few offside, out of touch, and foul decisions will get missed in a solo game, and this is an opportunity for players to persevere through a call they might see as unfair.
Minimize Parental and Coaching Bias
Coaches and parents, despite their best intentions, can sometimes display bias during scrimmages. This can lead to conflicts and a negative atmosphere. A neutral referee eliminates this issue, helping to ensure that calls are made impartially. This creates a more positive and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
A few years ago, my daughter’s club coach (who also coaches winning teams for High School Varsity and NCAA Division 2) would regularly call me the night before a scrimmage to see if I could cover the upcoming scrimmage. While he knew the players on both sides could call their own fouls, he also recognized that play can quickly get out of hand when players and coaches are in charge of regulating the opposition’s behavior.
Providing Valuable Feedback
Referees can offer constructive feedback to both players and coaches. Their perspective can highlight areas needing improvement that might be overlooked by a coach focused on broader strategies. In scrimmages I often instruct players on small things on the pitch that might cost a team dearly in an official competition. Here are two examples of this:
- Time wasting by players. Repositioning the ball after it’s been set by a player, taking an indirect route to retrieve or return a ball, as well as moving in to delay an opponent’s restart are all cautionable offenses. Understanding what a referee looks for (and might allow) is easier to work out during a scrimmage.
- Intent while tackling. Players below the High School Varsity level tend to address the player when tackling, rather than the ball. This often results in a direct kick (or even a penalty kick!) for contact that might be legal, if only the defender were focused on the ball instead of the attacker. It would be unseemly at best to instruct a player in the middle of a match. However, in a scrimmage, giving players feedback in real time can quickly hone skills.
Conclusion
The benefits of hiring a referee for a friendly scrimmage far outweigh the costs. A referee brings fairness, safety, structure, and professionalism to the match, all of which are essential for the holistic development of young players. Investing in a referee not only enhances the quality of the scrimmage but also prepares players for the realities of competitive matches.
Even at the last minute, the next time “your guy/gal” can’t cover your scrimmage, consider using scrimmager.online (https://scrimmager.online).
This platform connects coaches with dozens of certified referees at every experience level from the very youngest through current NCAA referees, ensuring that every scrimmage is a valuable, well-regulated, and enjoyable experience. It’s also probably about the same cost as your local go-to referee.
Elevate your team’s scrimmage experience and contribute to the development of your players by visiting scrimmager.online today.
About the author
Matt Sullivan is a distinguished soccer assignor and referee recognized for his expertise and dedication in officiating high-stakes matches. His career includes over a dozen CIF Southern Section playoff games, a CIF-SS Final match, a Boys Division 2 CIF Southern California State Championship match, AYSO National Games, DPL National Championship matches, and numerous NCAA soccer matches.
Matt has earned respect for his knowledge of the game, ability to maintain the flow of play, and willingness to make tough calls at critical moments. His commitment to excellence ensures that every match he oversees is conducted with the highest standards of integrity and professionalism.