refs?!?!

A

awesomeperson13

New member
Anybody else in the world have problems with refs? Personal experience this season has come to make me believe we are playing golf and the fans can not speak at all... Just sit and watch with their mouths shut. Also been having problems with refs missing extremely obvious call like a hold that you would have had to had your eyes shut for 10 seconds to miss and other ridiculous calls, or lack there of, like that. I understand refs do not want their calls to be questioned and how doing so may piss them off but that does not give them reason to get pissed every time it happens especially when its "excuse me please sir, please sir excuse me may i please get a clarification on that... sir" Just wondering if any other team is having ref problems.
 
 
I am not sure that your points are fully valid, however I will admit that it is very hard to see all calls on the field between the bodies as compared to what you can see from the stands or side lines.

Also, officials growth is a major focus area for our lacrosse community, getting officials from football and basketball trained to become lax officials each January when this happens. There are changes and improvements needed in many areas with respect to managing this problem. Code of Conduct for all parties, players, coaches and officials is in process to address some of the back and forth you reference. If you are a person that has solutions you should approach an official to get in touch with the SOLA organization and get your oar in the water to help solve our problems. With out officials we do not have games. This is the number one focus area for 2009. In addition coaches certification at the MS level is another area, so as to improve on the quality of play and understanding for kids in grades 7-8 as they leave the youth ranks and begin to play at a higher level. Officials and coaches certifications combined with schedule management changes will all become a high focus to make improvements for the coming year. Please get involved if you are able to do so. Thank you.
 
It is not just the ref's fault. This year especially the coaches, players, and fans are just ridiculous. If you look at the OHSLA webpage, you will see that 16 players have been ejected, 5 coaches have been ejected, and there have been a total of 17 suspensions. It falls upon everyone's shoulder's to play the game for the love of the game and to do it the right way. The ref's are there to make sure the game is played safely and that nothing gets out of control.
 
I don't think there is any question that the overall quality of the officials this year has been a little disappointing. It is true that it is impossible to see and make every call, but some have been glaringly obvious and still not called.

I think this has to do with the inexperience of alot of these officials and will get better as time goes on. We can't forget that the number of lax programs is really starting to grow and the number of experienced officials can not keep up with the demand for officials come game time. There has been a real problem this year for some teams to even have officials at their games, experienced or otherwise.

It seems to me that the biggtest problem is the inconsistency of calls from one officiateing crew to another. Some games players are allowed to be physical and not called for good hits, the next game, penalties are called for the exact same thing. This makes it a little difficult on players and coaches in the heat of the battle. I think things will improve over time. Officiating is a tough job in any sport, nobody ever seems to be happy depending which side of the call you are on.
 
OK. yea. Its hard to find experienced refs but that leaves no reason for the head ref of southern Ohio to only have 3 years experience. I want to know what qualifies people to hold these posistions. Do they have to take special test or are they just appointed? I would really like to learn more on how refs get there jobs and what kind of evaluation if any they go through, and if they are evaluated on a contuous basis. If someone could please inform me as to this process i would greatly appricated it.
 
awesomeperson13 said:
OK. yea. Its hard to find experienced refs but that leaves no reason for the head ref of southern Ohio to only have 3 years experience. I want to know what qualifies people to hold these posistions. Do they have to take special test or are they just appointed? I would really like to learn more on how refs get there jobs and what kind of evaluation if any they go through, and if they are evaluated on a contuous basis. If someone could please inform me as to this process i would greatly appricated it.
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Are you kidding man? You must not know the head ref of southern ohio, Jay Ferrel(sp). I know for a fact that he has been reffing for at least 15 years, you need to get a little background information before you go around making ridiculous statements about things you have no idea about.
 
Badger said:
I am not sure that your points are fully valid, however I will admit that it is very hard to see all calls on the field between the bodies as compared to what you can see from the stands or side lines.

Also, officials growth is a major focus area for our lacrosse community, getting officials from football and basketball trained to become lax officials each January when this happens. There are changes and improvements needed in many areas with respect to managing this problem. Code of Conduct for all parties, players, coaches and officials is in process to address some of the back and forth you reference. If you are a person that has solutions you should approach an official to get in touch with the SOLA organization and get your oar in the water to help solve our problems. With out officials we do not have games. This is the number one focus area for 2009. In addition coaches certification at the MS level is another area, so as to improve on the quality of play and understanding for kids in grades 7-8 as they leave the youth ranks and begin to play at a higher level. Officials and coaches certifications combined with schedule management changes will all become a high focus to make improvements for the coming year. Please get involved if you are able to do so. Thank you.
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Well said sir!! :clap:
 
The biggest problem i see as far as the refs go is letting the game get out of control..... The main cause of this is inconsistency of calls...Some players can get away with something while another player can't.. However The ref needs to take control of the game whether it's kids or parents or coaches they need to have control of the game...and honestly i don't think some of the refs are man enough to take control of a high school lacrosse game...

This is not a bash towards refs. i personally have only had one bad experience of refs this whole year and i think almost all of them do a wonderful job... it's just the one game you get a terrible one you remeber most.
 
im sorry i was misinformed about head of southern Ohio. but still wondering about qualifications, screening process, and continuous evaluation.
 
As a certified ref, i can tell you that there are multiple days of training and a test at the end that you must pass. Also every year, you take a class before the season starts to be informed of new rules and regulations.
 
Not directly, they will come and watch games and then send an email out to the whole reffing organization of things they saw that should or shouldnt have happened. I believe they never call one out, but I'm not too sure.
 
i think the biggest problem with the refs i have seen is inconsistency with calls. sometimes they call little grazes slashes and sometimes they dont call it when it can be heard from across the field and not called. sometimes there will be kids who you can tell have no intent on making a play on the ball and not called for illegal body checks and sometimes and are very clean legitimate hits called.

i have also noticed that when simple polite questions are asked about calls the refs will either not answer or reply in a rude and threatening manner. i play in the club league and i as well as many others do not know every exact rule and it is very irritating when the refs dont even acknowledge a question.
 
lakebball said:
i have also noticed that when simple polite questions are asked about calls the refs will either not answer or reply in a rude and threatening manner. i play in the club league and i as well as many others do not know every exact rule and it is very irritating when the refs dont even acknowledge a question.
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That's a really good point. One good example is procedure calls at the faceoff. Take five seconds, tell the kid what he did so he learns from it! It's one thing at the D1 varsity level, but at lower levels they should pay more attention to this.
 
You can't do it right after a face-off because the other team has the right to pick up the ball and go. You need to do it on a dead ball.
 
i understand all questions cant be given lengthy explanations on the spot, but if the play has been stopped, especially with 3 refs on the field, i think a one sentence explanation should be given, instead of just running down the field.

i also think the refs should treat players with respect as much as players should treat the refs with respect. i dont know how many times i have asked or hear a player ask 'sir, can i ask what the call was?' or 'sir could you explain the call' in a sincere not --- hole way and get a less than nice response that helps no one
 
Ohio Lax said:
You can't do it right after a face-off because the other team has the right to pick up the ball and go. You need to do it on a dead ball.
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The other team has to run over and pick up the ball, which should be enough time to say, "Hand was on the throat" or "Stick was touching the line" or whatever.
 
Confidence?

Absolutely agree that the best refs are the ones who don't get defensive AND take the opportunity to talk or explain to players what the call was. I think the biggest challenge for lacrosse in general right now is lack of experienced refs AND coaches to keep up with the growth of the sport at all levels. With new players, inexperienced coaches and refs with limited game time, it makes for lots of errors in judgement, bad calls (and bad no calls) and can lead to defensive behavior on part of both coaches and refs.

In past, I have appreciated hearing refs call out "warnings" on repeat slap checks that don't get stick, "watch the hands" on iffy cross checks, and explanations on face-offs. I have also appreciated refs who admitted a missed call or picked up a flag and are willing to admit they made a mistake.

Need more folks to pick up the baton and fill the need to ensure quality lacrosse is played and officiated and be patient while everyone's experience grows.

As for fans- keep in mind that some of the biggest "hits" that get yells and screams for calls are often completely fair and a part of this sport. A good defender is taught (when all else fails) to go for the body and disrupt a shooter and often this results in a kid getting knocked off his feet since he is off balance. So long as hands are together, it's not to the head/neck or behind, and he doesn't lead with a helmet- play on! Same can be said for good ground ball play where putting a body on an opponent to knock him off the ball is a solid fundamental play. Good coaches and refs should recognize and teach the difference between good physical play and out of control checking or cheap shots.

It's the fastest game on 2 feet- but they wear pads for a reason...
 
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