So there were a few u17 boys matches in town a few weeks ago that I assigned the officials for. When I talked with a few of the crew the day after the matches they mentioned that the coaches were unhappy with the officiating and I might hear about it.

Sure enough on Monday I got an email from the Club mentioning how the coaches weren’t happy with the officiating. Kudos to the Club for not complaining. The Dir. of Coaching just mentioned it along with other items. So I decided to follow up a bit. I had talked to the officials and heard what they had to say. I asked one of the coaches what he saw.

What it came down to, I’m afraid, is that the officials let the players dictate the level of physicality in the game. They, the officials, were comfortable with it but the players and coaches, overall, were not. In a game that is being played by more mature players you can let them dictacte, somewhat, how physical the game is. But with young men you can’t. They don’t have the maturity to deal with that kind of responsibility.

Where as in an adult game you might call it a little tight at first and let them go a bit as the game progresses and “let them  play”. With young boys (u15-18) you call it tight and pretty much keep it there for the full 90mins. It you let them go a bit you have to be ready to reign it in.